Water Use and Conservation at Casa Maria

Presented By: Debby Alonso, Business & Law major, Veronica Geronimo, Political Science major, Arturo Arana, Engineering Management major, Adrian Roda Teran, Engineering Management major, Roberto Abarca, Engineering Management major

Research mentor: David Turner, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: In the fall of 2021, St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the principles of Laudato Si’, the St. Mary’s community is now taking steps to become a more environmentally sustainable campus. An important part of this effort is to establish baseline conditions from which to measure progress in sustainability with respect to specific university systems. With extensive grounds, dozens of buildings, and thousands of students, staff, and faculty, however, the complexities of a college campus can make it difficult to gather this information and explore more sustainable options in a systematic way. For the Spring 2025 semester, students in the StMU Honors Program are working with the Marianists to evaluate environmental sustainability for the Casa Maria Community located on the St. Mary’s campus. This type of smaller, ‘proof-of-concept’ project provides a more controlled way to explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable Casa Maria Community.

For this presentation, a group of five students focused on evaluating water usage for the community, including water used for cooking, hygiene, and irrigation. Baseline data were gathered through observation and by anonymous surveys of the community residents, asking questions about indoor and outdoor water use for purposes of both personal and for their living community. The goal based on our results of this focused project includes recommendations for changes in water use patterns to reduce consumption. From this project, the Casa Maria Community is only the beginning, with our findings we hope to contribute to conservation and offer a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

The Living Campus: Landscaping with Purpose at St. Mary’s

Presented By: Karelen Bastida, Finance and Risk Management major, Alyana Estes, Criminology major, Erick Santiago Jarquin Torres, Accounting major, Elijah Perez, Business and Law major, Savannah Torres, International and Global Studies major, Sophia Votta, Psychology major

Research mentor: David Turner, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the Laudato Si’ principles, the St. Mary’s community is now pushing forward to find ways to become more environmentally sustainable. As part of this effort, StMU Honors Program students will document the baseline conditions and establish relationships with the Marianists to evaluate renewability for the Casa Maria Community. With respect to specific university systems. This process will serve as a cornerstone to contributing to a better and more sustainable community on campus. When it comes to the extensive grounds and the complexities of a college campus, students will ask and work with the Marianists living on campus in the Casa Maria community to work in a more controlled way and explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable environment.

Throughout our project, we focused on targeting areas where current practices could be used for improvement. Improvement for the development and care of their landscape. Hitting areas such as utilizing water-efficient irrigation systems, incorporating mulch to retain moisture and suppress any weeds, and even reducing any pesticide use and opt for more natural pest control methods. We will obtain our data through observations and developing an anonymous survey used to evaluate current trends and practices. The results of this focused project include recommendations for changes in landscaping practices that can lead to a more sustainable Casa Maria Community, with a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

Designing Climate Application Problem for the College Mathematics Classroom

Presented By: Dhwani Chandi, Mathematics major

Research mentor: Kaitlin Hill, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: The development of “Climate Applications for the College Mathematics Classroom” represents a significant step forward in educational resources. By providing math instructors with the tools to integrate climate science into their curriculum, this project not only enriches the educational experience but also plays a crucial role in preparing students to tackle one of the most pressing global challenges of our time. Through this initiative, mathematics education can transcend traditional boundaries and become a pivotal platform for raising awareness and understanding of climate change and its impacts.

Brother Nature: Pursuing Zero-Waster at Casa Maria

Presented By: Isaiah Charles, Environmental Science major, Tatiana Flores, Environmental Science major, Isabella Lopez, Environmental Science major, Antonio Martinez, Environmental Science major, Giuliana Porzio Cuenca, Environmental Science major, Kelly Swyers, Environmental Science major

Research mentor: David Turner, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: In the fall of 2021, St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ ‘Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the principles of ‘Laudato Si’, the St. Mary’s community is now taking steps to become a more environmentally sustainable campus. An important part of this effort is to establish baseline conditions from which to measure progress in sustainability with respect to specific university systems. With extensive grounds, dozens of buildings, and thousands of students, staff, and faculty, however, the complexities of a college campus can make it difficult to gather this information and explore more sustainable options in a systematic way. For the Spring 2025 semester, students in the StMU Environmental Science and Sustainability Program are working with the Marianists to evaluate environmental sustainability for the Casa Maria Community located on the St. Mary’s campus. This pilot project provides a more controlled way to explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable Casa Maria Community.

