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  The Autocrat Influence on International Organization Design

  Zachary Billot

  Research Question: How do different regime types, namely autocracies, design international organizations (IO)?

  Summary of Results: Pooling and delegation generally have a positive correlation to increase in democracy. Pooling and Delegation generally have a negative correlation to average member state GDP. Social IOs Pool and Delegate more than political IOs compared to Economic IOS. Impact of # of Member States has a mixed effect: Fixed Effects models -, + in other models. Regional Impacts pronounced for Africa, Asia, Americas compared to Europe.

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  Determinants of Gun Violence in America

  Rick Fuller

  Gun violence is on the rise in America. 74.5% increase between 2014-2022. 55.2% increase in Gun Safety Legislation. Constitutional Carry adopted by 27 states. Suicide rates skew gun violence statistics.

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  The Association Between Parent-Adolescent Communication about Sex and Risk-Aware Sexual Health Knowledge in Latino College Students

  Jacquelyn Rodriguez

  Timing and Content of Parent-Adolescent Sex Communication: Puberty discussions as gateway to sex discussions (Miller et al., 2009; O’Sullivan et al., 2001), Abstinence-based (Grossman et al., 2013; Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2006), Shame, embarrassment, or fear (Goldfarb et al., 2015; O’Sullivan et al., 2001), Information guarding (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2006; Rouvier et al., 2011).

  Gender, Cultural, and Religious Influences on Communication: Marianismo: “pure and asexual” (Wood & Price, 1997); Sex-negative talk vs. sex-neutral or positive talk (Evans et al., 2019; Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2019; Sevilla et al., 2016); Mothers are main communications with all genders (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2019; Goldfarb et al., 2015)

  Rationale: Fastest-growing ethnic group: 23% increase since 2010; Large youth population. Higher rates of health disparities for negative sexual outcomes. Low rates of parent-adolescent sex communication (Hutchinson, 2004; O’Sullivan et al., 2002).

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  Sensitive Capacitance Measurements of the Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene

  Vergil Schreiber, Justin Alvarez, and Joshua Island

  Research on how electrons respond to confinement holds potential for breakthroughs in quantum computing and more energy efficient electronics. In intense magnetic fields and near-zero temperatures, electrons in confined to 2D display unique quantum behaviors. These conditions quantize electron motion into circular orbits, resulting in discrete Landau energy levels.

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  Education Gender Gaps in the Mountain West

  Miguel A. Soriano Ralston

  Discusses education gender gaps in the Mountain West using existing data. This data involves higher-education achievements, on-time graduations, and test scores for Math and English. Some possible causes for the gender gap are discussed as well as some policy recommendations.

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  A Scorpion's Sting: Coming-of-Age Vignettes Focalized on Modern Las Vegas Youth Culture

  Vlada Stark

  Explored themes: mother and daughter relationships, large immigrant community in Las Vegas, adolescent platonic and romantic relationships, hardships of girlhood, abundancy of sex work, increased substance abuse, importance of creative youth culture, disparity between Las Vegas as a city and local life.

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  Social Media: Factors that Impact Sports

  John Wilke

  Sports have been a popular form of entertainment for centuries and have become more refined over time. As new forms of sports entertainment emerges, various factors will play a significant role in how much a participant will earn. This study will focus on social media, specifically Instagram, and how it plays a role in total earnings.

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  Mojave Desert Children's Picture Book

  Kaesee Bourne

  Why the Mojave? Climate Change in the Mojave; Animals reaching thresholds; Current picture books available.

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  Insights into Early-stage Inbreeding Depression in Hawaiian Metrosideros

  Rosalie Chaleunsouck

  Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness of offspring resulting from the conception of two genetically related gametes. Selfing, the fusion of gametes from the same individual, is the most extreme form of inbreeding, common in many plant species. Inbreeding depression is most prevalently seen at the seed-development stage (Levin, 1981).

