Undergraduate Works

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Open Access
Cover Art: “Beyond Fruition”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
“Beyond Fruition” describes navigating the unknown. Although planning is a great habit for all events, some situations are out of your control, and an individual must problem-solve to figure out solutions to unplanned occurrences. This piece was unplanned initially and became complete through navigating new ways to find answers to issues that I was confronted within the process. Likewise, undergraduate researchers are problem-solvers. Their entire task is to navigate the unknown planned or unplanned, they may navigate unplanned obstacles along the way.
Open Access
COINdinistas and Contradictions: US Adoption of Counterinsurgency in 2007
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Li, Alex
Multiple theories of politics—specifically, rational actor theory and organization theory—have been used to explain decision-making processes for military actions. Rational actor theory states that military actors base decisions on value calculations and incremental changes. Organization theory suggests that military organizations push a specific doctrine to preserve power in the face of civilian challenges or criticism. While organizations generally wish to appear rational, doctrinal decisions may betray irrationality. This paper aims to identify a clear history of US counterinsurgency (COIN) and test the existing literature on organization and rational actor theory against the US military’s readoption of the counterinsurgency doctrine in 2007. The US military COIN operations in Iraq that accompanied the Surge of 2007 followed a legacy of failed COIN experiments. Beginning in Vietnam with the strategic hamlet program, the continued use of COIN despite its empirical inefficacy throughout the 20th century demonstrates the military’s pattern of irrational action. This paper concludes that COIN existed quietly in the background of the Cold War before its implementation in 2007. Moreover, COIN’s doctrinal adoption in 2007 is better explained through organization theory as the military organization pushed COIN onto a desperate Bush administration. Finally, the history of COIN indicates that rational actor theory is insufficient to explain doctrine during low-intensity conflicts.
Open Access
Transitive Inference as an Intrinsic Process
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Murray, Austin; Chaloupka, Ben
The present study tests participants’ ability to infer implicit relationships between stimuli by building hierarchical—ranking by some value—relationships, a process known as transitive inference. For example, if you know person A is taller than person B and person B is taller than person C, you can infer that person A is taller than person C without directly comparing the two. The literature has provided contrasting results regarding whether prior knowledge of the hierarchy is needed for participants to infer the indirect relationships. This study aimed to resolve this discrepancy by investigating whether participants could learn an implicit hierarchy of six art stimuli (A > B > C > D > E > F) without prior knowledge using a transitive inference task (N = 78). After being trained on all pairs of adjacent stimuli in the hierarchy (e.g., A > B or D > E), participants were tested on all possible pairs of stimuli (e.g., A > C or B > F). Participants were able to infer relationships between untrained items two steps apart in the hierarchy (e.g., B > D) just as well as they remembered trained relationships. They were especially successful in judging untrained relationships three steps apart in the hierarchy (e.g., B > E). This suggests that participants were able to generalize across the trained pairs to form the hierarchy, even without prior knowledge of the underlying structure. Our results support the idea that humans possess an intrinsic ability to infer implicit relationships between stimuli.
Open Access
The Influence of Positive Maternal Involvement on the Relationship Between Maternal Emotion Dysregulation and Preschooler Internalizing and Externalizing Problems
(2025-02-20) Prunuske, Jin
Children of mothers with elevated emotion dysregulation (ED) may be at greater risk for developing internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) problems and, in turn, future psychopathology. While previous studies have investigated early risk pathways that may explain this association (e.g., unsupportive maternal responding), our understanding of factors that protect against the downstream effects of maternal ED on child outcomes is limited. To explore prospective protective factors, the current study examined the moderating role of positive maternal involvement on the relationship between maternal ED and preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems. This study included 178 mother-child dyads, where maternal ED was assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, positive maternal involvement was assessed using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire – Preschool Revision, and preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist. Maternal ED and positive maternal involvement had significant direct effects on preschoolers’ INT and EXT problems; however, the moderating effect of positive maternal involvement on the relationship between maternal ED and preschooler INT and EXT problems was nonsignificant. Further examination of factors that may mitigate risk among children of mothers with elevated ED is necessary to inform effective prevention and intervention efforts.
