María Belem Mendoza is a 4th year undergraduate student at NMSU, double majoring in English and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, she moved to the U.S. to continue her studies in ... literature. Her interests and research mostly focus on the intersection between literature, gender, and activism around the U.S.-Mexico border region. Her research paper “Femicides: Gender Violence in Mexico” was published in NMSU’s interdisciplinary undergraduate journal, The Agora. Her paper discusses femicides and gender violence in Mexico as a systematic problem by borrowing from her activism and lived experiences in Mexico. For her DSP project, María will be participating in the Fuerza Feminista: Intimate Recovery and Memory Archive (FFIRMA), a project that documents, contextualizes, and makes digitally accessible the activism and participation of the first feminist and anti-feminicide local movements in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua from the late 1990s to the early 2010s. María will conduct archival research on the topic of disappearances and feminicides.

The possible distinction between vigilance and sustained attention has yet to be fully identified. Mayte’s project uses pupillometry to explore the difference in pupil dilation between these two types of attention. To test ... this, the Active (A-MOT) and Passive Multiple Object Tracking (P-MOT) paradigms are utilized. The A-MOT task is a traditional multiple-object tracking task where participants are told to track specific target objects, identified at the start of the trial, requiring sustained cognitive engagement. In the P-MOT task, participants must remain alert to all the objects, as the targets are revealed only at the end of the trail, requiring continuous vigilance, but involving lower cognitive demand overall. By measuring pupil dilation as a proxy for cognitive effort, this study aims to compare dilation across different time points and conditions to provide new insights into the categorization of various forms of sustained attention.

My project examines deformation mechanisms in oceanic lithosphere using samples from IODP Expeditions 173 (Iberian Margin) and 305 (Atlantis Massif). I will be analyzing microstructures, magnetic properties, and geochemical ... data to identify evidence of seismic deformation and quantify strain rates. Notably, we will reexamine a possible pseudotachylyte in the Iberian Margin—potentially the only one reported outside subduction zones in over 55 years of ocean drilling.

My name is Cade Borner, I am an undergraduate sociology major from Roswell, New Mexico. I am spearheading a project that focuses on using sociological theories of cultural taste, ... classification, and gender performativity to understand how and the extent to which metal music communicates patriarchal themes in lyrical content and how these themes and their prevalence varies across time and subgenre. I am using web scraping techniques to put together a novel longitudinal dataset of metal music lyrics and discographic information which I will analyze using word embedding methods and other data analytics methods.

My name is Angelica "Gel" Mann and I am a senior majoring in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology. I am originally from San Antonio, TX but have not been back since 2004 when I enlisted in the Air ... Force. Now that I am retired, I have the opportunity to really dive deep into my studies while working with the amazing staff, faculty, and fellow students at NMSU. I am a member of the Behavioral Ecology and Bat Organismal Physiology (BEBOP) lab in the biology department under the guidance of Dr. Teri Orr. My project is focused on the milk composition of Mexican free-tailed bats at Radium Springs, NM. These bats occupy a critical role in our ecosystem as an insectivorous hunter. Lactation is a demanding physiological process for these flying mammals and analyzing milk composition may reflect maternal health, environmental stressors, and dietary resources. This analysis will provide vital information on the development of pups, contributing to the knowledge of bat reproductive physiology, and the health of these bat populations.

Ginnie's project looks at the stink bug Moromorpha tetra and what each stage of its life looks like. Currently there is not much information on the species, so she will be collecting ... them to take pictures of and compare the different instars. After NMSU, she hopes to get a graduate's degree in behavioral entomology.

Hello my name is Lacey Yates. I am Majoring in Human development and family sciences and minoring in Agriculture business, Counseling, and psychology. I am a first-generation ... student I am from Aztec, New Mexico. I love animals and reading and hope to become a school psychologist and run an equine therapy practice.