Honors Project Presentations Scheduled for April 30 and May 1, 2026

Twenty-four Wayne State College students will present their honors research projects for the Spring 2026 Honors Colloquium being held Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1. The public is invited to attend.

Presentations will be held in the Kanter Student Center’s Niobrara Rooms (east and west) on campus. All presentations will be made available to watch on the Honors Program YouTube channel by the end of May.

The Wayne State Honors Program allows students to be more involved within an academic discipline, to broaden and deepen an education beyond the usual required work, and to nurture and reward genuine intellectual curiosity. Research opportunities help develop the skills of independent thinking and scholarly inquiry.

The Wayne State Honors Program engages students through a combination of specialized general education courses and research projects completed in the academic major.

At Wayne State, belonging to the Honors Program means not only distinction, but special opportunities and challenges for students with high aspirations. In any academic program at Wayne State, honors students have the option of choosing one of three honors options: High Honors in the Major, Honors in the Major, and Scholar in the Major.

Learn more about the Honors Program

Presentation schedule

The schedule for presentations, with titles, times, and locations in the Kanter Student Center, is:

Thursday, April 30

• Caleb Huet (Adel, Iowa)
  11–11:30 a.m. | Niobrara East
  “Religion in Sitcoms”
  Instructor: Dr. Sean Ahern
   
• Sydney Escritt (Hebron, Neb.)
  11:30 a.m.–Noon | Niobrara West
  “Exploring the Impacts of Funding Instability on Biomedical Research, Clinical Practice and Policy”
  Instructor: Dr. Barbara Engebretsen
   
• Saffire Sayre (Des Moines, Iowa)
  Noon–12:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Colorings and Counting: Exploring Questions in Graph Theory and Combinatorics”
  Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Langdon
   
• Wyatt Schoenenberger (Neligh, Neb.)
  12:30–1 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Influence of Nutrient Availability on Lipid Accumulation in Unicellular Green Algae”
  Instructor: Dr. Mark Hammer
   
• Halle Laursen (Peterson, Iowa)
  1–1:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “A+ Motivation: The Role of Grades in Education”
  Instructor: Dr. Sara Walsh
   
• Katie Andersen (Elk Horn, Iowa)
  1:30–2 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Art Therapy Practitioners’ Perspectives Working with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
  Instructor: Dr. Alison Boughn
   
• Faith King (Clearwater, Neb.)
  2–2:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Reforming Drug Sentencing in Nebraska: The Current State, Progress, and the Path Forward”
  Instructor: Dr. Rachel Kunz
   
• Deandrea Rivera (Leigh, Neb.)
  2:30–3 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “The Perils of an Unresolved Second Shift: Presentation of Gender in the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives”
  Instructor: Dr. Monica Snowden
   
• Trayce Blas (Fairbury, Neb.)
  3–3:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Current Understanding and Future Prospects of the Phytoremediation of Radionuclides”
  Instructor: Dr. Mark Hammer
   
• Taeya Waggerman (Norfolk, Neb.)
  3:30–4 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Food Insecurity at a Rural College Shown at the Individual and Institutional Levels”
  Instructor: Dr. Monica Snowden
   
• Nathan Cunningham (Omaha, Neb.)
  4–4:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Fintech in Sub-Saharan Africa and Its Impact on Global Aid”
  Instructor: Dr. Mwata Chisha
   
• Karley Schieffer (Fordyce, Neb.)
  4:30–5 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Kiss the Grass: The Emotional Impact of Poetry from Genesis to Publication”
  Instructor: Chad Christensen

Friday, May 1

• Elise White (Sioux City, Iowa)
  9:30–10 a.m. | Niobrara West
  “Green Light: Independent Filmmaking’s Effect on the Creative Process”
  Instructor: Sarah Lemmon
   
• Luke Polacek (Wahoo, Neb.)
  10–10:30 a.m. | Niobrara East
  “Exposure to Accumulation: A Review of Micro- and Nanoplastic Interactions with Human Biological Systems”
  Instructor: Dr. Shawn Pearcy
   
• Morgan Kruger (Papillion, Neb.)
  10:30–11 a.m. | Niobrara West
  “Ilium’s Illicit Bride: Helen of Troy and Ideas of the Bronze Age Woman”
  Instructor: Dr. Phillip Fox
   
• Breanna Matzen (Blair, Neb.)
  11–11:30 a.m. | Niobrara East
  “The Fibonacci Sequence in Music: The Golden Ratio and Its Use in Western, Tonal, Modern, A Cappella Works”
  Instructor: Dr. Matthew Haakenson
   
• Kaitlin Meiergerd (Austin, Minn.)
  11:30 a.m.–Noon | Niobrara West
  “An Examination of Agricultural Curriculum Resources Across Nebraska's Rural and Urban School Districts”
  Instructor: Dr. Allyn Lueders
   
• Hadley Dake (Inwood, Iowa)
  Noon–12:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “A Public Relations Campaign Against the Building and Continual Use of AI Data Centers”
  Instructor: Dr. Allyn Lueders
   
• Aubrie Erickson (Funk, Neb.)
  1–1:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Work and Identity on Family Farms”
  Instructor: Dr. Jeff Shelton
   
• Audrey Loggins (Wayne, Neb.)
  1:30–2 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Food Insecurity on Rural College Campuses: A Mixed-Methods, Exploratory Study of Prevalence, Aptitudes, and Attitudes”
  Instructor: Dr. Jeff Shelton
   
• Jasmine Frye (Omaha, Neb.)
  2–2:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “Arete: Video Game Design, Programming, and Animation”
  Instructor: Josh Piersanti
   
• Gage Schmidt (Columbus, Neb.)
  2:30–3 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “Türkiye’s Unique Geography Shapes Its Relationship with NATO and EU”
  Instructor: Dr. Lesli Rawlings
   
• Lexi Bacon (Elmwood, Neb.)
  3–3:30 p.m. | Niobrara East
  “The Application of the Second Amendment: How the Court's Delay and Decisions Have Allowed Mass Shootings to Run Rampant in America”
  Instructor: Dr. Rachel Kunz
   
• Cataleena Lortz (Wakefield, Neb.)
  3:30–4 p.m. | Niobrara West
  “The Examination of the Correlation Between Protein 53 and Telomerase”
  Instructor: Dr. Danielle Peekenschneider