Category: Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) – OSCAR

Blue Dog Bark: “God Talk” and Religious Cues by Centrist Democrats

Author(s): Drew Kolber

Mentor(s): Antti Pentikäinen, Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation, Carter School

Abstract

The use of religious language by moderate Democratic politicians remains understudied despite extensive research on “God talk” among conservative Republicans. This gap is particularly significant for members of the Blue Dog Coalition, who represent constituencies with many “split ticket” voters; those who elected Democrats locally while voting Republican in the national election. Previous research has focused on coded religious cues in conservative political communication, primarily relying on media appearances and campaign rhetoric, while largely leaving House floor speeches unexamined. This study aims to analyze all 2,059 congressional floor speeches offered by the ten current Blue Dog Coalition members from the 116th through the 119th Congresses (2019-2025). It employs comparative content analysis alongside thematic analysis to capture both the frequency of religious language and the contexts in which it appears. Preliminary findings reveal that Blue Dog Democrats explicitly appeal to faith during commemorations of retiring or deceased constituents and colleagues, as well as when honoring mass casualty events. “God talk” – implicit, coded religious language – was found in references to community stewardship, heritage, and the value of “neighbors” in civic life. Blue Dog Democrats primarily deploy religious rhetoric during moments of change and loss, rather than in policy debates, suggesting a “Blue Dog Bark” focused on the virtue of associational life rather than partisan identity.

Audio Transcript

Hi there. My name is Drew Kolber, and today I’m so excited to share my research: Blue Dog bark: God Talk and Religious Cues by centrist Democrats. So what is God talk, and who are the Blue Dogs? So in the 1994 midterms, Republicans gained 54 seats in the house and eight seats in the Senate. It was the first GOP House Majority since 1952 and democratic moderates responded. Founding members of this caucus viewed the results of this election as a rejection of the Democratic Party moving too far left. And so in 1995 the coalition formed with 23 members and advocated fiscal responsibility, centrist values like pragmatism and really a dedication to the financial stability and national security of the country. Today, there’s 10 members of the Blue Dog caucus with a real local turn. There’s been a shift back to an emphasis on the specific values and needs the constituencies that these representatives represent. They focus on values like the right to repair, not taking money from corporate PACs and sometimes break party lines while holding to their espoused values, focusing on a place based politics, as opposed to a national one. What’s God talk? God talk is implicit, coded religious cues embedded in political communication, coded, particularly historically, for evangelical voters, without alerting out group members, is built on GOP operative David quo’s investigation in the 1980s into this strategy by conservative politicians to imbue subtle biblical references and hymn phrases and value statements which appeared innocuous to general audiences but really resonated with religious voters. And so this coded language relied on the receiver to infer political attachments. And as I shared, the predominant focus has been on the GOP and this evangelical constituency, but I feel that it’s obscured an important research gap, which is, how do Democratic politicians employ similar strategies? So these members of the Buddha coalition represent constituencies with many split ticket voters, people who elected Democrats locally while voting Republican in the national election, and this previous research was focusing on conservative political communication, and it didn’t look at the way that Democratic politicians were speaking. And so my study aims to analyze all the congressional floor speeches offered by the 10 current Blue Dog coalition members from the 116 to the 119th Congress is essentially the last five years, and employs comparative content analysis and thematic analysis to capture both the frequency of religious language and the context in which it appears, and I’ll share some of my preliminary findings later. So why is this question important? Church and State didn’t end their dialog at the establishment clause in the early years of our nation, the separation provided a mutual protection of each institution in which they weren’t held accountable for the failures or successes of each other, and provided distinct support systems for our country. And there’s a long lineage of thinkers and philosophers observing this rich tradition of associational life and religion in many different sects in the US, looking at Alexa de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and the way that the Federalist Papers discuss the role of religion in the new nation, looking to more modern thinkers, Robert Putnam shared in 2000 that there’s a noticeable decline in social trust and associational Life. He talked about the Bowling Alone and people moving from bowling leagues to individual pursuits. And while I noticed this trend too, I also saw a prevalence in the collective social imaginary, this remaining presence of religion and religious language in politics. And I have my own experience with civil society and religion, as someone active in Jewish student life and Jewish community, and I was curious, how are politicians talking about religion? So to look at this question, I first had to determine my corpus. There’s a lot of different ways to look at political communication. You can look at tweets and newsletters. I wanted a really standardized way, and so I looked to ProQuest congressional and looked at the house floor speeches offered by this set of members of this Congressional Caucus. I also did some preliminary sense making using Max QDA, particularly content analysis, which tracked the frequency and context of key terms like biblical references and expressions of civil society and associational life, as well as thematic coding, identifying and interpreting patterns and then organizing around these themes, which is a prominent method of meaning making in conflict, analysis and resolution. So what did I find? The following are the word clouds of the most frequent terminology expressed by professor. Yes, by Representative Marie bus and camperez, Representative Jerry golden, Representative Lou Korea and Representative Adam gray. Each of these are current members of the House Blue Dogs and a really good start to my understanding of the Caucus’s way of speaking and their appeal to faith, because they really have this local turn this, this focus on the constituencies that they represent and their specific values, as opposed to a nationalized politics. And you can see community pops out even in the broader word cloud, representing the primary frequencies of the whole data set, there’s an appeal to associational life when it comes to service and honor and community and neighbors. These are terms that these representatives are using another way to visualize. This is their top most frequent words in this way. So what does this mean? Though, thematically, I noticed that the Blue Dogs appealed to faith when they were honoring retired or deceased colleagues or community leaders. I noticed that they appealed to faith in the response of mass violence or tragedy in their communities when they were expressing the value of religious freedom or honoring American culture. They also really appeal to faith when discussing military service and the notion of the ultimate sacrifice for those who died while in the service, and also, there was a prevalence of biblical imagery invoked in response to a perceived moral failing of their leadership. The following are some pulled quotes representing these various themes. Jared golden in remembering victims of a shooting in Maine in 2023 offered this daily devotional. Lou Correa and remembering the community member offered a prayer, may his memory serve as an example for all seeking to lead a happy and joyful life, may his spirit rest in peace. Marie Lucent kept Perez in honoring the survivors of a horrific fire in her district, talked about the strength of unity and community and neighbors. This term neighbors is a key term that I see over and over. Additionally, in referencing the impeachment of President Trump, Lou Correa talked about this idea of a shining city upon a hill, key biblical imagery and a call to
a greater America.
And these are, this is interesting. This is not how we might think moderate Democrats would speak. Then. This is pretty explicit, and yet, there’s also some of that coded God talk too. So there’s a combination of thematics and finds a really rich starting place to try to understand why did these politicians speak that way? And that’s what’s next, in order to understand why, we first had to understand how, how are they speaking? And that was the main object of this project. And I would be grateful to continue my research, to start to understand why, when it comes to the galvanization of voter constituencies when it appeals to faith are present or not,
and the ways in which these representatives speak.
So I’m so grateful to URSP, Oscar and Dr Karen Lee, my mentor, Antti, Professor Thomas Flores for his initial shepherding of my project. Professor Djupe for his guidance and language, and also Professor John Farina for his framing about the founders and their perception of faith in politics.
Thank you so so much.

