Research by Embry-Riddle senior Haleema Irfan will help create a sensor for detection of a serious problem encountered by astronauts on long-term spaceflights: hydrocephalus, or an accumulation of fluid in the brain.

“Studying hydrocephalus and its involvement in gravitational stress will allow scientists to better understand cerebral spinal fluid disorders,” said Irfan, who is majoring in Aersospace Physiology and Human Factors Psychology. “However, before exploring this condition, a rapid detection method should be created.”

As space explorers contemplate longer trips in space, such as manned missions to Mars, hydrocephalus associated with long-term spaceflight (HALS) poses a significant challenge. Provoked by shifts in the cephalic fluid that occur in a microgravity environment, the condition can cause symptoms including impaired functioning. 

Irfan’s proposed sensor would work by detecting certain metabolites that are present specifically with hydrocephalus, whether associated with spaceflight or in patients with, for example, brain injuries that have provoked the accumulation of fluid.

Irfan’s research is being funded by a Student Internal Grant for the 2020-’21 academic year from the Embry-Riddle Office of Undergraduate Research.

Many other grants, totaling $85,000, were also awarded. One — an assessment of techniques to minimize anterior cruciate ligament injuries in female soccer players — is being conducted by Mechanical Engineering senior Aspen Taylor, through the Ignite Grant program. Another, through the Student Internal Grant program, will fund the development of a composite material made of silicone rubber and phase change material, which has a unique capability to keep temperatures within a desired range, and is led by Madison Lilly, a senior in Mechanical Engineering.

A continuation of a 2019 Ignite grant to study the total solar eclipse in Chile in December 2020 and its effect on satellite communications was awarded to Daniel Koshy, a sophomore in Aerospace Engineering. Last year’s grant recipients, Lucas Tijerina and Daniel Nigro, presented their work in a poster at the 2019 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union and won the Outstanding Student Research Award.

Student Internal Grants, which are awarded up to $7,500, fund long-term research for undergraduate and master’s degree students. Ignite Grants, which reach as high as $10,000, are designed for undergraduate-led groups, also to finance long-term research. Both types of grants are generally awarded at $5,000 or less.

Wesley Lewis, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, said the 21 grants awarded represent an excellent effort by Embry-Riddle students.

“The grant review committees were impressed by the scope and caliber of this year’s research proposals,” Lewis said. “Students showed their passion for the research enterprise and for solving unique challenges facing our society.”

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the reviewers requested students present their proposals via Zoom, “which students adapted to in order to articulate their research goals during these challenging times,” Lewis said.

“I look forward to a great year of research and scholarly activity from these research projects,” he said.

Another project funded by an Ignite Grant involves the study of inflammation, particularly of the mouth, that often occurs with radiation treatment administered to cancer patients. Aerospace Physiology junior Amelia Hartnett is exploring the biological processes behind the condition, known as oral mucositis, and a potential remedy. Finding ways to mitigate and treat mucositis also has ramifications for travel in space, where radiation levels are higher than on the Earth’s surface. Irfan, the HALS researcher, is Hartnett’s peer mentor on the study.

The grant, Hartnett said, has made her research possible.

“The grant plays a vital role, because it enables us to have a location to perform the project [the Nanomaterials Laboratory in the Embry-Riddle College of Arts and Sciences], to purchase all the equipment, and it also gives us the opportunity to share our findings at several different conferences,” she said. 

by Michaela Jarvis

To view the original article, please visit https://news.erau.edu/headlines/undergraduate-research-earns​-funding-for-astronaut-safety-equipment     

St. Olaf College’s Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI) program has gone virtual this summer. But the online setting hasn’t stopped students from diving into their research with the same eagerness and drive that has characterized past on-campus CURI programs. 

A total of 27 faculty have quickly adapted to provide 77 students with expert guidance on research projects throughout the summer. Eighteen of these students are conducting their work as part of the St. Olaf TRIO McNair Scholars graduate school preparatory program, and are also enrolled in a research writing course taught by Associate Professor of Biology Jean Porterfield. Even without lab spaces and physical resources to gather data, faculty members and students are committed to meaningful research and inquiry projects. Spanning topics in the humanities, arts, and sciences, all projects except two are virtual, with students conducting research in their own homes.

