Students with a high academic record entering their senior year—above a 3.5 GPA—can pursue Honors by completing significant or original work in their major. These projects are some of the finest work Ursinus students have completed, often leading to work in graduate school or by future Ursinus students. Students who complete a project of remarkable discipline and originality can earn Distinguished Honors.
Theses/Dissertations from 2025
Uncovering a Role for PAM-1 in Spindle Dynamics in the One-Cell C. elegans Embryo, Jasmine Borie
Waiting: A Case Study of the Norristown Transportation Center, Colin Brier
Approaches to Student Motivation: An Analysis and Application of Humanistic and Behavioral Psychology, Amanda Carideo
Structured Unfreedom: Improving Schools, Society, and the Relationship Between Them Through Meaningful Learning and Autonomy, Meghan Carroll
Colonial Waste and Liminal Space: A Look Behind the Muhlenberg General Store, Ciara S. Chagnon
Bars, Barristers, and Bias: A Content Analysis of Legal Plays, Evan Chartock
Nonthermalizing Dynamics of Interacting Rydberg Atoms, Nicolaus A. Chlanda
Le Kabary et le Fokonolona au Grand Écran, Josh E. Coster
Decade-Long Deals: The Forces Driving MLB’s Lengthening Contracts, Benjamin Cuccolo
Development of Buchwald-Hartwig Amination Reaction of Unprotected, Functionalized Indoles, Grace O. DeCostanza
Humanity, Monstrosity and Uniquity: A Stirnerian Theory of Art-Horror, Moldwarp Delgado
Lunar Secondary Crater Identification Through Semi-Automated Data Aggregation: The Beginnings of the Pipeline, Annalyse Dickinson
Computational Analysis of Proton Conductivity Factors in Grotthuss-style Mechanisms, Brock Dyer
Simulated Recovery: Measuring the Impact of Structural Adjustment on Economic Development in Latin America, Daniel Espinal
The Physiological Responses of Exaiptasia pallida Under Different Light and Feeding Conditions, Ivy Foster
Social Identity and Belongingness: College Students’ Happiness, Life Satisfaction, and Personal Growth, Julia Gallo
Everything But Wrestling: How Women Wrestlers Perform Dominance, Lauren Gherman
Variation in Bike Infrastructure Across American Cities, Jason D. Greenberg
Chromatographic Method Development for the Detection of Plastic Degradation Products, Danielle Hanna
Border Restrictions in the Rise of Anti-Immigration Politics, Katherine Hein
Are All Sports Betting Losses Created Equal?, Dylan M. Hollick
The Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex Modulates Response to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Steven Janik
Support For Progressive Taxation Amidst Economic Inequality, Emma J. Jones
Ribosome Stalling Increases Sup35 Prion Conversion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hayley Kane
Causes of Voter Wait Times During the 2022 U.S. Midterm Elections, Christopher Kiss
Optimization of the Heat Treatment Protocol and Metrology of Ge-As-Pb-Se Glass, Jake S. Klucinec
Site-Directed Mutagenesis of G4DFsc, Maya Kyriakos
Quantifying and Characterizing Microplastics in the Greater Philadelphia Region, Emily Lybashev
"Nothing About Us Without Us": State-Level Disability Accommodation in the Wake of the ADA, Megan F. Matteucci
Synthesis, Purification, and Characterization of Potential Small Molecule Methyltransferase Inhibitors, Alannah E. Miller
The Secret Life of NIM: How Regulation Affects Bank Balance Sheets and Consumer Consequences, Alexandra Nenish
Cover Cropping: How Sustainability & Economics Can Work Hand in Hand (Pt. II), Emma Reyes
Protein Interactions Between PAM-1 and Cell Cycle Proteins in C. elegans, Madison Smith
Investigating DnaJB Chaperone Protein Interactions in Parkinson's Disease, Erin K. Stubbs
Young Adults’ Attitudes Toward the Elderly, Aging, and Death, Emily Taylor
Developing Model Systems to Study Enveloped Viral Pathogens, Hana Yolacan
Theses/Dissertations from 2024
The Role of MBK-2 and CDK-1 in Oocytes and Early Embryos of pam-1 Mutant C. elegans, Alexa R. Alessandrini
Prefrontal Cortex Activity When Processing Concrete and Abstract Words: A fNIRS Study, Luke Ammazzalorso
FBO or No? Explaining USAID Partnerships with Faith-Based Organizations in Development Aid, Abigail Behm
CDK-1 Location and Activity in the Gonad Interacting with pam-1 in C. elegans, Sarah Bell
Small Molecule Reactivity Pathways with DFsc Proteins, Alex Bender
Detecting the Degradation Products of Cutin and PET, Matthew Burns
The Alchemy of Diversification: A Deep Dive Into the Stock-Bond Correlation, Evan Coffey
Exploring Population Dynamics of a Stage-Structured Host-Parasitoid Model of Acyrthosiphon pisum with Increased Longevity of Aphidius ervi, Kasey L. Cooper
Writing, Performance, Resistance: Examining Feminist Ideology and Theory in Theatre Since the Second Wave, Olivia Cross
