LAURE: Library Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence: Past Winners

2024 Winners

• First Place: Ryan Rosu, "Countering the Dominant Ideology of the Christmas Movie Genre"

• Second Place: Chloe Thach, "A Geospatial Analysis of the Role of Lead Exposure in Substance Use Disorders"

• Third Place: Audrey Allen, "The Relationship between Vernacular Architecture and Embodied Energy"

• Honorable Mention: Zoe Snee and Zoe Blank, "Green Space in New York City"

From left to right: Director of Undergraduate Research, Joyce Fernandez, University Ambassador Renate Crawford, Laurel Myers, Chloe Thach, and Dean and University Librarian Jerome Conley.

2023 Winners

• First Place: Laurel Myers, "Documenting Shell Shock: Developments in the Public Perception of Psychological Trauma in the United States, 1915-1922"

• Second Place: Chloe Thach, "Researching Lead Exposure Effects on Substance Use Disorders: My Passions in Environmental Health Equity" 

• Third Place: Ryan Schuerkamp, "Enabling New Interactions with a Library's Digital Collections: Automatic Gender Recognition in Historical Postcards via Deep Learning"

Pictured, left to right: Megan Snyder, Isabelle Sistino, Danielle Young, Rickey Staarmann, Melanie Hamon

2021 Winners

• First place: Megan Snyder,  “Everything But Carry a Rifle: An Article Examining the Members of the Women’s Army Corps and their Relationship to Guns"

• Second place: Isabelle Sistino, "Onward Echoes the Story: The Study of Religion amid Miami’s Narratives of Justice & Change"

• Third Place: Danielle Young, "An Analysis on Research Methods involving American Poverty and Education"

• Honorable Mention: Rickey Staarmann, “Substance Use Disorder: A Criminalized Illness”

• Honorable Mention: Melanie Hamon, "Communication:  A Greater Analysis of Storytelling in Music Through Mayuzumi’s Bunraku"

Pictured, left to right: Emily Froude, Jessica Baloun, Megan Snyder

2021 Winners

• First place: Jessica Baloun ‘21 a history major, for her project “Before the Numbers Disappeared: Media and Perception of the 1937 Soviet Census”

• Second place: Emily Froude ‘21, an international studies and political science major, for her project “Understanding and Withstanding: Comparing Colombian and Mexican Responses to Migration Crises”.

• Third place: Megan Snyder ‘22, a history major, for her project “Refugee Haven or Dumping Ground? A Comparative Study of Displaced Persons in Central Asia During World War II”.

Read more at: Library Research Award Winners Share Challenges, Triumphs of 2020

Pictured, left to right: Jack Komer, Anna Maltbie, Kyle Laycock

2020 Winners

• First place: Jack Komer for his project “Alternatives to Exclusionary School Discipline: An Administrator’s Toolkit”

• Second place: Anna Maltbie for her project “The Paper Person: A Comparative Analysis of Rhetoric and Truth in Environmental Economics, Literature, and Policy”

• Honorable mention: Jacob Sandy, Kyle Laycock, Andrew Nieto, and Christian D’Amico for their project “The Application of Machine Learning to Digitized Postcards as Artifacts”

Pictured, left to right: Provost Phyllis Callahan, Ellen Stenstrom, Cloie Dobias, Audrey Lipps, Brittney Roaden and President Greg Crawford

2019 Winners

• First place: Ellen Stenstrom for her project “Reconsidering the Unreliability and Treatment of Mentally Ill Narrators”

• Second place: Cloie Dobias for her project “An Exploration of Socio-political Themes Represented in Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben”

• Honorable mention: Audrey Lipps for her project “Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Post-Colonial Hawai’i”

• Honorable mention: Brittney Roaden for her project “Behind the Man, the Kneel, and the Protest”

Pictured, left to right: Dr. Wietse de Boer, Ms. Godard’s faculty advisor, who accepted on her behalf as she currently studying abroad in Paris, France; Sydney Chuen; Abigail Culpepper; Emily Mendenhall; and Miami University President Dr. Greg Crawford

2018 Winners

• First place: Caroline Godard for her project “Andrea Alciato and the Politics of the Printed Image”

• Second place: Sydney Chuen for her project “Europe or Bust: A Comparative Study on Human Smuggling in Nimruz, Afghanistan and Agadez, Niger”

• Honorable mention: Emily Mendenhall for her project “Student Understanding and Navigation Patterns of Miami University Sexual Violence Webpages”

• Honorable mention: Abigail Culpepper for her project “Metaphors We Love By: A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors of Love in Metropolitan French and American English”

Pictured, left to right: Mahaley Evans, Markyla (Lyka) Williams, Garrett Gust

2017 Winners

• First place: Mahaley Evans for her project “The Discourse of Women's Experiences Under Communism”

• Second place: Marlyka (Lyka) Williams for her project “Dare to Be a Wildflower: An In Depth Study of Heliostat Technology”

• Honorable mention: Garrett Gust for his project “Tapped: An Inside Perspective on the Craft Beer Movement”