Open Access
OpenAI's Fault Lines: Cracks in a Groundbreaking “Capped-Profit” Organization
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Collins-Burke, Drew
Influential artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI has a unique corporate structure featuring a non-profit/capped-profit (NP/CP) model. In the NP/CP model, a non-profit organization has control over a for-profit arm that offers financiers a fixed return based on their initial investment, as opposed to offering unlimited potential return. OpenAI’s NP/CP structure is intended to reduce the negative impacts of shareholder capitalism on high-stakes artificial general intelligence (AGI) development projects. This paper evaluates OpenAI’s organizational successes and failures, comparing its approach to the pitfalls many shareholder corporations fall into: excessive profit motives, lack of transparency, and negligence towards societal impacts. It also explores how OpenAI’s structural features, such as investor profit caps and non-profit authority over the for- profit arm, have aided the company in avoiding some common issues with shareholder corporations. However, CEO Sam Altman’s high-profile ousting and reinstatement, OpenAI’s lack of open-source practices, and Microsoft’s influence raise concerns about the overall efficacy of this structure. Through an analysis of OpenAI's structure, actions, and public statements, this paper investigates the hybrid NP/CP model’s potential for mitigating the negative impacts of shareholder capitalism on responsible AGI development, highlighting its successes and limitations. The paper concludes that OpenAI’s ability to develop AGI safely within this organization model is possible but uncertain.
Open Access
Art Feature: “Body Fluidity”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
“Body Fluidity” deals with the complexities of the human body, especially in the case of genitalia. People are assigned a specific sex/gender based on the development of their genitalia before birth. Throughout puberty or even during birth, it may become apparent that someone is intersex due to external appearances or hormonal differences internally. In other cases, some individuals feel as though the sex/gender they were assigned by society does not align with their own sense of self and may transition to a different gender or deconstruct gender altogether in a way that subverts society's expected norms. In all of these instances, we see the body as fluid, not binary, not one gender or the other, but as the home of the soul, which inhabits a body unique to everyone else's. In this way, this piece is representative of undergraduate research; through research you may uncover new findings, some of which deconstruct old findings to represent a better understanding of a topic. My art piece is meant to do that—deconstructing the binary instilled into society for centuries and replacing it with a new understanding of the human body.
Open Access
Art Feature: “Heavy Under Pressure”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Betancourt, Gio
Created during my study abroad trip to Greece, “Heavy Under Pressure” deals with the complexities of gravity underwater. As someone who had not swam in a body of water for a long period of time, being submerged in water felt heavier than usual, as if my body was made of stone. To illustrate this point, I rendered my hand with goggles wrapped around to signify swimming and the heaviness felt when trying to move your joints underwater. This piece captures the science of gravity underwater, and how complexly the human body adapts to different environments, even if impacted by different feelings.
Open Access
Letter from the Editor
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Schmitt, Kyla
I am so excited to wrap up this Winter Term by sharing the latest edition of the Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal (OURJ)—Volume 23, Issue 1, Winter 2025. This issue—as is so often the case in the ‘turbulent’ world of undergraduate publishing—has been a long time coming. Three of the articles included in the pages that follow were accepted in the summer and fall of 2024, well before the previous year drew to a close. Is this publication late, or is it a carefully crafted retrospective: a year in academic research? The world may never know…
Open Access
Journal Editorial: “Research as Learning and Being”
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Zaman, Ahmar
Every developing child is learning to understand the world and their place in it. They do this through touching, experimenting, questioning, and watching the world around them; every question they have is their own research question to make sense of their world.
Open Access
Meet the Editorial Board
(University of Oregon, 2025-02-20) Schmitt, Kyla; Sechrist, Ava; Olds, Charlotte; Nguyen, Ethan; Tippetts, Keegan
2 pages
Open Access
Best Practices in Education: A Look Into the Educational Delivery Models That Produce the Best Outcomes for Children with Disabilities
(University of Oregon, 2024-12) Bullard, Hailey; Durany, Karen; Rovak, Angela; Zinser, Jarrod
Education is a fundamental right for all individuals. Yet, students with disabilities often face significant barriers to achieving their full potential. Various methodologies and modalities of educating this diverse population exist; thus, it is difficult to select one that produces successful outcomes consistently. This research aims to understand which model of education elicits the best outcomes for students with disabilities. By reviewing existing literature, this study seeks to highlight evidence-based practices that not only enhance academic achievement but also promote social and emotional development in the child. As such, the findings of this research will strengthen efforts to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for those with disabilities. This research seeks to answer the question: What educational delivery model produces the best outcomes for students with disabilities and how can we implement these methods into the classroom?
