Ithaca College

Submitted on behalf of Kimberly Wilkinson and Rumit Singh Kakar, Co-Chairs of the James J. Whalen Academic Symposium

On behalf of the committee, we would like to congratulate all the presenters, mentors and award winners for participating in the Whalen Symposium and celebrating the amazing work being done here on our campus. On the 21st Anniversary of the James J Whalen Academic Symposium over 400 student presenters showcased their work in the form of performances, talks, and poster presentations. Every presentation depicted the passion in the students and their mentors. The energy throughout the day was motivating, right from the inspiring keynote by Dr. Carole Dennis and her students, Hannah Shade and Margaret Crowell, to the celebration of the award winners at the closing ceremony. Thank you also to all in the campus community who took time out of your busy day to come out to support the students and hear about the exciting projects going on all over this dynamic campus.

We would like to extend a special thank you to the faculty moderators, abstract reviewers, judges, and the staff and student volunteers who were a critical part of the event. Key individuals who worked tirelessly for a whole year planning and executing were the members of Whalen Steering Committee (Rumit Singh Kakar, Kimberly Wilkinson, Chrystyna Dail, Cristina Gomez, Abby Juda, Doreen Hettich-Atkins, Deborah King, Sean Linfors, Nathan Pretopnik, David Prunty, Kelly Stern, Stephanie St. John, Yvette Sterbenk, Carly Hosbach, and Margaret Shackell-Dowell).  The symposium wouldn’t have been possible without the students, the mentors and everyone else behind the scenes.

Thank you all for your energetic assistance and participation.

The following were the Whalen Symposium 2018 Award Winners:

Madison Chlebowski – Ian Woods, faculty sponsor

Molecular Mechanisms of Somatosensory Neuron Function and Development in Zebrafish

Maily Ramirez and Anika Verma – Sharon Stansfield, faculty sponsor

Developing a Game in Virtual Reality for Rehabilitation of Vestibular Hypofunction

Hannah Thomas, Amy Wagner, Emily Paullis, Erica Son, Hana Motoki, Kate Butcher – Carole Dennis, faculty sponsor

Literature Review: Occupational Analysis of Resettled Children of Refugee Background in the United States

Tyler Denn-Thiele – Rumit Singh Kakar, faculty sponsor

Lower Extremity Kinematics Displayed During Running by Individuals with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis

Abigail Brown, Cara Schanbacher, Christina Carden, Greta O’Hara, Melanie Malcomson – Judith Pena-Shaff, Laura Muscalu, Nancy Rader, Carole Dennis, Sharon Stansfield, and Helen Larin,  faculty sponsors

The Effect of Independent Locomotion, Through the Use of a Robotic-Assisted Device, on Infants’ Visual Attention to a Puppet Stimulus

Natalie Sharpe and Hannah Robison- Deborah King, faculty sponsor

The Relationship Between Dorsiflexion and Single Limb Balance

Joshua Marshall – Marlene Barken, faculty sponsor

Reasanable Expectation of Privacy in the Age of Smartphones

Daniel Ruthman and Sarah Lamoureux – Narges Kasiri, faculty sponsor

SME Drivers and Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Solutions in New York State

Samantha DiFalco – Jason Freitag, faculty sponsor

After Exploration: David Livingstone and the Representation of Africa in British Pop Culture

Samantha Castonguay – Stephen Sweet, faculty sponsor

Consensual Student-Faculty Romantic and Sexual Relationship Policies in Academia: Student Awareness and Attitudes

Molly DeLorenzo – Susan Avery, faculty sponsor

The Role of Empathy, Dignity and Evolution in Effective Classroom Management

Elizabeth Freilich – Ian Woods, faculty sponsor

The Role of cart3 in Zebrafish Caudal Fin Regeneration

Matthew Madden – Bruce Thompson, faculty sponsor

Defying Dualism: Using Physics and Philosophy to Suggest the Physical Nature of Reality

Claire Cahoon – Katharine Kittredge, faculty sponsor

Artificial Eloquence: Computer-Based Analysis of Human and Robotic Dialogue in Classic Science Fiction

Hannah Robison – Jennifer Medina McKeon, faculty sponsor

The Risk of Nonmedical Opioid Use in High School Athletes: A Critically Appraised Topic

Noah Poskanzer – Vanessa Mirabito, faculty sponsor

The Effect of Neuromuscular Training and Scapular Stabilization Exercises in a Young Active Male with Anterior Shoulder Instability: A Case Report

Brittany Giles – Christin Schillinger, faculty sponsor

The Feminine Mystique: American Women Composers in the 21st Century

Lauren Suna – Edward Schneider, faculty sponsor

Games Combatting Imposter Syndrome

Thank you to all of our campus partners for making this year's event possible. We could not have done it without your help!

Please view the Whalen Facebook page for photos, video and more:

www.facebook.com/whalensymposium/