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CUR Geosciences Division Announces 2021 Awardees for Excellence in Student Research

The CUR Geosciences Division announced the 2021 awardees for excellence in student research:

Zoe Lacey (Trinity University, San Antonio)
Hanna Szydlowski (Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI)

Starting in spring 2020, Zoe Lacey (Class of 2021, Trinity University) developed a reactive transport model to describe the biogeochemical controls on the mobility of trace elements in an aquifer contaminated by crude oil. Lacey created a new model framework for describing how carbonate minerals can adsorb trace elements in aquifer environments, demonstrating ingenuity, perseverance, sophisticated knowledge of (bio)geochemistry, and advanced coding skills. Her results are applicable to thousands of aquifers contaminated by organic carbon and suggest novel geochemical approaches for remediating trace elements in groundwater. Her research is reflected in a senior thesis that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Lacey presented her research at the South-Central Geological Society of America Meeting.

Hanna Szydlowski is a third-year student in geochemistry at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). Szydlowski’s research project tested multiple hypotheses of groundwater aquifer size and travel time using stable isotopes. She monitored groundwater levels and gradients, and stream stage in three small spring-fed streams in Michigan, collecting weekly water samples of precipitation and small spring-fed streams for one year. She then analyzed the data to test two alternative hypotheses of aquifer size, travel time, and mixing rates. Szydlowski presented her research at the 2020 online Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, winning an award for best undergraduate poster from the Hydrogeology Division.

CUR’s Geosciences Division (GeoCUR) gives annual awards to full-time undergraduate students currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year educational institution engaging in research emphasizing the geosciences such as geology, oceanography, and atmospheric sciences.

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CUR Chemistry Division Selects 2021 Outstanding Mentorship Awardees

The CUR Chemistry Division has announced the 2021 recipients of its Outstanding Mentorship Award, which recognizes excellence in mentoring of undergraduate researchers:

Tarek Abdel-Fattah (Christopher Newport University)
Fadi Bou-Abdallah (SUNY Potsdam)
Loretta Jackson-Hayes (Rhodes College)

Tarek Abdel-Fattah is the Lawrence J. Sacks Endowed Professor of Chemistry at Christopher Newport University (CNU) and the CNU director of the Applied Research Center at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News. He earned his BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Alexandria University in Egypt and his PhD degree in inorganic and materials chemistry from Northeastern University. His research focuses on nanochemistry and nanomaterials science. Enthusiastic about undergraduate research collaborations and mentorship, Abdel-Fattah has coauthored 40 papers with undergraduate students.

Fadi Bou-Abdallah is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He earned an MS in chemistry from the Lebanese University in Lebanon and a PhD in biophysical chemistry from the University of Paris 7 in France. His research focuses on structure-function relationships of major iron transport and storage proteins, as well as the role of iron in health and disease. Bou-Abdallah has mentored approximately 40 undergraduate students, coauthoring 26 papers with undergraduates and promoting an environment that encourages the participation, professional development, and graduation of underrepresented students.

Loretta Jackson-Hayes is James H. Daughdrill Professor in the Natural Sciences, professor of chemistry, and chair of the Department of Chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis. She earned her BS in chemistry from Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS, and her PhD in pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Her research focuses on investigating regulatory mechanisms of eukaryotic gene expression. Fostering scaffolded undergraduate research experiences and continual professional development for diverse students, Jackson-Hayes has coauthored more than 28 publications with undergraduates.

The Outstanding Mentorship Awards of CUR’s Chemistry Division honor exceptional mentoring and advising by higher education faculty across all subdisciplines of chemistry. Each award consists of a $500 cash prize to the recipient, a certificate of recognition, a one-year individual membership to CUR funded by the Chemistry Division, and a letter of commendation from CUR sent to the recipient’s institution.

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2021 Posters on the Hill Spotlights Exemplary Undergraduate Research Projects for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Public

On April 27–28, undergraduate students from colleges and universities in 42 states and the District of Columbia will participate in the 2021 Posters on the Hill event, sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). In a virtual public poster session on April 28 from 2–4 pm ET, undergraduate researchers and their mentors from institutions such as Edmonds College and Grinnell College to Norwich University and Penn State University will share their research projects on topics ranging from examining air pollution amid COVID-19 shutdowns and analyzing household data to inform local revitalization efforts to studying hydrogen as a more environmentally friendly aerospace fuel and assessing the effectiveness of a virtual reality intervention in improving relationships between communities of color and the police.

