Valerie Kuehne Undergraduate Research Awards (VKURA)

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This UVic award provides an opportunity for first year students to gain research-enriched and applied experiences in their discipline or field of study. Students gain first-hand experience in planning and undertaking research or creative works.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 139

EUROSEM: The Politics of the European Semester: EU Coordination and Domestic Political Institutions
(2022-09-07) Hopewell, Oliver
This project looks at the workings and political implications of the European Semester, a policy coordination tool within the European Union (Verdun et al., 2019). I will undergo a literature review to compare existing federal states such as the United States and Switzerland, to the European Union, as EUROSEM seeks to coordinate member states more closely (Verdun et al., 2019), similar to the workings of federal states. I will also examine the implementation records of each member state, as relating to the Country-Specific Recommendations (Verdun et al., 2019) issued by the European Union. Moreover, I will look at non-academic work on the European Semester, to create a dissemination portal to grow public knowledge on the processes of the European Union and European Semester. Finally, I will assist on final deliverables for the EUROSEM grant, such as project summaries and reviewing academic papers. Bibliography: Verdun, A., D’Erman, V., & Schure, P. (2019). EUROSEM – The Politics of the European Semester: EU Coordination and Domestic Political Institutions. EUROSEM The Politics of the European Semester: EU Coordination and Domestic Political Institutions. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/eurosem/
Indigenous Education and Residential Schools: 1867-1910
(2022-09-07) Shipley, Samuel
This study compiles data from the “Indian Affairs Annual Reports 1864-1990” section of Library and Archives Canada and, using the data, approaches the topic of the indigenous schooling system in the 19th and 20th century. The study examines the shift that occurred in the funding of these schools from the band to the government, and the effects of said shift. The study also examines the various other factors that affected attendance, such as teacher salary and church involvement. The study concludes that a shift did indeed occur, with the most prominent effects being an increase in the teacher salary and student attendance. However, by far the most influential factor in student attendance was teacher salary. The study proposes that future research could more closely examine the long-term effects of the funding shift, as it hypothesizes that diminished influence from the band would lead to more prominent assimilation attempts by the government.
To Share or Not to Share: Exploring the depths of digital identity through an entrepreneurial lens
(2022-09-07) Crowder, Lillian
As founders build and grow their ventures, most establish an entrepreneur identity (Burke, 2016). Today, most founders create and make extensive use of a venture-specific website to support their firms. In advance of this study, we observed that some founders present a well-developed digital identity on their websites, while other founders do not. Existing identity research both online and offline offers little guidance to help explain this observed difference. Moreover, current research on online identity construction is highly fragmented (Huang et al., 2021). This study’s focus is on answering the research question: What accounts for the observed differences in founders’ digital identities online? We undertake to answer this question adopting a qualitative method, conducting 34 depth interviews with founders across Canada. This study’s findings will inform identity control theory (Marcia, 1993), and will help entrepreneur support organizations to better prepare entrepreneurs in managing their digital identities.
Births Through British Columbia's Covid-19 Pandemic
(2022-09-07) Clarke, Colton
Using information gathered on government sites for monthly births by local health area (LCA), yearly population, and unemployment rates, and using local public newspapers for lockdown and travel restriction severity, we perform several regressions that help us determine how the pandemic changed birth rates. Creating a forecasting model for the expected birth rates had the pandemic not happened, but the unemployment rates stayed as they were in the pandemic, for 2020 and 2021, we show different trends based on different census metropolitan areas and British Columbia overall. From November 2020 to December 2021, we find that approximately 95 births are missing in British Columbia overall but there is quite a bit of regional variation, with 1114 missing births in Vancouver, 47 missing births in Victoria, 100 extra births in Abbotsford/Mission, and 280 extra births in Kelowna in that same period.
Alas for Non-Amrin: Writing High-Fantasy from a STEM background
(2022-09-07) Dam, Savannah
This project examines the process of writing a high-fantasy novel from a STEM background. High-fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by the use of a completely alternate world from the main setting. The second draft of the novel, Alas, for Non-Amrin, was completed, with an in-depth analysis, and of editing, the first chapter, and creation, and editing, of a chapter-by-chapter outline. Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi, and The Brothers Lionheart, by Astrid Lindgren, were studied to provide a greater understanding of modern and historical fantasy fiction. Three other works (The Rhythm of War, by Brandon Sanderson, The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin and The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin) were read for a broadening of literary knowledge. A greater appreciation of literature was cultivated, writing skills were further developed and significant progress was made toward the completion of Alas, for Non-Amrin as a whole. Approaching a fictional work from the background of STEM led to a leaning towards more rigid, logical plot structures, and hard-magic systems.
