Thank you to all the Presenters, Mentors, Reviewers, and Volunteers for a fantastic 2025 RaCAS event! 

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS BY CATEGORY

• Arts & Media: Civic Engagement in the CU System from the years 1960-Present, Cesar Rodriguez
• Biomedical Sciences: From Lung to Lab: Enhancing Sputum Quality for Rheumatoid Arthritis Research, Shrostina Magar, Bertina Quach
• Natural & Physical Sciences: A RAD Search: Identification of antiphage defense systems using a conserved serine recombinase, Navtej Singh
• Social Sciences & Humanities: Cultivating Community: Understanding AANHPI Student Success Beyond the Model Minority Myth, Lucie Dao, Nhi Dang, Bertina Quach, My-Quynh Ta, Daranee Taychachaiwongse Teng
• Tech, Engineering, & Math: PhishSense, Ashlynn Hainey, Deveyn Hainey

SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS

•  Top Oral Presentation: Assessing Differences in Adverse Maternal Outcomes by Zip Code and Social Vulnerability in a Low-Risk Obstetric Cohort, Gabriella Mayne 
• Oral Presentation Runner-up: Rising Temperatures, Cognitive Decline: The Impact of Climate Change on Brain Health in Vulnerable Populations, Laila Zeid 
• Top Poster Presentation: Diminishing Snowpack and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes: Investigating CO₂ Dynamics in Subalpine Ecosystems, Emma Tunks 
• Poster Presenter Runner-Up: Wintertime Thermal Refugia on the South Platte River Downstream of a Wastewater Treatment Facility, Gretchen Wilson, Emily Melton, Weston Burcar, Ryan Emmerson, Jake Casey 

 UNDERGRADUATE MENTOR OF THE YEAR WINNER

• Kathryn Hamilton, Ph.D., Physics

UNDERGRADUATE MENTOR OF THE YEAR TOP NOMINATIONS

• Benjamin Greenwood, Ph.D., Psychology
• Marty Otañez, Ph.D., Anthropology
• Ivan Ramírez, Ph.D.: Health and Behavioral Sciences
• Michael "Bodhi" Rogers, Ph.D., R.P.A., Physics
  
  

Thank you for joining us for the 28th Annual Research & Creative Activities Symposium!

RaCAS is CU Denver's annual celebration of student-driven research, scholarship, and artistic endeavors. This year, we are thrilled to return to campus with a hybrid in-person event!

Here in our Virtual Project Showcase, you will find digital presentations showcasing the work of over 300 student presenters. We encourage you to take time to explore projects both within and outside your discipline - you never know where inspiration will strike! RaCAS is about community, conversation, and collaboration and we encourage you to use the comment walls to start a conversation with student presenters. Presentations will remain posted after RaCAS so you can continue to discover and enjoy them!

On Friday, April 25, join us on campus or on Zoom to see many of these works presented live. Two oral presentations are being shared in a hybrid format, allowing attendees to join these sessions via Zoom. Full schedule, details, and zoom links are available at ucdenver.edu/sites/research-day/event-details.

NAVIGATING THE SITE

To view student presentations select the "Presentations" tab at the top of the screen.

Presentations can be filtered by subject on the left-hand side of the screen or searched by author/keyword using the search bar.

To view full presentations and abstracts, click the thumbnail image.

We encourage you to use the comments section at the bottom of each page. Please remember our commitment to advancing a culture of respect for the efforts of these students.