“Our goals this summer remain the same: we want teams of students and faculty to pursue meaningful research projects relying on robust methods and practices as appropriate for their field,” says Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian Studies and Director of CURI Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak. “We still have summer programming underway for researchers, including a series of events that support students in learning how to effectively present their work, as well as our opening and closing symposia.”

The change to a virtual summer program has altered individual projects in different ways. Some groups can pursue the same goals with the same research methods, adapting only to remote communication; others have kept their goals while creating new ways to pursue their answers. Still other projects that relied on lab space and field experience have required more radical shifts, with some deciding to analyze prior data as opposed to conducting novel experiments.

The opening and closing symposia, though still taking place, have also changed. These usually in-person events, in which students give an overview of their research before and after completing their projects, have moved completely online. A virtual closing symposium will allow students to present their research findings live on July 31, and Tegtmeyer Pak hopes that conditions during spring 2021 will allow for a full in-person symposium to honor this summer’s research projects. 

“Most of all, I want to emphasize how flexible and creative my faculty colleagues are. They pivoted their projects on very short notice, while still in the midst of the unprecedented teaching practices last spring,” Tegtmeyer Pak says. “I am so glad to work alongside them to ensure our students have access to this meaningful opportunity  to do undergraduate research.”

(In the image above: DeA Brown ’21 and Wei Ting Hsieh ’22 meet virtually with Associate Professor of Psychology and Department Chair Grace Cho as they work together on a CURI project on “Variations in Life Narratives and Emotional Well-Being Among Young Adults.”)

By: Anna Barnard

Please visit https://wp.stolaf.edu/news/summer-curi-program-adapts-to-virtual-research to read the original article.

Two students in Mississippi State’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College are receiving an out-of-this-world opportunity from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Zoe M. Fowler, a senior electrical engineering major from Columbus, and Hannah L. Scheaffer, a junior biochemistry major from Ruston, Louisiana, are receiving two of 56 scholarships being presented to the ASF’s 2020 Astronaut Scholars Class, which includes students from 41 universities across the nation. Both were nominated by MSU faculty members and will be formally recognized in August at the ASF’s annual Innovators Gala in Washington, D.C.

Recipients earn a merit-based scholarship of up to $10,000 and may participate in the ASF’s Innovative Leadership Mentor Program, which provides access to a lifelong network of astronauts, Astronaut Scholar alumni, and leaders in academia, technical research and corporate leadership. In addition to being in their junior or senior years of college study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, scholarship recipients must express intent to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their degree. Among other application materials, they are required to submit a curriculum vitae, two letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

“I had never written a personal statement before, so it was fun to do that for this application because I learned more about myself and what I enjoy about particular aspects of research,” Scheaffer said. “It also was good practice for graduate school since a personal statement is typically required when you apply.”

Scheaffer said she learned of the Astronaut Scholarship through fellow honors student and Provost Scholar Jacob Easley, one of two MSU students who received the award last year.

“It would be an amazing opportunity to meet an astronaut and converse about what’s happening space-wise, especially the SpaceX launch that just happened,” she said. “I’m also looking forward to getting to know Zoe and learning more about her research in electrical engineering. I think experiences like this are even better when they’re shared with somebody, and I’m excited that it’s somebody else from Mississippi State.”

Fowler said she couldn’t wait to apply after learning of her nomination via email.

“I was really drawn in when I saw the foundation offered a lot of opportunities for mentorship by Astronaut Scholar alumni, C-suite executives, and astronauts,” she said. “That seemed really ideal for me because I want to get a lot of opinions on what I could be doing research-wise to benefit society or what my next life steps could be in general.”

