UO Libraries' Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence (LAURE)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/313

Undergraduate education at the University of Oregon occurs in an environment where teaching, research, and service are integrated and mutually enriching enterprises. Many undergraduates already engage in the UO's research processes by working in laboratories and in the field. The LAURE program (formerly the Undergraduate Research Award) is intended to recognize students who demonstrate extraordinary skill and creativity in the application of library and information resources to original research and scholarship.

Successful projects will:

  • Make extensive, creative use of library services, resources, and collections in any format.
  • Demonstrate effective application of information literacy and fluency principles:
    • determining information needs
    • evaluating and analyzing information
    • managing, organizing, and synthesizing information
    • applying information in the context of the research project
    • communicating information in formats appropriate to an academic audience
    • making responsible use of information by providing appropriate and accurate citations and credits
  • Show evidence of significant personal knowledge in the methods of research and inquiry.
  • Demonstrate originality of thought, mastery of content appropriate to class level, clear writing, and overall quality of presentation.

For more information, consult the LAURE Research Guide

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Browsing UO Libraries' Award for Undergraduate Research Excellence (LAURE) by Content Type "Thesis/Dissertation"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Building Community Solidarity: The 1988-90 Strike of the Morgan-Nicolai Door Factory and the Creation of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network
    (University of Oregon, 2023) Cross, Katie; Lafer, Gordon; Shoop, Casey
    The purpose of this research is to document the failed Morgan-Nicolai Door Factory strike of 1988-90 with a specific focus on those in the community who would use the strike as a catalyst for the development of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network (ESSN). Through the literature review, the author contextualizes the strike within the greater economic and political forces of the 1970s-1990s. And through newspaper articles and interviews with participants in the movement, the author determines that despite the failure of the Morgan-Nicolai strike itself, the strike and its long-term effects could qualify the movement as a “successful failure.”
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    Eternal Hunger: A Qualitative Analysis of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and its Role as a Driver of the New Nuclear Arms Race
    (University of Oregon, 2024) Zupo, Dominic; Cramer, Jane
    The emergence of a new Cold War and the arms racing it brings has captured the attention of the globe. To understand the drivers of the new global tension the current discourse has overwhelmingly looked to great power politics for explanations. A dominant narrative has emerged that frames the United States as a superpower in decline currently facing increasingly aggressive challenges from China. This study directly challenges that narrative by investigating the role of nuclear weapons laboratories as the possible key driver of this new era of nuclear arms racing and proliferation. Specifically, this thesis uses process tracing and organization theory to explain how Lawrence Livermore National laboratories developed an organizational ethos that sought to master its resource dependence by pursuing influence over the policy that controls the distribution of the resources it seeks. This thesis argues that in doing so Lawrence Livermore acts as a driver of arms racing and in turn the new Cold War.
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    Information Sources and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Adults with Disabilities
    (University of Oregon, 2023) McClain, Devan; Ngo, Nicole; Dudukovic, Nicole; Drum, Charles
    People with disabilities are at increased risk of experiencing severe COVID-19 outcomes and should receive vaccinations and boosters to mitigate risk. However, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has been previously observed in this population and little is known about its underlying contributors. The purpose of this study is to investigate COVID-19 vaccine and booster hesitancy, sources of public health information, vaccination and hesitance rationales, misinformation susceptibility, and political ideology by expanding upon the 2021 COVID-19 and Vaccine Survey Project from the American Association on Health & Disability. Results found that over 70% of previously-hesitant respondents (n= 32) had received a primary dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and that over 90% of all respondents (n=280) had received a booster. Both the Hesitant and Not Hesitant Groups reported health care professionals as the most trusted source for reliable COVID-19 vaccine information, and the ability to correctly identify COVID- 19 misinformation was related to both information sources and political ideology variables. Findings reinforce the value of health care providers in the provision of accessible and accurate COVID-19 vaccine messaging as a means of combatting misinformation, which aligns with strategies for reducing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the general population given the emergence of distrust in science during the pandemic. Additionally, because this is the only study to examine the role of information sources and the longitudinal element of vaccine hesitancy among people with disabilities, and public health policymakers will be interested in the proposed programmatic applications of this research on elements of vaccine decision-making.
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    Miscarriages of Justice: Examining Environmental Reproductive Injustices within Native American Communities
    (University of Oregon, 2019) Williams, Eleanor Hart
