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Pitzer Senior Theses

Senior Theses from 2025 2025

Uncovering a Novel Role for Drosophila brain tumor (brat) in Dopamine Regulation, George Blue, Sandra Watson PhD, and Rhea Mistry

Crisis in the Current: A Proposed Study on the Impact of Columbia River Basin Water Quality on Juvenile Chinook Salmon Survival, Olivia Buist-Thuillier

The Banned Sunscreen Chemicals of Hawai’i: Oxybenzone and Octinoxate Bioaccumulation in Hawaiian Reef Fish and an Environmental Policy Analysis of the Ban, Jessica S. Choi

Healthcare Plagued by Colonial Violence: An Analysis of Reproductive Justice and Collective Care in Haiti, Talia Glass

Identification of Polymorphisms Associated with the Development of FIP in an Inbred Cat Population, Emme Laundry

Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Activity of Ni(II) and Co(III) Thiosemicarbazone Complexes as Potential Anticancer Agents, Jack Martin

Systematic Review of Immunohistochemistry Protocols, Arpitha Parthasarathy

Racial Health Disparities Among Pregnant Women of Color in New York City: Biological and Systemic Impacts, Kaylin Peña

Sex Hormones on Morphine Analgesia and Allodynia, Melina Soberg

The Impact of Titin on Muscle Fiber Composition during Aging, Shannon Wong

Development of a 3D, in vitro model of RUTI incorporating Escherichia coli and epithelial bladder cell co-cultures, Sadie Wyatt

Senior Theses from 2024 2024

The Ecological Underpinnings of Famine: Irish Agriculture and Land Use Under British Colonialism, 1534-1852, Wyatt Bandy-Page

Affective Infrastructure and the Chilean Memorial Museum, Diego Borgsdorf Fuenzalida

Paths to Belonging: How Chinese Parachute Kids Construct Identity Across Borders, Huiying Chen

The Effects of Seaweed Farming on Local Ecosystems in the United States, Reid Cohen

Roadblocks Ahead: High-Speed Rail Setbacks in the United States—Reflections and Ramifications, Sophie Dorn

Environmental Effects of Planned Wastewater Releases from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Grant Ho

Exploring the Impact of Diabetes on Feet: Analysis of Foot Ulcers with a Focus on Eczema-Related Considerations, Namlhun Jachung

Corporate Influence at Public Universities: Upholding the Conventional Agricultural Paradigm, Michaela Jones

Effects of the Homegrown Player Rule in the English Premier League: A comprehensive analysis of squad composition, market values, and wages, Jiho "Brian" Jun

Turning from the Streets to the Courts: Assessing the Extrajudicial Effects of Litigation as a Strategy in the Climate Justice Movement, Journey Lipscomb

Making Freedom a Place: Geographies of Social Movement Activism and Repression in Oakland, California, Sophie McClain

Addressing Healthcare Disparities Faced by Aging Down Syndrome Populations, Rhea Mistry

The Effect of Dsk1 and Kic1 Kinase Deletions on Cdr-2-GFP Localization in Fission Yeast, Kelsey Shintaku

Senior Theses from 2023 2023

Hyperparameter Codependence in FieldNet: Guidelines for ANN construction, Seiji Akera

Radioactive, Internal Colonialism: The Uranium Industry’s Historic and Current Impact on the Navajo Nation, Sophie Arens

Decolonial Foodurisms: From Plantations to Agricultural Spaces of Intersectional Healing, Dominic Arzadon

Sports Injury Rehabilitation: Mental vs. Physical, Patria Aziz

From Building to Dwelling: Unfolding Infinity through Bioregional Fulfillment, Sanjana Bhatnagar

The Impact of Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) Taxes on Consumption and Health Outcomes in Latinx Youth Residing in Los Angeles County, Jacquelyn Campos-Araujo

Can the XY+Z Heisenberg Model Be Compressed Using the Yang-Baxter Equation? An Exploration of the Compression of Quantum Time Dynamic Circuits Describing Heisenberg Spin Chains, Miriam Caron, Bo Peng Dr., Scott Gould Dr., Kevin Setter Dr., and Niranjan Govind Dr.