An Assessment of Aging Systems in Zooarchaeology
(2022-09-07) Martiskainen, Ellis
The purpose of my internship was to acquaint myself with the methods that are used to determine the age-at-death of zooarchaeological finds, and to assess whether the systems that have been in use for the past fifty years are adequate. I studied the skeletal anatomy of mammals for some time. Then I did intensive reading of the literature regarding the aging of pigs, goats, sheep and cattle. I found that many aging systems have been based off of small populations of animals or unreliable data. In the future, more aging studies should be done on populations of known-age animals which are allowed to live their full lifespan. I also analyzed some data on goats found at the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük. I found that it is difficult to perfectly replicate aging done via Silver’s (1969) system without seeing bones in person, and noted some biases in which bones survive in the archaeological record.
Polymeric Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery: Exploring the Co-Encapsulation of SN-38 and Curcumin
(2022-09-07) Cazelais, Amélie
Irinotecan is widely used clinically as an anticancer treatment. The active component, SN-38, is used in research, but with limited clinical uses due to factors including low water solubility, and the molecule’s inactivity above a pH of 6. Using the active form of the drug has many advantages. However, SN-38’s hydrophobicity is an issue. The use of polymer nanoparticles (PNPs) can be explored to encapsulate SN-38 in their hydrophobic cores, possibly leading to further clinical uses. PNPs were made by nanoprecipitation using a microfluidic reactor, then were characterized for morphology, size, and drug content. Encapsulation of SN-38 would solve the problem of hydrophobicity but is difficult to achieve. The research explores the increase in encapsulation efficiency of SN-38 PNPs co-loaded with curcumin, a compound from turmeric, compared to SN-38 PNPs alone.
‘What Have We Learned from Market Design?’ Blockchain and The Conditions for a Well-Functioning Market
(2022-09-07) Tarry, Liam
Over the course of my internship the majority of my research was specialized in two fields, those being blockchain technology and its products, and CRISPR technology. With my research on blockchain, it was to help write a paper submitted to Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. This paper was focused on Alvin Roth’s market analysis and comparing it to the conditions of the market of blockchain technologies as to whether it was a well-functioning and efficient market based on its existing characteristics. The second portion of my research on CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology was focused on a paper revolving the idea of how industries should prepare for change highlighting the disruptive technology around CRISPR’s development in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Sooke Hills Wildlife Monitoring Project
(2022-09-07) Monk, Connor
The purpose of this research is to have a network of motion-triggered cameras (“camera traps”) in the Sooke Hills Wilderness Park as well as the Greater Victoria Water Supply Area with the aim of understanding wildlife occupancy and human-wildlife interactions. As human presence increases in regional parks due to increased opportunities for hiking and other activities, wildlife habitat and resource use may be impacted in adverse ways. In addition, there is enhanced likelihood of interactions between humans and wildlife, which can cause concerns particularly if wildlife feel threatened. To address these issues, this project aims to collect photographs of both humans and wildlife throughout the Sooke Hills Park and in the lower Goldstream Watershed, the latter of which will provide a baseline of wildlife occupancy in an area with little human activity. The results from the study will be used to provide the CRD and academic community with new information on park visitation patterns, wildlife occupancy patterns over space and time, and the potential relationships between humans and wildlife throughout this area.
Continuous Addition Kinetic Elucidation
(2022-09-07) Kraft, Denaisha
To identify the order in a catalyst, multiple reactions are usually performed with various catalyst loadings and concentrations. These are time-consuming and difficult to replicate under identical conditions, and particularly challenging in the cases of catalysts that are prone to degradation or poisoning. Continuous Addition Kinetic Elucidation (CAKE) is a method in which catalyst is continuously injected into a reaction while reaction progress is monitored. The resulting plot of the reaction has a shape that is only dependent on the order in reactant(s) and catalyst(s), which provides a powerful tool for determining kinetic information without reproducibility concerns. The plot is independent of the rate constant, the reactant concentration, or the rate of catalyst injection. To test CAKE, oxygen evolution from KI-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide decomposition was studied. In a single reaction, CAKE provides a simple, reliable, and effective method to elucidate kinetic information such as the catalyst and reactant orders, the rate constant, and the amount of catalyst poisoning.