Cells, Individuals, and Community OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Eye health and phone screen time among college

Author(s): Akosua Mainoo

Mentor(s): Lawrence Cheskin, Nutrition and Food Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to research the correlation between phone screen time
and eye health among college students. I hypothesized students who have a longer
weekly average phone screen time durations will have an increase in negative eye
health symptoms. To assess if students with longer weekly average phone screen
time duration have an increase in negative eye health symptoms. An online survey
of 100 GMU students regarding their current eye symptoms and phone usage will
be collected. The eye health survey was partly modeled after the NIH National Eye
Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire – 25. Data collected will be analyzed in R
studio to find any correlations.. Students reported an average daily phone screen
time of 6 hours and 45 minutes, and higher screen use especially in dark or low-lit
rooms was significantly associated with increased eye symptoms such as dry, sore,
itchy, and blurred vision. Greater screen time was also linked to reduced sleep and
higher levels of doomscrolling, though sleep was not significantly correlated with
any specific eye symptoms.

Audio Transcript

N/A

College of Humanities and Social Science Making and Creating OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Fountain of Truth: Women Artists and Their Perspective on Aging.

Author(s): Silas Fransen

Mentor(s): LaNitra Berger, Department of Art History

Abstract

The project is an art exhibit of women using art to share their experiences with aging. This project was greatly inspired by a paper titled, “Why Are There No Older Women in Heaven?” by Zirka Z.Filipczak. The article discusses an prevalent idea from the Renaissance and Baroque periods that chastity and virtuous women keep youthful appearances longer. This idea manifests and is kept alive through art of women saints being made young again in heaven, unlike their male counterparts. By linking a woman’s virtue to youth and beauty, age and undesirable traits become linked to sin. Older women become representatives of lust and envy. This obsession with youth and aversion of age continues into modern American culture and is kept alive through the beauty industry, Hollywood, social media and so on. The exhibit will display art by women in the NOVA area and will be displayed at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. In the art I am looking for a variety of experiences and honest depictions of what it means to age as a woman. The goal for this project is to inspire women to feel more open to talking about their own experiences with aging as well as expose the public to a variety of experiences and conflicting feelings about what it means to age as a woman.

Audio Transcript

I want to begin by thanking the OSCAR Undergraduate Research Program for the opportunity to work on this project. I also would like to thank The Hylton Performing arts center for agreeing to host the exhibit and to all the artists that have submitted their artwork. Lastly I would like to thank my mentor for this project, Dr. Berger for guiding me in this project and helping me in realizing my vision for this project.
The project I have been working on is Fountain of Truth: Women artists and their perspective on aging.
I began my research for this project with the article: “Why Are There No Older Women in Heaven?” by Zirka Z. Filipczak, this article begins by looking through depictions of the Last Judgement in Baroque art and discovering that woman saints were always depicted young, unlike the men saints. She then connects these depictions to the Renaissance, during this time there was a growing belief that a woman who retained her virginity would keep her youthful appearance. For this reason, women saints were consistently depicted as young, to contrast youth and virtue, older women in art became the personification of envy and lust.
Even today, our culture has an obsession with youthful appearances. I have seen ads for preventative botox for people as young as their early 20’s
[Methodology and results]
For this exhibit, I am looking for a variety of experiences and honest depictions of what it means to age as a woman and art that can give insight into how a person’s identity shifts due to age.
[describe results]
Currently I have 5 works of art between three artists. And I am still collecting art submissions until January 9th.
I do not want to announce any of the artists just yet… but In the artworks so far there is an overarching theme of age being something to celebrate. These artists talk about how their identity becomes less externally driven and based more in a thoughtful self reflection after rejecting how they have been told to identify.
Each of these works of art are just so beautiful and so well thought out. It’s been really really wonderful to see how each of these artists are taking my idea at the start and really turning it into their own. It’s been a really wonderful experience.
The exhibit will run for 8 weeks, February 24th to April 11th at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas. It’s going to be a really wonderful experience, as I just stated and I hope to see you all there! Thank you so much, it’s been a really wonderful semester. Bye!

OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR US, Global, and Beyond Winners

Between the Nile and the silk Road: Rethinking global health for certain needs and Chinese traditional healing

Author(s): Hadil Ali

Mentor(s): Peiyu Yang, Department of Modern & Classical Languages

Abstract

Traditional medicine continues to serve as a primary form of healthcare for millions of people worldwide, particularly in the Global South. In Sudan, traditional medicine encompasses herbal remedies, spiritual healing, and community-based practitioners whose knowledge is deeply embedded in cultural, religious, and historical contexts. Similarly, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) represents a highly systematized non-Western medical tradition grounded in holistic diagnostic frameworks and extensive herbal pharmacology.
This project investigates the historical and cultural intersections between Sudanese traditional medicine and TCM, with particular attention to educational exchange, medical diplomacy, and informal knowledge circulation between Sudan and China during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Drawing on Sudanese ethnomedical literature, TCM scholarship, World Health Organization policy documents, and studies of China–Africa medical cooperation, this research examines shared herbal practices, concepts of illness, and approaches to holistic care. The analysis is further informed by informal conversations with Sudanese and Chinese doctors and herbal practitioners, grounding the literature in lived experience.
Findings suggest that while both systems emphasize balance, harmony, and culturally embedded healing, they differ significantly in institutional power and global recognition. Whereas TCM benefits from extensive state support and international visibility, Sudanese traditional medicine remains under-documented despite its widespread use. By centering South–South medical exchange, this project challenges Western-centric narratives in global health and highlights the importance of recognizing indigenous healing systems in the development of culturally responsive health policies.