This summer, Fowler plans to focus on writing her first formal research paper, which focuses on foreground extraction in a video sequence. She has been working since freshman year on this research project under the guidance of her father, MSU William L. Giles Distinguished Professor James Fowler. He holds the Billie J. Ball Professorship in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, of which he also serves as interim department head.

“Snow leopards are going extinct and highly camouflaged, and our research could contribute to the development of a program or algorithm to help make snow leopards in the wild more distinguishable in video footage,” Zoe Fowler explained.

A two-time recipient of the MSU Dean of Engineering Undergraduate Research Stipend, Fowler serves as vice chair of the ECE department’s ambassador group. She enjoys giving departmental tours to incoming students and organizing events that encourage involvement and camaraderie among current majors.

“There are so many benefits to research, and there’s always a need for new technology and information,” she said. “I would definitely like to go to graduate school and see where that takes me.”

Scheaffer, also recognized this year as the university’s 18th Barry Goldwater Scholarship honoree, said she too looks forward to pursuing graduate studies, particularly in cancer research. She is the recipient of MSU’s 2020 CVM Undergraduate Research Award and has worked for two years with Dr. Matthew Ross in the College of Veterinary Medicine, studying inflammation, prostaglandins, and the polarization of macrophages by inflammatory stimuli. Among last year’s inaugural MSU Phi Beta Kappa inductees, Scheaffer has won awards for her research presentations at the past two meetings of the South Central Conference of the Society of Toxicology.

In addition to her research and academic accomplishments, Scheaffer is a member of the Famous Maroon Band and Mississippi State Wind Ensemble and an intern at the Wesley Foundation.

Tommy Anderson, an MSU English professor and the Shackouls Honors College’s director of fellowships, said Fowler and Scheaffer “are outstanding students whose undergraduate research makes significant contributions in their fields of study.” Anderson also serves as the College of Arts and Sciences’ associate dean for academic affairs.

“Zoe and Hannah have participated in meaningful research experiences since arriving at Mississippi State, and their selection as Astronaut Scholars reflects their willingness to immerse themselves in deep learning opportunities that add value to the traditional classroom experience,” he said. “I am proud that they have been selected to be part of a cohort of the very best undergraduate STEM scholars in the nation as Astronaut Scholars.”

by: Sasha Steinberg

Please visit https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2020/06/shining-stars-meet-msus-newest-astron​aut-scholarship-winners to view the original article.

For centuries in the western world, the study of science has been dominated by a specific demographic – those with economic and cultural advantages necessary to advance in academics and research careers. Likely white, likely male.

In 2018, a National Institutes of Health study found that, over the previous seven years, only 1% of NIH grants for experienced investigators went to underrepresented minorities. The percentages for early stage and new investigator funding were only slightly higher.

Diversifying research is crucial, not only for the benefit of the young scholars entering various fields, but for the disciplines themselves, says Dr. Lee Phillips, director of UNC Greensboro’s Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Office.

“A diverse set of researchers can more effectively identify and address problems, particularly in a country like America where our professional workforce doesn’t reflect our diverse demographics.”

But to shake up the scientific workforce, Phillips and his colleagues say, you have to start at the beginning.

Most students enter college unprepared for research careers. They don’t know how to ask questions, conduct projects, or present their results.

What takes undergraduates to the next level? What gets them to the point where they may consider graduate school and a scientific career?

Phillips says mentorship from a faculty member is proven to help students succeed in college and then advance to graduate school. Students also thrive with exposure to the professional research world.

But a student needs economic freedom to spend time doing that. They need peers, mentors, or educational experiences to introduce the idea of conducting research – both the reasons and the processes. Much of this depends on socioeconomic circumstances. And that undeniably keeps students and universities, as well as fields of study and industry, locked within systematic racism.

Two years ago, nanoscience professor Dan Herr, Phillips, and their colleagues won NIH funding to launch a MARC U-STAR program. Through the two-year program, promising underrepresented students receive financial support, targeted mentoring, hands-on experience, and exposure to the professional world of research.

The program has opened up new possibilities for the recruitment of students of color and women, giving new structure to the pipeline.