Open Access
School District and Community Factors and the Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Chronic Absenteeism
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Espinoza, Juan; Harbaugh, William; McWhorter, Brian
This study uses school district level variation in COVID closures and census data to quantify the effects that virtual and hybrid instruction had on the increases in post-pandemic chronic absenteeism. We find statistically significant evidence of a positive relationship with our best model estimating that each 1% increase in the proportion of the 2020/2021 school year spent away from fully in-person instruction increased chronic absenteeism by 0.20%, after controlling for race, income, education, school expenditures, and family structure. This thesis includes collaboratively produced work.
Open Access
A Scoping Review of Greenwashing
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Csaszar, Avery; Segre-Cohen, Alex; Dahmen, Nicole; Smith, Hollie
There has been evidence of climate change for over a century, and the impacts are becoming more intense as time goes on. There is no doubt that our Earth is suffering due to human-induced impacts, and the consequences will only become more severe if we do not begin to make drastic changes soon. Many products are made to appear environmentally friendly through aesthetic green packaging and environmental labels that indeed are only a front to the damaging effects of the lifecycle of the product. This may lead consumers who are environmentally conscious to feel urged to purchase these products because of these visible “environmental” traits, while the consumers are left unknowingly supporting a cycle of unsustainable products and behaviors. We must shift from this cycle of false claims to those of truth so that consumers may make decisions based on facts and not fear that what they see or read is simply a facade. With this, the image of being “green” is increasingly more important to society. Companies and organizations are attempting to uphold this green image to appeal to consumers with growing environmental awareness. This, however, leads to greenwashing, or when individuals or companies mislead the public into believing that a company or product is more environmentally friendly than it truly is. Greenwashing ultimately leads to a setback in the fight against the climate crisis and reinforces harmful behavior and practices toward the environment, for the sake of companies’ and individual’s green image. Through a scoping review, this research sought to define greenwashing and explore the tactics most used as well as the solutions the literature provides to combat greenwashing. It sought to be a comprehensive scoping review of greenwashing that yields a tool for researchers, policymakers, and the public to use to better understand and be educated on the topic of greenwashing as well as how to move forward in curbing the practice of greenwashing. This research answered the following research questions: 1. What criteria is used to identify greenwashing in literature found in select databases? What themes are most prevalent in the definitions of greenwashing? 2. What tactics of greenwashing have been most explored in academic literature? 3. What solutions does the literature provide to combat the practice of greenwashing?
Open Access
Menstrual Tracking Applications and PMDD
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Grunwald, Hannah; Raisanen, Elizabeth; Spitzley, Kate
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) is a psychiatric and gynecological condition marked by affective, cognitive, and physical symptoms that predominantly manifest during the luteal phase, occurring in the week before menstruation and resolving after the onset of menstruation, affecting 1.2-6.4% of individuals who menstruate (Naik et al. 2023). Symptoms of PMDD heavily overlap with those of other psychiatric disorders but the condition is distinguished by the cyclical timing of symptoms occurring in the week before menstruation and resolving after the onset of menstruation. The Carolina Premenstrual Assessment Scoring System (C-PASS) is a standardized computer algorithm that uses the basis of the Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) to help distinguish clinical presentations of PMDD and other menstrual disorders with data being derived from a self-reported record of symptoms over a two-cycle span (Eisenlohr-Moul et al. 2017). During a clinical study, the C-PASS showed that its conclusion agreed with physicians’ diagnoses with face-to-face clinical evaluation 94.5% of the time (Epperson and Hantsoo 2017). With over 200 million downloads of menstrual tracking apps, the potential for a diagnostic tool like C-PASS to be incorporated into an app should be considered to facilitate accurate clinical diagnoses of PMDD (Levy & Romo-Avilés, 2019; Naik et al., 2023).
