Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA)

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This UVic award encourages undergraduates to pursue innovative and original research and enhance learning while providing a valuable preparatory experience towards graduate studies or a research related career.

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19th-Century Visions of Prague: Guiding UNESCO Historical Preservation and Urban Development in the City Today
(2023-03-18) Pacina, Noah
The Langweil Model of Prague, constructed in the early 19th century, provides an unparalleled perspective of the city. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Historic Centre of Prague remains an exemplary urban space, displaying its rich architectural and visual history for all to see. Ultimately, however, Prague is a living and evolving European capital city. As such, my project seeks to address how the city contends with serious decisions about how cities deal with the problems of today, with heritage integrity and environmental sustainability remaining further heightened issues. To that end, I will engage with the way that the Langweil Model (in particular its modern virtual counterpart) remains at the heart of these issues, as an informing resource for historical preservation and urban development in the city. Furthermore, conclusions on necessary priorities moving forward will be brought to light.
A bad miracle: Postmodern science fiction horror and religion
(University Of Victoria, 2025) Goodacre, Prym
A bad miracle is a term coined in Jordan Peele’s 2022 film Nope. Bad miracles represent the contradiction and connection between the firm, hegemonic, Christian ‘good’ and the terrifying, consuming unknown. Postmodern science fiction horror offers bad miracles as unavoidable: the deconstruction of long-held truths, whether they be religious or scientific, are occurring all around us and are endemic to progress. This is effective in delivering horror, but it is also affective. While religious experiences like modern megachurches offer a space for empowerment and loud, comforting praise, postmodern science fiction horror films ask us to exercise our fear, our reason, our empathy, and our ability to sit in the intimacy of not-knowing. Through the investigation of popular postmodern science fiction horror films, the affective nature of cinema, and the rise of the megachurch, the ability for fear and film to offer growth through narrative disempowerment becomes clear.
A literary case study of medieval Anglo-Jewish women in the plea rolls of the Exchequer of the Jews
(University Of Victoria, 2025) Alexandria, Brooks
Judicial records are the largest body of historical primary sources involving medieval Anglo-Jewish women, and so scholarship relies on them heavily; however, even today, a court ruling does not always mean truth. With a comparative historical and literary analysis, this research focused on the Solomon Turbe case—a complex murder trial that was recorded in the plea rolls in 1220 CE. Comitissa Turbe, the plaintiff, is determined to avenge her husband when he falls, or is pushed, off the Gloucester tower. Solomon’s death is ultimately ruled a suicide, but this case demonstrates an autonomy that Anglo-Jewish women enjoyed in the law courts. This autonomy did not come without strife. Comitissa is depicted within the record, through dramatization and stereotypes, as hysterical. These elements provide an opportunity for a literary reading. With the application Twine, potential histories have been mapped out and constructed into an interactive narrative to explore the literary elements that affect the portrayal of Comitissa (and others such as Mirabel of Gloucester) as well as to demonstrate the value of a literary reading and alternative forms of data representation.
A roadmap to analyzing the role of nature on school grounds
(University of Victoria, 2026) Stokes, Devin
This project involved preparing preliminary materials for an assessment of the impacts of a schoolyard greening project. The project is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Victoria and the BC Parks Foundation through their Learning by Nature initiative. In my involvement with the project, I compiled elements of a literature review on the relationship between nature and the wellbeing of school-aged students. I then summarized the desires that various interest groups involved in the project had for its outcomes. Finally, I compiled assessment materials that would be used to evaluate project outcomes, such as student surveys and physical activity assessments.
A simulation-guided method to tackle supramolecular complexity and save me time
(University Of Victoria, 2025) Desnoyer, Madison; Camelo, Gustavo; Bohne, Cornelia
Supramolecular chemistry is a broad branch of chemistry that studies weak, reversible intermolecular interactions. A subset of this field, host-guest chemistry, has a wide range of applications, including drug delivery, sensing, and catalysis. Supramolecular complexity refers to the idea that, in a solution of host and guest molecules, there are multiple distinct host-guest complexes, also known as species. Most reductionist approaches to characterizing host-guest interactions focus solely on the most abundant complex (major species), as other complexes (minor species) are present in much lower proportions. Studies have shown that, in some cases, these minor species exhibit unique and emergent properties. Since these complexes exist in such small proportions, it can be difficult and time consuming to find experimental parameters over which their concentrations are large enough to be detected. In this project a holistic approach was taken where titration simulations, that considered all species, were performed prior to in-lab experiments and were used to find experimental conditions such that minor species were maximized. By guiding experimental design without bias toward major species, this approach reduced the number of preliminary experiments required to explore supramolecular complexity.
