An Honors Senior Project is required for graduation through the WWU Honors College. The Senior Project serves as a “capstone” experience, synthesizing what students have done in their entire education, including but not limited to their work in the major and in Honors.
The term, Senior Project, is vague, and for a reason. The term “Senior Thesis” is easily available, but it is one the WWU Honors College deliberately has avoided. While the project must be “product oriented,” i.e., there must be something tangible at the end of the process, it may be a long paper, that is a thesis, but it may also take several other forms, e.g., a recital, a painting, an album, a bound book, all of which have been quite successful senior projects.
2025
The Life of Maud Miner Biglow, Isabella Accetturo
The Intervention Worked, But Did It Help? An Examination of the Pros and Cons of Applied Behavior Analysis for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sydnee Bossen
Toxins in Coastal Waters: Will Surf Smelt and Other Forage Fish Survive?, Joy Cobb
Becoming Creatured, Emily Freudenberger
Proposed Tax Literacy Standards to be Included with Washington State Graduation Requirements, Isabelle Garten
Falwell and Begin: Shifting Theopolitical Tides, Chris Gilbert
A (mostly) Comprehensive Timeline of Banking in the U.S., Jaden Holt
For the Birds: An Exploration of the Corvid as a Reflection of the Anthropocene, Gwendolyn Pane
Pretty Little Nihilists: The Aesthetic Politics of the Sad Girl, Anika Rozich
Diet Preferences of Fish in the Olympic Peninsula, Cherise Russo
One Hundred, Hadley VanLandingham
Randomized Computational Search for Topological Unicorns, Mayla Ward
2024
The Name Of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: An Illustrated Guide by Delaney Alvord, Delaney Alvord
Synthesis of DDT-Related Pollutants tris(4-chlorophenyl) methane (TCPM) and tris(4-chlorophenyl)-methanol (TCPM-OH) for Investigations into Environmental Persistence, Chloe Anderson and Gregory O'Neil
Feet Stained Red: A memoir and exploration of the history of my family and my cultural identity in today's society, Jordan M. Baron
Can My Landlord Do That?: Tenant Rights, Responsibilities, and Resources, Percy Batalov
Legacy Forest Ground Truthing in Whatcom County, Washington, Finley Bell
Evaluating the Efficiency of Soil Amendments to Mitigate the Leaching of Copper Nanopesticides, Brianna Benner
Overview of Speech Disorders, Thomas Bergstrom
Confronting PTSD in The Aftermath of Abuse, Ayla A. Bilyeu
Assessing History Through Interaction: Preventing lectures as a base of education, Annika Bjornstad and Thomas Hummel
Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Innate Immunity in Drosophila melanogaster, Susannah Bloom
Blooming Golgi: The Reformation of the Golgi and Centriolar Satellites, Rose Border
Food Systems Mapping and Goals at Western Washington University, Dylan Braund
Challenging Care: Examining Intersections Between Individualism, Community, and Mental Health in America, Hailey Bridges
Moral Choice and Critical Engagement in Modern Military ShootersC, Claude Brun
Between the Colors and the Numbers, Allison Buckley
Business Plan for Buety's Floor Cleaning, Chris Buetow
Impractical Ecologies, Samantha Burgh
Transcriptomic Clues to Protein Homeostasis, Anna Byquist and Lina Dahlberg
Daughter as Hybridity: An Exploration of Hybrid Writing, Caylee Caldwell
Shards: A Collection, Ian Cambridge
Development of my Jewish identity through my connections to the Holocaust and Israel: an autoethnography, Portia Carney
You Are Life Itself, Alesandra Caroline
Conformity in Our Youth, C J. Chopot
Future Tense / Angel River: A Poetry Chapbook, Taylar Christianson and Siddhu Bhimireddy
Landscapes of Change: Acequias, Community Resilience, and State Power in Northern New Mexico, Amaya Coblentz
Effects of Experimental Freeze-Thaw and Wet-Dry Weathering Cycles on Fluvial Abrasion Rates, Finn Coffin
Herbalism As Community Care: Course Syllabus and Schedule, Kate Conway
Who Are You? The Relationship Between Language and Personality, Gwendolyn Cooley
Weaving Past and Present: Replicating Northwest Coast Basketry Technology, Adria Cooper
Youth Voices in Museums: A Case Study at the Whatcom Museum, Sophia Cox
The Anticipations, Mathias Custis
Assessing the Efficacy of the Washington Ban on Phosphorus Fertilizer, Pilar Deniston
