On April 10, the winners, along with the finalists, of the 2026 President’s Academic Showcase were announced during chapel. The President’s Academic Showcase is an annual competition that allows students from any major to work one-on-one with a faculty mentor on a research project of their choice. Twenty-five participants took part in this competition by writing research papers and presenting their posters on March 24. The Tier 1 finalists and Tier 2 winner presented their research in DeNault Auditorium on April 1.

The placements for Tier 1 were: Makena Messing (1st), Hudson Winchel (2nd), Emma Nguyen (3rd), Caleb Fox (Honorable Mention), and Sabrina Stahl (Honorable Mention). Best Poster for Tier 1 went to Callie Butler.

The placements for Tier 2 were: Axel Serrano (1st), Madison Lafon (2nd), and Kayla Reed (3rd). 

Makena Messing won the President’s Academic Showcase with her research titled, “The Association Between Gastrointestinal Dysfunction and Psychological Health in Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease.” Her faculty mentor was Associate Professor of Kinesiology, Dr. Nathan Meier. 

She used research from Concordia’s Lifestyle and Parkinson’s Longitudinal Study, a collaborator of the Bess lab at UCI, who were investigating the gut microbiome in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. “During this partnership, I was exposed to how multifaceted PD is and how it can infiltrate every aspect of a person’s life. I was interested in how much control a person has over certain parts of their PD, and maybe the gut-brain axis could be a way for patients to positively influence their health,” said Messing, a junior Kinesiology major and Psychology minor. 

She explained how the writing process for the showcase was a fun experience for her. “A standout moment for me during this process was finding a narrative to tell. In a scientific paper, especially a research paper, the story being told typically isn’t creative or personal,” explained Messing. “I challenged myself to find a story amongst the stats and tell it. After establishing my results and their implications, I realized this was an opportunity to discuss patient agency and to treat patients holistically, from a person-centric perspective,” she added.

Hudson Winchel placed second with his research, “The Death of Dialogue: Civil Discourse and the Fragility of Democracy.” His faculty mentor was English Professor Dr. Camelia Raghinaru. Winchel, a junior majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing, also has a minor in Law and Politics. He is part of the speech and debate team on campus, and has been competing in speech and debate for 10 years, witnessing firsthand the decline of civil discourse. 

“My research explores the decline of civil discourse in the United States, searches for the reasons that this decline is occurring, observes the democratic consequences of this breakdown, and finally advocates for solutions to this detrimental deterioration of civil discourse,” Winchel explained. “When people lack words, they often resort to violence. I am passionate about this topic because the ability to speak freely without fear of persecution is the bedrock of not only democracy but of freedom itself,” he added.

For Winchel, the moment that stood out was the final presentation. “Presenting a slideshow on a topic that had been fully polished into something I was proud of was such an amazing experience. As I looked around the room, I could tell it was genuinely resonating with people, and that is ultimately the real prize, being able to craft a message that impacts others and connects with them on a personal level.”

He also valued his mentor and being able to work closely with Dr. Raghinaru. “She is a wealth of knowledge and helped me every step of the way. Every time I went into office hours to speak with her, she was supportive and always had genuinely helpful and insightful feedback,” said Winchel. 

Sabrina Stahl, who received Honorable Mention, took her research into the classrooms. Her research, titled “Revolution Through Art: Comparing Art-Integrated and Traditional Instruction on the American Revolution,” compared a traditional (verbally led) lesson and an arts-integrated lesson plan. She examined students’ conceptual understanding, engagement, and perceived understanding of the significant turning points of the Revolutionary War in two fifth-grade classrooms. 

As a Liberal Studies major with minors in Art and Elementary Education, Stahl combined her interests into a single research project. She connected with Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Sara Fletcher, as her faculty mentor. “Since I have always loved art, I wanted to see whether and how integrating art and visual elements could help students learn more deeply,” stated Stahl, junior. Her research found that arts-integrated lesson plans led to higher levels of understanding and engagement, but it does not aim to dismantle the traditional learning model. 

“This study aims to support educators and provide them with the tools and knowledge to bring arts-integrated lessons into the classroom,” explained Stahl. Stahl’s favorite part of the project was working directly with the students while teaching the two lessons. “I loved seeing the students interact with the learning material in a deep, meaningful way. It gives me joy and excitement to have my own classroom where I will teach every day.” 

In terms of the paper and presentation, it was both a challenging and rewarding experience for her. “Overall, I found this to be a long, yet rewarding process, preparing for and writing the paper. Once the lessons were taught, I found it very easy to write the paper; I hunkered down during spring break, rarely leaving my room,” shared Stahl. “For the 12-minute oral presentation, I was most nervous about presenting to so many people. Plus, it was the longest presentation I have given. But once I found my flow, the stress disappeared.”

Ultimately, the showcase provides students with the opportunity to conduct research they hope to apply in their future work or in the professional world. Messing shared that she would eventually like to go into research with astronauts. She said, “Collecting data, analyzing and dissecting it, synthesizing big-picture implications, and making it approachable and applicable to a general audience are translational skills for any field. I hope to apply these skills both in grad school and in the professional world.”

Winchel explained that his research would continue to impact his career, relationships and everyday conversations. “I have aspirations to go into apologetics one day, but even if God has a different plan for me, I am confident that the lessons I have learned about civil discourse will shape how I conduct myself in any vocation and in every relationship moving forward,” said Winchel.  

Stahl plans to integrate her research into her future classrooms. She said, “As a future educator and teacher, I will take this data and information gained from this study into my future classroom. I aim to teach at least one to two arts-integrated lessons a month–maybe even more, depending on the group of students! I want to bring my two loves–art and education–together.”

Tags: Academic Showcase

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