More than 177 student presenters made this year's Annual Research Symposium the largest in the event’s seven-year history, underscoring the institution's growing research impact.

Hosted by the Division of Research and Economic Development on April 15, the seventh annual symposium featured 115 poster presentations and 48 oral presentations. Students from across all colleges presented original research spanning agriculture, business, education, science, engineering and the humanities, highlighting the depth and variety of student research at East Texas A&M.

Nearly 100 judges—including alumni, industry professionals and representatives from The Texas A&M University System—volunteered their time to evaluate presentations and engage with student researchers.

Overall Winners

At the conclusion of the symposium, two students were named overall winners for their outstanding research and presentations:

Melanie Edwards

A doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Services, Melanie Edwards presented “The Role of Teacher Referral Practices in the Underrepresentation of English Learners in Gifted Education.”

Edwards’ research examines how the gifted education referral process contributes to the underrepresentation of English Learners when teachers lack understanding of the cultural and linguistic ways in which English Learners demonstrate their giftedness.

In forthcoming semesters, she plans to continue her work to increase the number of English Learners ultimately referred to gifted programs.

“I plan to provide professional development to teachers on cultural and linguistic traits of EL students and track the referral rates,” she said. “The anticipated results are an increase in EL students referred to gifted programs as teachers are trained to understand the diverse ways EL students demonstrate their gifted talents.”

Edwards will graduate in 2028 with a doctorate in educational administration.

Adrian Hernandez-Anderson

A graduate student in the College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts, Adrian Hernandez-Anderson presented “Invisible Roots: Decolonizing Spanish Heritage Language Education Through the Representation of Indigenous Languages in Instructional Materials.”

Hernandez-Andersons’ work explores patterns in how Indigenous languages are represented in Spanish heritage-language instructional materials in the U.S. and how those representations reflect broader linguistic and cultural ideologies. Future phases of his research will connect those patterns to broader ideologies and examine how they shape classroom practice. He will present his research at the 2026 ASELE (Association for the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language) conference in Leuven, Belgium, in September.

He described his experience as a scholar and researcher at East Texas A&M as both challenging and meaningful.

“As a full-time high school teacher, I've been able to see my pedagogical approach evolve in real time alongside my research,” he said. “With the support of my advisor, Dr. Flavia Belpoliti, and through my work with open educational resources, I've developed a project that connects directly to classroom practice. It has reinforced the importance of critically examining the instructional materials we use and what they communicate to students about language, culture and identity.”

Hernandez-Anderson plans to graduate in August, earning a Master of Arts in Spanish with a focus on Spanish language teaching.

College-Level Award Winners

Award winners from each college were selected in both oral and poster presentation categories:

College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

• Undergraduate Oral: Cayden Barton — “Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Agriculture”
• Graduate Oral: Jason Boggis (co-presented with Aneesa Ricks) — “Cultivating Community, Culture, and Champions for School Gardens through Professional Development: Reflections on Conference Participation”
• Undergraduate Poster: Zion Palmer (co-presented with McKenzie Thummel) — “Evaluating Planting Methods and Soil Amendments to Establish Native Plant Species”
• Graduate Poster: Halan Siqueira Da Silva — “Assessment of Lensli Substrate for Grafted Tomato Production in Dutch Bucket Hydroponic Systems”

College of Business

• Undergraduate Oral: Pace Eilers — “The Effect of COVID-19 on the AAA Video Game Industry”
• Graduate Oral: Emmanual Agenor — “Body Modifications, Sociocultural Meaning, and Health-Risk Behaviors”
• Undergraduate Poster: Isabella Burns — “An Investigation into the Student and Faculty Knowledge, Perception, and Usage of ChatGPT”
• Graduate Poster: Jyothi Swaroop Myneni — “Project Guardian”

College of Education and Human Services

• Graduate Oral: Katie Nisbet — “Workforce Degrees with an Emphasis in Humanity”
• Undergraduate Poster: Brandon Slawson — “Autonomy and Decision Making in Survival vs. Cooperation”
• Graduate Poster: Melanie Edwards — “The Role of Teacher Referral Practices in the Underrepresentation of English Learners in Gifted Education”

College of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts

• Undergraduate Oral: Ritika Deivasigamani — “Pedagogical Vertical Alignment in Instrumental Music Education”
• Graduate Oral: Gouda Taha — “Collaborative Processing of ChatGPT Feedback in First-Year Writing Class”
• Undergraduate Poster: Tyhler Nelson — “Regional Impact of Southern Identity in Rap”
• Graduate Poster: Adrian Hernandez-Anderson — “Invisible Roots: Decolonizing Spanish Heritage Language Education Through the Representation of Indigenous Languages in Instructional Materials”

College of Science and Engineering

• Undergraduate Oral: Xavier Grundler — “Constraining the Neutron Star Equation of State with a Smooth Hadron-Quark Crossover”
• Graduate Oral: Emily Cunningham — “Calculating the Ephemeris of a Rotating White Dwarf Star”
• Undergraduate Poster: Kilee Lasiter — “Chlorella and Hydrochars derived from contaminated chlorella for biosorption of Cu and/or Cd”
• Graduate Poster: Shabnam Fathima — “Phage Encoded Dihydrofolate Reductase as Potential Mediators of Bacterial Adaptation in Antibiotic-Impacted Environments”

A Growing Research Enterprise

Dr. Brent Donham, vice president for Research and Economic Development at ETAMU, said the symposium has grown by 65% over the past four years, which coincides with the university's expanding research emphasis and its recent (Spring 2025) Carnegie-designated R2 Research status.

“This designation has increased the focus on research, which is evident in the participation rate at the Annual Research Symposium,” Donham said. “As we move toward becoming an R1 institution, the expectation is that this event will continue to grow.”

The symposium not only celebrates academic achievement but also provides students with valuable experience presenting their work, receiving professional feedback and preparing for careers or advanced study.

With strong participation from students, faculty and external partners, the Annual Research Symposium continues to serve as a cornerstone event that showcases the innovation and scholarly excellence at East Texas A&M.