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.

Three UConn undergraduates, three graduate students, and six alumni have earned National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF-GRFP).

The oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the NSF-GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding students in NSF-supported disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited institutions in the United States. In addition to a three-year annual stipend of $34,000, plus another $12,000 paid to the student’s home institution, fellows have access to a wide range of professional development opportunities over the course of their graduate careers.

The Graduate Research Fellowships are highly competitive, with annual acceptance rates of about 14% from among more than 12,000 applicants.

“The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is the gold standard when it comes to federally-funded fellowships for aspiring scientists,” says Vin Moscardelli, Director of UConn’s Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. “These fellowships are investments in both the science and the scientist. This national recognition reflects not only the quality and significance of the research the students are proposing to conduct, but on the potential of these students to make a mark in their chosen fields.”

The number of recipients from UConn has been on the rise over the years, with an average of 5.75 recipients from 2012-2015, and now an average of 11 in the years since.

“The best part of helping students with this and other fellowship applications is, most times after the student hits submit and then I get an email from the student stating no matter the outcome, they are really glad they did this,” says Rowena Grainger, the STEM Fellowship Advisor in the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships. “This is when students recognize the value of the process itself. In applying for the NSF GRFP, among other things, students have the opportunity to clarify their research and academic goals, improve their writing skills, learn to manage the critical application feedback process. These are skills that they will continue to build on in their graduate careers and beyond.”

The three undergraduate recipients are:

Christopher Choi ’20 (ENG), of Storrs, is graduating with dual bachelor’s degrees in history and materials science and engineering. He has been involved in a range of research activities and labs at UConn, focusing on topics from thermoelectrics to archaeological materials. In addition to receiving the NSF-GRFP, Choi is a member of the honors program, a recipient of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fund award, and was one of the student speakers at the 2018 School of Engineering Scholarship Award Ceremony. Choi has been a member of UConn Model UN for four years, serving as a committee director from fall 2017 to fall 2019, and was involved in the Engineering Ambassadors for four years, serving as the group’s president from spring 2018 to spring 2019. In the fall of 2020, he will begin his doctoral studies at Stanford, where he hopes to contribute to biomaterials research.

Ariane Garrett ’20 (ENG), of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering. Throughout her time at UConn, she was an undergraduate researcher in the Hoshino Laboratory and benefited greatly from the mentorship of Dr. Kazunori Hoshino. She is a STEM Scholar, Honors Scholar, and University Scholar. Garrett was named a Goldwater Scholar in April 2019. She was the recipient of a Holster Scholarship, SURF grant and IDEA grant from UConn. Garrett interned at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine in Boston during the summer of 2019. She will pursue her doctorate in biomedical engineering at Boston University.

Brittany Smith ’20 (ENG), of Orange, is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics. Smith has been involved in a number of research activities, including interning through the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory in Groton. There she did nanotechnology research with Dr. Ali Gokirmak, and researched wearable biosensors with Dr. Ki Chon. Smith worked on an independent project with two other electrical engineering undergraduate students, during which they developed a robot that shoots candy into a person’s mouth using facial recognition and tracking. This work was published in a paper to the 2019 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers MIT Undergraduate Conference. Smith has been a member of the Women in Math, Science, and Engineering learning community for three years, holding mentoring positions during her sophomore and junior years. She has been an undergraduate teaching assistant, the vice president of the Navy STEM program at UConn, and the treasurer for Eta Kappa Nu, the electrical and computer engineering honor society, and the Women in Math, Science and Engineering clubs. Smith was involved with a number of outreach activities including serving as a UConn tour guide and a member of UConn’s Engineering Ambassadors. She will be pursuing her doctorate this fall at Duke with research focused on the development and application of biosensors.

