Honors Thesis Award Recipients - University of Houston
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Honors Thesis Award Recipients

2024

  • Raul Caballero Montes

    Thesis: Stem Cells in Pancreatic Cancers: Diversity, Treatment, and Interactions with Microenvironment
    Major: Biology
    Mentor: Frank McKeon

  • Melanie Adhikary

    Thesis: Exercising Agency in the Domestic Sphere: Imagining Womanhood and Sacrifice
    Major: English
    Mentor: Amanda Ellis

  • Sarah Belew

    Thesis: University Student Support, Engagement, and Well-being
    Major: Psychology
    Mentor: Olivia E. Atherton

  • Megan Dagnall

    Thesis: University of Houston: The Expansion and Erasure of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, 1961-2024
    Major: History
    Mentor: Debbie Harwell

  • Alivia Mayfield

    Thesis: Alexander the Great: A Historiography of Power
    Major: History
    Mentor: José Hernández

  • Andrew Chase

    Thesis: Encased Utopias: A Case Study of Three Hungarian Panelház Estates
    Major: Architecture
    Mentor: Deepa Ramaswamy

  • James Valentine

    Thesis: Bolt looseness monitoring using percussion and clustering machine learning methods
    Major: Mechanical Engineering
    Mentor: Gangbing Song

2023

  • Ashlíta Acuña-Mena

    Thesis: Constraints, Resourcefulness, and Resilience in the Immigrant Latinx Community: Alternative Health Promotion Strategies for Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management
    Major: Liberal Studies
    Mentor: Zelma Oyarvide Tuthill

  • Triciajane Asuncion

    Thesis: About Time: Redressing the Runway
    Major: Architecture
    Mentor: Sheryl Tucker de Vazquez

  • Tatiana Haddad

    Thesis: "We Have to Survive": An Ethnographic Field Study of Tourism and the Bedouins in Wadi Rum, Jordan
    Major: Anthropology
    Mentor: Susan Rasmussen

  • Andrew Medina

    Thesis: Blurring the Borderlands
    Major: Architecture
    Mentor: Dalia Munenzon Titelboim

  • Alfonso Reyes

    Thesis: A Partial Sarcology: Short Stories on Identity
    Major: English, Creative Writing
    Mentor: Margot Backus

  • Ritu Sampige

    Thesis: Exploring the Relationship Between Parental Mental Health and Parental Perceptions of Infant Vulnerability
    Major: Honors Biomedical Sciences
    Mentor: Leslie Frankel

  • Veera Venkata Ramprajwal Vempatti

    Thesis: Rate enhancement effects of methane steam reforming over dynamic Ruthenium catalysts
    Major: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    Mentor: Lars Grabow

2022

  • Karina Bhattacharya

    Thesis: Design Practice in Support of Capitalism: Industrial Design and Cold War Consumer Politics
    Major: Industrial Design
    Mentor: Michael Kubo

  • Thomas Carroll

    Thesis: DUE-STR: A Heuristic Extension Of The Selfless Traffic Routing Model Utilizing Dynamic User Equilibrium
    Major: Computer Science
    Mentor: Albert M. K. Cheng

  • Giovanna De Vita Sifontes

    Thesis: Scaffold Design for Photogrowable Nanonetworks and Pre-Evaluation for Orthogonal Nanoparticle Expansion
    Major: Biochemistry and Biophysics
    Mentor: Eva Harth

  • Jose Emiliano Esparza Pinelo

    Thesis: A Unbiased Approach on the Conformational Dynamics of In-Solution Fibrinogen and Its Physiological Implications
    Major: Biology
    Mentor: Mehmet Sen

  • Tara Georgeson

    Thesis: Pathways to Vassalage in Tierra Firme: Conflict, Negotiation, and Rebellion in Early Colonial Panama
    Major: History
    Mentor: Norah Gharala

  • Audrey Gale Hall

    Thesis: Leprous Transsexuals: A Queer Midrash Reading of Vayikra/Leviticus 13-14
    Major: Religious Studies
    Mentor: Caryn Tamber-Rosenau

  • Ambarina Hasta

    Thesis: En Route to the Ahlul Bayt: Shia Narrative and Symbolism through Pilgrimage, Imagery, and Politics
    Major: World Cultures and Literatures
    Mentor: Cyrus Contractor

  • Cassidy Lee

    Thesis: The LGBTQ+ Immigrant Experience: From Immigration to Integration in the United States
    Major: Political Science
    Mentor: Michelle Belco

  • Fuko Nara

    Thesis: Rethinking Health Awareness
    Major: Architecture
    Mentor: Ross Wienert

  • Jack O'Connell

    Thesis: The Institution of Political Violence in the Late Roman Republic
    Major: History
    Mentor: Kristina Neuman

