Submission due Monday, March 24th, 2025 @ 11:55 pm — Click here to submit
RECAP is an annual Symposium and Competition for students of West Liberty University with the goal of recognizing and rewarding outstanding achievement in scholarly Research, Creative Activity, and Performance.
RECAP is open to all West Liberty students both undergraduate and graduate. Scholarly research, creative activities, and performances that were submitted to Mad Festival, Alpha Chi, Ampersand, etc., may also be submitted to RECAP.
RECAP Submissions available for the following areas — click below to view scoring rubrics, submission instructions, or to contact faculty members.
| Submission Areas | Rubrics | Instructions | Faculty Contact |
| Creative Work & Performance Presentations | Creative Works & Performance | Creative Works & Performance | Dr. Ronald Hulewicz ronald.hulewicz@westliberty.edu |
| Oral Presentation | Oral Presentation | Oral Presentation | Dr. Gayle Jesse gayle.jesse@westliberty.edu Dr. Robert Kreisberg rkreisberg@westliberty.edu |
| Research Paper | Research Paper | Research Paper | Dr. Melinda Kreisberg mkreisberg@westliberty.edu |
| Poster (Display & Presentation) | Poster | Poster | Mr. Jared Thompson jared.thompson@westliberty.edu |
Note: Creative Writing rubrics and instructions will be provided if submissions are received.
Awards Ceremony
Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 @ 3:00 — Boyle Conference Room
In-person & Recorded for later viewing @ https://topperstation.com/
Awards will be given to highest scoring participants at the awards ceremony. The awards ceremony will take place both in-person with the option to pick-up awards at a later time if the award ceremony can not be attended in person.
Congratulations to the 2024 RECAP Winners
| Category | Place | Name | Title of submission | Graduate/ Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | Winner | Hannah Holbert | Shelter Preference of Cambarus Robustus, A Surrogate Species For The Federally Threatened Cambarus Callainus | Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | 1st Runner-up | Elio Delatore | Utilization of Double-Immunofluorescence Microscopy to determine the role of FTL_1199 in erythrocyte invasion by Francisella tularensis | Graduate |
| Research Paper | 2nd Runner-up | Mackenzie Hall | Targeted Combination Therapy against Fatal Human Prion Diseases | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentation | Winner | Reagan Gray | Chemical Purification of Natural Antimicrobial Compounds Derived from Rhus typhina and Piper hispidum | Undergraduate |
| Research Poster | Winner | Jason Ake | Spatial Distribution Analysis of Invasive Pheretimoid Earthworms in West Liberty University’s Campus Woods | Graduate |
| Research Poster | 1st Runner-up | Mackenzie Hall | Screening Resazurin Analogs for Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity Against Francisella tularensis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae | Graduate |
| Research Poster | Tie 2nd Runner-up | Katherin Plate | Observations of False Water Cobra (Hydrodynastes gigas) with Dorsal or Ventral Heat: A Behavioral Study | Undergraduate |
| Research Poster | Tie 2nd Runner-up | Rori Schreiber | The Recombinant Expression of the Human Erythrocyte Protein Band 3 in Francisella tularensis to Elucidate Host-Pathogen Interactions | Graduate |
| Creative Work | Winner | Tiffany Sites | Eclipse: A music score composed on the idea of a solar eclipse and the alignment of the moon, Earth, and Sun. | Undergraduate |
| Creative Work | 1st Runner-up | Clayton Vargo | Ms. Universe | Undergraduate |
| Creative Work | 2nd Runner-up | Mattelyn Lamp | Real Silent (film length 8:23) | Undergraduate |
2023 RECAP Winners
| Category | Place | Name | Title of submission | Graduate/ Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | Winner | Lexie Mullen | The Implementation of a New Screening Tool to Increase Early Intervention Detection | Graduate |
| Research Paper | 1st Runner-up | Autumn Duckworth | Bibliotherapy in Secondary Classrooms: Educator’s Involvement in Student Mental Healths | Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | 2nd Runner-up | Jordan Gibson | Multi-drug Efflux Pumps: The Most Rational Target to Combat Growing Antibiotic Resistance in Bacterial Pathogens | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentations | Winner | Timothy Moore | Weather Driven Movement Patterns of Semi-Aquatic Water Snakes, Regina septemvittata and Nerodia sipedon sipedon | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentations | Runner-up | Megan Stubbs | Ecology of the Lean Crayfish, Cambarus strigosus | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentations | Runner-up | Mackenzie Hall | The Implementation of Puberty Education Programs for Children with Central Precocious Puberty | Undergraduate |