The three graduate student recipients are:

Rosalie Bordett ’17 (CLAS) of Simsbury, who is a second-year doctoral student in the biomedical sciences graduate program at UConn Health. She received her undergraduate degree from UConn in biomedical engineering with minors in material science and chemistry. During her undergraduate studies, she was both a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation scholar and Health Career Opportunity Program scholar. Bordett received the UConn Chemistry Summer Fellowship and worked at UMass-Amherst under NSF funded project as a researcher. Prior to graduate school as the laboratory manager at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center-Innovation Center, Bordett conducted research on bioinstrumentation. Her graduate research work at UConn Health in Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar’s laboratory in the departments of orthopedic surgery and biomedical engineering is focused on the synergistic effects of physical and chemical stimulation in the regeneration of peripheral nerves. She is a co-author of multiple research publications in the areas of biomaterials and tissue engineering.

Matthew Howell of Boiling Springs, S.C., is a first-year doctoral student in the chemistry department, in the lab of Dr. Alfredo Angeles. Howell earned his undergraduate degree at Wofford College. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Howell has conducted research at the European Bioinformatics Institute, Virginia Tech, and Yale, with published research articles in Genome Research and The Journal of Biological Chemistry. This summer, he plans to continue working with undergraduates Ana Wenc ’23 (CLAS) and Rosanna Airo ’22 (CLAS) in exploring synergy between metals, peptides, and antibiotics as a tool to combat the problem of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Jackson Lautier ’11 (CLAS), is a native of Southington and currently resides in West Hartford. He is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Statistics and his research concentrates on applications of statistics to economics, finance, risk management, and actuarial science.  He is particularly interested in using statistics to improve access of disadvantaged groups to the capitalist financial system.  Previously to his doctoral studies, Lautier spent more than eight years working Prudential Financial, Inc. as an actuary in various roles, including risk management, investment strategy, and quantitative finance.  He was also an adjunct instructor in the Department of Mathematics at UConn in the 2018-2019 academic year.  Lautier is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Chartered Enterprise Risk Analyst, and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries.  Lautier graduated with an undergraduate degree in mathematics/actuarial science from UConn.

Six additional UConn alumni who are now pursuing graduate studies elsewhere also earned NSF Graduate Research Fellowships:

Helen Belato ’18 (CLAS), who is studying structural biology at Brown University; Laurel Gibson ’18 (CLAS), who is studying social psychology at the University of Colorado; Celia Guillard ’15 (CLAS), who is studying social psychology at the University of Pennsylvania; Alexandra Oliveira ’19 (ENG, CLAS), who is studying chemical engineering at the University of Delaware; Nicholas Russo ’18 (CLAS), who is studying ecology at UCLA; and Margaret Webb ’15 (CLAS, BUS), who is studying cognitive psychology at Brown University.

by Mike Enright

Please visit https://today.uconn.edu/2020/04/students-earn-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowship/ to view the original article.

In the fall of 2017, Tristian Wiles ’21 arrived on a college campus more populous than his hometown. That’s probably a more common experience for students attending a flagship state university than for those enrolled at a small liberal arts institution like Hendrix College. But Wiles came from the northeastern Arkansas community of Ash Flat, which has a population of about 1,100.

As a first-generation student from a rural area, Wiles admits to being uncertain about whether he would be a good fit for college life. “But from the friendly housekeepers and caf workers to my dependable professors, everyone has always made me feel at home in the Hendrix community,” he says.

It’s evident that Wiles feels at home at Hendrix (a feeling so common among students that the campus has earned the name Homedrix). He’s excelled as a biochemistry/molecular biology (BCMB) major and added a philosophy minor to his academic pursuits. Outside of classes and labs, he has participated in the BCMB Club, the Hendrix chapter of the American Chemical Society, and Hendrix Naturalists Club. And drawing on his experience as a first-generation college student, Wiles connects with students following paths similar to his own by serving as a mentor for the IRIS Program: Increasing Retention and Inclusion in STEM.

