Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry

FAU's Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry hosts an annual symposium where students engaged in undergraduate research may present their findings either through a poster presentation or an oral presentation.

Although the United States seems to be progressing
more than ever in both culture and science, more
people are getting cancer than in prior history. Not
only are there more cancer patients, but the majority
of cancer patients in the U.S. rely on traditional treatments
such as Chemotherapy and Radiation. In eastern
societies, not only are there fewer cases overall,
but they tend to rely on eastern medicine treatments
such as herbs and different foods as treatment
options. Even though billions of dollars are being
raised to aid in cancer research in the U.S. alone, it
is not often you hear about new advancements that
change the landscape. This project explores people’s
attitudes towards cancer and its cure based on
demographics such as age.

A robust audience profile informs advertising campaign
planning. The systematic research-in-progress
will reveal a rigorous audience profile for
FitBit-Flex 2, a wearable fitness tracking technology,
through secondary research using credible business
databases, the survey research method (e.g., consent form, questionnaire pre-test, convenience sampling,
personal distribution and pick-up), descriptive
statistics, and reliability assessment. The audience
profile will inform the campaign problem, campaign
objectives, and message strategy by revealing brand
concept elements and message tactics to convey.
Secondary research using FAU Library’s business
databases has revealed marketplace, environmental,
competitive conditions, and the audience’s
demographic, geographic, generational, and psychographic
characteristics. This basic profile will be enriched
by survey research using items extracted from
reliable and valid marketing scales. Motives, benefits,
product perceptions and preferences, relative
performance, lifestyle relevance, hedonistic pleasure,
and decision making strategies will be subjected to
measurement. Advertisements will be based on the
audience profile, persuasion theory, and creative
thinking techniques.

Niche partitioning mechanisms may be used by
closely related, sympatric species to reduce competition.
We examine two dimensions of niche partitioning
(diet and temporal) amongst the common
octopus (Octopus vulgaris) and the Atlantic longarm
octopus (Macrotritopus defilippi), which spatially
overlap in a South Florida intracoastal habitat. SCUBA
is used to collect octopus prey remains and gather
supplemental feeding images to determine diets
of each species. A 24h octopus monitoring camera
records foraging activity times for each species. The
common octopus consumes bivalves (49%), gastropods
(32%) and crustaceans (19%), and forages
at dawn, dusk, and nocturnal hours. The Atlantic
longarm octopus consumes crustaceans (89%) and
bivalves (11%), and forages during diurnal hours. Results
suggest there is diet overlap between species
and octopuses use temporal partitioning. This study
provides additional findings to cephalopod niche
partitioning literature, novel information on the ecology
of the Atlantic longarm octopus, and conservation
requirements for sand-dwelling species.

This study examines the impact of the parties
involved in dependency proceedings under the jurisdiction
of South Palm Beach County’s Juvenile Court.
I present data collected from observations of over
thirty hours at dependency hearings and interviews
of representatives for the Florida Department of Children
and Families (DCF), Guardian ad Litem (GAL)
attorneys, and the Juvenile Judge. The current study
analyzes the foregoing participants and their roles
within reunification, termination of parental rights,
and adoption. Additionally, criminal records, mental
health status, incidents of domestic violence, and accounts
of substance abuse, pertaining to the parents
in Florida dependency cases, are discussed.