Dr. Joseph Graves, an NC A&T State University professor at the UNCG-NC A&T Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, is another principal investigator, or PI, on the project. He also teaches courses, such as “Genes, Race, and Society,” at UNCG.

Graves has worked with MARC U-STAR programs and similar initiatives since 1985. As the first African American to have earned a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, he believes the most effective mentorship for minority students comes from minority scientists. Throughout his career he has made a point of seeking out these students to mentor them. Graduate and postdoctoral researchers in his lab are encouraged to provide similar mentorship to the next generation of researchers.

“It creates an atmosphere where students feel at home,” he explains. “Universities have traditionally not been accommodating to underrepresented minorities, so within these institutions we create an environment where students feel supported by people who look like them.”

Associate Professor of Chemistry Kim Petersen mentored MARC fellows when the project launched, and recently joined the PI team. Another critical student relationship, she says, is with academic enhancement coordinator Traci Miller, who tracks their progress, advises them, and plans professional development opportunities.

“We’re giving students these big experiences. Then we build in mentoring activities,” says Petersen. “This is taking undergraduate research to the next level, especially with the amazing conferences.”

The team plans to follow the careers of successive cohorts of MARC students for a minimum of 15 years, to study program impacts. Herr says the program is a long-term commitment, not just in terms of charting student progress, but in maintaining a connection and continuing to provide mentorship.

“It feels more like an extended family,” he says. “I tell the MARC students: ‘wherever we are, call me anytime.’”

Chris Roberts is a junior at UNCG and a first-year MARC fellow.

He began working in Sullivan Distinguished Professor Nicholas Oberlies’ natural products lab as a sophomore, but his admission to MARC has allowed him to increase his lab time considerably.

During his on-campus research experience this past summer, he learned to work through many different phases of research, with the ultimate goal of identifying anticancer drug leads from different fungi.

He began by mastering the extraction of fungal cultures and quickly advanced to techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography, for purifying drug leads. Once compounds are isolated, he analyzes their structures via nuclear magnetic spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, gaining valuable skills on UNCG’s highly precise research instruments.

Roberts knew he could succeed in the classroom, but he says he couldn’t have learned how things work in the lab without hands-on research experience – and his mentor agrees.

“There’s something about chemistry that’s very tactile. You just have to do it,” says Oberlies.

In the natural products chemistry lab, Roberts has also found new motivation.

“What drives me is finding ways to cure different diseases. It interests me how different medicines are produced. There are around 5 million species of fungi and only around 130,000 have been investigated.”

Roberts knows that more than half the drugs that treat cancer are derived from a natural source, and, like everyone in Oberlies’ lab, Roberts is eager to test as many new fungal compounds as possible against human cancers. With funding from the National Cancer Institute, they test up to 500 species a year.

“1,500 people will die from cancer today. Our goal is to find a compound to minimize that number in the future,” says Oberlies. “Could that discovery come from an undergraduate? Absolutely.”

Doctoral student Sonja Knowles has served as another mentor for Roberts. “In the beginning, I would be with Chris through every step, to train him on techniques as well as the rationale behind them,” recalls Knowles. “But he has grown tremendously and now works independently, including troubleshooting when a problem arises.”

Now, Roberts is training other student assistants. “Chris has been an asset to not only me but the whole lab,” says Knowles. “He has become a great example for new students.”

As a MARC scholar, Roberts will next complete a summer experience at an external doctoral institution. While positions in every university lab are highly coveted, Oberlies says Roberts is much more likely to be able to find one as a MARC fellow. As a funded student who already has experience in the lab, he is an asset.

by Susan Kirby-Smith

Please visit https://researchmagazine.uncg.edu/spring-2020/so-you-want-to-be-a-scientist/ to read the full article. 

California State University, Chico is working to transform the undergraduate experience and enhance student success with a new program to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and research opportunities right within the everyday classroom.