Audio Transcript

Hello, my name is Hadil Ali, and I’m a student in the Department of Biology at George Mason University.
My research project is titled “Between the Nile and the Silk Road: Rethinking Global Health through Sudanese and Chinese Traditional Healing.”
This project was completed under the mentorship of Professor Peiyu Yang.
This research explores how two long-standing non-Western medical traditions—Sudanese traditional medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine—intersect through history, education, and cultural exchange.
Slide 2 – Background
Traditional medicine remains one of the most widely used forms of healthcare worldwide, especially in the Global South.
In Sudan, traditional medicine includes herbal remedies, spiritual healing, and community-based practitioners whose practices are rooted in ancient Nile Valley civilizations and Islamic traditions. These methods are not viewed as alternatives to medicine, but as trusted and culturally grounded healthcare systems.
Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, developed into a highly structured medical system centered on holistic diagnosis, herbal pharmacology, and balance within the body. Today, TCM also plays a role in China’s global health diplomacy, particularly in Africa.
Despite extensive research on each system individually, little attention has been given to how Sudanese and Chinese traditional medical systems may have interacted through education and medical exchange.
Slide 3 – Research Question
This gap in scholarship led to my core research question:
How did Sudanese and Chinese traditional medical systems interact through educational and cultural exchange, and what does this interaction reveal about non-Western approaches to global health?
Rather than framing Sudan as a passive recipient of medical aid, this project explores how medical knowledge circulated between two non-Western traditions through lived exchange.
Slide 4 – Methods
This project uses a qualitative, document-analysis approach.
I reviewed literature on Sudanese traditional medicine, including studies of herbal pharmacology, spiritual healing practices, and the social roles of local healers.
I also analyzed scholarship on Traditional Chinese Medicine, focusing on its diagnostic frameworks and theoretical foundations.
In addition, I analyzed research on China–Africa medical cooperation, including medical aid programs, educational exchanges, and policy documents from the World Health Organization.
This work was complemented by informal conversations with Sudanese and Chinese doctors and herbal practitioners, which helped ground the academic literature in real-world practice and contemporary experience.
Using a comparative framework, I examined shared herbs, health beliefs, and diagnostic logics across both systems.
Slide 5 – Key Findings
Several key themes emerged from this research.
First, there is significant overlap in herbal practice, including the shared use of herbs such as ginger, galangal, gum arabic, and senna. These herbs are commonly used to address digestive, respiratory, and inflammatory conditions.
Second, both traditions emphasize holistic concepts of health, where illness is understood as an imbalance involving physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions.
Third, there is a clear imbalance in visibility and institutional support. Traditional Chinese Medicine benefits from state backing, formal education systems, and global recognition, while Sudanese traditional medicine remains under-documented and marginalized in academic and policy discourse.
Finally, the literature reveals a notable absence of grassroots perspectives from Sudanese healers and Chinese students, leaving many lived experiences unrecorded.
Slide 6 – Why This Matters
This research challenges Western-centered models of global health that privilege biomedical knowledge while sidelining indigenous healing systems.
By focusing on Sudan–China exchange, this project highlights South–South medical interaction and the ways healing knowledge circulates outside dominant Western frameworks.
Recognizing traditional medicine as legitimate and culturally meaningful has implications for global health policy, medical education, and patient care—especially in culturally diverse settings.
Slide 7 – Conclusion and Acknowledgements
In conclusion, Sudanese and Chinese traditional medicine share overlapping herbal knowledge and holistic approaches shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, trade, and diplomacy. Yet the contributions of Sudanese traditional medicine remain largely undocumented in global health narratives.
Future work will expand this project through oral histories and digital storytelling to better capture these underrepresented perspectives.
I would like to thank Professor Peiyu Yang, George Mason University, and the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program for supporting this research.
Thank you for listening.

Making and Creating Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Integrating Flavin Cofactor into Peptide Amphiphiles for Electron Transport

Author(s): Nathan Hernandez

Mentor(s): Lee Solomon, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

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Abstract

Flavin is a redox cofactor found in many biological systems. Its ability to support electron transfer makes them a valuable tool to study this process in nature. In this project, we are synthesizing an Fmoc-protected flavin amino acid for use in peptide-based model systems that mimic redox-active proteins. This work is part of a broader effort to design an artificial system that isolates the biological properties underlying natural protein functions while being free from the complexity of evolutionarily affected systems. These simplified systems will ultimately help us understand redox behavior in proteins and contribute to the development of next generation bioelectronic materials.

Audio Transcript

Slide 1

Hello everyone. My name is Nathan Hernandez, and I’ll be presenting the integration of Flavin cofactor into peptide amphiphiles for electron transport.

Slide 2

So our original research question was whether or not we could embed the flavin cofactor into peptide amphiphiles to create a synthetic material that supports directional electron transport.

Slide 3

My research question stems from the fact that life relies on electron transport and is seen in processes like cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Throughout these processes, there are proteins that guide electron transport in a very specific manner. They rely on well positioned co-factors like hemes, Flavins, and Quinones.  But the issue with these systems is that they’re super complex and sensitive to environments, and it makes it difficult to isolate and reengineer in controlled environments.

Slide 4

I decided to choose flavin because it’s a cofactor that’s already found in the body and is able to support 2 electron and one electron transfer. It’s an extremely versatile co-factor with predictable redox potential. It’s chemically robust enough to survive acids and solid-state peptide synthetic conditions. And there’s also an existing protocol for synthesizing flavor modified amino acids, which can then later be introduced into peptides.

Slide 5

A peptide amphiphile is a short peptide sequence with a hydrophobic tail. These sequences under basic aqueous conditions form fibers. The really cool part about peptide amphiphiles is that we’re able to modularly design them and change the charges, hydrophobicity, and change the sequencing.  Which means we’re able to place our co factors in specific positions along the peptide. And due to their ability to form fibers, we’re able to control highly ordered structures which allow us to create a potential for directional electron movement.

Slide 6

To synthesize the flavor modified amino acid, we follow synthetic steps set by carrel et al. in 1998. This includes the oxidation of the precursor with potassium, persulfate in an acid to introduce the nitroso intermediate, which is an orange crystal. Highly activated for nucleophilic aromatic substitution.  And the ipso substitution with Boc protected lysine and pyridine for 72 hours. Which yields a deep red product and forms the key carbon nitrogen bond linking flavor, precursor to the amino acid.

Slide 7

The next step is a reduction done by a hydrogenation catalyzed by palladium on carbon to convert the nitro group into an aniline group. Alloxan monohydrate and boric acid are added to cyclolize the isoalloxazine core. This step is crucial and must be done in the dark to avoid photodegradation. This is followed by Fmoc protection. Through the addition of Fmoc OSU, which installs a protecting group that is suitable for solid-state peptide synthesis. The final product is a bright yellow powder, which is the flavin modified amino acid.

