The 2026 University of New Mexico McNair Scholars Research Conference

Session #3, 10:35 to 10:55 a.m. SUB Top Floor Various Rooms
-----Scroll to the bottom to view abstracts in the Sched App or PDF----
Presentations:
Carrillo, Darianna - Major: Psychology , Our Lady of the Lake University
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Fiesta B
Title: Balancing Dreams: The Struggles of Latina University Students. 
 
Espitia, Nancy - Major: Psychology, California State University of Monterey Bay
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Santa Ana B
Title: Differences in Facial Prominence of Women and Men on the Covers of Popular Mexican Magazines

Griffus, Trinity - Major: Biology, University of New Mexico
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Acoma A
Title: Enhancing Sunflower Growth in Extraterrestrial Regolith through the use of Mycorrhizae Fungi and Supplemental Nutrients

Lademo, Ireti - Major: Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Acoma B
Title: Helping Children with Loss - Instrument 

Noriega, Dorian - Major: Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Isleta
Title: Evaluating Non-Invasive Methods to Control a Robotic Arm for High-Level Tetraplegics

Ortiz-Rodriguez , Rocio  - Major: Animal Science , Washington State University
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Lobo A
Title: Genetic Influences on Canine Feeding Behavior: Investigating Variations in ASIP and MC4R Genes

Salazar Contreras, Alicia - Major: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Luminaria
Title: “Sopa de Pescado”: Spanish Language Passage Development for the
Differential Diagnosis of Motor Speech Disorders 

Sanders, Emily - Major: Psychology, University of New Mexico
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Santa Ana A
Title: Intersecting Identities: How Ethnic Identity, Discrimination, and BMI Shape Internalized Weight Bias

Vitt, Sarah - Major: Chemistry and Earth Science, University of Northern Colorado
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Lobo B
Title: Noble Metal Nanoparticles and their Photocatalytic Properties using Polymer Ligands

Winters, Shauntrell - Major: Theatre (Biology Minor), Northeastern Illinois University
Oral Presentation Session #3, Room: Fiesta A
Title: Not All Heroes Wear Capes

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