The 2026 University of New Mexico McNair Scholars Research Conference

Session #1, 9:45 to 10:05 a.m. SUB Top Floor - Various Rooms. 
-----Scroll to the bottom to view abstracts in the Sched App or PDF----
Presentations:
Barrey, Aubrie - Major: Psychology , University of Northern Colorado
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Santa Ana A
Title: Does Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Environmentlist Identity Better Explain Climate Anxiety?

Carey, Joseph - Major: History, University of Cincinnati
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Fiesta A
Title: Rival Kings: The Interpretive Styles of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras

Hernandez, Renae - Major: Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Lobo B
Title:  Honoring the Coyote: Studying Human and Coyote Connections

King, Raven - Major: Nursing, West Texas A&M University
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Acoma B
Title: Foster Care Youth Transitioning into Adulthood and Higher Education 

Le, Amanda - Major: 1. Medicine 2. Public and Applied Humanities, University of Arizona
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Isleta
Title: Hispanic Health and Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis of the Longitudinal Literature

Lopez, Elena  - Major: Speech & Hearing Sciences, University of New Mexico
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Luminaria
Title: Vocabulary Growth of Preschoolers Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Mackay, Senai - Major: Psychology, Washington State University
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Santa Ana B
Title: The Relationship Between Cluster C Personality Disorders and the Relational Self-Schema

Sigona, Jonathan - Major: Mathematics, University of Arizona
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Acoma A
Title: FiberWalk: A Probabilistic Model of Plant Root Architecture

Slayton, Savannah - Major: Political Science, The University of Oklahoma
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Fiesta B
Title: "Exploring the Legacy of Colonialism on Oklahoma Education: Using Historical Foundations of Education in Oklahoma to Understand Contemporary Education in Oklahoma and Its Impacts on Native Youth.”

Zurschmiede , Zachary  - Major: Social Science, Michigan Technological University
Oral Presentation Session #1, Room: Lobo A
Title: Artistic and Emotive Policy Intersections in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park

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