Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Physics and Astronomy students presented posters at the Fall Undergraduate Research Festival (FURF) on Nov. 19 at the University Capitol Centre.

The Iowa Center for Research by Undergraduates hosts FURF, held in celebration and recognition of undergraduate researchers' contributions to research, scholarly, and creative work at the University of Iowa. It is a low-stress platform for undergraduate students to practice communicating their research, scholarly, and/or creative work to a broad audience. Presenters represented a broad range of sciences, arts, and humanities.

Darren Timmerman and Brett Wasick will be awarded a $100 prize for having the top Physics and Astronomy poster.

Physics and Astronomy students who presented posters are listed below with their majors, faculty mentor(s) and poster title:

Grace Paxton (Physics, Astronomy)
Mentor:  Jane Nachtman
Simulating Nuclear Sources in Lunar Environments using Eos and RATPAC

Arissa Khan  (Physics, Chemistry)
Mentors:  Connor Feltman, Allison Jaynes
OCHRE Rocket: Langmuir Probe to Analyze Plasma in the Magnetosphere

Braden Carne  (Physics, Astronomy, Math)
Mentor:  Jasper Halekas
Electron Behavior Across the Alfvén Surface: Recent Findings from Parker Solar Probe

Landon Moran  (Mathematics)
Mentor:  Jane Nachtman 
Developing Technical and Engineering Skills for DUNE

Landen Freeman  (Physics, Math)
Mentor:  Matheus Hostert
Neutrino Oscillation and the Mass Ordering Problem at JUNO

Ryan Dunn  (Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics)
Mentor:  Jane Nachtman
Study of Hybrid Neutrino Detector Deployment for Weapons Test Verification

Fiona Holmes  (Astronomy, Applied Physics)
Mentor:  Valerie Payre (Earth, Envir, Sustainability)
Effects of Grain Size On Visible/Near Infrared Signals In Feldspar-Bearing Terrains On Mars.

Brett Wasick  (Physics)
Mentor:  Ravitej Uppu
Erbium Doped PbWO4 Thin Films for Applications in Quantum Repeaters

Minou Emmad  (Physics, CS, Math)
Mentor:  Michael Schnieders (Biomedical Engineering)
Protonation Coupling in Zinc Finger–DNA Recognition Explored by Polarizable CpHMD

Nikolas Vinovich  (Physics, Statistics, Mathematics)
Mentor: Jane Nachtman
Timing Calibration in the Eos Hybrid Neutrino Detector

Darren Timmerman  (Applied Physics)
Mentor:  Ravitej Uppu
Large-Scale Multi-Emitter Tracking for Temperature-Dependent Photoluminescence

Augustin Heitman  (Physics, Astronomy, Math)
Mentors:  Jane Nachtman and Yasar Onel
A Comparative Analysis of Timing Data from a Hybrid Neutrino Detector Between Two Media

Vamsi Challa  (Biomedical Sciences and Physics)
Mentors:  Renata Pereira (Internal Medicine) and Ayushi Sood  (Internal Medicine)
GDF15 Signaling Through GFRAL Mediates Metabolic Improvements in Response to Mitochondrial Stress

Brendyn Little  (Astronomy and Physics) and Fiona Holmes  (Astronomy, Physics, and Geoscience)
Mentor:  David Nataf (Physics & Astronomy
Revisiting Stellar Populations of Low-Extinction Fields in the Galactic Bulge