CUR hosts the annual Posters on the Hill event to highlight the work of undergraduate researchers from around the country to Members of Congress, congressional staffers, federal government officials, academics, and others, demonstrating the value of federal investment in undergraduate research. The event is highly selective—several hundred applications are received each year and judged by a national panel of experts in their fields, and only the best teams are chosen. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ImDM6SzAq7E

“It is always exciting to see the superb work of undergraduate researchers at Posters on the Hill each year,” said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer. “The event showcases the talent, hard work, and invaluable research results of these students and their mentors as well as the caliber of the individuals being prepared for careers in a wide variety of fields, helping to meet the needs of academe, employers, the nation, and the world.”

The following is a small sample of the Posters on the Hill participants. Learn more about all the presenters and their projects on CUR’s “Meet the Researchers” webpage.

Alicia Grana (The College of New Jersey)
Project Title: Felony Disenfranchisement and Its Effect on Recidivism. This study examined the relationship of the revocation of the voting rights of formerly incarcerated individuals and the likelihood of such individuals to re-offend.
D. Melanie Kistnasamy, Kai Welsh, and Cameron Gaspord (Gustavus Adolphus College)
Project Title: Seven Mile Creek Watershed: Monitoring Water Quality and Ravine Erosion for a Sustainable Agriculture. This project monitored several pollutants and visual indicators of erosion, measuring the effectiveness of best management practices adopted by farmers in the watershed of southern Minnesota.
Jenny Mendis (Gallaudet University) and Ekrem Kaya (Freedom High School, South Riding, VA)
Project Title: Identification of Hotspots for SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Human ACE2 Binding. This project studied the role of a glycoprotein in the entry of COVID-19 into human cells.
Jonah Nordeen, Caroline Durham, and Armani Sumpter (Coastal Carolina University)
Project Title: An Analysis of Perceptions and Personal Experiences of the Gun Violence Public Health Crisis. This study examined gun violence beliefs based on the presence or lack of guns in southeastern households, seeking to gather data that can assist in increasing the safety of communities.

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Montana State’s Gregory Young Selected as the 2021 CUR-Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Awardee

Gregory Young, professor in the School of Music and founding director of the Undergraduate Scholars Program at Montana State University in Bozeman, has been selected as the 2021 CUR-Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Awardee. The award consists of a plaque and $1,000 for the recipient’s work with undergraduate researchers.

A member of the Montana State faculty since 1988, Young also has served as assistant dean of the College of Arts & Architecture and director of the School of Music. In addition to working with undergraduates on collaborative projects, he played a crucial part as vice provost for undergraduate education in requiring research of all undergraduates—the first public university to do so—and established Montana State’s McNair Scholars Program to encourage underrepresented students to engage in research. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Western Ontario, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees in music from the University of Michigan. Young has lectured or performed on five continents and is a clarinetist with the Intermountain Opera and Bozeman Symphony Orchestras.

Said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer, “Dr. Young’s innovative interdisciplinary work has inspired undergraduate researchers and faculty members alike, fusing music with fields such as architecture, economics, history, and neuroscience. His involvement in the CUR publication Creative Inquiry in the Arts and Humanities: Models of Undergraduate Research and other books have provided invaluable resources for faculty and administrators wishing to nurture undergraduate research in the arts and humanities. Dr. Young’s active roles with the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, the British Conference of Undergraduate Research, and similar events have helped to build dynamic international communities supporting undergraduate research.”

Said Royce Smith, dean of the Montana State University College of Arts and Architecture, “Professor Young’s award serves as a timely and well-deserved recognition of his vision of research as a unifying force in the university community. His efforts democratize scholarship for students such that inclusivity, interdisciplinarity, and intellectual rigor can all contribute in equal measure.

The CUR-Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Awards were established in 2018 through an endowment by 2012 CUR Fellow Joyce Kinkead (Utah State University) to nurture undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry in arts and humanities disciplines.

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CUR Arts and Humanities Division Announces 2021 Student Scholarship Recipients

The Arts and Humanities Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of its student scholarships. The scholarships—a maximum of $300 each—support undergraduate student research and creative inquiry projects at any stage of development up to and including presentation, thus nurturing diverse, innovative, and engaged undergraduate research in the arts and humanities.