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  Inservice Middle School Teachers' Understanding of Views of Nature of Science (VNOS)

  Merika Charupoom, Emily Carter, and Yasmeen Hernandez

  What is a misconception? A view or opinion that is incorrect based on faulty thinking or understanding. Misconceptions may originate from personal experience, imprecise language, lack of examples and non-examples in concept formation, media representation of phenomena, errors in logic, and textbooks. Often occurs from the inconsistency in science curriculums among instittuions and education systems.

  Effects of Misconceptions: Gap in knowledge/understanding that is taught from teacher to student; Decrease in the academic success of students.

  Nevada is ranked 49th in educational attainment, 42nd in school quality, 46th in best school systems in America.

  One way to help us understand whether science educators have a strong foundational understanding of science is to measure the perception of science called the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS).

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  Closing the Racial Gap: The Lack of Diverse Faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Nevada, Reno

  Olivia K. Cheche

  How does faculty racial diversity compare to student racial diversity at UNLV and UNR? How do faculty salaries affect this diversity? What policy recommendations can be implemented to attract more racially diverse academics to UNLV and UNR?

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  The State of Mental Health in the Mountain West

  Olivia K. Cheche, Kristian Thymianos, and Katie M. Gilbertson

  How do the Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) perform in the quality of mental health care services? How prevalent are mental health issues in the Mountain West? How accessible is the mental health workforce to adults and youth?

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  The Effectiveness of Using Motor Imagery as an Alternative to Exercise for Improving Mental Health

  Madelyn Colbert

  Exercise shown to improve mental health in variety of health histories. MIT shown to improve physical health in a variety of conditions when tested alone. Mental health problems and SUD have high comorbidity rates. Exercise shown to be effective recovery therapy for SUD.

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  Financial Literacy as it Relates to Food Insecurity

  Allister C. Dias

  In reference to individual-level financial literacy: 1. What role does financial literacy play in determining food security? 2. What affect does race/ethnicity play in the likelihood of being food insecure? How does the effect of financial literacy vary across the dimension of race/ethnicity?

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  The Effect of COVID-19 on the Low-Wage Workforce Nationwide

  Katie Gilbertson

  Key Takeaways: 1. Each low-wage occupation pays less than the mean hourly wage in their respective MSA. 2. Least amount of wage variance among MSAs in 2019. 3. In Las Vegas 2/3 of occupational wages increased, but employment dropped in 14/15 occupations. Leisure and hospitality occupations hardest hit and slowest to recover.

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  Associations Between State Regulations and Midwifery Workforce Access

  Acacia Herndon

  Background: U.S is worst in maternal care; Credible support for CNMs as a solution; Independent licensing has been ineffective; Other factors may influence access

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  Hybrid Incompatibilities in Metrosideros

  Jacyln Martinez

  Prediction: Postzygotic reproductive isolating barriers, relating to hybrid incompatibilities are contributing to the speciation of Metrosideros

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  Determining the effects of a commonly used cystic fibrosis antibiotic on nonmucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa reversion

  Vanessa Meza-Perez

  Summary: 1. CF lung environment selects for mutations in Pa --> Mucoid 2. Mucoid can revert to nonmucoid 3. Reversion rate w/ antibiotic vs. Reversion rate w/o antibiotic 4. Induced reversion as a potential CF therapeutic strategy

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  Dispersion in High Temperature Superconductors

  Lazar Novakovic

  Superconductors are used in many different industries: Efficient power transmission, Maglev train, MRIs

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  Traffic Deaths In Southern Nevada: Making Roadways Safer For Nevadans

  Miguel A. Soriano Ralston

  Southern Nevada accounts for the majority of traffic deaths in Nevada. It remains one of the highest-ranked areas in pedestrial deaths. The leading types of these fatalities are impared driving, pedestrians, and speeding-related.