A tale of two surveys: Improving biodiversity monitoring through rapid baseline assessments
(University Of Victoria, 2025) Toma, Emily; Melchers, Grace; Dudas, Sarah E.; Hunt, Brian; Hessing-Lewis, Margot; Juanes, Francis; Cox, Kieran
Biodiversity monitoring is critical for understanding ecosystem condition and guiding conservation efforts. While the scale and scope of biodiversity data collection have expanded through novel techniques and citizen science initiatives, methods for integrating diverse datasets remain poorly developed. This has hindered our ability to leverage the full potential of modern biodiversity monitoring approaches. I address this gap by producing a framework for synthesizing data across multiple techniques, comparing rapid baseline assessments that emphasize expert identification with systematic surveys that prioritize replication over space and time. I use a multi-ecosystem approach, examining 3 distinct marine communities: soft-sediment bivalves, temperate kelp forests, and tropical coral reefs to test the broad applicability of this framework. Using species lists to develop a standardized framework for data integration, I address a fundamental challenge in biodiversity monitoring: how to effectively combine data from diverse sources to create more comprehensive and accurate biodiversity assessments. The results will inform the development of more efficient, ecosystem-specific monitoring.
A Time for Recollection: Exploring the Temporality of Victoria‘s Sea-to-Sea Green Blue Belt Campaign
(University of Victoria, 2024) Lefort, Audrey
From 1988 to the early 2000s, the Sea-to-Sea Green Blue Belt campaign successfully protected the lands connecting Tod Inlet, Sooke Basin and Sooke River as a way to promote urban containment and wildlife protection. Within the frameworks of future orientations and social ecology, this study explores the timeline of the campaign, as well as the temporal experiences of environmental activists. This was accomplished by interviewing nine individuals from the Sea-to-Sea Greenbelt Society, the Sierra Club, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, The Land Conservancy, the Capital Regional District, and a former MLA of the Province of British Columbia. Catalyzed by the 1988 algae bloom in the Greater Victoria drinking watershed, the campaign worked to protect the Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park in 1997 and the purchase of nearby private lands. The participants’ temporal experiences during the campaign were shaped by how they remembered their past and valued their future, as themes of home and legacy were emphasized in conversation. It was concluded that the Sea-to-Sea Green Blue Belt has become a timeless tribute to the passionate individuals dedicated to preserving the natural world. Embodying a success story, this landscape can act as a source of inspiration for future environmental activists.
Absolute Power and the Unsustainability of Tyranny: Seneca's Depiction of Nero's Power in "De Clementia"
(2023-03-19) Granirer, Jon (he/him)
This research project examines ancient discourses concerning the limits of authoritarianism. In circa 55 CE, Seneca, a Roman philosopher and a senior advisor to the emperor Nero, published the treatise De Clementia, in which he advises the young emperor to rule with clemency and moderation. Despite the rich body of academia which examines this treatise, there is a lack of in-depth scholarship that looks beyond the treatise itself by analyzing De Clementia's wider importance to the study of Roman government. In this research project, I argue that Seneca’s political advice contained in De Clementia presents Nero's possession of absolute power as contingent upon his ability to fulfil his obligations to the Roman elite. Further, this reading provides an accurate account of the political dynamics between Nero's regime and Rome's aristbocracy that has not been examined sufficiently by previous analyses of this treatise. After providing a brief history of clemency in Roman society, I discuss how Seneca portrays Nero's possession of absolute power as contingent upon his ability to fulfil his obligations as emperor. Next, I lay out the obligations with which Seneca tasks Nero with. Then, I discuss the consequences which, according to Seneca, Nero will face if he fails to uphold his obligations. Finally, I set Seneca's advice to Nero alongside instances in Roman history in which emperors who forget their obligations become the targets of plots and revolts in a manner that mirrors Seneca's presentation of the limits of the emperor's power.