  • David Rincon

    Thesis: Cycles of the Columbia Tap
    Major: Architecture
    Mentor: Robert Burrow

  • Andreina Ruiz

    Thesis: Reception of Transgender Women in Online Women-Loving-Women Spaces
    Major: Sociology
    Mentor: Amanda Baumle

2021

  • Dua Abidi

    Sectarian Division in Islam: A Comparative Analysis of the Historical and Contemporary Shia-Sunni Schism

    History

    Mentor: Irene Guenther

  • Benjamin Diaz Villa

    Aerodynamic Modelling of Leading-Edge Slat Morphing in Low Reynolds Number Flow

    Mechanical Engineering

    Mentor: Ralph Metcalfe

  • Cristobella Durrette

    Lenses: Reading Palestine Then and Now

    Creative Work

    Mentor: Max Rayneard

  • Matthew Flores

    What hands are capable of

    Poetry

    Mentor: Roberto Tejada

  • Kat Newman

    The Cisnormative Wall: Distinguishing Gazes in Modern American Television and Film Featuring Transgender Characters (2013-2020)

    Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

    Mentor: Guillermo De Los Reyes

  • Verónica Ordóñez Ferrer

    Narrative & The Brain: Using Fiction and Dance to Cope with Crisis

    English

    Mentor: Ann Christensen

  • Sangeetha Ranadeeve

    Using Twitter Data to Examine Compassion Fatigue in Frontline Healthcare Workers Before and After the Onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic

    Business

    Mentor: Elizabeth Anderson Fletcher

  • Laura Taylor

    Stable Isotopes of Macrofossils and Bulk Carbonates from the Late Miocene to Pleistocene Santa Rosalía Basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Geology

    Mentor: Emily Beverly

  • Elena Torre

    Fault Tolerance in a Two-State Checkpointing Regularity-Based System

    Computer Science

    Mentor: Albert M. K. Cheng

  • Jaelynn Walls

    Speculative Portraiture: The Imagined Black Body in Contemporary Art

    Art History

    Mentor: Nataliee Harren

  • Naomi Zidon

    Agnès Varda and the Reinvention of the Flâneuse

    English

    Mentor: Paul Butler

2020

  • Laila Abbasi

    Propaganda in literature: A study of the Encomium Emmae Reginae and the writings of Robert of Torigni as propaganda for Emma of Normandy and the Empress Matilda

    History

    Mentor: Sally Vaughn

  • Amanda Beck

    Misleading and misinterpreting the American youth: "Little Orphan Annie" and the orphan myth in the twentieth century

    English

    Mentor: Marina Trninic

  • Florencia Caceres Ferreira

    Representations of influences in the identities of young migrant girls of the borderlands and their relationship to gender, childhood, and motherhood

    English

    Mentor: Amanda Ellis

  • Jacob Foreman

    The anti-civilizational queer: Reconceiving the subject-subject consciousness of the radical faeries

    Liberal Studies

    Mentor: Margot Backus

  • Logan French

    Petrography, geochemistry, and geochronology of Cretaceous Porphyry intrusives near Red Lode, Montana

    Geology

    Mentor: Virginia Sisson

  • Shu Ning Hiew

    Development of a Monte Carlo algorithm for the prediction of acid site distribution in zeolites

    Chemical Engineering

    Mentor: Lars Grabow

  • Wafa-e-fatima Kazmi

    Civilian voices from the Iraq War: Profiles of Iraqi refugees in Houston

    Communication Sciences and Disorders

    Mentor: Hayan Charara

  • Alyssa Lezcano

    The trickle-down effect of academic mentoring

    Psychology

    Mentor: Christiane Spitzmueller

  • Manuel Martinez Alvarenga

    Finding home in the Sunbelt: A study of Salvadoran activism in Houston 1980-1999

    History

    Mentor: Mark Goldberg

  • Débora Mroczek

    Searching for the quantum chromodynamic critical point

    Physics and Mathematics

    Mentor: Claudia Ratti

  • Emma Tan

    The Porter, Lady Macbeth, and the theme of spoiled hospitality

    Liberal Studies

    Mentor: Ann Christensen

2019

  • Kelli Anderson

    Tracing the Origins of Medieval Castle Architecture: Were the Normans Innovators or Influenced by Others

    History

    Mentor: Sally Vaughn

  • Abdulwausay Ansari

    Reasons and Decay: Still Too Many Reasons

    Philosophy

    Mentor: Justin Coates

  • Britnee Chuor

    Asian-American Political Participation: The Consequences of Social Invisibility and Political Alienation