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  Intertribal Band

  Lydia Wolfe

  Research Journey: Class Project (1) Read article by Ed Johnson - school band traveling world in early 1900s (2) What happened to the band after this tour? Not much documentation was found on early school band years (3) Oftentimes extracurricular activities are overlooked in research (4) Looking deeper can sometimes lead to bigger revelations of the student body

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  Locating a Marketplace at the Ancient Maya City of Lakamha', Mexico using the Configurational Approach

  Lydia Wolfe and Jonathan Roldan

  Research Goal: Test configurational approach (Rejected markets, Confirmed markets), Propose market location at Lakamha', Mexico

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  Van Der Waals Heterostructure Engineered Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect

  Justin Alvarez, Kayla Cerminara, and Joshua Island Ph.D.

  The quantum anomalous hall effect (QAHE) is a phase of matter in which a dissipationless current is made to flow around the edge of a two dimensional (2D) material. Making use of this effect for next generation electronics could lead to faster processors and low power devices. There are very few materials that exist in nature that intrinsically possess the QAHE, however by sandwiching target 2D materials together we can establish this highly sought after phase. By using three 2D materials: graphene, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and chromium tri-iodide (CrI3) forming a van der Waals heterostructure we can create a proximity induced magnetism effect. Here, we took highly sensitive capacitance measurements of graphene on MoS2 devices at low temperatures and high magnetic fields. By taking measurements of the penetration field capacitance vs charge density and polarization of a graphene and MoS2 device at 2 Kelvin and zero external magnetic field, we are able to see the charge neutrality point in graphene and the conduction band of MoS2. Using this method of capacitance measurements we plan to integrate thin CrI3 flakes into our graphene and MoS2 devices to develop a full device to study the proximity induced QAHE.

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  'Wait, Twilight is a Thing Again?': Examining the Ways in Which Different Social Groups Navigate the Complex Cultural Issues in Twilight

  Veronica Buchanan

  The four books and five movies in the extremely popular Twilight series give readers and viewers a lot to unpack, in both good ways and bad, and have led to fierce debates over the place the series should have in our culture, especially in regard to gender politics. However, most of the discussions of these texts and their cultural impact have tended to lack a robust, intersectional feminist perspective, one that attends to issues not only of gender, but also race, class, and sexuality. This research draws on both fan studies and feminist media studies to examine the various ways that Twilight fans, non-fans, and anti-fans engage with gender, sexuality, race, and other cultural issues in the Twilight series. Utilizing group interviews with participants who are diverse both in terms of marginalized identities and fan/non-fan/anti-fan status, my research draws upon multiple qualitative methods to examine the various ways in which audiences interpret and make sense of these texts and the larger debates surrounding them. I argue that in order to better understand how popular culture and media texts operate, feminist researchers must take into account not only the differing ways in which audiences negotiate meanings, but the limits of their own perspectives and methodologies, and make a conscious effort to diversify and expand their approaches when studying popular media.

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  Girls in STEM Day: From Space to DNA, An Analysis of Middle School Girls' Interests in STEM Fields

  Emily Carter

  Research specifically targeted at youth participation in STEM highlights the importance of community engagements outside of school to bolster interest in STEM. We ask the research questions: (1) How do girls who engage with a day-long STEM event at UNLV perceive hands-on science activities? (2) How did girls’ enjoyment of science activities shift their interest in science topics? The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence middle school girls’ interests in STEM fields through a day-long STEM event. This research was conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2020 called Girls in STEM Day that hosts middle school girls in local minority populations (n=93). Participants attended two workshops, one that was Biology and Chemistry based, and one Physics and Astronomy based. Students’ interests in the respective science fields were assessed through exit tickets, free response questions answered on notecards. Of the students who attended the Biology and Chemistry, then Physics and Astronomy workshops, 79.7% and 91.2% respectively indicated an increased interest in STEM-based on the hands-on workshop activity and knowledge learned. The authors of this study contribute specific examples indicating middle school girls’ interests in STEM-based on experiences in a day-long STEM event.