| Graduate Research Poster | Winner | Emily Young | Role of FTL_1504 in Francisella tularensis Susceptibility to Resazurin | Undergraduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Jordan Gibson | The Effect of Efflux Pumps and Oxidative Stress on Neisseria gonorrhoeae Susceptibility to Resazurin | Undergraduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Cassidy Gebhardt | Morphological Analyses of Spiny Scale Crayfish (Cambarus jezerinaci) Lineages and the Importance of Genetic Surveys in Conservatio | Undergraduate |
| Creative Works | Winner | Daphney Tanner | Game TIme! | Undergraduate |
| Creative Works | Runner-up | Lacey Deem | Life | Undergraduate |
| Creative Works | Runner-up | Frankie Lander | Radio Record | Undergraduate |
RECAP 2021 went Virtual for 2021, click to Watch the RECAP ceremony.
View a few of the winning submissions below from previous years
Best oral presentation: Kendall Souder, Determining the mechanism of action of resazomycins, a novel family of antibiotics
Best Graduate Poster: Michele Williams, Target Training Juvenile False Water Cobras (Hydrodynastes gigas)
Best Undergraduate Research Poster: Haley Miller, Trophic Partitioning of Cambarus carinirostris, Cambarus robustus, and Faxonius obscurus in Kings Creek, WV by Stable Isotope Analysis
Best Creative Works: Michelle Eisen, I Think I’ll Miss You
Best Paper: Kendall Souder, Resazomycins: A Family of Novel Antibiotics to Target Clinically Significant Gram-Negative Bacteria
RECAP 2021 Souder Research Paper – Kendall Souder
Congratulations to the 2021 RECAP Winners
| Category | Place | Name | Title of submission | Graduate/ Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | Winner | Kendall Souder | Resazomycins: A Family of Novel Antibiotics to Target Clinically Significant Gram-Negative Bacteria | Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | 1st Runner-up | Christian (Luke) Beall | Pleistocene Rewilding: Fantasy or the Future? A critical literature review | Undergraduate |
| Research Paper | 2nd Runner-up | Jennifer Whitfield | AP English Composition and College Success: Appalachian Students’ Perspective | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentations | Winner | Kendall Souder | Determining the mechanism of action of resazomycins, a novel family of antibiotics | Undergraduate |
| Oral Presentations | Runner-up | Susan Smith & Michelle Yadrick | Co-Teaching West Liberty’s Abnormal Psychology Course as Graduate Teaching Assistants | Graduate |
| Oral Presentations | Runner-up | Emma McClelland | Assessment of Snail Communities in Fragmented Habitats | Graduate |
| Graduate Research Posters | Winner | Michelle Williams | Target Training Juvenile False Water Cobras (Hydrodynastes gigas) | Graduate |
| Graduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Sydney Ozersky | Transfer of Cryptosporidium oocysts from feeder rodents to neonate snakes and its impact on parasite identification methods used by zoological institutions | Graduate |
| Graduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Katherine Phillips | The Effect of Dillapiole on Acinetobacter baumannii, a Gram-Negative Opportunistic Pathogen | Graduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Winner | Haley Miller | Trophic Partitioning of Cambarus carinirostris, Cambarus robustus, and Faxonius obscurus in Kings Creek, WV by Stable Isotope Analysis
| Undergraduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Brian Ringhiser | Preliminary Analysis of Morphometric Data for an Ongoing Autecological Study of the Northern Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon, in a West Virginia Stream | Undergraduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Kaitlyn Taylor | DNA Analysis of Chelodina mccordi from the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans | Undergraduate |
| Undergraduate Research Posters | Runner-up | Justin Sanclemente | DNA Analysis of Chelodina mccordi from the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans | Undergraduate |
| Art Posters | Winner | Michelle Eisen | I Think I’ll Miss You | Undergraduate |
| Art Posters | Runner-up | Abigail Beckelhimer | Mayhem | Undergraduate |
| Art Posters | Runner-up | C’ierra Buchanan | Life After Death | Undergraduate |
Congratulations to the 2019 RECAP Winners
Poster Category
Best: Elliot Collins, “Immunostimulatory Activity of Dillapiole Isolated from Fennel Root.”
