Abstract Summission

Established in 1987, the Western Research Forum (WRF) is an annual, multidisciplinary conference organized by the SOGS Academic Committee and held at UWO.  The conference features both poster and oral presentations from graduate students in the arts, biosciences, physical sciences, and social sciences.

The WRF aims to appeal to a diverse group of academics, and thus invites the attendance of the entire university community.  Presentations are judged and are eligible for the Dean's Award for Research Excellence, as well as cash prizes.

The 24th Western Research Forum was held in February, 2011 at the Wave. 
Congratulation to the winners:

2011 WRF Winners' List

1) Alumni Western Multidisciplinary Oral
2nd: Sarah Cloutier – Predicting the Language Abilities of Children
2nd: Corey Smith - Looking into the Eye: Modeling Ocular Drug Delivery.
1st: Pencilla Lang – Image-Guidance for Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Replacement.

2) Alumni Western Multidisciplinary Poster
2nd: Tamara Spaic– Examination of tends in socioeconomic determinants and prevalence of diabetes in theLondon and Middlesex county 2001-2009.
1st: Catherine Bornbaum –Multidimensional concerns in individuals with head and neck cancer.

3)Social and Biosciences Poster
2nd: Ken Grise – Physiological adaptations to exercise in STZ-induced diabetic rodents.
1st: Beatriz Bocazar– Representations of Creativity and Critical Thinking in Kindergarten Curriculum Texts.

4)Physical Sciences Poster
2nd: Eranga Ukawatta– A Semi-automated Method to Quantify Vessel Wall Volume.
1st: Tom Ulanowski- Peatland hydrology, carbon and mercury dynamics in the James Bay Lowlands.

5)Arts & Humanities Oral Presentations
2nd: Estee Fresco – “Relegating Aboriginal People’s Present to the Past: Canada’s Origin Story in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
1st: Wendy Crocke – Narrative Inquiry: Using story to explore the literac (ies) of Low German speaking Mennonite (LGM) children.

6)Physical Sciences Oral Presentations
2nd: Omid Mola – Collaborative Policy-Based Autonomic Management
1st: Emily McCullough – Installation and calibration of the depolarization channel of the CANDAC Rayleigh-Mie-Raman Lidar in the Canadian High Arctic.

7)Biological Sciences Oral Presentations
2nd: Katrina Iglic – Iron limitation and the role it plays in coral bleaching.
2nd: Andrea Wishart– A new tool to analyze large scale deletions in the mouse genome assists in understanding genome instability associated with a mouse mimic of human neurodegenerative disease.
1st: Alexandra Williams – Inter-limb transfer and interference in motor learning by observing.

8)Social Sciences Oral Presentations
2nd: Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee: Post-Purchase Consumer Regret: Conceptualization and Development of the PPCR Scale.
1st: Christine Boston-The Costs of Fitting In: Body Modifications, Identity Communications, & Health.

2010 WRF Winners' List

1) Alumni Association Multidisciplinary Oral Presentations
3rd: Adam M.B. Day – Fostering Green Experiences to Promote Health and Well-Being During Cancer Treatment and Rehabilitation.
2nd: Corey Smith - Characterizing the flow and fate of ocular drugs using micro-CT
1st: Margie Davenport – Exercise and nutrition intervention reduces weight retention in the early post-partum period regardless of exercise intensity.

2) Alumni Association Poster Session 1
3rd: Paula Van Wyk – The Significance of Holes in Swiss Cheese: Identifying Causes of Falls at Dearness Home using SFIM (Systematic Fall Identification Method)
2nd: Jamaloddin Jamali – Fracture of polymer composites
1st: Meranda Salem –Control and Power Supply for Resistance Spot Welding (RSW).

3) Mercury Printing Award Poster Session 2
3rd: Melissa Stachel – Somalis in North America: Diverse and Shifting Identities in the Context of Prolonged Armed Conflict
2nd: Laura Hartman – Adolescence and Parental Divorce: Have We Lost the Power to Help?
1st: Wendy Crocker – What conservative colony primary Mennonite children can teach school leaders about literacy.

4) Mercury Printing Award Session 3
3rd: Daniel Bechard – The effect of Nordic walking poles on knee joint loading in individuals with medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee
2nd: Nada Tabbara – Identification of the salivary proteome pre and post dental eruption events
1st: Tyler Groves- The role of rotator interval closure in Bankart lesion repair.

5) Arts & Humanities Oral Presentations
2nd: Ryan DeForge – “Dictribing”: Our experiences in using voice-recognition software in dictating our qualitative data transcriptions and analysis
1st: Ricardo Scucuglia – How do students with graphing-calculators investigate the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus?

6) Physical Sciences Oral Presentations
2nd: Edward Stokan – Modeling how meteoroids ablate using direct Monte Carlo
Simulation
1st: Jonathan Hood – Social Support as a Determinant of Exercise Adherence: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Social Supports Through Contact on Home-based Exercise Programs.

7)Biological Sciences Oral Presentations
3rd: Jennifer McDonald –What’s in a Name, Part Deux – Concepts in ‘Species Concepts’
2nd: Izabela Kowalczyk – Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of the Motor Cortex in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy
1st: Geoffrey Power – Motor unit Numbers Estimates in Master’s Runners: Use it or Lose it?

8)Social Sciences Oral Presentations
3rd: Lauri East – Understanding Sexuality and its Health Implications among Adolescences with Physical Disabilities
2nd: Paul Conway- Is it Fair to be Green? How Perceptions of the Environment in Past Behaviour Influence the Endorsement of Microjustice and Macrojustice Principles
1st: Julianna Butler-Immigration and Refugee Board Trends: a Romani refugee case study.

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