Acadieman vs l’idéologie du standard : les représentations linguistiques dans Acadieman
(2019-04-21) Kuo, Tiffany
Acadieman is the protagonist of the animated series Acadieman by Dano LeBlanc, which aired on Rogers Television from 2005 to 2009. An inhabitant of Moncton, New Brunswick, the superhero (sort of) and pirate of the French language is only heroic because he dares to express himself in the local vernacular Chiac, which is often denigrated due to the fact that it borrows extensively from English. Although this series is somewhat controversial, Acadieman and his friends have won the hearts of their audience through the use of humour and Acadian inside jokes, as well as sheer approachability, while also broaching current linguistic issues and topics. In recent times, it has been noted that due to the increased visibility of Chiac thanks to local media and artists, attitudes towards Chiac have been gradually shifting towards the positive; some could even say that this variety of French is no longer stigmatized. By focusing on two episodes (“Acadieman vs la war des étoiles” and “Acadieman vs la guerre civile”) and an excerpt (“Chiac pour les dummies!”) of the second season of Acadieman, I uncover the ongoing linguistic ideologies in Acadie which are sometimes opposing, showing that attitudes towards this vernacular are mixed.
Acceptance Through Story: Using Theatre to Nurture Inclusivity
(2018-04-13) Mailloux, Jena
The purpose of this project is to explore which theatrical conventions and story-telling techniques nurture inclusivity as children grow. One of the main objectives is to discover if children and young adults can respond to the same theatrical conventions in a meaningful way that provokes inclusive based critical thinking. A series of two theatrical based workshops have been designed that involved social intolerance and gender inequality. The same workshops will be facilitated in both a Kindergarten class and a Grade 12 class. The workshops are meant to assess the effectiveness of theater practice in developing a positive social awareness, to create a dialogue between students, to cultivate community through story, and encourage accepting behaviours and tolerant thinking in future educational, professional, and personal experiences of life.
Accessibility Innovation in Higher Education Through Telepresence Robots
(2019-04-27) Silvera, Alexis
In this project, I will examine the use of telepresence robots to increase accessibility into physical classroom environments. Despite the supports we provide at UVic, students with special needs for access are underrepresented on our campus and alternative online programs charge three times our tuition, making obstacles even harder for accessing higher education. The 3,775,900 Canadians with a disability, or 1 in 7 people, consist of 13.7% of the total population. For half, the cement ramp, where it does exist, does nothing in terms of assisting them in gaining access to a physical location as their health issue may not be related to lower limb mobility. This JCURA project will entail implementing and evaluating one element of an accessibility pilot on campus in partnership with the Centre for Accessible Learning and the Technology Integration and Evaluation Research Lab. The goal is to determine its impact on the quality of learning experience and to gather the perceptions by instructors and learners in the classroom. Other applications will also be studied. For example, these telepresence robots can also support a variety of situations beyond supporting learners who cannot attend in person for a variety of health and other reasons, such as extending our reach into the community, supporting collective class observation of remote spaces, or bringing in specialists to interact with our students in various classroom environments.
Accessing three-dimensional space for novel pharmaceuticals
(University of Victoria, 2026) Epp, Erin; Dhake, Kushal; Leitch, David C.
Developing new chemical synthesis methods for building chiral multicyclic ring systems. This project builds upon an aldehyde-functionalized bicyclobutane to make more previously unknown bicyclobutanes. All of these were tested based on previous reactivity methods to demonstrate their synthetic capabilities. The goal is to demonstrate new ways to access three-dimensionality in pharmaceutical candidates.
Adaptation of Gold Nanoparticles for Zinc-Air Battery Applications
(University of Victoria, 2024) Thomas, Spencer
Zinc-air batteries show promise as an efficient clean-energy storage technology. However, they face several challenges including sluggish reaction kinetics for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). To combat the poor kinetics, extensive research has been employed into catalyst design to improve reaction speed and efficiency. This study explores a unique approach to catalyst design, utilizing synthesised multifaceted gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with good ORR performance under alkaline conditions and, addressing AuNPs' limited reactivity in the OER, copper was introduced into the AuNPs, capitalizing on the good OER activity of copper for battery operation.