Runners-up:
- Emma McClelland, “Comparison of Microbial Respiration and Carbon Loss in the Upper Ohio River Watershed and Selected Tributaries in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia”
- Carly Cunningham, “The Ability of VBNC F. tularensis to Replicate Within THP-1 Cells”
- Patrick Allison Jr, “A Reassessment of the Crayfishes of Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie Basin with an Emphasis on Zoogeography, Taxonomy, and Conservation”
Presentation Category
Best: Nicole Sadecky, “Identifying Habitat Utilization and Movement of a Federally Endangered Crawfish Species, Cambarus veteranus (Guyandotte River crayfish) via Radio Telemetry.”
Runners-up:
- Eric Tidmore, “Defining broad-scale habitat associates for an imperiled crayfish, Cambarus veteranus”
- Tanya Khan, “Conservation and Distribution of Creaserinus fodiens (Digger Crayfish) in Pennsylvania”
Performance Category
Best: Emily McLean, animation video of the Nintendo Switch
Runner-up: Pat King
Paper Category
Best: Dylan Parsons, “Practice and Religious Tolerance of Homosexuality in Medieval Europe.”
Runners-up:
- Eric Tidmore, “Predicting the distribution of a narrow range endemic species of crayfish, Cambarus taylori”
- Michelle Russell, “Optimal costal cartilage graft selection according to shape and size: Anatomical consideration for Rhinoplasty”
2018 RECAP Winners
Best Paper:
- Susan J. Smith – “Change-Maker, Home-Maker, or Booty-Shaker? An Analysis of Meghan Trainor and Her Contributions to Mass Media Content”
Runners-Up in the Paper Category:
- Samaria Oiler – “Domestic Violence Against Women With Disabilities: The Issues of Funding, Fear, and a Dismissive Society”
- Shane Powell – “Moro, lasso, al mio duolo: The Compositional Techniques of Carlo Gesualdo”
- Miranda D. Snell – “Emergency Administration of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids to Correct Fatal Arrhythmias”
Best Poster:
- Aaron Nard – “Freshwater Ecosystem Studies…”
Runners-Up in the Poster Category:
- Hannah Lynch – “Reconstructive Surgery…”
- Jennifer Myers – “Aralia Spinosa Extract…”
- Michelle Yadrick and Emily Fournier – “Excoriation (or Skin-Picking) Is A Self-Injurious Behavior…”
Best Presentation:
- John Heiserman and Jessica Gulisek – “Early 20th Century Art Songs by Samuel Barber”
Runners-Up in the Presentation Category:
- Tanya Khan – “Distribution of Crayfishes of the Upper Ohio River Basin in Western PA”
- Anna Malone and Susan Smith – “Comprehensive Unit Plan for Early Childhood Education”
- Eric Tidmore – “Using MaxEnt to determine suitable habitat locations for the Cutshin Crayfish”
For more information…
Dr. Gayle Jesse – gayle.jesse@westliberty.edu
Dr. Robert Kreisberg – rkreisberg@westliberty.edu