The Student Research Symposium is an annual celebration of student research at Utah State. Hosted in April, the symposium features hundreds of presentations and represents every college and department at USU. Presenters are invited to share their work in the form of a poster, oral presentation accompanied by a slide deck, creative performance, or art exhibit. Students who participate in the event receive feedback from evaluators to improve their presentation and research skills. This year's winners, as determined by the evaluators, are listed below.
Date
April 6-7, 2026
Location
Merrill-Cazier Library
- Registration Opens: February 1
- Registration Closes: February 15
- Workshop: Better Visual Design: Time & Location TBD
- Material Submission Deadline: TBD
- Student Research Symposium: April 7-8
Best Presentation Awards from SRS 2026
Arts & Humanities
Graduate Oral
Madison Maw-Carlstrom
Prison Security Classification and Lived Experiences of Fairness and Punishment Within the Michigan Department of Corrections
Undergraduate Oral
Brooklyn Hibshman
What Makes a Monster? Vampires as the Simplification of War
Undergraduate Poster
Rivkah Haubner
Restorative Justice in Cache Valley: Building Community Resilience through Restorative Practices
Engineering
Graduate Poster
Amr Ellethy
Mechanistic Evaluation of PPCPs Impact on Soil-Plant Systems: Linking Contaminant Bioaccumulation to Physiological Stress in Biosolid-Amended Soils
Graduate Oral
Bradley Lawson
Harnessing the Filamentous Fungi Fusarium venenatum for Cadmium Removal
Undergraduate Poster
Tansley Mazurkiewicz
Digital Twin of a Rotating Algae Biofilm Reactor
Undergraduate Oral
Phoenix Sestak
Into the Mist: Decoding the Physics of Multiphase Spray Behaviors
Life Science
Graduate Poster
Matthew White
Estimating the Impact of Climate Change on Maple Syrup Production
Graduate Oral
Joseph Varre
You are What you Eat Eats
Undergraduate Poster
Elena Green
Beaver Fever: Giardia duodenalis in North American Beavers (Castor canadensis) Located in Utah
Undergraduate Oral
Bella Staheli
Hailey Sheppard
Milly Francis
Moira Orton
Mathematical Disease Modeling Chicken Pox
Physical Science
Graduate Poster
Reagan Watrin
Benchmarking AutoML Performance on Limited Training Sets
Graduate Oral
Samantha Johnstone
Alteration of Quartz Luminescence and Soil Properties due to Wildfire Exposure
Undergraduate Poster
Carlie Prinster
Power Approximation Using R
Social Science & Education
Graduate Poster
Sydnee Jensen
The Impact of AI Data Centers in the Arid West
Graduate Oral
Sam Schmuhl
Prison Security Classification and Access to Programs and Opportunities
Undergraduate Poster
Michael Popa
Developing Training and Streamlining Training Management Process for Smithfield Fire Department Employees in AHA, NAEMT, and AAP Certifications
Undergraduate Oral
Shanna Peterson
Emma Horning
Recreation and Older Adults in Utah
For questions about the symposium, contact Thomas Sorenson.