The 2026 University of New Mexico McNair Scholars Research Conference

Oral Presentation Session #10, 2:40 to 3:00 p.m.
-----Scroll to the bottom to view abstracts in the Sched App or PDF----
Presentations:
An, Cris - Major: Forensic Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Fiesta A
Title: A Call to Reconsider Coercion as Carceral Practice: Analyzing the Absence of Critical Discourse of Coercive Measures in U.S. Child Adolescent Psychiatry Compared to International Contexts

Brown, Collin - Major: Neuroscience and Cognitive Science | Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Arizona
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Lobo B
Title: Adaptive Control of Spatial Orienting Behaviors During Dynamic Movement

Canaday, Candis - Major: English, University of New Mexico
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Santa Ana B
Title: Accessibility and diversity in Open Educational Resources

Castro, Gilberto - Major: Double Major: Criminology & Psychology, Our Lady of the Lake University
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Fiesta B
Title: Thinking Like the Predator: 
Cognitive Profiling and Behavioral Analysis in Serial Killer Investigation

Dalton, Edmonde Beverly - Major: Criminal Justice and Psychology, Florida International University
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Luminaria
Title: Culturally Responsive Mentorship: Addressing Conduct Behaviors in Second-Generation Immigrant Youth
 
Eddy, Emily - Major: Psychology, Washington State University
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Santa Ana A
Title: Impact of Adolescent Isolation and Cannabis Exposure on Brain Development and Behavior

Ejekwu, Ugonna  - Major: Biology and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Acoma A
Title: mVenus as a Reporter for the saeS, braS, and graS Genes in Staphylococcus aureus

Gonzalez, David - Major: Mathematics (Pure and Applied) and Computer Science, University of Northern Colorado
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Lobo A
Title: Exploring the Efficiency of Neuro-Symbolic Generative AI with Logic-Based Learning

Murphy, Theo - Major: Microbiology, California Polytechnic University Humboldt
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Trailblazer/Spirit
Title: From Moss to Microbes: Overcoming Microbial DNA Extraction Challenges in Sphagnum Moss

Smith, Risa - Major: Biochemistry, University of New Mexico
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Isleta
Title: Identification of Potential Molecular Interference of Lipids and Micro(nano)plastics During Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Analysis

Vasquez, Kassandra - Major: Marketing, Information Systems and Art (Triple Major), New Mexico State University
Oral Presentation Session #10, Room: Acoma B
Title: Exploring Public Perception and Ethical Boundaries of AI in Marketing Systems through Social Media Discourse

Oral Presentation Information for presenters:

• Format: 12-minute presentation, and 3 minutes for Q&A (15 min. total).  Please do not go over your allotted time so that everyone can have a full 15 minutes.
• Organization of presentations:  To enhance your presentation experience at our conference, there will be evaluators and moderators (faculty, staff and grad students) in attendance that will fill out evaluation forms to provide feedback to presenters. Therefore, your presentation will be at the exact time and location as it appears in the schedule. We will not deviate even if there is a no-show.
• Please bring your presentation saved onto a thumb drive/USB drive.  Please arrive at your presentation room early, locate the moderator and ask them to assist you in copying your presentation to the laptop desktop before the session begins.  Then eject your USB drive.  Open up your presentation and make sure it works properly.
• For more information about presentation format, equipment, etc click this link