For this presentation, students focused on evaluating waste production and management at Casa Maria. Baseline data were gathered through observation and by anonymous surveys of the community residents. The results of this focused project include recommendations for reducing the waste produced through the principles of refuse, reduce, re-use, and recycle. The cost savings from a more sustainable Casa Maria Community offer a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

From Faith to Watts: Sustainable Energy Solutions for St. Mary’s University

Presented By: Trinity Gomez, Digital Marketing major, Marvin Masabo Nkaka, Computer Engineering major, Jazmin Palacios, Finance and Risk Management major, Olivia Rojas, Engineering major, Chelsy Tinacba, Computer Science major

Research mentor: David Turner, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: In the fall of 2021, St. Mary’s University became one of the first universities in Texas to commit to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP). With this seven-year commitment to the principles of Laudato Si’, the St. Mary’s community is now taking steps to become a more environmentally sustainable campus. An important part of this effort is to establish baseline conditions from which to measure progress in sustainability with respect to specific university systems. With extensive grounds, dozens of buildings, and thousands of students, staff, and faculty, however, the complexities of a college campus can make it difficult to gather this information and explore more sustainable options in a systematic way. For the Spring 2025 semester, students in the StMU Honors Program are working with the Marianists to evaluate environmental sustainability for the Casa Maria Community located on the St. Mary’s campus. This type of smaller, ‘proof-of-concept’ project provides a more controlled way to explore current practices, establish baseline conditions, and develop customized recommendations for a more sustainable Casa Maria Community.

For this presentation, students focused on understanding energy consumption for the community through the use of electrical appliances, lighting, heating and cooling, and hot water. Baseline data were gathered through observation, anonymous surveys of the community residents, and through optional one on one interviews. The results of this focused project include recommendations for changes in energy habits that can lead to reduced energy usage and cost savings from a more sustainable Casa Maria Community, with a potential for application across the broader St. Mary’s campus.

Role of Mexican Methodist Women in Education and Health Along the Border

Presented By: Eugenio Gonzalez, Political Science major

Research mentor: Belinda Roman, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: This project explores the significant role of Mexican Methodist women in advancing education and health along the U.S.-Mexico border. Focusing on key figures and initiatives, such as Lydia Patterson and the Woman’s Home Missionary Society (WHMS), the study highlights their contributions to improving social conditions for Mexican and Mexican American communities in El Paso, Texas. Employing historical analysis of archival documents, this project seeks to honor the women who shaped border communities and to make their stories accessible to the public. The findings underscore the intersection of faith, community service, and social progress, offering insights into a pivotal yet often overlooked chapter of border history.

Building a Sustainable Future: The Role of Sustainability Committees in Driving Radical Green Innovation.

Presented By: Klavdia Evans, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Management and Marketing

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: A growing number of large, publicly-traded firms incorporate sustainability (environmentally-friendly innovations) into their business strategies. This study seeks to understand how some firms can achieve more radical sustainability while other firms make only incremental achievements. Building on goal-setting theory, we posit that a sustainability committee plays an instrumental role in pushing firms toward adopting more radical sustainable developments. Further, we employ self-concordance theory to explore how individual motivational forces of sustainability committee’ members influence the committee’s pursuit of radical sustainability.

Comparative study of cranial endocasts of fossil and extant marsupials

Presented By: Thomas Macrini, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of Biological Sciences

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: A cranial endocast is a 3-D representation of the inside of the braincase of a vertebrate. Endocasts are particularly valuable to paleontologists as they provide the only direct evidence of the shape and size of the brain in extinct mammals. Cranial endocasts of fossil marsupials, the pouched mammals, and their closest extinct relatives have been studied for over 150 years, but until recently the sampling has been sparse. The use of computed tomography (CT) has increased the number of cranial endocasts available from fossil marsupials over the last 30+ years. Recent publications have highlighted the need for a comprehensive, comparative study of fossil and extant cranial endocasts of marsupials and their closest extinct relatives. Such a study would be valuable for understanding the brain evolution of marsupials, a group of mammals with a rich fossil record going back ~150 million years ago. The present study utilizes cranial endocasts generated from CT data from skulls of eight fossil marsupials from Australia, six cranial endocasts from extant marsupials, and previously published data. This sampling of species provides representation from all of the major clades (groups) of marsupials. The first goal of this work is to produce anatomical descriptions of the cranial endocasts of seven fossil marsupials that have not previously been described. The second goal is to distill the new data from this study along with previously published data into coded phylogenetic characters that can then be analyzed in the context of different hypotheses about the evolutionary relationships of marsupials.