This spring, he learned he’d been accepted into three summer research programs—at Yale, Duke, and UT Southwestern, all programs affiliated with the Amgen Scholars Program (funded by the Amgen Foundation, the principal channel for biotech company Amgen’s corporate philanthropy). He ultimately chose Yale, and was waiting to be matched with a research lab there when he learned that this summer’s program would be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. He will be able to attend in the summer of 2021, though.

“Because of that delay, I still don’t know exactly what I’ll study, but it will be some type of biomedical science, likely to do with genetics and molecular biology,” he said.

By that time, Wiles will have his Hendrix degree, and plans to move on to pursue a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences. His ultimate goal: teaching and conducting research at the college and university level. It’s one way he plans to pay forward the benefits of his own Hendrix education.

“I have found such a strong academic support group at Hendrix,” he says. “I would never have gained the qualifications for these programs without the help of my research advisors, and I certainly could not have written the essays necessary for strong applications without the guidance of my humanities professors and scholarship advisors.”

Wiles believes in the power of making research opportunities available to undergraduate students because he has benefited from it himself.

“I was able to start doing research as early as the end of my freshman year, and completed three projects by the time I was a junior. I started with research in ecology, and, thanks to the guidance of my research advisors, I had homed in on my passion for molecular biology by the end of my third project,” he says. “Hendrix opens so many doors for students interested in undergraduate scientific research.”

Text courtesy of Hendrix College Media Relations Team. To view the original article, please visit https://www.hendrix.edu/tristian-wiles-2020.aspx

For the first time in its 14-year history, the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference has awarded three faculty members for their commitment to mentoring student research.

The conference, also known as GSURC, is an annual showcase hosted by the Honors College of undergraduate research ranging across all disciplines and topics.

“Nominations for the 2020 GSURC Faculty Research Awards came from more than 10 different academic units, which highlights the breadth of outstanding undergraduate research being done at Georgia State,” said Amy Reber, a senior lecturer in biology and the Honors College Faculty Associate for GSURC. “The pool was incredibly competitive and the awards committee was impressed by the phenomenal work being done by all of the nominees.”

Jamae Morris, assistant professor of African-American studies, is the recipient of the 2020 Faculty Award for Undergraduate Faculty Mentored Creative Projects and Research in Fine Arts and the Humanities. Morris is the organizer of the university’s African-American Undergraduate Research Colloquium (AURC) and has mentored 25 undergraduate researchers.

Daniel Cox, professor of neuroscience and biology and director of the Center of Neuromics in the College of Arts & Sciences, is the recipient of the 2020 Faculty Award for Undergraduate Project or Laboratory-Based Research. Cox has mentored more than 50 individual student research projects over the last 15 years and dozens of his students have submitted conference abstracts, received prestigious national awards, and pursued graduate education and career paths related to the work they conducted under Cox’s supervision.

Frank Williams, professor of anthropology, is the recipient of the 2020 Faculty Award for Undergraduate Mentored Research in Policy, Entrepreneurship, Education and Social Sciences. Williams has mentored more than 30 GSURC presenters over the years and more than a dozen honors students who have written theses and presented at state-level conferences. He also works with undergraduates in Georgia State’s Dental Micro-wear Laboratory, which has led to many graduate school and career opportunities for students.

Each award is valued at $300 and winners were selected by a committee of faculty including last year’s recipient.

This is also the first year GSURC will be a virtual event, in keeping with public health and university system guidelines surrounding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

GSURC 2020 will take place later this month on an online video platform where students can record and upload their presentations to be judged by expert faculty. The winning presentations will be announced at the end of April and posted to the GSURC website.

“We know how much time and energy our students have invested in their research projects, and so the GSURC faculty advisory board is pleased to offer everyone the opportunity to present and be recognized for their work in a virtual conference,” Reber said.

Test courtesy of Georgia State University, News Hub.

Please visit https://news.gsu.edu/2020/04/06/gsurc2020facultyawards/ to view the orginal article.