Slide 8

After the amino acid is synthesized, we incorporate it into a peptide using our purepep chorus automated peptide synthesizer. Since the flavor monomer is bulky, we use a double coupling cycle to ensure that it is fully incorporated into our peptide. The peptide is then cleaved off the resin and precipitated with cold ether to yield the product.

Slide 9

The crude peptide is then purified through high performance liquid chromatography, and its mass is verified through mass spectrometry.

Slide 10

Our current results are that we’ve been able to synthesize the flavin modified amino acid and verified structure through NMR. We’ve also been able to synthesize crude peptide in high yield. However, we have been unable to fully purify this through high performance liquid chromatography.

Slide 11

Once our peptide is pure, we plan to analyze its structure through atomic force microscopy. This will confirm nano fiber formation, length, height, and bundling of those nanofibers. We will also use conductive atomic force microscopy to analyze the conductive properties of these fibers.

Slide 12

We will use redox Titrations with oxidizing and producing agents to analyze the electrochemical properties of our nano fibers. This will be done through step-wise edition of oxidants and reductants to cycle the flavin between oxidized and reduced states. We will monitor these changes through UV-ViS, spectroscopy, to track the characteristic flavin bands.

Slide 13

This work creates a simplified platform to study electron transport while avoiding the complexity of full proteins. This has potential applications and bioelectronic interfaces, implantable or wearable sensors in the next generation of circuitry.

Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR US, Global, and Beyond

Game-Theoretic Analysis of International Pollution Policy

Author(s): Andrew Dara Or

Mentor(s): Moon Joon Kim, Economics, Mason Korea

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Abstract

International pollution policy consistently fails to achieve meaningful emissions reductions, not because states lack environmental concern, but because the strategic structure of global cooperation rewards defection. This project applies game-theoretic analysis to explain why voluntary climate agreements break down and identifies the mathematical conditions under which cooperation becomes rational. Using a formal payoff model, I show that a country will only cooperate when the sum of sanctions and its discounted share of global climate benefits exceeds the domestic costs of mitigation and the gains from cheating:

(

)
≥

.
s+αPV(B)≥c+g.

A key finding is that the Social Discount Rate (SDR) plays a decisive role in shaping this inequality. Higher SDRs sharply reduce the present value of future climate benefits, making defection the dominant strategy. Real-world policy behavior in the United States aligns with this model: high SDRs corresponded with withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, while lower SDRs accompanied renewed cooperation.

Case studies of the Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreement demonstrate that successful treaties alter incentives through sanctions, financing, and monitoring. The analysis also incorporates recent evidence linking pollution to declining political participation, revealing a feedback loop that undermines enforcement. Collectively, these results highlight the need to redesign treaty incentives, lower discount rates, and reduce free-rider gains to enable durable climate cooperation.

Audio Transcript

Hello, my name is Andrew Or. I am a junior economics major at George Mason University, and for my USRP project. I will be presenting game theory analysis of an international pollution policy.  My research question is why do global pollution agreements so often fail and how can game theory help us design policies that may actually succeed? Although climate change is usually described as an environmental or scientific problem, at the international level, it is fundamentally a strategic problem. Every country benefits when global emissions fall, but the cost of reducing those emissions are domestic, immediate, and politically painful.  This misalignment between national incentives and global welfare explained why international cooperation has been so fragile and why so many treaties fail to produce real emission deductions. Game theory provides a powerful framework for mostly the incentive structure that drives state behavior and for identifying the policies needed to shift the equilibrium towards cooperation. Pollution mitigation is a global public good.  It is non-excludable, and it’s non-rival, because benefits are shared globally while costs are paid individually. States based a strong incentive to free ride. This is the core collective failure in global climate politics.  Clever negotiations resemble a repeated prisoner’s dilemma. If both countries collaborate, the world achieves the best outcome. However, if each country gains by defecting while the other cooperates, and mutual defection becomes a stable equilibrium.  This is why voluntary agreements without enforcement consistently underperform. The payoff matrix illustrate this problem. Cooperation requires immediate national cost, defection, offers short-term economic gains, cheaper energy, and competitive advantage.  Because of benefits of reduced pollution are long term and global, individual states rarely find cooperations rational to their own. This structure creates bias towards defection. The key variable to achieving cooperation is social discount rate.  In the United States during Trump’s 1st term, the social discount rate was from 3 to 7%, while during the Biden administration, the rate range from 2.5 to 5%. From a 2023 article by BRG, the recommended SDRs by economist is 2 to 3%. For environmental decisions because higher rates undervalue future climate stability.  Under the higher Trump SDR, the U.S. withdrew from the Paris agreement, halted green climate fund contributions and scaled back multilateral climate commitments. This behavior is fully consistent with the cooperation condition where high SDR equals lower PVB and defection becomes rational. Under Biden administration, the US rejoined the Paris agreement, resume GCF contributions, and renewed climate diplomacy.  Cooperation become more rational, once future benefits were valued appropriately. The 2 main case studies I chose to observe were the Montreal Protocol and the Paris agreement. The Montreal Protocol is the clearest example of a successful treaty because it altered the payoff structure.  Severe trade sanctions raise the cost of defection, the multilateral fund reduced the cost of compliance for developing states, and strict verification, reduced cheating gains, or free rider problems. Countries including the US, China, and India had strong incentives to comply because the treaty satisfied these conditions. The Paris agreement, on the other hand, lacked sanctions, binding targets, hard monitoring, or enforcement mechanisms, and major emitters have expanded coal use or failed to meet pledges because of this.  I generated model that will help represent this in action, and these are the variables I will use for clarification. The payoff from cooperating is the present value of long-term global climate benefit minus the domestic cost of mitigation. And the payoff from defecting is the cheating gains or free rider gains minus the sanctions for defection.  A state only has incentives to cooperate if C is greater than or equal to D. Based on the information from the US, I created a mock graph to help better represent this model. Defection is the predicted equilibrium, not a political accident. Cooperation emerges only when treaty shipped incentives, high SDRs mathematically erase long-term climate benefits, U.S. withdrawal and reentry match the model’s predictions, successful treaties share sanctions, financing, and verification mechanisms.  Game theory shows that international pollution policy does not fail because states are rational, it fails because strategic architecture rewards defection, to make cooperation rational, we must reshape the payoff matrix. There are 3 clear solutions. One is to raise sanctions and increase S, 2 is to reduce the free rider incentives by reducing G, and 3 is to reform discount rate policy lowering R.  Evidently, this research is not finished as there is many more variables to explore. I would like to express my sincere gratification to the USP for provide me with the opportunity to present and further my research, and I’m also grateful for my mentor, Professor Moonjun Kim, for his guidance and support through the project.

