Her research on the color preference of native pollinators was just one of 60 academic presentations highlighted during Bobcat Weekend’s annual Exploratorium: Unleashing Academic Frontiers. The event was held in collaboration with the Quinnipiac University Interdisciplinary Program for Research and Scholarship (QUIP-RS) Symposium.

Throughout the summer, Bacon and a team of fellow students collected data at Sleeping Giant State Park using Shasta daisies colored with both UV and regular pollinator-safe paint in blue, pink, purple, yellow and white. Pollinators such as bees, wasps and flies were observed and recorded based on the time spent on a flower and its color.  

“It's critical to explore ways to increase our declining pollinator populations, and one effective approach is to increase plant-pollinator interactions. I wanted to focus on color preferences because it’s an easy way for people to help by including specific flower colors that attract pollinators in their own gardens,” said Bacon. “I would recommend planting either blue or purple flowers because they are the most drawn to those. I would avoid red flowers specifically for bees because they lack red receptors in their eyes.”

Research projects highlighted during the event covered a wide spectrum of interests including artificial intelligence, disease, communications, business, climate change, gender topics and societal issues.

“This is a very student-friendly event, and I think that helps build confidence. It allows students to do a professional presentation in a supportive environment,” said Wesley Renfro, Exploratorium planning committee member and senior associate dean for academic affairs and strategic initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I’m most impressed by the breadth of topics covering almost every area of the university. To me, this is a sure sign that QU, as an institution, is prizing research, especially faculty-mentored student research.”

Curiosity fueled the symposium as the event helped to kick off a Saturday filled with events for Bobcat Weekend that welcomed more than 4,000 families to campus. Projects highlighted the university’s commitment to collaboration and the support of student interests, as well as the student projects of the 2024 student cohort of QUIP-RS.

“What we love about the QUIP-RS program and events such as Exploratorium is the interdisciplinary nature of the work,” said Katie Place, QUIP-RS co-chair and professor of public relations. “Students are looking at these big picture problems and providing solutions that integrate social sciences, humanities, STEM fields and engineering. Their work demonstrates the cross-disciplinary conversations happening within our programs every day on campus.”

As a part of the event, QUIP-RS hosted keynote speaker Vahid Behzadan, assistant professor in computer science and data science from the University of New Haven. In a discussion that was relevant and relatable, Behzadan shared his research on the safety and security of artificial intelligence.

“I am very thrilled to see all these students here,” said QUIP-RS Co-Chair Alexandre de Lencastre as he walked the symposium aisles. De Lencastre is also the director of the graduate program in molecular and cell biology.

“We’re especially grateful to the provost’s office for providing extra resources to support the program, which allowed us to have extra projects funded this year. Many of these students will go on to present their research outside of Quinnipiac at regional and international conferences.”

Biomedical sciences major and QUIP-RS scholar Alexander Whitney ’26, spoke to the small crowd gathered around his poster about his research on amyloid beta protein in the brain and its association with Alzheimer’s Disease pathology. Nearby, fellow biomedical sciences major Kaylee Pettengill presented her findings on structural variations in Spina Bifida genomes.

Open to students of all majors, QUIP-RS provides up to $5,000 in funding for undergraduate students to conduct research or complete creative projects alongside faculty mentors in an intensive 8-week program. QUIP-RS faculty mentor Sarah Lawson said that Exploratorium is a culmination of the program’s commitment to research and study.

“This event is the pièce de resistance of a lot of hard work,” said Lawson, who also serves as a Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Environmental Studies and Science faculty member. “I'm really pleased with all the families that came out today to support our students during alumni weekend.”

In addition to the QUIP-RS participants, the event was open to any interested students from across the university. Projects included student-designed video games, cultural exploration in Mexico, the impact of wine production on climate change and student organizations such as The Agency.  

The student team of Yusuf Usman, Daniel Vitashkevich, Caleb Muriuk-mureithi and Brian Girardi worked with Robin Chataut, assistant professor of cybersecurity and computer science, to explore “Securing 5G for Space and Beyond: Innovating Security at the Physical Layer.”  Their collaboration has earned funding through the Connecticut Nasa Space Grant Consortium.

“I’m pretty early in my school career, but it feels incredible that I'm actually doing something that matters in the real world and is valued by NASA,” said sophomore cybersecurity major Vitashkevich ’26, MS ’27.

His fellow researcher, computer science and cybersecurity 4+1 program major Muriuk-mureithi ’25, MS ’26, agreed.

“I've never done anything like this before. Our research directly applies to a network class that I took because this deals with physical layer security, which is the lowest layer within the network hierarchy,” said Muriuk-mureithi. “I wanted to learn more, and I’m grateful we actually got to delve further into this topic.”

School of Communications public relations major Erin Russell ’25, MA ’26, has been studying the impact of AI in the fields of public relations and advertising, and specifically evaluating how it will impact the jobs for women.

Gender was also the subject of research for political science major Lily Philipczak ’25, who examined how the media landscape and government affect coverage and awareness of gender-based violence. Philipczak presented at the Yale Global Justice Conference and currently serves as a member of the Community Council for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

“I'm very passionate about awareness and advocacy of gender-based violence on campus,” said Philipczak, who interned with the New Jersey Attorney General at the Office of Victim Witness. “I'm the secretary of the Survivor Advocacy Alliance and this was an opportunity for me to look at this issue from a global and international aspect. I'm hoping to earn a juris doctorate and a master’s degree in social work so that I can go into policy and legislation to make changes on a state, national, global and international scale.”

First-year student Alexandra Iosue signed up to present at Exploratorium with the hope of increasing awareness about the issue of stalking. Iosue is currently pursuing her nursing degree with minors in psychology and biology. She recently published her first book under the pen name Lex Erio, a psychological work of fiction on the same topic titled “I’m Yours,” and available through the Barnes and Noble online store.

Down the aisle, School of Business student Caroline Godbout ’23, MBA ’25, talked to participants about her research into China’s private enterprise growth. Her work examined the interconnection between government intervention and policies, government ownership transition, and the rural to urban migration of labor. During her undergraduate studies, Godbout was instrumental in the creation of Quinnipiac’s Chinese language minor. She credits the university for supporting her interests in political science, government and Chinese studies by creating independent study opportunities and lifelong connections to pursue her career goals.

It's that possibility of creating a meaningful impact that continues to motivate Quinnipiac students like senior political science major Ryan Hagerman ’25. His work as a digital equity intern with the Town of Hamden inspired his project, “Municipal Internet: Advancing Digital Equity.”

Hagerman is working to develop a solution to digital equity in the local community. His research focuses on finding solutions and collaborative support to address the fact that 20% of Hamden residents lack high-speed home internet to access resources for economic and social development, education or healthcare. Hagerman was recently invited to present his project at the Yale University Global Justice Conference.

“As someone who didn't know how the internet worked a few months ago, I'm now helping build an internet network,” said Hagerman. “And that really speaks to the quality of experiential education that Quinnipiac provides its students. Because I could not have done this without my support network here in the community and here at Quinnipiac."

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