Bailey Osmer looked at two sister strains of plants to see which lineage was more efficient at conserving water, and hence better in a drought.
Henry Nadell worked on a full rebrand for a music festival in Oregon, all the way from coming up with a new logo to integrating a consistent color palette into everything from flyers and tickets to a website and an advertising campaign.
Osmer and Nadell were among hundreds of Fort Lewis College seniors who presented summaries of their senior projects on poster boards and in oral presentations Thursday on campus and virtually as part of the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Symposium.
The symposium provided a venue for students to exhibit their work and for other students to learn about it and celebrate their achievements.
Osmer looked at two lines of a plant, Arabidopsis suecica, which looks like something a gardener would want to weed out, to see how drought affected a genetic difference in one gene.
She discovered that one of the sister lines was indeed better at conserving water, and hence more likely to survive a drought.
“In one line, the stomata remained closed relative to the other line, and helped it better retain water,” said Osmer, a biology major.
Nadell, a graphic design major, said persuasive, catchy and creative presentations of products and companies is key to success in the marketplace.
“Once you build a brand and everything is cohesive, it builds customer recognition and an experience,” he said.
Rebranding the Oregon music festival began with a new logo and creating a new color palette that everything was centered around – tickets, maps, schedules, merchandise and a website.
The cohesiveness of graphics and colors are key to enhancing customer recognition of the festival and helps build excitement for the event, Nadell said.
Now, it’s time for the next chapter in the students’ lives.
Nadell works at Oso Creative, a graphic design firm in Durango and has begun his job search for his first position once he graduates, May 7.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