Embargo
Engineering Circular Guide RNAs for Enhanced CRISPR-Cas9 Efficiency
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Keller, Abigail; Plesa, Calin; Raisanen, Elizabeth
The CRISPR-Cas9 system has revolutionized genome editing, offering remarkable precision and versatility in targeted genetic modifications. This study presents an approach to improve CRISPR-Cas9 efficiency through the design and validation of circular guide RNA (cgRNA) constructs. Circular RNAs are more stable than their linear counterparts which are susceptible to degradation by extracellular RNases that are abundant in the environment and act on their ends. Prior studies suggest that effective cgRNAs can be produced from self-splicing Group I introns, but the optimal linker lengths for efficient circularization remain unknown. The linker, essential for connecting the ends of the cgRNA, is an added sequence that prevents tight folding, allowing stable circularization without interfering with the RNA's editing efficiency. Our goal enables the production of stable cgRNAs using a Golden Gate Assembly (GGA) plasmid incorporating a gRNA template and self-splicing group I introns. Following successful validation of our GGA constructs in Escherichia coli cells, numerous cgRNA linkers can be tested to find the optimal linker for cgRNA stability and improved CRISPR efficiency. Circular guide RNAs exhibit enhanced efficiency and stability compared to linear counterparts, thereby providing valuable insights for advancing CRISPR-Cas9 technology and its applications in genome editing.
Open Access
Robux IRL: How Games Can Create a Positive Impact on Children's Development of Financial Literacy
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Rodriguez Baquero, Sofia; Foxman, Maxwell; Hinkle, Lindsay
This paper explores the relationship between using Roblox and learned financial habits in children. Even as required personal finance courses become common in high schools across the U.S., we need to do more to support the development of financial literacy in the next generation. Video games provide the opportunity to make this education engaging and immersive, which gives kids the chance to learn by doing. Roblox is a free online gaming and game creation platform that currently has around 80 million daily users. This research studies broadly how games and personal finance are being factored into education before looking specifically at the role parents can play in these relationships. It also analyzes Roblox as a platform to understand how different features and aspects of the platform influence consumer behavior in children. Through active parent involvement and honest conversations about the value of money, Roblox can go from being purely for entertainment and socialization to being a tool for building healthy financial habits in young people. The final chapter of this research is a new guide for parents on how to treat Roblox with their child and understand the economic and social implications of using it.
Open Access
A Landslide Inventory for Prince of Wales Island, Alaska from 2009 to 2023 Using Planet Imagery
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Lawrence, Eliza; Roering, Josh; Shoop, Casey; Patton, Annette
The combination of extreme rainfall brought on by atmospheric rivers and steep topography has made landslides a frequent and hazardous occurrence on Prince of Wales Island (PoW) in Southeast Alaska. Detecting and monitoring landslides on the ground can be costly and time-consuming, especially in remote and inaccessible locations. By using high-resolution (3-5 m) Earth observation imagery from Planet Labs, we can pinpoint the location and constrain the timing of past landslides through visual change detection of multiple images acquired every 2-3 days. We have mapped over 750 landslides across PoW (6670 km²) and the surrounding islands from 2009 to 2023. By comparing pre- and post-landslide failure images, we determined landslide timing with temporal constraints ranging from one year to less than one week. This study expands upon the USFS Tongass National Forest Landslide Inventory, which utilizes a combination of decadal aerial photos and high-resolution satellite imagery, providing multi-year constraints on landslide timing. The inventory presented in this study includes landslide polygons, corresponding initiation points, and an attribute table containing the last pre-failure date, first post-failure date, slope, elevation, forest stand age, geology, distance to the nearest road, and area. The distribution of landslides across PoW over the past decade demonstrates a strong seasonality, with most landslides occurring between August and December. We find a strong relationship between landslide location and aspect, with landslides predominantly occurring on southern slopes. Our methods also capture small landslides, revealing that most are located within 10 km of the nearest road. We find that cumulative precipitation, both monthly and annually, does not fully explain the relationship with landslide frequency and requires further exploration. Future research will use gridded precipitation data, coupled with well-characterized timing of landslides, to determine precipitation intensity thresholds for landslide triggering. By quantifying the temporal and spatial distribution of landslide occurrences, we can provide valuable information to support the development of landslide early-warning systems.