Cells, Individuals, and Community College of Engineering and Computing OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Pain, Medication Use and Biomarker Associations in Individuals with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) : Insights from the All of Us Research Program

Author(s): Jannatul Nayeem

Mentor(s): Jenny Phan, CASSBI

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Abstract

Background:
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder often accompanied by chronic pain, yet the biological and social determinants of this pain remain underexplored. Understanding how stress-related biomarkers and healthcare access interact in shaping pain experiences may reveal mechanisms underlying health disparities in PCOS populations.

Objective:
This study examined associations between inflammatory and neuroendocrine biomarkers (C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol, and body mass index (BMI)) and pain burden among individuals with PCOS, while exploring the moderating role of healthcare access and insurance coverage.

Methods:
Using data from the All of Us Research Program, 2,160 adults with PCOS (identified by ICD-9/10 codes) were analyzed. Pain burden was measured through pain-related diagnoses and pain medication dosage. Biomarker distributions were winsorized, log-transformed, and analyzed via multivariate regression models adjusting for age, race, socioeconomic status, and healthcare variables.

Results:
Pain burden alone was not significantly associated with higher CRP, cortisol, or BMI levels. However, healthcare access moderated these relationships: participants with greater barriers to care exhibited elevated inflammation and BMI with increasing pain, whereas those with adequate access showed flatter or reduced biomarker trends.

Conclusions:
Findings suggest that chronic pain and stress responses in PCOS may be shaped more by social and contextual factors than biological burden alone. Enhancing healthcare accessibility and equity could mitigate stress-related physiological outcomes and improve pain management for individuals with PCOS.

Audio Transcript

0:01 Hello, my name is Jannatul Nayeem. I am a student researcher with the B&LAB, um, at George Mason. I’m working directly with, um, Dr.
0:13 Jenny, um, in her our static load study. Which is the body’s biological stress response, and how it relates to menstrual disorders and chronic pain.
0:23 Um, from that study, I wanted to dive deeper into PCOS, and look at pain medication use and biomarker. Or associations and individuals with that disorder.
0:36 Umm, for methodology, I started off by using, umm, the all of us data set, uhh, database. Umm, it has a ton of data on- individuals, uhh, with all sorts of diseases and, umm, information from their doctor visits, umm, patient records, and also, umm, some survey questions that, the program itself asks
1:06 those participants, umm, and so through that, through that database, I was able to find what 2160 individuals with PCOS, and dive deeper into, uhh, their- biomarkers, uh, specifically for this, I’m using, umm, 3 biomarkers as predictors for inflammation and stress.
1:30 I’m using BMI, C-reactive protein, and cortisol. And then, umm, for- for their outcome variable, I use pain diagnosis along with their medication usage, umm, for medication usage, umm, I accounted for, umm, how many medications they’re taking.
1:52 And, and also what the dosage was for that medication, umm, and then some co-variates, such moderators that, sorry, some co-variates that I used was age, race, uhh, and SES index, and then for moderators, umm, I looked at healthcare access, uh, specifically insurance insurance status and access to care
2:19 . there. And so, I’m going to zoom into the results that I had, umm, hopefully in the video it resumes in two.
2:33 umm, but for my results, I found that, umm, pain alone didn’t start- we predict inflammation or stress, but limited access to care did.
2:45 Individuals with more barriers, such as lack of insurance, showed higher inflammation and BMI with pain, suggesting that health equity plays a critical role in PCOS pain.
2:56 Um, while my insurance data was limited, uh, because, uh, that not many people answered those questions, um, there’s still show some support that the idea- that stress biology and pain in PCOS are influenced by social environment and not just physiology.
3:22 Um, right now, I am continuing this study, um, to- or they’re deep in my understanding and advocate for equitable pain care in PCOS populations.
3:36 Umm, and so one thing I want to focus on more is, uh, imp- moving, um, how we, uh, state these questions, because I do feel like how the, uh, question is stated about access to care and insurance status is pretty sensitive.
3:58 So how can we go about it to, change the way, um, someone feels about answering those type of questions. Um, and so yeah, that was my study.
4:09 Thank you for listening.

Making and Creating OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Plasmonic Metal-Infused Laser-Induced Graphene for Enhanced Photodetection

Author(s): Graham Harper

Mentor(s): Pilgyu Kang, GMU Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Laser-Induced Graphene (LIG) is a promising platform for next-generation flexible photodetectors due to its high conductivity, scalability, and low-cost fabrication. However, its optical-to-electrical conversion efficiency remains limited by weak light–matter interaction. In this work, we enhance LIG photodetection performance through the in-situ infusion of plasmonic palladium nanoparticles into the polymer precursor prior to laser carbonization. During laser processing, the nanoparticles become embedded within the porous graphene microstructure, enabling localized electromagnetic field enhancement via surface plasmon resonance. Electrical characterization under UV illumination demonstrates improved resistance modulation and consistent ON/OFF cycling behavior in Pd-infused LIG compared to bare LIG samples. These initial results confirm plasmon-assisted photocarrier generation and highlight an effective, single-step approach to improving responsivity in flexible photodetectors. Future efforts will investigate wavelength-dependent response and additional plasmonic materials such as silver and gold nanoparticles.

Audio Transcript

Hello, my name is Graham Harper from the Mechanical Engineering Department at George Mason University. Today, I’ll be presenting my research about Plasmonic Metal-Infused Laser-Induced Graphene for Enhanced Photodetection.

Photodetectors are critical components in environmental and optical sensing systems. However, many conventional photodetectors are expensive to fabricate and lack flexibility.
Laser-Induced Graphene offers a more scalable and low-cost alternative due to its conductive porous structure and ability to be processed on flexible substrates.
The challenge is improving how efficiently it converts light into a measurable electrical signal.

One promising way to improve photodetection is by taking advantage of surface plasmon resonance.
Metal nanoparticles, such as palladium, can enhance local electromagnetic fields when illuminated, generating more charge carriers in the device.
By infusing metal nanoparticles directly into the polymer before laser conversion, the plasmonic functionality becomes embedded within the graphene structure.
Our hypothesis is that metal infused laser-induced graphene will perform better under illumination than bare laser-induced graphene.