Grieving Climate Change: A Psychological and Personal Exploration of Emotionally Processing the Climate Crisis, Hava Chishti

Utilizing Multiple Analysis of Petrocalcic Soils to Determine Potential Environmental Factors, Cecilia Compton

Machines with Heart: Utilizing an STS Framework to Analyze Implementation and Design of Social Eldercare Robots in Germany and Japan, Lucy Conover

AN ANCIENT THREAD OF “INSEPARABLE ONENESS”: A Theoretical Exploration of Community and Kinship in Grassroots Environmental Justice Movements, Izzy Dean

Redesigning Pitzer's East Mesa Parking Lot, Maisie deBruyn

Survey based investigation on diet/BMI in Indian-American communities, Arjan Deol

21st Century Exhibition Rhetorics, Sabina Eastman

The Ways I'm a Fraud: Essays on Imposter Syndrome in Identity, Jack Friedman

Preparing for Uncertain Water Futures: An Analysis of Climate Change Impacts on Southern Sierra Nevada Snowpack, Infrastructure Vulnerability, and Implications for San Joaquin Valley Groundwater Management, Kyle Greenspan, Branwen Williams, and Heather Williams

An Analysis on How Housing Status Influences the Gut-Brain-Axis for populations in and around the Skid Row Area of Los Angeles, California, Mauricio Guzman

“If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another”: Black LGBTQ students and their experiences with school discipline and punishment, Quentin Jenkins

Addressing the History and Proposing a Solution for Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria, Riley Kinlaw

Quantum Darwinism and Preferred Choice of Subsystems, Mahima Kumar

Entangled Mangrove Roots: The Shrimp Industry, Ancestral Afro-Descendant People, and Community Resistance in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, O'philia Le

La Puerta Park, Graeme F. Logan

Diversity, Equity, & Exclusion: Examining Jewish Identity & Antisemitism as Missing Pieces of DEI and Ethnic Studies Education, Katie Meitchik

Can Host Traits and Environmental Conditions Predict Helminth Fecundity and Length?, Finley Melnikoff

Effect of poor menstrual health on UTI diagnosis, Michelle Muturi

Evidence for the Integration of Movement Based Alternative Therapy in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, Kareena Parmar

DNA Barcoding Illuminates Biodiversity and Geographical Distributions of Indo-Pacific Shallow-Water Octocorals off the Coast of the Philippines, Asha Peddada

Analysis of the Dynamic Between Air Pollutants in the Environment and COVID-19 in Rural and Urban California Counties, Isabella Pollalis

Surfactant-Loaded Xanthohumol: A Potentially Improved Hops-Based Antimicrobial, Ty Rocker

Restoring an Iconic Joshua Tree Forest: Natural Recovery, Restoration Success, and Soil Microhabitats on a Desert Burn Area, Riley Scaff

Decoherence and Preferred Tensor Product Structures for Systems of Qubits, Marissa M. Singh

My Backyard Garden, Hezekiah Smithstein

Investigating Neuroanatomical Evolution through Proliferative Cells in the Astyanax Mexicanus, Sophie Staeger

Effects of Indonesian Cuisine on the Dutch Kitchen and Culture Post World War II, Anton Syril van Schaik

Health Behavior and Outlooks in an Altered Microbial Diversity: Changes in Parental Attitudes on ‘Building Immunity’ Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic, Jennifer Vidal

From Bloom to Bouquet: Unearthing the Toxic Cut Flower Industry, Addie Wasikonis

Miniscule and Might Predators: A Cautionary Tale of the Power of Mosquitoes in California and the Greater United States, Benjamin Willett

Growing Culturally Relevant Food at the Urban Farm: An Examination of Sovereign Foodways, Place-Making Practices, and Autonomous Identity-Shaping, Dahlia Bess Zail

Senior Theses from 2022 2022

Addressing Pediatric Health Disparities: School-Based Health Centers Expand Access to Primary Care and Advance Health Equity, Clio Bazakas

Growing Meat on Plants: Using intermediate CBD-RGD fusion proteins to improve bovine satellite cell attachment on cellulose-based scaffolds, Julian Cohen

Not Coming Home: The Flaws in Skilled Nursing Facilities and their Contribution to Cyclical Hospitalizations of Post-Acute Patients, Kate Eisenbraun

Shriveling Bodies and a Shrinking World: A Journey from Woolf’s Feminism to Contemporary Notions of Aging, Beauty and Visibility, Esme Fairbairn

How Can Economic and Social Marginalization Explain Mexico’s Drug War Violence? An Assessment of the Role that Poverty and Social Marginalization Plays in Explaining Variations in Homicide Rates., Diego Flores