Variations on a Queen: Encoding Speech Prefixes in 1604/1605 Hamlet
(2022-09-07) Mee, Chloe
When I joined the LEMDO team for my internship, the goal for me was to remediate five different old-spelling texts. The texts are being remediated from a project where the encoding standard used to digitise these texts was not Endings-compliant and sustainable in the world of technology. LEMDO is taking on the task of remediating and encoding these texts under the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) standards. I remediated A Midsummer Night’s Dream Quarto One (1600), Hamlet Quarto One (1603), Hamlet Quarto Two (1605), Pericles Quarto One (1609), and Henry the Sixth Part Two Quarto One (1594). After coming across a striking variation in the Queen’s speech prefixes when transcribing Hamlet’s Quarto Two, I directed my research towards investigating variable speech prefixes in early modern playbooks. I focused on the value of this finding for researchers and how it should be encoded in the context of LEMDO’s practice.
Validation of a Testing Apparatus for the Assessment of Shoulder Joint Implants
(2022-09-07) Law, Jaden
Shoulder replacement surgery is important for reducing pain and increasing shoulder function. Moreover, shoulder joint implant testing is crucial for successful surgical outcomes. One aspect of testing is the material used to model the human scapula. Furthermore, ASTM standard F2028-17 requires researchers and orthopaedic companies to use specific materials for testing shoulder joint implants. However, more research is required to determine the optimal model material, specifically for testing reverse shoulder joint implants. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to verify an apparatus to test reverse shoulder joint implants in cadaveric scapulae and the material used in the ASTM standard. The micromotion of the implant inside both materials will be analyzed and the data will be used to determine the optimal model material for testing reverse shoulder joint implants.
Helping Students Connect With Economic History Through B.C.'s Experience With Opiates.
(2022-09-07) Gaffney, Luca
This research was motivated by perceived differences in British Columbia’s historical treatment of opium smokers and other opiate users, even in the 19th century, when recreational opium was legal. The initial aim of this investigation was to explore those differences, and find their origins and consequences. Our evidence was in the form of hundreds of primary sources, previously collected in three sourcebooks. These cases were summarized and tabulated for ease of use, but even after this was done, analysis proved challenging. These difficulties are not unique to our case, and are likely to become more important as students of history make use of the resources available to our data-rich society. With this in mind, we used the lessons learned to create a toolkit to allow undergraduate students and others to move beyond these hurdles and gain insights from large collections of narrative historical case studies.
Cell Culture of Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Efficacy of Lipid Nanoparticles Used in COVID-19 Vaccines
(2022-09-07) Hood, McKayla
Over the summer, I focused on culturing human dermal fibroblasts and writing sections for a review on nanotechnology and its uses during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the dermal fibroblasts, I seeded cells into flasks and took care of them so they could grow well without contamination. Once the flasks had a high enough cell density, I extracted the cells and stored them in liquid nitrogen. I kept a few from the passage to grow more batches. For the COVID-19 review, one of the sections I researched for was on mRNA vaccines and their utilizations of lipid nanoparticles. I primarily focused on the efficacy of using lipid nanoparticles and potential toxic effects of implementing lipid nanoparticles.
Cultural Variation in Barriers to Hiring People with Disabilities
(2022-09-08) Milum, Jessica
Persons with disabilities (PWD) are one of the last groups to have their equal rights recognized. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has (as of 6 May 2022) been ratified by 185 countries (UN, 2022). However, PWD continues to experience barriers in their attempt to gain and maintain employment. Data with regard to the employment rate of PWD is hard to come by. However, PWD are universally underemployed as compared to the base employment rate (Source), and there seems to be a wide variety in the employment rates of PWD around the world (Source). Stone and Colella (1996) identified three clusters of factors that affect the treatment of PWD in organizations. These were the socio political context, the climate of the organization, and managerial attitudes toward PWD. In this study, we explore the extent to which societal culture influences the disability inclusion climate (see Iwanaga et al., 2021) of organizations. We propose that societal culture influences this aspect of the organization through two related mechanisms. The first is that societal culture influences the institutions of society through the goals of these institutions, how they operate, and the rationale for their policies (Thomas & Peterson, 2018). The second mechanism of cultural influence suggests that the disability inclusion climate is a symptom or manifestation of the culturally based values and attitudes of managers.