Our objective is to fabricate laser induced graphene using a UV or CO₂ laser, characterize its structure and electrical properties, and measure photodetection performance under illumination.
The main goal is to determine whether palladium-embedded laser induced graphene produces enhanced optical-electrical response.

To create Palladium infused laser-induced graphene, a palladium-doped polymer solution is spin-coated for thickness uniformity. A laser induces carbonization to form conductive graphene that has palladium nanoparticles dispersed throughout.
Electrical contacts are added using silver paste and copper wires.
Samples are tested under a 62 mA UV laser while recording resistance changes as the light switches on and off.

Our results show a clear increase in resistance change under illumination for the Pd-infused samples.
The cycling data demonstrates consistent ON/OFF behavior with strong repeatability, confirming plasmon-assisted photocarrier generation and successful light response.

We successfully created plasmonically enhanced laser-induced graphene, palladium-infused laser-induced graphene showed stronger optical-electrical response, and the fabrication method remains low-cost and scalable.
This demonstrates that plasmonic nanoparticles provide an effective pathway to improve flexible photodetectors.

Future goals include testing silver and gold nanoparticles with stronger plasmonic response, expanding testing to more wavelengths beyond UV, conducting durability and reliability testing, and performing additional structural analysis (Raman, SEM).

Thanks to the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, Dr. Pilgyu Kang, and the Nanomaterials Lab at GMU for their support.

Making and Creating Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Design and characterization of a de-novo adenine binding protein

Author(s): Amber Middleton

Mentor(s): Lee Solomon, Biochemistry

Abstract

This study explores the de novo design and characterization of a protein engineered to selectively bind adenine; a molecule critical to ATP function, nucleotide recognition, and a wide range of cellular processes [2]. Our objective is to determine whether targeted structural mutations can enhance adenine binding affinity beyond the levels achieved by the original computational model. The designed protein will be expressed via recombinant DNA techniques and purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Structural and functional characterization will be carried out using a variety of analytical techniques. Those include SDS-PAGE, circular dichroism (CD), fluorescence spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). These methods will evaluate protein purity, secondary structure, and protein-ligand binding behavior. Through this approach we aim to identify key structural determinants that improve adenine specificity, offering new insights into rational protein design and the molecular basis of protein-ligand recognition.

Audio Transcript

My name is Amber Middleton and my project is called the design and characterization of a Doo adding binding protein. Our research question is can specific structure mutations and Danovo designed protein enhanced binding affinity and specificity for adding compared to the original computational design so why adding all nucleotide bases are rigid and aromatic, but addinine has a hydrogen bon or donor arrangement that is unique and specific um for selective and specific binding to proteins so it’s better suited for binding when interacted with ATP. The mutations that we made are from Alline to Isosine Alline to veailinging to 3ine and glycine to searin all these mutations were done by a regent PhD student Robert Spain for our methods, we had to express the protein purify it check the purity check the secondary structure and do a series of binding assets. The first thing is the expression of the proteins and recombinent DNA techniques, TB Media, LB Media, and inoculation overnight then we move on to NINTA chomatography to purify your protein where you’ll put your protein down into the column. It’ll run through. You’ll rise it with binding buffer samples and then you’ll rinse it with mixtures of binding buffer and ausion buffer samples and then you’ll collect each of those for analysis separately you then check the purity via SDS page so you’ll take those samples that you collected from the column, put them in run them at 180 V and they will separate by mass ideally, the thicker or darker the bands they hire their protein concentration. You’ll take the thickest ones, darkest ones, and do dialysis to remove all small salts and then we’ll move on a circulularichroism to check the secondary structure for for alpha helix proteins. You’ll see two negative peaks one at 208 n and one at 222 n which we do see in both of the pictures to the right the top being the wild type and the bottom being the mutant we then moved on to our first binding assay, which is surface plasma residence. We were only able to do a negative control with the wild type in adding proving that adding does not bind to the wild type. We then moved to our second binding assay fluorescence, and isodropy. This measures molecular interacts by detecting changes in fluorescent molecules, rotations so the faster the tumbling, the less binding that’s happening and the slower the tumbling, the more binding that is happening. This is some of our results from the first few anisropy experiments as you can see in yellow these are a little bit weird values. They imply that they’ protein technal gives more of a signal than protein addinine does, which essentially means that addingine quitching the protein signal or other things such as G-factor issues are going wrong our values are specific are expected to be between zero and 0.4 for anisatropy, but that’s not what we see in the highlighted so because of this, we wanted to move on to isothermal titration calorimetry, which measures heat released or absorbed, and these are the results that followed that on the left we have a IC thermogram of Valerab into the wild type AT&D, which is our positive controls and we were able to see that there is decreasing exothermic peaks, which proves that there was um functional liggin interaction and binding with the wild type protein, but on the right we have a ITC thermogram of adding with AT&D mutant, which looks nothing like the one on the left showing that there were only small producible changes in heat changes and there was no binding happening so our conclusions and future directions again we were able to purify and express our proteins and get up for alpha helix bundle, but upon doing finding assays, we were able to determine that addine and our mutant do not bond to each other so we have to go back to insilical design to re-engineer the binding pocket for addinine recognition using structural modeling and computational design followed by the validation CDEFSPRNITC and we aim to create a new mutant capable of selectively binding addine and this will help our understanding of targeted mutations to shape Lan specificity and enobble protein scaffolds

Cells, Individuals, and Community College of Public Health Honors College OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Rest and Results: The Relationship Between Sleep, Stress, and Grade Point Average (GPA) in Undergraduates

Author(s): Michael Kaleem

Mentor(s): Ali Weinstein, College of Public Health

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Abstract

Michael Kaleem
URSP Abstract

Title
Rest and Results: The Relationship Between Sleep, Stress, and Grade Point Average (GPA) in Undergraduates

Authors: MK and AW

Background
Sleep plays an important role in college students’ cognitive functioning and overall academic success, making it a crucial area of study. However, the specific relationship between parameters of sleep and academic performance has not been well studied. In addition, college students have also reported increasing levels of stress over the past few years, and stress can affect both sleep and academic success. Therefore, the current investigation examined the associations between duration of sleep, sleep quality, and stress with academic success.