This month, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded CSU, Chico a $2.2 million grant for “STEM Course Transformation,” a collaborative vision by the Chico STEM Connections Collaborative (CSC²) team, faculty from the College of Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management (ECC), and Chico State Enterprises.

The funds will support a program that trains faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses to launch the Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) model into University classrooms over the next five years. Faculty training will begin this summer, with deployment into three classrooms in fall 2020.

“We really hope this is a game-changer for us to increase retention for first- and second-year students,” said co-principal investigator Lorena Navarro. “Besides just going to class and listening to lectures, if students can get interested in research and entrepreneurship, we hope they will want to stay in their major. We want them to think about research but also what can they do with it.”

After starting with classes in biology, computer science and math, the CURE program will continue to add trained faculty and three classes each year, focusing on lower-division classes with high enrollment and significant rates of students who drop, fail or withdraw from the courses. Ultimately, they hope to target more than 8,100 students with help from 63 faculty.

“Part of the process for us was identifying what the needs are on campus, what students need, and what is specific to Chico State,” said JoAna Brooks, the project’s director and mentor coordinator for CSC². “We were really diligent in looking at what students were doing in their STEM courses and if there was a point where they choose to leave their STEM major. … With this project, we are able to make sure we are supporting, encouraging and offering something to get them to move to the next level. This just opens up the doors to so many more students to have that opportunity.”

Navarro knows the experience firsthand. As an undergraduate who was raised in a small town, she said the chance to do research as an undergraduate was “a gamechanger” that inspired her to pursue a PhD. As the community college liaison and coordinator for CSC² for the College of Natural Sciences, she’s seen a similar outcome in CSU, Chico students. One student, she said, did research on a project related to salmon one summer instead of working retail, which led to an off-campus research opportunity at University of California, Santa Barbara, and seven interviews for research programs at top schools. He recently accepted an offer at UC San Francisco, one of the most prestigious PhD programs in the nation.

While the CURE model is growing in popularity in higher education, Navarro said, CSU, Chico distinguished itself by adding an entrepreneurial component. While such endeavors may be common in engineering, the program team hopes to create a spotlight for students in the natural sciences and agriculture disciplines that they also have room for creative business ventures and solutions.

The University was able to secure this prominent grant due to its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). As the NSF seeks to improve undergraduate education, it is awarding these funds to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at HSIs and increase the retention and graduation rates of students pursuing associate or baccalaureate degrees in STEM.

The CURE program will build off the existing success of CSC², which was established by a five-year, $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2016 to support low-income students and students pursuing studies in the Colleges of Agriculture, Natural Sciences, and ECC. In the last four years, more than 600 students have annually participated in CSC², gaining academic support, peer mentoring, financial literacy, undergraduate research opportunities and community college transfer student support.

“When we got that grant, one of the things we looked at and discussed as a team was to parlay that success into other opportunities,” said Paul Villegas, director of CSC². “This is the first of a couple of attempts the team members have worked on and have been successful at it. Their hard work has paid off.”

One of the University’s goals is to create an undergraduate research center that represents multiple disciplines. This grant and resulting project will go a long way toward making that a reality, Villegas said.

The grant is led by Principal Investigator David Alexander, vice chair of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Sustainable Manufacturing, and Co-Principal Investigators Navarro; Brooks; Debra Larson, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; and Kate McCarthy, dean of Undergraduate Education. 

by Ashley Gebb

Please visit https://today.csuchico.edu/nsf-grant-for-undergraduate-research/ to view the original article.

Two CSU Monterey Bay student researchers have been named 2020 Goldwater scholars. Nicholas Heyer and Samantha Miller, both undergraduates in the College of Science, were the only two recipients in the California State University (CSU) system this year.

“This is an incredible honor for our students and for our campus. Having two students from CSUMB receive prestigious Goldwater Awards is remarkable not only for the high level of academic achievement it represents, but also because they were the only students in the CSU system that received awards this year,” said John “Buck” Banks, Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) director and Goldwater campus representative.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, established by Congress in 1986 to honor Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, provides financial assistance to college sophomores and juniors pursuing careers in science, mathematics and engineering. The scholarship is worth up to $7,500 per year for two years and is based on academic merit. This year, 396 recipients were selected from a pool of 1,343 nominees. Since 2015, a total of 10 CSUMB students have been honored by the Goldwater Foundation.