The 2021 recipients are the following:

Chitra Dassapa (Chapman University; mentor: Joe Rosenberg)
Project title: Headlights (a music video that explores the researcher’s fear of repeating her older sibling’s mistakes)
Amelia Parker and Jesus Sanchez-Orozco (California State University, Monterey Bay; mentor: Sam Robinson)
Project title: Higher Education Is Not Immune to Messaging Mishaps: A Qualitative Rhetorical Analysis of COVID-19 Messaging on US Campuses (evaluates campus communication in times of crisis to help inform campus administrators of best practices in future communication)

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CUR Health Sciences Division Announces 2021 Mentor Awardees

The Health Sciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of its Mentor Awards, which honor exceptional mentoring and advising by higher education faculty across all subdivisions of health sciences. The awards consist of a cash award, a certificate of recognition, and a letter of commendation from CUR sent to each recipient’s institution.

Mentor Awardee, Early Career: Shana Stoddard (Rhodes College)
Mentor Awardee, Mid-Career: Trevor Day (Mount Royal University)
Mentor Awardee, Mid-Career: Katherine H. Ingram (Kennesaw State University)
Mentor Awardee, Advanced Career: Ben A. Bahr (University of North Carolina at Pembroke)

Shana Stoddard is assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis. She earned a BS in chemistry from Prairie View A&M University, an M Ed in curriculum and instruction from Freed-Hardeman University, and a PhD in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Mississippi. She pursued postdoctoral work at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Rhodes College. Stoddard’s research concentrates on molecular immunotherapeutics. She has mentored more than 40 undergraduate students, including those of underrepresented backgrounds pursuing STEM and health sciences pathways; nurtured connections among students and faculty of color; and promoted inclusive teaching strategies on campus.

Trevor Day is professor of physiology in the Department of Biology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. He earned a diploma in the emergency medical technician program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, as well as a BS in psychology and a PhD in respiratory neurobiology from the University of Calgary. His research focuses on the coordination of the heart, lungs, brain, and kidneys in response to occupational and environmental stressors. He has primarily worked with third- and fourth-year undergraduates, infusing research into coursework, teaching a capstone seminar and other courses, and leading high-altitude research expeditions to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

Katherine H. Ingram is associate professor of exercise science in the Department of Exercise Science and Sport Management at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. She earned a BS in sport management from Tulane University, a MS in exercise physiology from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, and a PhD in exercise physiology at Georgia State University. Ingram pursued postdoctoral study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Focusing on the impact of gestational obesity and inactivity on maternal metabolic health, she has mentored 35 undergraduate researchers, fostering multimentor models; cross-disciplinary connections; and participation in the entire research process that ranges from formulation of research questions and development of grant proposals to collection of data and communication of results.

Ben A. Bahr is the William C. Friday Chair and Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at UNC–Pembroke. He earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and biochemistry, as well as a PhD in chemistry, from UC Santa Barbara. Bahr’s research concentrates on Alzheimer-type pathology, traumatic brain injury, and related drug discovery efforts. He has mentored approximately 300 undergraduate researchers and coauthored publications with 72 undergraduate students, seeking to provide a solid foundation for their future studies and career paths as well as an inspirational model for faculty members who wish to improve their mentoring skills.

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CUR Health Sciences Division Announces 2021 NCUR Presentation Awardees

The Health Sciences Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of its NCUR Presentation Awards. The awards cover the cost of registration for undergraduate students presenting original research at the 2021 National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The awardees are the following:

Cody Anderson (University of Nebraska Omaha; mentor: Sara Myers)
Presentation title—Muscle Behavior Adaptations after Supervised Exercise Training in Peripheral Artery Disease: An OpenSim Simulation. Anderson’s project investigates how muscle adapts as a result of supervised exercise training in individuals with peripheral artery disease.

Destinyi Cravens (University of Alabama at Birmingham; mentor: Sylvie Mrug)
Presentation title—Perceived Parental Support: Does Maternal Depression and Motherhood Roles Matter? Cravens’s project examines the prospective relationships between maternal depression symptoms, perceptions of parenting roles, and later perceived parental support during adolescence using data from Waves 1–3 of the Birmingham Youth Violence Study (n = 387).

