Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA)

 

The Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) provides WSU undergraduate students from all grades, majors, and campuses to display the results of their research, scholarship, and creative activity. Students compete for awards and make an original intellectual or creative contribution to a discipline. SURCA is part of Academic Showcase, a larger annual event where WSU faculty and graduate students present their scholarly and creative work.

Collections in this community

Recent Submissions

  • Metabolic Fuel Switching in Hibernating Grizzly Bears 

    McPhee, Madeline; Hutzenbiler, Brandon (4/1/2019)
    Bears utilize fat during hibernation as their sole source of energy. However, as many bears in zoos are fed during the winter months we tested the hypothesis that a single macronutrient, carbohydrate, could serve as a ...

  • Hypothalamic ghrelin signaling in cannabis induced feeding 

    Gill, Sumeen; Brutman, Julianna; Wheeler, Emma (3/25/2019)
    Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug worldwide. In this context, vaporization is the most common route of cannabis administration. Data from our lab indicates that vapor cannabis exposure increases meal frequency ...

  • Structural and Biophysical Characterization of EppA 

    Greene, Chelsie; Sattler, Steven; Lewis, Kevin (2019-03)
    Ethylenediaminetetraacetate, better known as EDTA, is a chemically stable compound whose widespread use has led to its persistence in the environment as potentially toxic EDTA-metal complexes. Being a ubiquitous environmental ...

  • Conflict in the Congo: A legacy of Empire, Tyranny and Kleptocracy 

    Nooney, Sean (4/2/2018)
    I argue in "Conflict in the Congo: A Legacy of Empire, Tyranny and Kleptocracy" that the seemingly endless war and ethnic conflict that has plagued the fledgling Democratic Republic of the Congo throughout the 21st century, ...

  • IntellBra 

    Bolar, Nimay; Zhou, Yiying; Gannarapu, Abhishek (3/31/2018)
    The IntelliBra is designed to be a smart breast sensor capable of detecting volumetric changes in a woman's breast as she breast feeds her baby. This will enable the mother to know how much milk and nutrition the baby is ...

  • "An All-American Boy": The Story of Tom Haji and Rural Nisei in WWII 

    Vega, Mario (3/28/2018)
    The purpose of this project examines the life of Tom Haji, a Japanese-American who grew up in Skykomish and Monroe, Washington, was interned at Tule Lake following Executive Order 9066, and deployed to France and Italy ...

  • Effects of Prenatal Cannabis Vapor Exposure on Cognitive Flexibility 

    Warrick, Collin; Wright, Hayden; Lugo, Janelle; McLaughlin, Ryan (2018)
    Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance among pregnant women, yet the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure on cognitive wellbeing remain largely unknown. With recreational cannabis laws now in effect in 8 ...

  • Laboratory Module to Introduce Undergraduates to Air Quality Research 

    Rodriguez, Yoni; Gubsch, Kristian; O'Keeffe, Patrick (2017-07)
    An interactive laboratory module is being developed to introduce undergraduate engineering students to environmental engineering as part of an introductory course. This lab module will provide students an opportunity to ...

  • Role of Endogenous Cannabinoid Signaling in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Cognitive Flexibility 

    Warrick, Collin; Wright, Hayden; Berger, Anthony; Bieniasz, Kennedy; Baxter-Potter, Lydia; Lugo, Janelle (2017-04)
    The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the center for executive functioning, overseeing cognitive strategies according to changing environmental demands. The endogenous cannabinoid (ECB) system is expressed throughout the PFC ...

  • Design to Experience 

    Laws, Melanie; Ruiz, Shelby; Young, Kelli (2017)
    The proposed design for the Amazon Rainforest Education Headquarters is to perform as a working part of the mission to save the forest. The Amazon rainforest is the single greatest carbon sink we have to offset CO2 emissions ...

  • City of Mattawa, WA: Fast growing city with a plan for the future 

    Leng, Rattanak; Crall, Krisandrah (2017)
    The City of Mattawa is a fast growing city along the Columbia River. Government Road is the main road and a major highway that runs east-west connecting most of the residential streets to the agricultural land. Currently, ...

  • The Invisible Struggle: Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness and its Roots 

    Segner, Autumn (2017)
    This research project was conducted to investigate the historical causes of a prominent modern issue: the stigma against mental illness. The project draws on information from a combination of books written by experts and ...

  • Nature Relatedness as a Facilitator to Utilizing the Natural World as a Coping Strategy to Reduce Stress 

    Podszus, Rebecca (2017)
    Previous research demonstrated that exposure to the natural world is positively correlated with both physiological and psychological measures of stress reduction. This study investigated whether participants who scored ...

  • Rural Revival | Adaptive Reuse for Rural Community Development 

    Tatum, Maria (2017)
    With the increase of urbanization, residents of rural Roslia, WA have seen a decrease in economic opportunity. The community kitchen was conceived to attract people to the community and inspire entrepreneurial ventures. ...

  • The Impact of Social Norms and Pressures on Donation Habits 

    Nam, Yujung (Mentor); Pace, Courtney (2016)
    Why do people donate money? Out of the goodness of their heart? Maybe they donate because “that’s what everyone else is doing.” This study is on how people react differently to social pressures in face-to-face communication ...

  • Mental Health Assessment in Zero Tolerance School Policies 

    Yochim, Jan (2016)
    Attention to mental health of school age children is key to a safe learning environment provided by public education policy subsystems. One method K-12 schools use to ensure a safe learning environment is through zero ...

  • Cleft Palate Film Production for Hearts In Motion Guatemala Mission 

    Vest, Sarah; Meredith, Amy (2016)
    Impoverished children and adults with cleft lip and/or cleft palate in Guatemala and neighboring countries travel to a clinic operated by Hearts In Motion (HIM), a non-profit agency that provides critical reconstructive ...

  • The Panoptic Experience 

    Filardo, Laura (2016)
    Title: The Panoptic Experience Goal: The town of LaCrosse, WA and the Ice age Flood Institute are working together to combine information on the regional ice age floods with a welcoming visitors center for the town. A ...

  • The Drake Equation 

    Unknown author (2016)
    We have calculated that, while there are likely to be a thousand civilizations in the galaxy around us, they are sufficiently far apart that any contact is unlikely. To estimate the number of civilizations in the galaxy, ...