Hierarchical self-assembly of Naphthalene diimide based metallocycles

Presented By: Erendra Manandhar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: A core-substituted naphthalene-diimide, functionalized with pyridinyl phenyl at 2,6 positions and octyl groups at imide positions, was synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction and self-assembled with Pt(II) and Pd (II) phosphane triflates in dichloromethane. A triangular structure, as a single product, is obtained on self-assembly with Pt(btep).2TfO; [btep=bistriethylphoshine, TfO=trifluoromethane sulfonate] but Pd(dppp).2TfO and Pt(dppp.2TfO [dppp= 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphano)propane] formed an equilibrium mixture with triangle structure as the major species. Self-assembled products were fully characterized by 1H NMR, 31P NMR, ESI mass spectrometry and theoretical calculations support the triangle structure. The metallocycle has similar UV-Vis absorption and weaker fluorescence as ligand but intensity varies as a function of solvent. TEM and AFM imaging showed that triangle structure further self-assemble to nano structures.

Determining the Role of the Transcription Factor SOX18 in Driving Metastasis and Angiogenesis in Pediatric Sarcomas

Presented By: Terry Shackleford, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: The development of targeted therapies for pediatric cancer has tremendous potential for advancing treatment for these young patients.  Many pediatric cancers are treated with a combination of multiple chemotherapy agents which are often successful at treating disease but because they also damage normal cells and can result long-term damage. When tumors do not respond to treatment they are referred to as resistant tumors.  Many studies have identified receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that are upregulated in these resistant tumors and are likely to be responsible for the continued growth and development of the resistant tumor.  Targeting RTKs by small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies has proven successful in other cancer types.   We have demonstrated that intrinsic resistance to the IGF-1R targeted monoclonal antibody TZ-1 (MedImmune) is characterized by constitutive activation of multiple RTKs. In response to TZ-1 treatment there is rapid induction of multiple RTKs indicating a dynamic response to TZ-1 inhibition of IGF-1R. We also demonstrated that the Sex determining region Y-box 18 (SOX18) transcription factor may be involved in this process as inhibition of SOX18 reduced activation of many RTKs in this setting. SOX18 is a member of the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome-related high mobility group box (SOX) family of transcription factors.  Previous studies correlate high SOX18 levels with tumor growth and poor clinical outcome in a number of cancer types.  Further characterization of SOX18 in tumorigenic processes such as cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis will allow for developing treatment strategies that overcome resistance pathways.

What Does It Mean to be a Caretaker of Marine Mammals? Insights From Trainer-Dolphin Interactions and Trainer Perceptions

Presented By: Alicia Virthe, Psychology major

Research mentor: Heather Hill, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: Human caregivers are a key element in meeting animal welfare needs for marine mammals. Human caregivers provide food, cognitive enrichment, social stimulation, and veterinary care to marine mammals on a daily basis. It is possible that if humans encounter too many obstacles, it could potentially affect the welfare of the animals in their care. While organization approaches may differ, the goal of the study is to determine if there are consistent obstacles that keepers experience and beliefs that prevent opportunities for elevated welfare, as well as what the human care providers value or perceive as beneficial to the animals. Suggestions for workplace improvement will be made based on participant responses.

Towards Sustainable Energy: Design and Preliminary Testing of Tidal Current Turbines

Presented By: Yareli Zelaya, Mechanical Engineering major

Research mentor: Juan Ocampo, Ph.D.

Location: University Center, Conference Room B

Description: As the energy demand constantly increases and traditional energy resources decrease, incorporating sustainable alternatives has become necessary. In this context, this research attempts to provide a new solution for energy scarcity in regions that lack electricity, especially those located near large ocean areas. The objective of this project was to engineer and investigate an ideal prototype to transform power generation. Through detailed design and testing, this project seeks to reveal the potential of tidal energy, offering an alternative to communities struggling with energy distribution.

The research focuses on utilizing custom-designed propellers, which are 3D printed and installed on an open flow channel that takes advantage of the water moved through it to move the propellers, converting kinetic energy into electrical energy.