Using Microfossils to Examine Paleoclimate Through Glacial / Interglacial Cycles at ODP Site 1233, Chile Margin, Southeast Pacific Ocean, Abigail Duimering
Rewrite the Past and Remember the Future: How Expatriates Built an Independent Ireland, Morgan Grabowski
Signal Processing Algorithms for Doppler LiDAR Sensors, Samantha Grubb
Who Wins Post-Conflict? Political Party Transformation in Northern Ireland During the Brexit Era, Shannon Henes
Which Justices are Just? An Investigation of the Factors That Influence College Student Perceptions of Judicial Impartiality, Carly Henning
How Generation Z Canceled the United States Government: An Analysis of Trust, Corrine Hofmann
Isolation of Aged Mouse Primary Microglia as a Model System for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Michael Landis
Hydrolase Activity of cis-His and trans-His Due Ferri Single Chain Proteins, Danny Leach
Accommodation and Treatment Seeking for Those with a Concealable Stigmatized Identity Disability in the Undergraduate and Workforce Environments, Sophie K. Louis
Étant Donnés: Checkmate, Rrose Sélavy, Callagh Mays
Connection to Places: Exploring Impacts of Development and Individual Characteristics, Seamus McGrath
Investigating Interactions Between Neurodegenerative Disease Proteins and DnaJB Chaperones, Rileigh Owens
NFL Rule Changes Favor Offenses; But Don't Defenses Win Championships?, Kipp Satterlee Ransome
Beyond Birth: Nurturing Careers, Elevating Women in Southern Europe, Avery Samer
Deprotection, Purification, and Characterization of Potential Small Molecule Methyltransferase Inhibitors, John Jake Sasso
Applications of Janus Dendrimersomes in Nucleic Acid Delivery, Kyle Schantz
Is Seeing Believing? How Television Advertisements Influence Investment Decisions, Lucas Selb
Synthesis of Fluorescent Rhodols from Fluorescein Derivatives via Smiles Rearrangement, Julia Shoemaker
The Intersection of Grief and Religion: How Religious Beliefs Impact the Experience of Complicated Grief in College Students, Brenna Snively
Jargon to Jackpot: The Financial Impact of Infusing Pop Culture References in Social Media, Madelynn Solow
Bioactive Glass Bead Characterization: Further Applications in Passive Drug Delivery, Marie O. Sykes
The Effect of Acute Exercise on Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Gene Expression in Male and Female Mice, Jack Thompson
Powerhouse Problem: The Examination of the NFL Draft and Possible Biases, Nicholas Troha
The Development of Scientific Interest and Skill Through Digital Displays: Inspiring Awe and Curiosity About the Natural World, Juliana Valerio
The Effects of Music on Physiology, Perception, and Performance (MP3) During Resistance Training, Madison Vinovrski
Theses/Dissertations from 2023
Temperature-Dependent Reproductive Enhancement of the Pea Aphid from Mutualistic Infection by the Symbiont Hamiltonella defensa, Ian T. Abrahams
Self-Interest or Altruism: Why do Some INGOs Engage in Conflict Settings While Others Leave?, Rachel Arthur
Balancing Interests in Forest Governance in Brazil and Indonesia, Annabel McCormick Baldy
Using Click Chemistry to Assemble DNA-Conjugated Dendrimersomes for Targeted Delivery Applications, Paige Bristow
Experimental Study of Neutron Shell Structure in Chromium-53 via Neutron Transfer to Chromium-52, Dylan Todd Brown-Simms
Fluorescently Visualizing the Interaction Between Ciprofloxacin and PEG Modified Carbon Nanotube Inside of an Escherichia Coli Cell, Cassandra Burke
Investigating Protein Interactions Important for Synapses in the Developing Nervous System, Melanie DeRosa
A Discrete Morse Approach for Computing Homotopy Types: An Exploration of the Morse, Generalized Morse, Matching, and Independence Complexes, Connor Donovan
Adapting the Classics: Making the Invisible Visible, Kate Isabel Foley
Combined Effects of High-Fat Diet and Pregnancy on Cardiac Function, Alex Goldsby
Phosphatase Activities and Metal Binding Equivalencies of the De Novo Due Ferri Single Chain Proteins, Avraham Goldschmidt
Family Matters: Educational Expectation and the PSID, Michael Green
Japan: Where Did All the People Go? An Empirical Study on Economic and Social Impacts on Low Fertility in Japan, Sasha Heasley
Are Economic Outcomes Depressed When the Economic Agent is Depressed?, Elizabeth Kandler
The Contributions of Ketogenic Diet to Behavioral Alterations and Brain Development in C57BL/6-NClr Mice, Mya Knappenberger
The Effect of Dietary Nutrition on the Regeneration of Ambystoma mexicanum, Samuel Krause
Synthesis and Analysis of Reaction Based Fluorogenic Probes for the Detection of Chlorite in Drinking Water, William Krueger
Qing Dynasty Religious Manipulation of Tibet, Hannah Nancy Lee
Developing a Yeast Model System to Study the Human Orthologs of the Ribosome-Associated Complex, Amanda Marley