Adapting interactive fiction for mature audiences
(University of Victoria, 2026) Wesson, Sterling
Interactive fiction has been around since the early 20th century, gaining slow but steady popularity in the 70s and 80s with TTRPG inspired fantasy stories and text based point and click games. However, in recent years the genre (specifically fully text based storytelling) has rapidly diminished in popularity due to the rise of other forms of interactive media such as video games and AI generated chat bots. Attempts to create branching pathway stories for a mature audience have largely been met with mixed reviews. Books such as Pretty Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton or If by Nicholas Bourbaki have received praise for trying to revitalize the genre for modern day audiences, but the genre has failed to see a proper resurgence. I assert that one of the main reasons for this lack of reception from the literary audience is because these books are written with the reader's interaction in mind rather than the story itself. Experimental books which play with form and narrative such as House of Leaves are clearly able to garner a wide enough audience to be successful, so why hasn't the branching pathway style of narrative followed suit? Learning from what has worked and what hasn't worked across both historical and contemporary interactive fiction such as Consider the Consequences!, The Adventures of You series and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch I have created an interactive short story using the digital storytelling program Twine. This story aims to create a story aimed at adults while keeping the characters, setting, storyline and plot elements realistic and grounded.
Addition of Cytidine Base Editors to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Correction of p.N370S, a GBA1 Mutation Responsible for Type 1 Gaucher Disease
(2019-04-27) Wells-Durand, Emma
As for many genetic disorders, the novel Base Editing system derived from the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and its ability to mediate genome editing serves a potential tool for correcting the point mutation largely responsible for type 1 Gaucher disease, N370S. We conducted the present study to determine whether Base Editor-mediated targeting at N370S within the GBA1 gene was feasible in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Cytidine base editor and guide RNA (gRNA) plasmids were transformed into E.coli cells for the production of many plasmids. Plasmids were then isolated from E.coli and delivered into patient-derived human iPSCs by electroporation. Under fluorescence microscopy, successful transfection was represented by cells fluorescing green, as the cytidine base editor plasmid expressed green fluorescent protein. To screen for cells that had undergone correction, mismatch primers were designed to introduce an HpyCH4III restriction endonuclease sequence, whereby only wildtype DNA is recognized and cleaved. A proof-of-concept restriction digest revealed that only wildtype DNA was cleaved, while N370S DNA remained un-cleaved. RNA-guided engineered nuclease (RGEN)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was performed to test the targeting efficiency of our gRNA to the N370S locus. The RGEN-RFLP showed cleavage by Cas9 only in the N370S condition, indicating successful targeting by the gRNA. More experimentation is necessary to determine whether cells that have acquired plasmids, as represented by green fluorescence, are in fact undergoing correction, using the HpyCH4III restriction digest, and Sanger sequencing.
Aesthetic Experience in the Public Space: The Case of Mexico City
(2017-04-09) Houston, Katherine
This project explores the aesthetics of urban space in contemporary Mexico City. I am interested in Mexico City because it embodies the highs and lows of the aesthetic experience in the public space: on the one hand, it is a modern city with a rich cultural history and an extraordinary creative energy that has survived political crises, economic upheavals and natural disasters. On the other hand, it shows the pitfalls of uneven development, social and economic inequality, and urban chaos. This dichotomy applies to the visual arts: Mexican muralism, the most iconic cultural product stemming from the Mexican Revolution at the beginning of the 20th century, can be read as a foil to the anarchic, subversive, and dramatic sprawl of street art. One of the questions I ask is how graffiti has reshaped the conception of aesthetics of public space in Mexico. I also address how do these forms –officially sanctioned Muralism and popular graffiti art— set up a dialogue. What shape does the project of urban life acquire, given, on the one hand, the rich history of Muralism, and on the other, the inescapable urban realities of sensorial overstimulation and spatial disorganization, of which graffiti can be seen as both cause and effect? I will resort to literary, artistic and historical sources to answer these questions.