Nicholas Heyer

A Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Scholar, UROC Scholar, and molecular biology and mathematics major, Heyer plans to research neurodegenerative diseases in order to better understand their causes in an effort to effectively combat them.

“This scholarship allows me to join a national scholastic community of researchers that have the same level of drive to understand the world as I do,” Heyer said.

Heyer conducts research at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute Haussler-Salama Lab, as part of the BD2K Enhancing Diversity in Biomedical Data Science grant funded by the National Institutes of Health. The grant allows CSUMB students like Heyer to participate in a summer research experience at the UCSC Center for Big Data in Translational Genomics, working side-by-side with UCSC scientists and data specialists learning research skills to manage and interpret genomic data.

“This scholarship allows me to join a national scholastic community of researchers that have the same level of drive to understand the world as I do.”— Nicholas Heyer, scholarship recipient

The research will help detect birth disorders, “allowing for early intervention and, in the long run, a more independent life,” Heyer said.

The Goldwater Scholarship recognizes that Heyer is “an exceptional student and researcher,” said Judith Canner, CSUMB BD2K Director and an associate professor of statistics.

“But he is also an exceptional person who wants to use his research for the betterment of humanity. He already serves our community as a tutor, volunteer and research mentor, and I know he will use his career to serve others in big ways,” Canner said.

Samantha Miller

A UROC Scholar and biology major, Miller is working to identify genes “to facilitate the production of biological technology that removes pesticides from the environment.”

“This scholarship gives me the opportunity to focus on my research and school work as an undergraduate, provides me with a valuable national network of Goldwater scholars, and encourages me to pursue a research career,” Miller said.

“Samantha sets the tone in the lab and is already making significant contributions for our research on microbial pesticide remediation, as well as collaborating with researchers at other institutions.”

— Nathaniel Jue, faculty mentor

“Samantha sets the tone in the lab and is already making significant contributions for our research on microbial pesticide remediation, as well as collaborating with researchers at other institutions. I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of discoveries she makes in the future,” said Nathaniel Jue, CSUMB faculty mentor and assistant professor in the School of Natural Sciences.

Miller plans to pursue a doctorate in archaeogenetics to research human evolution through the analysis of ancient DNA, while applying her research to the advancement of modern medicine and the development of antimicrobials.

Miller and Heyer’s other mentors include Henrik Kibak with CSUMB, Colleen Bosworth and Sofie Salama with UCSC, and Mark Siddall with the American Museum of Natural History.

Please visit https://csumb.edu/news/student-researchers-selected-2020-goldwater-scholarships ​;to read the original article. 

Dr. Tyreasa Washington and Dr. Blair Wisco, of University of North Carolina at Greensboro, are recipients of the 2020 Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards. 

Dr. Tyreasa Washington is the recipient of the 2020 Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Award for Tenured Faculty.

Dr. Washington joined the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as an Assistant Professor in 2011. She was promoted to Associate Professor and appointed Faculty Affiliate to the UNCG Gerontology Program in 2017.

Dr. Washington is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who has worked in child welfare and mental health settings. She is a distinguished scholar who examines the impact of family-level factors on African American children’s social, academic, and behavioral outcomes, especially those who reside in kinship care (e.g., grandparents raising grandchildren).

An extension of Dr. Washington’s work on African American kinship care families in the United States is the exploration of the historic and contemporary use of kinship care among African American and Black families in the USA, Ghana, and South Africa. She has presented her research and led discussions at the Aya Centre for Intercultural Awareness and Development and the University of Ghana in Accra, Ghana and at the University of Kwazulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. Her research agenda also includes the examination of fathers’ roles on children’s positive outcomes.