Methods
Data were collected by surveys completed by undergraduate students at a large, public university. Sleep duration and sleep quality were assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and stress was measured with the Perceived Stress Scale. Academic success was operationalized as a self-reported GPA. Pearson correlations determined association between the variables of interest with p<0.05 set as the level of statistical significance. Results
There were 196 undergraduate students that participated (70.1% female, 36% white/non-Hispanic, 27.6% Asian/Pacific Islander, age: 18.1±0.5). Both sleep duration and sleep quality were statistically significantly related to GPA (r=0.17, p=0.02, r=-0.13; p=0.001, respectively). Therefore, as the number of hours of sleep increased and as sleep quality increased (lower number on PSQI is indicative of better sleep), GPA increased. Elevated stress levels were related to both sleep duration (r=-0.14; p=0.01) and sleep quality (r=0.40; p<0.001) but not significantly correlated to GPA (r=-0.01; p=0.92). Conclusion
This study found that sleep duration and sleep quality were positively associated with academic success. Although stress was not directly related to academic success, it was associated with both sleep duration and quality, suggesting that stress may influence academic success indirectly through its effects on sleep. Future research should explore how demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors influence sleep patterns and academic success to better inform strategies that support student success.

Audio Transcript

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? And do you think it affects your GPA? Sleep is something most college students sacrifice, yet it’s essential for memory, learning, and mental functioning. My name is Michael Kaleem, and our research explored the relationship between sleep, stress, and academic performance in undergraduates. We wanted to know: Could better sleep actually lead to better grades—and how does stress fit into the picture?

Sleep is more than just rest. During sleep, the brain strengthens memories, organizes information, and supports attention and problem-solving. So, in theory, students who sleep longer and sleep better should perform better academically. But college life is complex—so real data is needed to understand what’s actually happening.

Stress is one of the biggest disruptors of sleep. High stress can shorten sleep duration, worsen sleep quality, and impact mood and focus. Because stress influences both sleep and academic functioning, we wanted to understand whether stress plays a direct role in GPA—or whether its effects occur indirectly through sleep.
We surveyed 196 undergraduate students at a large public university. Sleep duration and sleep quality were measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale, and students self-reported their GPA. We used Pearson correlations to examine how these variables were related, with significance set at p < 0.05.
We found that both sleep duration and sleep quality were significantly related to GPA. Students who slept more hours tended to have higher GPAs. And students with better sleep quality—which means fewer sleep problems—also had higher GPAs. So in this sample, sleep really did matter for academic success.
Stress told a different story. Stress levels were not directly related to GPA. However, stress was strongly connected to both sleep duration and sleep quality. Students with higher stress slept fewer hours and had worse sleep quality. This suggests that stress may influence academic performance indirectly—by affecting the amount and quality of sleep students get.
Our findings show that sleep duration and sleep quality are important predictors of academic success. Even though stress didn’t directly affect GPA, it played a major role in disrupting sleep. This highlights a powerful message: helping students improve sleep habits and manage stress can support academic performance, cognitive functioning, and overall well-being.
Future research should explore how demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors influence sleep and academic outcomes. Understanding these differences can help universities design more effective programs to support healthier sleep, reduce stress, and improve student success across diverse populations.

College of Engineering and Computing College of Humanities and Social Science Honors College Making and Creating OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR Winners

A Robotic Cat for Examining Camera Clarity and Privacy in Human–Robot Interaction

Author(s): Alexia De Costa

Mentor(s): Eileen Roesler, Department of Psychology

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Abstract

This project presents the Bioinspired Automated Robotic Cat (BARC), a functional companion robot designed to support research in human–robot interaction and privacy-aware design. BARC features camera-based facial detection, expressive gaze behaviors, audio responses, and various soft and rigid materials to mimic a household cat. Because camera systems can enhance interaction while raising privacy concerns, the ongoing study compares peoples’ responses under two conditions: a clear, high-quality camera filter and a blurred, low-clarity camera filter. Using surveys and observation of touch behavior, the study examines how camera clarity shapes engagement and perceived privacy, informing the design of social robots that are effective while respecting user comfort.

Audio Transcript

Have you ever wondered what a robot actually sees when it looks at you?
Today, social and service robots are becoming increasingly common, and many rely on cameras for facial recognition and user engagement. But as useful as cameras are, they also raise important questions: Do they make people feel watched? Can a robot feel friendly while still respecting privacy?

These questions lie at a key intersection in human–robot interaction, that robots need perception to understand us, yet high-resolution sensing can make people uncomfortable. So I wanted to explore a central challenge: can we reduce privacy concerns without making interactions less enjoyable? And does being transparent about what a robot sees change how people feel?

To investigate this, I designed and built a robot cat from scratch called BARC, the Bioinspired Automated Robotic Cat. BARC is part engineering platform and part research tool. It can switch between two controlled camera conditions: a clear, high-quality camera filter and a blurred, low-clarity filter that still allows for partial facial detection. These interchangeable physical filters let me directly compare how different levels of sensing clarity influence interaction.

BARC is also designed to feel expressive and lifelike. It uses camera-based facial detection for gaze behavior, animated OLED eyes, a speaker for cat-like sounds, and soft and rigid materials that mimic the look and feel of a household cat. Through surveys and observations of touch behavior, my ongoing study explores how these two camera conditions shape user engagement and perceived privacy.

To create BARC, I began with feline anatomical references, studying limb placement, joint spacing, and overall proportions, to inspire the CAD model for the chassis. I laser-cut the acrylic components and assembled them using screws and tab-and-slot joints for a sturdy, lightweight frame.

At the heart of the robot is a Raspberry Pi 4, which handles perception and behavioral control.

A camera provides the main sensory input for facial detection.

Two OLED displays animate expressive eyes that track the user once a face is detected, giving the illusion of attention and social presence.

A speaker and amplifier generate a range of cat sounds, from meows to purrs to alarmed yowls.

An accelerometer-gyroscope detects movement, such as being picked up or shaken, so BARC can respond appropriately.

Servos are controlled by a PCA9685 driver, animate the limbs, jaw, head, and tail.

All behaviors are programmed in Python and organized in a state machine with modes such as Idle, Seeking Attention, Interacting, and Startled. BARC transitions between these states based on sensory input and probability, helping interactions feel natural rather than scripted.

To examine how camera clarity influences engagement and privacy perceptions, BARC serves as a fully capable research platform. Seventy-two participants are currently part of a single-blind study with two groups:

Group 1: interacts with BARC using a clear camera filter

Group 2: interacts with BARC using a blurred, privacy-preserving filter

The physical filter is noticeable, so using filters in both groups keeps the robot visually consistent. That way, any differences we see are truly due to what the robot can or can’t perceive.