Aesthetic(s) of intimacy
(University Of Victoria, 2025) Fercho, Dean
Using a sociological framework and qualitative research methods, Aesthetic(s) of Intimacy examines the ways in which interpersonal connection (AKA bedside manner) can impact the overall aesthetic of intimate portraiture. Seven portraiture artists were interviewed about their work with transsexual, transgender, and otherwise gender non-confirming subjects, and 15 subjects who have posed for this sort of portraiture were surveyed, sharing the ways in which vulnerability, connection and a sense of safety when creating intimate portraiture can impact the experience of artmaking, the experience of posing, and the aesthetic of the portraiture that is created.
The Agroforestry Antidote: A remedy for South Ecuador's High Rates of Deforestation
(2017-04-06) Graeme, Michael
Land extensification is a land-use pattern that involves the clearing of forests for short- lived, unsustainable pastoral and agricultural operations. This pattern of razing forested landscapes, cultivating them briefly until soils become depleted, and then repeating the process in a new area, is common in Ecuador, although it has not always been so.For millennia, long before the arrival of Columbus to the Americas, the forests of Ecuador were cultivated using agroforestry systems as responses to the complex problems faced by the first peoples of these landscapes. Recently Ecuador’s forests have been subject to new forms of management, resulting in the highest rates of deforestation in all of South America with South Ecuador experiencing a startling 46% loss of forest cover between 1976 and 2008. Agroforestry practices are based in using the interrelationships of trees, animals and crops to provide food security and economic wellbeing, while at the same time conserving ecosystem integrity. The underlying factors allowing land extensification to continue in Ecuador will be explored, as well as some intervention points for implementing agroforestry as a sustainable alternative. My research, complemented by first hand observations carried out in November 2016, will examine how moving away from extensification and into agroforestry-based land-use patterns can simultaneously supplant the problem of deforestation, encourage cultural restoration, provide stimulus for decolonization, and help realize food security in South Ecuador.
AI optimization for peer-to-peer energy sharing: Trends, methods, and future directions
(University of Victoria, 2026) Filipovich, Daniil
As clean energy technology advances, Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy sharing has transitioned from a theoretical concept to an emerging real-world solution. A meta-analysis of over 25 academic sources from 2020 to 2025 was performed to track the evolution of P2P modelling. Early models (circa 2020) relied on predefined, fixed variables (such as weather, energy use, and energy storage) within centralized decision-making frameworks. While providing control, these models lacked the flexibility required for volatile real-world conditions. Over the past 5 years, the literature has shifted toward decentralized environments, accounting for changing variables and outcome probabilities. This shift has been accelerated by the growing availability of empirical data from communities that began peer-to-peer adoption, in Europe, the USA, and Australia, among others. According to industry trends, the next phase in this evolution is using real-world data for AI-driven data optimization. By requesting and compiling such data and replacing existing synthetic inputs and heuristic assumptions with empirical data, future models may help bridge the gap between existing theoretical modelling and real-world deployment, enabling real-time optimization of pricing, energy load distribution, and storage management.
Alden Nowlan's poetry of the anthropocene
(2025) McLauchlan, Alexander
My research examines the work of Canadian poet Alden Nowlan from an anthropogenic, ecocritical perspective. Though Nowlan is often painted as a regionalist, I assert that his work anticipated concerns with globalized, anthropogenic destruction of the environment that extend beyond the notion of Canadian national identity and demand that the reader engage with the damage caused to a global biosphere. My research demonstrates that various anthropogenic critical methods may be synthesized with literary adaptions of "ecotone" and "edge species" to better illustrate the global relationship between human subject and non-human object. Nowlan's work is thus revealed to provide contemporary readers a view of Anthropocene poetics avant la lettre.My research examines the work of Canadian poet Alden Nowlan from an anthropogenic, ecocritical perspective. Though Nowlan is often painted as a regionalist, I assert that his work anticipated concerns with globalized, anthropogenic destruction of the environment that extend beyond the notion of Canadian national identity and demand that the reader engage with the damage caused to a global biosphere. My research demonstrates that various anthropogenic critical methods may be synthesized with literary adaptions of "ecotone" and "edge species" to better illustrate the global relationship between human subject and non-human object. Nowlan's work is thus revealed to provide contemporary readers a view of Anthropocene poetics avant la lettre.

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