Investigating Merger-Induced Star Formation with Resolved Spectroscopy
(2022-09-08) Galicia Lozano, Ana Paula
Galaxy mergers are very chaotic events which have been proven, both with observational (Ellison et al. 2008, Thorp et al. 2019) and simulation (Barnes & Hernquist 1991, Hopkins et al. 2013) studies, to drastically alter the morphologies and star formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies. Correspondingly, secular starbursts also exist, showing extreme star formation rates but no sign of a recent merger event. The aim of the project was to determine whether merger starbursts are different from secular starbursts by comparing the average offset in star formation surface densities (ΔΣSFR) of both groups. Using data products from the SDSS Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) newest data release (DR17), we study the average radial profiles of 175 visually classified starburst post-mergers and compare them to the average radial distributions of a control group consisting of secular starburst galaxies. We find that galaxy mergers trigger star formation in their constituents and that post-merger starbursts have, on average, central ΔΣSFR enhancements of ∼0.2 dex and up to ∼0.6 dex in comparison to the average secular starburst behavior. We therefore conclude that starbursts created by interactions are unique in comparison to those created by other secular processes.
Textile tools from the 2007 - 2010 survey at Ancient Eleon
(2022-09-08) Dragushan, Sky
The following research on surveyed textile tools was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Trevor van Damme through the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project (EBAP) in Greece. This research investigates nine incomplete textile tools, and evaluates their uses throughout various ages of antiquity. Primary data was obtained through measuring and weighing the objects. Secondary data was gathered through literature review, which ensured objects were dated with adequate comparanda. My analysis indicates that the presence of a commercial weaving settlement at Ancient Eleon is unlikely, while supporting the hypothesis that domestic weaving was taking place. Additionally, my research highlights the availability and popularity of pottery sherds reworked to be textile tools.
Analyzing the Accuracy of Agent Representations in Crowd Simulations
(2022-09-08) Shatzel, Liam
A crowd simulation is a computer-based simulation of a large number of characters. Crowd simulations are used, with increasing frequency, in fields such as movies, games, building design, and evacuation scenarios. For example, in emergency evacuation scenarios, crowd simulations can be used to predict the behavior of humans in order to test the safety of a building design. The focus of this research is to analyze the accuracy of representations of virtual humans (agents) within crowd simulations. Typically, disks are used to represent agents within crowd simulations, but these can oversimplify the area that an agent occupies. Having accurate representations of agents is necessary for a simulated crowd to reflect reality. In this work we focus on a comparative analysis, contrasting overestimates and underestimates of standard disk representations. Through this research, we provide quantitative data on the oversimplification that disk-based models present. This data can be used as a starting point for exploring better representations of humans in motion within simulated crowds.
Structures and performances of virginity in medieval and early modern medical texts
(2022-09-08) Meitz, Rebecca
Virginity is a socially constructed idea that can be understood using Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity. How was the performance of gender influenced by medicine in medieval and early modern Europe? Three medical texts, The Trotula, Women's Secrets and Aristotle's Masterpiece were studied to look at how they contribute to discourses of virginity. Within these texts there were three performances discussed, the test, the wedding night and the fake. During the test a woman is checked for intact virginity. A woman proves her virginity and loses it in the process during the wedding night. Finally, the fake allows for a woman to display the expected physical and social signs during the other performances. Virginity is determined by a woman's ability to conform to the expectations of the performances. Mostly her role is to submit to the actions of others, demonstrating her obedience and the ownership her father or husband holds over her and her body. Within the medical texts physical standards like the hymen, which hold no value in modern medicine, were constructed. This naturalizes the performances, allowing for the justification of gender roles, ownership and persistent belief in virginity.
Parasite-host associations: An experiment on fecundity and infection success
(2022-09-08) Uyaniker, Tunay
Parasitylenchus nearcticus are a rare nematode parasite that infects Drosophila species. The affects of Parasitylenchus nearcticus has been previously observed on the eastern Drosophila recens, however, for our experiment we are concerned with Drosophila subquinaria, a western species, since the host range of Parasitylenchus nearcticus is understudied. Using the host range, it is possible to describe the niche of parasites. In this experiment, we question the effects of the parasite on host fecundity and we also observe the parasite performance according to host sex. Fly larvae were infected with parasites, separated by sex and kept alive for one week after pupae emergence before being dissected under a microscope. Once dissected, the number of worms were counted and categorized depending on their filial generation. We also compared the mature eggs of females to see if the number of eggs vary according to infection status. Infected female Drosophila subquinaria had no mature eggs in their body therefore had been deprived of their fecundity. When compared, males had a much higher parasite density than females indicating more reproductive success of the mother worm in males. Our results suggest an immunological difference between male and female flies and implies the male’s susceptibility to parasite reproduction within the fly body.

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