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
Talktistic: how autistic speech variants facilitate communication, Rosie O'Malley-Knudson
Fanfiction's Out of the Bubble, Elizabeth Padfield
For the Birds: An Exploration of the Corvid as a Reflection of the Anthropocene, Gwendolyn Pane
RIPK3 signaling and effects, Selma Ragle and Annelise Snyder
Visual Journaling as a Personal Well-Being Practice, Lela A. Randall
The Power of Food: Recipes to Fuel the Body and Soul, Kayla Reichstadt
Culture in the Commons: Third Places in Bellingham, WA, and their effects on sustainable behavior, Sophie Richmond
What's the Worst That Could Happen?, Joel Rink
Helping Ourselves: Creating a Disabled Peer Mentorship Program at Western Washington University, Remi Rogoff
Pretty Little Nihilists: The Aesthetic Politics of the Sad Girl, Anika Rozich
Diet Preferences of Fish in the Olympic Peninsula, Cherise Russo
Tapestry/Unraveling, Adelle Sager
The Legal Rubik's Cube Group, Wes Schirmer
High Potential: Legal and Scientific Perspectives on Unlocking CBD's Medicinal Value, Nick Schneider
Study of Stellar Membership in Segue 3, Kieren Schofield
Coming of Age in an Interface, Kiley Schutte
Natural and Restored Tidal Marsh Surface Accretion Trends in the Stillaguamish River Estuary, Cady Shaw and John Rybczyk
Making Space for Climate Migrants: Exploring Urban Policies to Support Climate Displaced Populations, Noa Simon
We Are Always Making, Guinevere Smith
Medical Advocacy For Beginners, Aubrey Spillane
Homer Behind Bars: Teaching Homer's Odyssey in a Carceral Setting, Milana Strong
Unwelcome Mat: Mapping Displacement Risk--Tracking Gentrification in Northwest Washington as Land Use and Affordability Shift, Lark Troha and Jonah White
The Diversity Deficit: A Treatment Plan for Pre-Health Studies, Luigi Valdivia
One Hundred, Hadley VanLandingham
Losing Control: A Queer Autoethnography of an Eating Disorder, Maja van Zuylen
Moments | A Personal Collection of Portraits, Guadalupe Venegas
Couture or Confusion: Analyzing Haute Couture Collections through Cultural Brand Strategy, Ella Villines
Randomized Computational Search for Topological Unicorns, Mayla Ward
Across the Ages: Eco-Horror and Our Climate, Sophie Westermann
A Chemotaxis Assay Using 1% Benzaldehyde in a C. elegans Model of Alzheimer's Disease, Elenore Westgard
DIY Solar Panel, Luke Wild
Unmapping The Map, Matthew Worden
A Competitive Edge: How Colorblind Modes Offer a Competitive Advantage in Video Games, Adam Yee
Evolution of the Functional Morphology of Feeding in Rasborine Fishes, Isabel Yueh
New Home, Serafima Zavorotny
May I Have Your Attention Please?: A Series of Educational Videos on the Topic of Natural Language Processing, Wilson Zuber
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