    The intersection of environmental and reproductive justice illustrates the inherent connection of physical and ecological health. Approaching reproductive justice primarily as an issue of environmental justice allows for deeper analysis of how targeted pollution affects physical processes including reproduction. Examining cases of environmental reproductive injustice within Native American communities demonstrates how environmental racism and its various effects are weaponized as tools of settler colonial power structures, meant to disempower and replace Indigenous communities. The continued efforts to control and regulate Indigenous women’s bodies by targeted environmental pollution reflect ongoing colonialist processes of sterilization and eradication. Previous scientific studies inspiring this research demonstrate the relation between environmental pollution of Native American Reservations and traditional lands and the increased risk of unsuccessful pregnancies, lower sperm count, delayed menstruation or contaminated breast milk (See Langston; Hoover; Fitzgerald). With developments in humanities academia and activist language, such as environmental justice (EJ) and reproductive justice (RJ) allow for the following analysis of movements addressing this intersection (See Bullard; Doverspike, Nicole; LaDuke; Japenga). In order to expand on this scientific and sociological finding, this paper investigates existing approaches to environmental reproductive justice for Native American women and the kinds of legal or bureaucratic barriers they face by interviewing representatives of existing organizations. While some studies have begun examination of the intersection of environmental justice and reproductive justice, this paper specifically analyzes what existing organizations are doing to solve these problems and what sort of barriers they face. This research aims to answer the following questions: How is environmental racism affecting reproductive justice for Native American women? How is infertility via environmental racism used as a continuation of settler colonialism? How can things change and why haven’t appropriate changes been made thus far? What are the legal conditions barring this process? I argue that if organizations are aware of the environmental reproductive injustices happening to Native American peoples, then the barriers to legal solutions are evidence of continued settler colonialism in the legal system.
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    Preliminary Decomposition Study in the Willamette Valley of Oregon: Multi-Method Comparison and Sharp Force Trauma Effects
    (University of Oregon, 2019) Collins, Cheyenne Dakota
    Determining time since death (post-mortem interval or PMI) is an essential part of medico-legal death investigations. PMI can give investigators important information about time of death and may help answer questions about the events leading up to death. The purpose of this study was to collect decompositional data from an understudied region (Oregon), and compare multiple scoring methods that are current standards developed in regions such as Tennessee, in order to characterize the effects of regional variation on decomposition and taphonomy. Six pig heads were placed on the ground surface in a fenced enclosure and exposed to the natural winter environment of the Willamette Valley (WV) of Oregon for sixty days. Three of these pig heads underwent sharp force trauma infliction (SFT) in order to compare rate of decay with remains that have a singular SFT wound. Stage of decomposition, temperature, precipitation, and preliminary entomological data were collected throughout the sixty-day observation period. These data were used to compare Anderson and VanLaerhoven’s (1996) stages of decomposition model to Megyesi et al.’s (2005) total body scoring (TBS) system in the WV; compare and contrast similar studies from different seasons within the WV; and analyze the effects of increase in number of open wounds (SFT) on decomposition rates and insect activity. This study found that decomposition in the WV during the cold/wet season (winter) did not closely align with either Anderson and VanLaerhoven (1996) or Megyesi et al. (2005). Analyses of statistical, qualitative, and interobserver error suggests that neither scoring method is a perfect fit for the WV. Winter decay was found to occur at a slower pace when compared to summer decay and was overall more variable. Partial mummification and rehydration of the remains was observed multiple times during this study. Increase in number of SFT wounds did not influence rate of decay. Sub-environmental differences were found to have an effect on decomposition rate and a considerable amount of small animal and avian scavenging of the remains occurred throughout the study. Scavenging influenced rate of decay through loss of mass that propelled decomposition forward.
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    THE IMPACT OF UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL POLICY ON WOMEN'S LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN THE UNITED STATES
    (University of Oregon, 2024) Dougherty, Caitlin; Davis, Jonathan
    This study examines the impact of early childhood education and care (ECEC) policies, such as universal preschool, on labor market participation and gender equality in the United States. While there is substantial research on the effects of ECEC in countries with universal welfare systems like Denmark, there is significantly less research exploring these impacts within the U.S. context. This gap is particularly notable regarding how such policies influence labor force metrics, poverty reduction, and economic equality across genders. The findings reveal that a “Preschool for All” policy leads to a statistically significant increase in labor force participation among women by 1.2 percentage points, suggesting enhanced economic engagement. Wage and salary income also exhibit a positive, though not statistically significant, increase of $847.75 each year for the following five years post implementation. The effect on hourly wages shows a 53 cent increase. While both are suggestive of improvement in women’s labor force participation, neither is statistically significant. Additionally, preschool for all slightly increase in weekly working hours by .11 hours, indicating that some mothers might have transitioned from part-time to full-time, leveraging the availability of preschool to balance work and childcare responsibilities. Importantly, the policy contributes to a statistically significant decrease in the poverty rate by 1.3 percentage points. ECEC policies not only support women's entry and retention in the workforce but also act as a double reduction anti-poverty strategy, enhancing economic stability and reducing poverty among women.