Dr. Washington has received various research and teaching awards for her scholarship including a Council on Social Work Education Minority Fellowship Alumna, a National Institute of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program recipient, as well as, a Teaching Excellence and Research Mentor Awards recipient. Currently, Dr. Washington is the Principal Investigator of an Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) funded study, entitled: “Development of African American Children in Kinship Care.”

Former undergraduate student researcher, Christian Zik Nsonwu (pictured in main article photo with Washington), said of his relationship with Dr. Washington, “During all of my successes and failures, she has always been there to support me. I can say for an absolute fact that I would not be where I am today without her support and mentorship.”

Dr. Washington served as a McNair Faculty Research Mentor to Kenya Downing and Tamika Smith. Kenya stated, “It was not until I met this influential individual that I realized how much exposure, representation, teaching, research, and mentoring matter.” Tamika recalled that, “Dr. Washington has supported me in all aspects, both domestically and internationally. She exemplifies the traits of a compassionate and determined mentor who believes in her mentees and will go above and beyond to support them. Dr. Washington is one of the few professors that I
encountered who made a conscious effort to individually connect with students beyond academics.”

Shelton Young explained, “Dr. Washington is not only a colleague in the Social Work profession, but she once served as my professor and undergraduate research mentor during my undergraduate experience. She provided me and countless others with an understanding of the importance of using research to inform social work practice and practice to inform research.”

The Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Office at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro established this award to recognize faculty who engage students in projects that contribute to the expansion of knowledge and understanding in their discipline, while demonstrating excellence and innovation. Dr. Tyreasa Washington demonstrates role modeling as a professional, with personal integrity, high ethical standards, and achievable standards for personal excellence. We are privileged to recognize her with the 2020 Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.

Dr. Blair Wisco is the recipient of the 2020 Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Award for Early Career Faculty.

Dr. Wisco joined the faculty at UNCG in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Program. Since then, she has mentored many undergraduates—nearly 25 in her PSY 433: Research Experience in Psychology course alone.

The results of her mentorship speak for themselves. Three of her students have been awarded UNCG Undergraduate Research and Creativity Awards funding, four have worked with her on honors theses or independent research projects, and 10 have presented posters at major regional and national conferences. In one distinguished case, Dr. Wisco and a student collaboratively wrote and published an article in Cognition and Emotion (Normansell & Wisco, 2017), an important peer-reviewed journal in the behavioral sciences. Furthermore, her students have done well after leaving UNCG. Seven are in competitive, nationally prominent graduate programs.

In her teaching and research statement, Dr. Wisco remarked, “I am passionate about undergraduate research mentoring” and that she has consistently involved undergraduates in her research since joining UNCG. Her students are exposed to all stages of the research process, from the original conception of an idea to eventual dissemination of findings. Dr. Wisco’s receipt of an R15 grant from the National Institutes of Health, an award that aims to increase opportunities for student participation in research, reflects the high quality of her work and the unique training opportunity that her lab provides. One student wrote of Dr. Wisco, “She considers the individual interests of research assistants in her lab and supports them. Time is taken to ask students what experiences they hope to gain from working in the lab, what they wish to learn. Dr. Wisco makes those opportunities available.”

Another student wrote, “Dr. Wisco encourages her lab members to read and think critically about current literature, learn new skills, and develop their own research ideas” and that she has been “one of my biggest supporters as a budding scholar.” Students agree that their time with Dr. Wisco benefited them greatly and helped them become more confident and skillful researchers. One student noted that Dr. Wisco is a “life-long mentor and amazing ally.”

The Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Office at UNCG established this award to recognize faculty members who engage students in projects that contribute to the expansion of knowledge and understanding in their discipline, while demonstrating excellence and innovation in doing so. Dr. Blair Wisco has managed to do this in exemplary fashion, and we are honored to present her with the 2020 Thomas Undergraduate Research Mentor Award.

Text courtesy of UNCG Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity Office

Please visit https://research.uncg.edu/spotlight/2020-thomas-undergraduate-research-mentor-awards/ to view the original article.