Finding a Place for Women of Color: An Examination of Definitions of Inclusion, Neoliberalism, and Their Effects on Women of Color in Higher Education, Xochitl Husted

Mental Disorders, the Positivity Effect, and Questions of Identity and Responsibility, Liam Jones

Agroecology Curriculum Proposal, Emily Kuhn

PARENT-PROMPTED DYSREGULATION: DO PARENTS SERVE AS CUES FOR DYSREGULATION IN SOME CHILDREN?, Daniel Lee

Validation of the Use of Clathromorphum compactum Growth and Skeletal δ18O as a Proxy for Seawater Conditions, Teagan McMahon

The Heirloom as Evidence: Investigating the Colonial Trace Preserved within my Family’s Sandalwood Box, Olivia Meehan

Beyond The Technical Dimensions of Water: Community-Based Efforts for Water Justice in the High Desert, Ella Meyer

Model Minority Perceptions: The Lived Experiences of Asian American Women in Collegiate Sports, Anna Ponzio

Investigation of Tryptophan Synthase Mutation Effects on Substrate and Coenzyme Binding, William Ragen

Chemical Analysis of Amoxicillin Samples Using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography in Tandem with Mass Spectrometry for the Distributed Pharmaceutical Analysis Laboratory, Sophie Samiee

COULD PRE-EXISTING ORF3A IMMUNITY FROM PRIOR CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS PROTECT AGAINST SEVERE COVID-19?, Benjamin Sievers

Queer Survival Amidst HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and Homelessness, Julia Young

Senior Theses from 2021 2021

Building a Just Transition: Creating a Community Engagement Strategy for Building Electrification Policy in the City of Riverside, Emma Barker

CLAREMONT COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUAL EDUCATION EFFECTIVENESS: An Analysis of Demographic Characteristics and Values, Michelle Calcany Blair

Diversifying Participation: The Rarity of Reporting Racial Demographics in Neuroimaging Research, Madeline Goldfarb

Heavenly Rocks: An Artistic Response to the Fetishistic Love and Philosophical Appreciation of Exotic Rocks in Classical Chinese Gardens, Beihua Guo

Critical Consciousness-Raising: High School Teachers' Collective Strategies to Engage Students' Inspiragination, Kiera Havill

Reclaiming Indigeneity and Sovereignty: Anticolonial Resistance among Indigenous Peoples in Northeastern Turtle Island, Leah W. Kelly

The Demographic Indicators of Political Distrust and Action in Hong Kong, Andrew Koo

The Impact of Tidal Elevation and Climate Change on the Growth and Performance of Balanus glandula, Sam Martin

Divide and Slaughter: Bridging the Gap Between Animal Rights and Racial Justice Through an Analysis of the Link Between Slaughterhouses and Domestic Violence, Kailey McNeal

The Roles of GSK3 and Reelin in the Modulation of Behavioral Phenotypes Related to Bipolar Disorder: Implications for the Etiology and Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Angel Sherpa

Theory and Praxis of the Barbara Drake Memorial Library at the Robert Redford Conservancy in Claremont, California, Sandra Sublette

The Implications of Tear Gas Use on Endocrine Function, Sylvie Wilson

Heat Stress During Larval Stages on Coral Survivorship for M. Capitata, Sarah Woo

Neither “Post-War” Nor Post-Pregnancy Paranoia: How America’s War on Drugs Continues to Perpetuate Disparate Incarceration Outcomes For Pregnant, Substance-Involved Offenders, Becca S. Zimmerman

Senior Theses from 2020 2020

Plastics Derived From Derelict Fishing Gear in the Arctic: Looking at Sustainable Fisheries for a Strategy of Mitigation, Remediation and Prevention in Iceland and Alaska, Natalie S. Armstrong

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: An Exploration of Changing the Discourse on Conservation, Arielle Ben-Hur

Transgressing Boundaries: Challenging Gender Within the Athletic Industrial Complex, Isa Berardo

Development of Discourse and Criteria in Green Building, Ben Bronstein

Elevating Equity: Strategies from State-Level Clean Energy Standards in the United States, Spencer Burget

Urban Renewal or Urban Legend? Re-Historicizing Human-River Relationships Disrupted by Displacement Before and Now in Los Angeles, Jamie Sophia Helberg

Towards a Resilient Future: Federal Policies for Adapting the U.S. Coasts to Climate Change, Samuel Horowitz