Seth Hubbard (University of Alabama at Birmingham; mentor: Alecia Gross Gutierrez)
Presentation title—Determination of the Role of Cofilin1 in Rod Photoreceptors. Hubbard’s project demonstrates a role for nuclear distribution protein C [NUDC] in the development and maintenance of rod photoreceptors through transgenic shRNA knockdown of NudC in X. laevis tadpoles.

Charlene Mansour (University of Alabama at Birmingham; mentor: Kristine Hurst-Wajszczuk)
Presentation title—Probing the Genetic Diversity of Phages Infecting Arthrobacter globiformis. Mansour’s project sequences and annotates the genomes of newly discovered A. globiformis phages and compares these genomes to those of other A. globiformis phages.

Brian Nguyen (University of Alabama at Birmingham; mentor: Elizabeth Sztul)
Presentation title—Identifying the Role of the ARF Activators BIG1 and BIG2 in Regulating Endocytosis and Recycling. Nguyen’s project seeks to uncover the processes regulated by the BIG1 and BIG2 proteins and to describe the molecular events that are supported by BIG1 versus BIG2.

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CUR Psychology Division Announces 2021 Psychology Research Awardees

The Psychology Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of its Psychology Research Awards. The recipients are undergraduate students conducting original psychological research, who receive awards of up to $500 per project to assist in covering supplies, expenses, or presentation-related costs. The 2021 awardees are the following:

Rachel Blickman (Boise State University; mentor: Mary Pritchard)
Blickman’s mixed-methods study seeks to examine the influence of women’s perceptions of their stretch marks on body image in the postpartum period.
Alexis Cheatham (Franklin College; mentor: Ryan Rush)
Cheatham’s project focuses on the relationship of different forms of racism to the perception of racial slurs in various contexts.
Denver Dobson (Idaho State University; mentor: JongHun Sung)
Dobson’s qualitative research study focuses on the effects of Hispanic cultural beliefs regarding traditional illnesses, medicine, and values that may affect health care for Hispanic individuals.
Emily Knopf (University of Chicago; mentor: Susan Levine)
Knopf’s project seeks to investigate the relation between gender identity and mathematics attitudes, using an updated definition of gender as a spectrum rather than a binary.

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CUR Physics and Astronomy Division Announces 2021 Barlow Awardees

The Physics and Astronomy Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of the Nadine Barlow Undergraduate Research Support Awards. The awards, named in memory of the late division Councilor Nadine Barlow, seek to assist undergraduate researchers in conducting faculty-mentored research, presenting their research at national conferences, or publishing their research in peer-reviewed journals. The awards are of a maximum of $500 each.

The 2021 recipients are the following:

Mariah Goeks (Northern Michigan University; mentor: Rick “P. W.” Mengyan)
Project title: Building a Functional Van der Pauw Four-Point Probe. Goeks’s project creates the third version of a homebuilt four-point probe head, updating its support system and making electrical measurements of semiconducting samples.
Joseph Hammill
(Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; mentor: Jason Aufdenberg)
Project title: Modeling the Interstellar Medium and Ionized Hydrogen Around the Bright Star Spica. Hammill’s project presents a method for the computation of projected surface brightness profiles using Cloudy’s volume emissivity output, reassesses the annulus-averaged surface brightness estimates from the SHASSA data, and constrains nebular parameters.
Shannon O’Connor (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; mentor: Foram Madiyar)
Project title: Investigation of Electrospray Applications. O’Connor’s project tests an electrospray platform that can deposit uniform coatings of carbon nanomaterials on large surfaces.
Jarres Plummer (Austin Peay State University; mentor: Roman Golovchak—surname sometimes spelled Holovchak)
Project title: Photo-Response of Mixed Germanium-Antimony-Bismuth-Based Chalcogenide Thin Films at Different Temperatures. Plummer’s project presents the hypothesis that introducing heavy chemical elements into the structure of the films would lead to the shift of the phonon spectrum to lower frequencies (higher wavelengths).
Ruilin You (University of San Diego; mentor: Ryan McGorty)
Project title: Light Sheet Microscopy for Fast Volumetric Imaging of Colloidal Fluids under Shear. You’s project shows that light sheet fluorescence microscopy can be used to image colloidal and other soft-matter samples as those samples are mechanically perturbed.