Open Access
Molding Understanding: A Discourse on Forensic Anthropology Techniques and Artistic Process
(University of Oregon, 2024-11) Winsett, Emily; Ulibarri, Lawrence; Michlig, Christopher; Gillis, Brian
Life and death are among the most confounding topics of discourse today. While many perceive life as a beginning and death as an end, I believe they are inherently linked. Death is a byproduct of life, but it does not signify its conclusion. After death, we carry on our narrative through our bones; the human skeleton embodies the history of our existence. This thesis explores the story of life as it is read through the bones. Through a research-based analysis of forensic anthropology strategies and a discussion of the technical methodologies involved in crafting ceramics, this project explores how the process of creating a ceramic skeleton offers a unique means of visualizing the scientific study of human remains. By merging the conceptual framework of forensic anthropology with the hands-on process of ceramic making, the work deepens our understanding of life and death. The act of sculpting each bone not only reflects the technical aspects of forensic analysis—such as the estimation of age, sex, and stature—but also serves as a meditation on the human condition. Through this approach, the ceramic skeleton becomes a powerful tool for exploring the intersections of life, death, and memory, allowing for an intimate and tangible engagement with the processes that define and preserve human existence.
Open Access
Masking to Succeed: Exploring Identity Barriers to Competitive Drive in Online Gaming
(University of Oregon, 2024-10) Crew, Toby; Foxman, Maxwell; Dudukovic, Nicole
The toxic social environment of online competitive video games is well known, but despite negative experiences, gamers from all walks of life are continually motivated to improve and engage with others in the name of competition, including those often targeted by bigotry, such as women and transgender players. While research on how identity affects competitive drive exists within the esports space, there is no standard inclusion of other marginalized genders, few papers standardize identity and competitive drive variables, such as personality and competitive indexes, and papers covering individual motivations and experiences within online social environments have only been published within the last 4 years. I surveyed and interviewed 10 undergraduate gamers who played at least 5 hours of competitive ranked modes in video games a week. I used the HEXACO personality index specifically because of its reliability in describing personality, and the Competitive Index because of its multifaceted approach to defining competitive drive. After statistical analysis, and after coding each 25-45 minute long interview manually using the Competitive Index as a coding scheme, I found associations between gender identity and Enjoyment of Competition, both quantitatively and qualitatively. I also found a negative association between Desire to Win and Honesty-Humility, and a weaker positive association between Personal Development Competitiveness, and Emotionality. Additionally, I found that while perceptions of online social environment interactions were generally negative, many found solace and enjoyment in competing with strangers, and others found ways around negative interactions to not sacrifice their competitive drive, such as playing in closed communities. While the methodology was flawed, and no significant conclusions could be derived from the quantitative analysis, these findings imply a complex relationship between individual differences in competitive drive and self-identity, and future research into personality as a factor of competitiveness, controlled for social environment, should be looked into.
Embargo
AN ARCHAEOBOTANICAL GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN
(University of Oregon, 2024-09) Di Fiore, Sofia; Kennedy, Jaime; Gallagher, Daphne
Archaeobotany—the study of plants recovered from archaeological sites—is a discipline that offers one the opportunity to peer into the past and look at what the lives of humans looked like in times we will never experience. Archaeobotanical investigations are particularly important to the understanding of how human populations adapt to changing environments, as changes in botanical resources due to climactic shifts necessitate changes in traditional lifeways, shaping human cultures. This thesis reviews the archaeobotanical research history of the Northern Great Basin, a unique and isolated part of the intermountain west with an extensive history of human occupation that makes it an important locus of archaeological study, providing the opportunity for researchers to gain a deep time view of how humans interact with their environment. This project details ten of likely hundreds of plant species represented in the area’s archaeological record, drawing inspiration from traditional plant guides to create a proof-of concept look into the human-environmental connection in this region.