Communication, Consent, and Lube: A qualitative exploration of LGBTQ+ adults’ experiences combining cannabis and sex, Natasha Denton and Mary Hunt
The Uncanny Valley: A Creative Writing Portfolio, Ava DeVries
From Threads to Treasures: The Resilient Journey of the Western Worn Community Closet, Jessica Dietzman
J.G.T., Joshua Dyeson
To Find a Dragon, Sarah Feltman
Searching for Optimal Protocols on the XXZ Model on the Square Lattice: An Introduction, Grace Ferrell
Beneath the Surface: Exploring Endospore-Forming Bacteria in Brassica Seeds, Emmy Formiga
Cowardice: A one-act play about our modern relationship with war, the draft, and each other, Layne Fry
Analysis of the Shifting Profile of Contraceptive Implant Users in Two Districts in Rwanda: An Abstract and Personal Narrative, Alysa Geolamin, Hilary Schwandt, and Seth Feinberg
In Unison, August Grossblatt
Beksiński, Disarticulated, Dawson Gyllenhammer
A Hope More Violent Than Any Despair, Elinor Hendricks
OMORI's Portrayal of Self-Compassion as a Means to Prevent Suicide, Kal Hines
Environmental Equity in an Unjust World, Carly R. Hopp
Finding Resilience Through Knitting, Rachel Hultman
Not a 9 to 5: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Pursuing a Career as a Musician, Brody Hunt
The T.I.N.A. Timeline: This Is Not Accessible, Isabel X. Hyde
Hydrophobicity of Factor VIII on Membrane Binding, Mady Jacobs
Weeding Out the Truth: Can We Reduce Neuroinflammation in Huntington’s Disease?, Milica Jakovljevic
The Work of the Dying, Autumn Kasprowicz
Developing Two-Dimensional Ammonium Sensors for Use in Marine Sediments, Zoe Kass
Against the Tragedy: The Role of Meaning Making in Sustainable Commons, Liam KenWood
MSG and the Maillard Reaction: Exploring Food Additives and Browning through Organic Chemistry, Jasper Kerns
Optimization of Metal Nanostructure Growth on Chemically Modified Silk Films for SERS Biosensors, Marie Kerns and Amanda Murphy
Automating Employee Milestone Celebrations at GeoEngineers – Building the Work Anniversary Report Tool, Natalie Keys
Communication Temptation: An Examination of Environmental Arrangement Strategies in Early Intervention Settings, Beatrice A. King and Anna Brillault-Kenny
Toying With Adapted Toys, Joshua King
Káma Means Hello, Alexandra Knepp
Design of Experiments Analysis of Crosslink Density and Plasticizer Effects on Rheological Properties of Guanidine-based Covalent Adaptable Networks, Adelle L. Koenig and Michael B. Larsen
Transing History: Examining the Use of Androgynos in Ancient and Modern Jewish Texts, Kaye Kulp
Climate Storytelling: An Experiment in Interdisciplinary Course Design, Gabrielle Jean Laipenieks
Investigations of an RNA interference pathway in Tetrahymena thermophila, Lola Lang
Goo Gone! Removing adhesive contamination from PakTech beverage toppers for recycling, Emmaline Lenz
Villain or Victim: A Poetic Interpretation of Helen of Troy’s Legacy, Anne Lillis
S.A.D. Survival Kit: A Podcast on Seasonal Affective Disorder, Kate Lincoln
Total Synthesis of Rupestines H and I, Aimee Long and James Vyvyan
witness marks: A Poetry Chapbook, Briana Lubinski
Effects of Foam Rolling on Tissue Stiffness in Back Muscles After a Rowing Workout: A Case Series, Adalia Ludwig
Birds of Costa Rica: Journal & Sketchbook, Clara Magsarili
Imaging of the shallow crustal structure across the region of the 2013 Mw 7.5 Craig Earthquake with high-resolution seismic streamer tomography, Emma Martin, Andrew Gase, and Emily Roland
Palm (excerpt from Northern Flicker), Fiona Martinez
"The Soldier, the Woman, and the Fence" - Animated Short Story, Juliana McKeehan
Examining the Accessibility of Digital Payment: The Rise of Socioeconomic Inequality due to the Cashless Revolution, Kaylie McRea
Miss Americana & The Queen Bey: A Seismic Analysis of Synchronous Crowd Movement at Lumen Field Concerts in Seattle, WA, Karenna A. Merritt
Food and Mutualistic Exchange, Alexander D. Miller
Finding the Green, Bridget Miller
Western Lives, Ilah Mittelstaedt
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Review of Evidence-Based Practice within Communication Sciences and Disorders, Mackenzie Morehead
So what is exercise anyway?: A Sociolinguistic Study on the Definition of Exercise, Javin Morrison
Evaluating Automated Accessibility Checker Tools, Thai Nguyen
Accelerating Sortase-Mediated Ligation Reactions with N-terminal Substrate Elements, Noah Noah Goodwin-Rice
Early Spring Seasonal Eating Guide, Emma Owens