Room 2 Schedule
Collins 318
Wednesday, April 15th, 2026
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In First Corinthians 7, Paul writes about the chēras, or widows, living in Corinth among his followers. He speaks of these women with honor, comparing their chosen lives to his own. The chēras appear again a generation later in First Timothy, but this time the author reacts to them with distrust and calls for their resignation. What happened in the intervening years? Who were the widows and what caused their fall from grace? This talk offers evidence, various theories, and a suggestion for how to understand these peculiar early Christian women.
Faculty Sponsor: Stephen Patterson
Discipline: Religious Studies -
Early Christ groups met and gathered for meals following common trends of social organization in the 1st century CE Roman Empire. Paul’s letters also show us that women and slaves were among these groups’ members. But did they participate in these common shared meals? The context of Greco-Roman banquet culture and New Testament material provoke many questions about early Christian social experimentation. This presentation will explore the evidence on these social groups and table fellowship in early Christian communities, as well as what answers remain elusive.
Faculty Sponsor: Stephen Patterson
Discipline: Religious Studies -
This paper holds the complex relationship between the modern label “lesbian” in concert with the desire of lesbians for historical representation; to understand ourselves within a far-reaching historical context. Through a comparative study of lesbian religious poetry dating as far back as Sumer, I am able to define lesbian identity as a literary tradition. “Lesbian,” then, is identifiable as lived experience within the archive, and lesbianism can be found in history by searching for poetic features that “flag” participation in a tradition, combatting the instinct to claim lesbian identity only so far back as it has been pathologized.
Faculty Sponsor: Stephen Patterson
Discipline: Religious Studies, Class of ’65 Student Assistance Fund -
This project explores the impact of financial deregulation on profit accumulation and employment dynamics within the financial sector. Bureau of Economic Analysis state and national employment data is used to construct a fixed effects econometric model to establish a positive relationship between deregulation and financial sector wage bill growth and an indeterminate effect on financial sector employment growth. Further, national level deregulations are shown to have brought about a new diminished relationship between profit accumulation and employment levels within the financial sector.
Faculty Sponsor: Nathan Sivers Boyce & Yan Liang
Discipline: Economics -
Our research explores worker safety standards for incarcerated adults in the State of Oregon. Through qualitative data collected first-hand and available literature, we conclude that too many adults in custody (AICs) work in potentially unsafe conditions within Oregon prisons. Data on worker injuries is not readily available from the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC), and as such, our problem definition cannot be definitive. However, we are confident that issues with AIC worker safety not only exist but must be addressed by Oregon lawmakers.
Faculty Sponsor: Melissa Buis
Discipline: Politics, Policy, Law & Ethics -
Stormwater control measures (SCMs) are a type of green infrastructure engineered to reduce flood risk and runoff pollution in urban watersheds. SCMs generate anaerobic conditions favorable to denitrification, an important microbial process that removes the common pollutant nitrate from watersheds as it is converted into N2. In this study, I use quantitative PCR to measure the abundance of denitrifying genes in the Pringle Creek watershed as a part of a larger study assessing the effects of seasonal variation on SCM nitrate removal. Preliminary results suggest that SCM samples collected from both rainy and dry seasons contain genes necessary for denitrification.
Faculty Sponsor: Katja Meyer
Discipline: Environmental Science, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust -
Following the Beachie Creek Fire of 2020, large portions of Oregon’s forests were devastated, which in turn destroyed the historical dendrochronological record. The purpose of this project is to discover the extent of fire history in the Willamette National Forest, specifically the Opal Creek Wilderness area. Using programs such as CDendro, CooRecorder, XDateR, ArcGIS, and RStudio, this project will analyze Douglas Fir cores from seven stands in the Opal Creek Wilderness. The results of this analysis will be revealed and discussed.
Faculty Sponsor: Joe Bowersox
Discipline: Environmental Science -
Nitrogen (N) deposition caused by anthropogenic activities is increasing across temperate and tropical ecosystems. However, the effects that this increase in N has on tropical forests are poorly understood, and in particular it is unknown how low and high elevation forests will respond to added N and what the consequences for carbon sequestration potential would be. As part of a NSF REU at the Missouri Botanical Garden, in order to understand how roots across the tropics respond to nitrogen addition, we performed a meta-analysis of 18 studies that looked at the effect of N addition to root traits.
Faculty Sponsor: Joe Bowersox
Discipline: Environmental Science, National Science Foundation (NSF) award DBI-2243824 -
This project examined Minto-Brown Island Park in Salem, Oregon, evaluating the greenspaces' biodiversity, relevance to the local community, and accessibility. It looked at the park's history and how its industrial use impacted the current land use strategies. It also investigated the social science of the park through various observations and semi-structured interviews, emphasizing the importance of the green space to the Salem community. After collecting and analyzing our data, we found areas for improvement and suggested feasible solutions, such as adding more amenities, focusing on marginalized populations, removing invasive species, and educating the broader community about conservation.
Faculty Sponsor: Michelle Talal
Discipline: Environmental Science -
Salem, Oregon, manages 90 parks, encompassing 2,300 acres. Established in 1926, the seven-acre Englewood Park is Salem's oldest park, featuring a splash pad, picnic areas, and a playground. It hosts the annual Forest Festival and a new cultural craft fair, and is a certified little habitat. Funding comes from the Salem Park Improvement Fund and grants. Despite its age, Englewood lacks social science research. This study will assess its biodiversity using iNaturalist and visual observation, and gather community feedback via an online survey to inform necessary improvements and enhance amenities.
Faculty Sponsor: Michelle Talal
Discipline: Environmental Science