    Political Science

    Mentor: Elizabeth Simas

  • Tayler Hedtke

    Synthesis of Graphene Oxide - Polyacrylic Acid Coated Reverse Osmosis Membranes

    Chemical Engineering

    Mentor: Debora Frigi Rodrigues

  • Robert Laroche

    Exploration of a Holey Version of an NK Fitness Landscape

    Biology

    Mentor: Ricardo Azevedo

  • William Jacob Little

    Pleasantly as the Human Condition Allows: Hobbes on Happiness and Sovereign Duty

    Political Science

    Mentor: Jeremy Bailey

  • Kevin McCaslin

    Market Feasibility Study for a Hypothetical Japanese-Branded Hotel to be Located in Houston, Texas

    Hotel and Restaurant Management

    Mentor: Yooh Koh

  • Lydia Mousa

    The Air We Share

    English

    Mentor: Chatwara Duran 

  • Mandana Naviafar

    Virginia Woolf and The Narrative Strategies of a Feminine Tradition; A Room of One's Own, Mrs. Dalloway, A Sketch of the Past

    English

    Mentor: David Mikics 

  • Giulia Schirripa

    Jannis Kounellis and Carla Lonzi: The Appropriation of the Workerism Movement’s Idea in Untitled (12 Horses) andAutoritratto

    Art History

    Mentor: Natilee O. Harren

  • Tim Seiter

    Karankawas: Reexamining Texas Gulf Coast Cannibalism

    History

    Mentor: David Rainbow

  • Michelle Tran

    Estimating the Impact of Preparatory Teaching Experiences on Teacher Retention

    Economics

    Mentor: Natalia A. Zhivan

  • Emily Watlington

    Associations Between Trait and State Levels of Authenticity and Conversation Quality

    Psychology

    Mentor: Chip Knee

2018

  • Ahad Azimuddin

    Bangladesh 1971: Narratives of a Forgotten Genocide

    Honors Biomedical Sciences

    Mentor: Irene V. Guenther

  • Anjay Batra

    Understanding Genetic Information as Property: Original Ownership, Transfer, and Innovation in the Field of Genetics

    Honors Biomedical Sciences

    Mentor: Jessica Roberts

  • Saraa Husain

    Babylon to Baghdad

    Architecture

    Mentor: William C. Truitt

  • Marina Ibraheim

    The Specificity of Emotion Dysregulation in Adolescents with Borderline Personality Disorder: Comparison with Psychiatric and Healthy Controls

    Psychology

    Mentor: Carla Sharp

  • Hadiqa Memon

    The Role of Acceptance when Implementing Innovation in Hospitals

    Supply Chain Management

    Mentor: Elizabeth Anderson Fletcher

  • Micaela Rodriguez

    Experiencing Intersectional Marginality: A First-Generation College Student’s Personal Narrative

    Human Development and Family Studies

    Mentor: Leslie Ann Frankel

  • Jacob Rose

    Properties of Strongly Interacting Matter

    Physics

    Mentor: Claudia Ratti

  • Chathuri Wickramaratne

    Confocal Laser Fluorescence Microscopy to Measure Oil Concentration in Treated Produced Water

    Chemical Engineering

    Mentor: Hanadi Rifai

2017

  • Rawan Almallahi

    Degradation of Bio-Based Epoxy Resins

    Chemical Engineering

    Engineering

    Mentor: Megan Robertson

  • Francisco Blanco

    Bryostatin-1 Effects on Mammalian Unc13 Isoforms in Hippocampal Derived HT22 Cells

    Biology

    Natural Sciences & Mathematics

    Mentor: Joydip Das

  • Stephen Netzley

    Linking Safety Climate to Risk Perceptions: A Moderated Model of Accidents, Safety Climate, and Risk Perceptions

    Psychology

    Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    Mentor: Christiane Spitzmuller

  • Samantha Noel

    Intra-Word Variability in Bilingual Children With Hearing Loss Who Use Cochlear Implants and Their Normal Hearing Peers

    Communication Sciences and Disorders

    Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    Mentor: Ferenc Bunta

  • Alex Paul

    The First World War Hunger Blockade of Germany

    History

    Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    Mentor: Irene Guenther

  • Ariana Peruzzi

    Consequentialism and the Challenge of Love

    Philosophy

    Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    Mentor: Daniel Coates

  • Minahil Samee

    Optimization of Race Track Trajectories to Minimize Lap Completion Time

    Mechanical Engineering

    Engineering

    Mentor: Ralph Metcalfe

  • Priyanka Savant

    The Impact of Implementing Smart Solutions in the Oil and Gas Industry

    Management Information Science

    Business

    Mentor: Richard Scammel

  • Ane Slabic

    U-Th-Pb Chronology of Fish Bone in Petroleum Source Rocks: An Example from the Eagle Ford Group, Texas

    Earth & Atmospheric Science

    Natural Sciences and Mathematics

    Mentor: Thomas Lapen

  • Chance Smith

    College Students' Opinions on Salient Social Issues: Thesis, Theory, & Pilot Study

    Sociology

    Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

    Mentor: Anthony Dworkin