Student Scholarship On Display At The 20th Annual Student Research Symposium

The Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Texas A&M University at Galveston hosted the 20th Annual Student Research Symposium from April 15 to 17. The three-day event provided a dynamic platform for undergraduate and graduate students to present their ongoing research projects to peers, faculty and staff. Spanning a wide range of topics, the symposium highlighted the Galveston Campus’ commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, hands-on research and preparing students to address global challenges with innovative solutions.

Through posters and presentations, symposium attendees got a glimpse into the student-led research that’s already making meaningful contributions in the students’ respective fields.

McKinsey McClure ‘25, a marine sciences student, presented her research over “Exploring the Correlation between Warm-Core Eddies and Marine Heatwaves in the Gulf of Mexico.” Working with her mentor, marine and coastal environmental science assistant professor Dr. Jiabi Du, McClure applied an auto-detection algorithm to identify warm-core eddies, bodies of water that have broken off from the Loop Current, a major ocean current in the Gulf, as they travel near Cuba. Her findings overlaid with preexisting data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Copernicus Marine Service revealed significant seasonal correlation from July to October of the presence of these warm water masses increasing in the likelihood of prolonged, elevated sea surface temperatures.

“I wanted to do more with remote sensing as I plan to attend graduate school with a focus on remote sensing data and topics,” McClure said. “Learning how to do stuff with data from industry leaders like NOAA and Copernicus Marine Service is always good and learning how to perform every step of the process is very important.”

Tackling a topic in healthcare logistics, Bubba Smith ’25, an oceans and one health student, focused his research on waste in local clinical operations. In his project, “Blood Product Cold Chain Transport Wastage at a Texas University Hospital: Blood Product Quality Assurance and Temperature Tracking Device Design,” Smith engineered a microcontroller device to track blood bag temperatures during hospital transport. His findings noted the issue was not a failure in maintaining temperature, but rather from a lack of communication between individuals handling the materials in transport.

“I learned so much about the healthcare industry, engineering and all the protocols in hospitals, and the necessary paperwork for safety assurance,” said Smith. Motivated by concerns over plastic and product waste, both in oceans and in healthcare, Smith used the project as a stepping stone into the world of biomedical innovation. “I built the device from scratch. I engineered it, soldered it, and even 3D printed the housing,” he added.

Turning the focus back on environmental monitoring, Alex Mapula ’26, a marine sciences student, presented his capstone project “Creating a Carbon Budget of Galveston Bay Using Instant Dissolved Organic Carbon Analysis.” Partnering with long-time mentor Dr. Peter Kaiser, a professor in the marine and coastal environmental science department, Mapula generated a way to detect real-time dissolved organic carbon (DOC) data for Galveston Bay, a vital ecosystem in Texas’ coastal environment. Dissolved organic carbon refers to organic carbon compounds that are broken down and dissolved into the water. DOC is important as it is a major indicator if an aquatic environment is healthy or is being negatively impacted by external factors.

“I’ve been in Dr. Kaiser’s lab for two and a half years,” Mapula said. “Research can be difficult, especially when it comes to a large amount of field sampling with seasonal variation. It’s a lot of time consuming work and there’s so many curveballs that can be thrown at you. A lot of my work took place out in Houston getting water samples and sensor measurements – but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the field work.”

The 2025 symposium showcased the creativity and drive fueling student research at the Galveston Campus, emphasizing its role in preparing future industry leaders to tackle real-world challenges.

Congratulations to the 2025 Student Research Symposium Winners:

Class Projects

Business, Management, Policy and Social Sciences

1st: Lauren Bothwell

Health Problems and Utilization of Health Services Among Rohingya Refugees

2nd: Rob Varela, Kyleigh Karl

The Impact of a Welcome Center on a University’s Enrollment

3rd: Creighton McFarlin

Cobalt’s Artisanal Miners: The Regional Cost of Global Progress

Ocean and Earth Sciences

1st: Dylan Buchmiller, Lillie Cochran, Ayden Horton, Cadence Housman, Noah Jansen, Camari Knox

Impact of ENSO on Pacific Coastal Primary Productivity and Fisheries

2nd: Melany Garza, Sarah Brock, Byran Garland, Jose Lopez, Reid Skinner

Predicting Future Inundation of Galveston Island Using Localized Sea Level Rise Data

3rd Sofia McGregor, Parker Friedman, Alex Jass, Chase Manson, Emma Stodghill

Comparison of Global, Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf of Alaska Global Warming Data

Undergraduate Research Posters

Business, Management, Policy and Social Sciences

1st: Riccardo Orlandi

Ghost Fishing in the Mediterranean

2nd: Joshua Bradley

Where did the fish and chips go?: Examining the Complexity of the Codfish Value Chain

3rd: Amelia Guerro

The Effects Microplastics Pose on Coral Reefs

Engineering

1st: August Berckmueller

Operation and maintenance concerns for the Ike dike project

2nd: Ian Stinson, Tyler Heffernan, Jackson Uitenbreuk, Anthony Wolfe, DJ Patton, Cameron Helmendach

The Gulf Ranger: An Autonomous Oceanographic Research ROV

3rd: James LaGroue, Tony Morales, Shreeram Attreya, Joseph Ditta, Jackson Graddy, Marshall Barrows, Sean Berres

Ladder ’25 Fire Retardant Projectile

Computer Science

1st: Aman Sriven

Deep Learning in Cybersecurity

2nd:Aditya Seelaboyina

Improving Classification of Chest Diseases Using Ensemble Deep Learning Models on NIH Chest X-ray Dataset

3rd: Mathew Vincent

Interpreting Neural Networks for Predicting Diabetes Risk Using SHAP: An Analysis of BRFSS Data

Life Sciences

1st: Hope Matteson

Impact of Pharmaceuticals on Daphnia Behavior and Respiration

2nd: Bubba Smith

Identifying Potential Points of Failure in Blood Product Cold Chain Transport at a Texas University Hospital: Blood Product Temperature Tracking Device

3rd: Isabella Mattison, Audel Chavez, Adriana King, Mia Ziebold

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) Hematology

Ocean and Earth Sciences

1st: Jaelyn Rodriguez

Subtracting from Strobilation: Does Inhibiting Carotenoid Processing Delay Metamorphosis in Cassiopea xamachana?

2nd: Cathy Verneuil

Impacts of an Acute and Chronic Temperature Decrease and Increase on Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica)

3rd: Dylan Buchmiller

Biological Snowfall: Analyzing Marine Snow Microstructure and Composition

People’s Choice

Noah Jansen

Overall Undergraduate Winner-

Dylan Buchmiller, Lillie Cochran, Ayden Horton, Cadence Housman, Noah Jansen, Camari Knox

Graduate Oral Presentations

1st: Justin Cerv

Preliminary results of the depositional history of Kuwait Bay for the past millennium suggest a spatially and temporally variable mix of autochthonous and allochthonous sediment

2nd: Cole Robbins

The Role of Estuarine Antecedent Geology in Shaping Marine Geohazards and Storm Surge Infrastructure: A Comparison of the Dutch Maeslant Barrier and the Proposed Bolivar Gate System in Galveston Bay (USA)

3rd: Vanessa Fernandez-Rodriguez

Integrating Experimental Design into Marine Invertebrate Zoology Labs: A Focus on Annelid Worms