Participants interact with BARC, complete a survey measuring constructs such as Perceived Sociability and Perceived Enjoyment, and then are shown a live camera feed so they can see the actual resolution of the robot’s vision. Afterward, they complete a second survey measuring perceived privacy, perceived surveillance, disturbance, and attitudes about robots.

The hypotheses are:
1: No difference in sociability, enjoyment, or touch behavior.
2: The filtered-camera group will report higher perceived privacy.
3: The clear-camera group will report higher perceived surveillance.

This interdisciplinary project connects mechanical engineering, psychology, and human-robot interaction to better understand how people perceive robotic sensing. BARC’s expressiveness, biological inspiration, and controlled camera conditions make it a powerful research platform.

By comparing clear versus filtered camera views, this research explores whether privacy concerns come from what the robot actually sees, or what users believe it sees. Ultimately, the goal is to guide the design of future social robots that remain engaging and respectful of user’s privacy

Special thanks to Dr. Eileen Roesler (Psychology) and Dr. Daigo Shishika (Mechanical Engineering) for their invaluable mentorship. Thank you to Katya Schafer for assistance with data collection, and to Dr. Karen Lee and OSCAR for their support and funding, which made this project possible.

Thank you!

College of Engineering and Computing Making and Creating OSCAR Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) - OSCAR

Laser-Induced Graphene–Nanoparticle Platforms for Plasmonic Enhanced Photosensing

Author(s): Ali Kabli

Mentor(s): Pilgyu Kang, Mechanical Engineering

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Abstract

This project explores the potential for enhancing the performance of Laser-Induced Graphene (LIG) using metallic nanoparticles (NPs) as a platform for fabricating photosensors with enhanced sensitivity. The main question being addressed is can a Laser-Induced Graphene–Palladium nanoparticle (LIG-PdNP) nanocomposite enhance sensor sensitivity through plasmonic and interfacial effects? Research has been conducted in the past regarding the use of LIG as the functional material in a photosensor, and the rationalization behind using these metallic NPs in a nanocomposite material is to improve the sensitivity of the sensor by improving the photoresponsivity. This is due to the introduction of plasmonic effects from the NPs, which allows for the photocurrent to flow more efficiently. The main novelty behind this particular project’s approach lies in the synthesis of the nanocomposite, where classic means would have the NPs deposited on the LIG surface creating point contacts. The synthesis technique being explored here involved a one-step synthesis via precursors and a polymer substrate, which creates a “seamless interface” between the components of the functional material. This interface allows for the electrons to flow freely between the LIG and NPs, enhancing the photoresponsivity of the device. Two devices were compared, one with 0wt% of PdNPs, and another with 30wt% PdNPs in order to observe any improvements in the performance of the devices when hit with a blue laser (448.2nm wavelength). Future research regarding this project includes using NPs with higher plasmonic effects such as gold or silver, as well as refining the geometric footprint and patter of the sensor itself to increase performance further.

Audio Transcript

Hello everyone, my name is Ali Kabli and today I’m going to present to you my undergraduate research project, Laser Induced Graphene Nanoparticle Platforms for Plasmonic Enhanced Photosensing. This project was advised by Dr. Pilgyu Kang from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

So to give a brief background and introduction, past research has been done by Dr. Kang and his group, utilizing laser-induced graphene, or LIG, as a sensing element in photosensors. Now, these sensors operate based on the premise of photosensitivity. You basically shine a laser of some known wavelength at the sensor, which will induce some photocurrent. The change in photocurrent can be observed and used for sensing purposes. We want to improve the sensitivity of these devices by introducing metallic nanoparticles, or NPs, to increase the plasmonic effects and photoresponsivity of these devices. Now, for the purposes of this project, the specific nanoparticles that were used were palladium. However, any metal that has known plasmonic effects can be used.

For the purposes of this presentation, or project, we proposed a novel nanocomposite synthesis technique, which resulted in a seamless interface between the LIG and the nanoparticles. Traditional methods would have you deposit these nanoparticles on the surface of the LIG, or whatever substrate you’re using, which results in a point contact between the particles and the bulk surface. The downside to this is the fact that that point contact doesn’t allow for the most efficient flow of electrons. However, through a one-step synthesis technique using precursors and polymer substrate, we are able to integrate these nanoparticles within the surface of the laser-induced graphene itself, allowing the electrons to flow seamlessly.

So, the main question that we were answering with this research project was, can a laser-induced graphene palladium nanoparticle nanocomposite enhance sensor sensitivity through plasmonic and interfacial effects? The plasmonic effects, once again, coming from the fact that we’re using these metallic nanoparticles, and the interfacial effects coming from the seamless interface through our unique synthesis technique.

The methods and procedure for this project involved the actual synthesis of our nanocomposite using the one-step technique. Then we would fabricate the photosensor device using the synthesized nanocomposite. It should be mentioned that the scale of this sensor was 500 millimeters by 500 milliliters, which is actually quite large given the nanoscale. It’s very, very large. So that may have resulted in the data being slightly skewed, which is an improvement that we will go over at the end of this presentation. Then we collected optical data regarding the photoresponsivity of the device by hooking it up to an optical testing apparatus where we would shine a laser on and off at known intervals. The laser’s wavelength was known for the purposes of this project. We were using a blue laser, 448.2 nanometers of wavelength, and we would plot the resulting photocurrent as a function of time. The long-term goals of this project are to one day harness these nanocomposites as a platform for plasmonically enhanced PEC or photoelectrochemical gas sensors.

Now here’s just a brief snapshot of the results. We see on the left side a comparison between the photocurrent resulting from a 30 weight percent nanoparticle nanocomposite and on the right side we have the photocurrent resulting from just pure LIG. As you can see the scale on the left side is in microamps, and the scale on the right side is in nanoamps, which means that we were able to show a drastic improvement, three orders of magnitude to be exact.

In conclusion, the experiment was a huge success in proving that plasmonic effects could enhance the sensitivity of these devices. However, more work is still needed in the future. We can refine the geometry and footprint of the sensor itself so that it’s a lot smaller than 500 by 500 millimeters. We can also test other nanoparticles with known greater plasmonic effects, such as gold or silver. And we can also play around with different laser parameters, focusing the laser’s beam more, increasing the wavelength, etc.

Some acknowledgements. Of course, my advisor, Dr. Pilgyu Kang, Graham Harper, who aided in data collection on this project, and Philip Acatrinei, for being an indispensable help in data collection and in setting up the experiment itself. He actually programmed the software that we were using to collect the data. So without him, this project would not have been possible. Thank you.