KU announces 21 Undergraduate Research Award winners


LAWRENCE — Twenty-one University of Kansas students will receive Undergraduate Research Awards (UGRAs) to support their research projects this fall.

“Students who receive the Undergraduate Research Award represent some of the best student scholarship on the Lawrence campus,” said John Augusto, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research. “These students have mentors who invest a lot of time training them, and the mentors’ work comes through when you read the students’ proposals.”

Recipients will receive $1,000 to support their respective research projects. The Undergraduate Research Awards are funded by a partnership between the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, and the Office of the Provost.  Applicants wrote a four-page research proposal with the assistance of their research mentor. Recipients of the award were selected on the merit of the applicant's proposal, the applicant's academic record and the recommendation from a faculty member who is familiar with the applicant and the proposed project.

The Center for Undergraduate Research will begin taking applications for the spring 2014 awards in September, with a Nov. 13 deadline.  For more details and to apply, visit KU Center for Undergraduate Research. 

Students receiving awards are listed below by hometown, level in school, major, high school, brief description of the project, and faculty mentor.

Kansas recipients

Emporia

Kathryn Scherich, junior majoring in chemical engineering; Emporia High School; “Viscoelastic Properties and Cell Response of Colloidal Gels made with Fluorapatite and Hydroxyapatite,” a project that will replace the nanoparticle in colloidal gels currently being tested by the Berkland Research Group with fluorapatite and mixtures of fluorapatite and hydroxyapatite, and test the fluid properties and response of stem cells to the material; research mentor: Cory Berkland, chemical and petroleum engineering.

Halstead

Sarah Hall, junior majoring in visual art; Halstead High School; “Accelerated Energy Expansion,” a project to create 7-10 paintings representing the human figure in a way that expresses the notion of accelerated energy expansion; research mentor: Judith McCrea, drawing and painting.

Kansas City, Kan.

Caleb Christianson, senior majoring in engineering physics; “Investigation of the Immune Response of Coated Gold Nanoparticles on Leukocytes,” a project to understand to what extent gold nanoparticles functionalized with varying carbon chain lengths modulate the immune system response of human leukocytes; research mentor: Judy Wu, physics and astronomy.

Leawood

Alexa Varady, junior majoring in mathematics and computer science; Blue Valley High School; “Statistical Estimation of Scattered Memory Processes,” a research project aimed at finding a new, more efficient model for the memory structure of stochastic processes; research mentor: Zsolt Talata, mathematics.

Lenexa

Ryan Xiao, junior majoring in cell biology and English; Rockhurst High School; “How Does FMI-1 Affect the Anterior-Posterior Specification of the VD neurons of C. Elegans?,” a project that will use standard cloning procedures and microscopy to investigate the mechanisms by which FMI-1 directs the anterior specification of axon outgrowth in the VD neurons; research mentor: Brian Ackley, molecular biology.

Mission

Elizabeth Braden, junior majoring in biochemistry; Shawnee Mission North High School; “N-terminal Localization of PIAS Enzymes,” a project aimed at better understanding the mechanism of localization of the SUMO E3 ligase, PIAS, through its N-terminal domain; research mentor: Yoshiaki Azuma, molecular biosciences.

Olathe

Kendra Marr, junior majoring in cell biology; Olathe North High School; “Mechanism Underlying Eggshell Defects in a Strain of Drosophila virilis That Carries a High Transposon Load,” a research project that will utilize imaging and other techniques to visualize the patterning of egg chambers during oogenesis in a strain of Drosophila virilis that carries a high transposon load in their genome in order to elucidate a possible mechanism underlying certain embryo axis-specification defects; research mentor: Justin Blumenstiel, ecology & evolutionary biology.

Jackson Young, sophomore majoring in physics and mathematics; Olathe North High School; “X-Ray Studies Of The Pixel Readout for the CMS Detector,” a project to conduct X-ray studies of pixel readout modules for the 2016 upgrade of CMS silicon tracker detector at the University of Kansas; research mentor: Alice Bean, physics.

Audra Odeh, senior majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology; Olathe South High School; “Re-description of Japanese Endemic Frog Limnonectes namiyei,” a project to re-describe the endangered Japanese frog Limnonectes namiyei in order to more appropriately reflect the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic relationships of the species; research mentor: David McLeod, undergraduate biology.

Overland Park

Adam Morel, junior majoring in civil engineering; Blue Valley Northwest High School; “Assessment of State Transportation Sustainable Indicators-Benchmarking Matrix,” a project to develop a framework to benchmark the sustainability performance of states and corresponding transportation agencies; research mentor: Oswald Chong, civil, environmental and architectural engineering.

Ottawa

Jacqueline Sullivan, junior majoring in biology; Ottawa High School; “Describing a New Species of ‘Fanged’ Frog from Myanmar,” a project concerned with the analysis of morphological data (assessing structural features) pertaining to an unconfirmed candidate species of the Limnonectes kuhlii complex, finally producing a taxonomic paper describing the frog as a new, taxonomic species; research mentor: David McLeod, undergraduate biology.

Salina

Tasha Cerny, senior majoring in creative writing; Salina High School South; “Children, Fairy tales, and Culture: A Poetic Examination of the Social Issues and Cultural Ideologies of Disney,” a project to develop a collection of poetry exploring the ways in which Disney's fairy tale films both project and teach about American social issues and cultural ideologies, and how these aspects of these films affect the ways in which children view the world; research mentor: Darren Canady, English.

William Thompson, senior majoring in behavioral neuroscience; Salina Central High School; “The Role of Unipolar Depression in Cognitive and Emotional Empathy,” an examination of the effect of rumination on empathy, and how this corresponds to known symptoms in depression; research mentor: Evangelia Chrysikou, psychology.

Shawnee

Jack Rogers, freshman majoring in chemical engineering; Shawnee Mission Northwest High School; “Development of an Algorithm to Predict Molecular Stability,” a research project aimed at developing a computer program which would receive the code for a molecular formula and return a “stability rating” based on the estimated bond dissociation energies of the molecule; research mentor: Kyle Camarda, chemical engineering.

Topeka

Anna Wenner, sophomore majoring in English and history; Topeka West High School; “The Women Behind the Boys: J.K. Rowling and S.E. Hinton, The Initials That Sell Books,” a project examining the gender dynamics within two books, "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J. K. Rowling, and the publishing dynamics that led publishers to ask these female authors to use their initials rather than their full names; research mentor: Giselle Anatol, English.

Bryne Gonzales, junior majoring in speech-language-hearing; Washburn Rural High School; “Speech Intelligibility in Reverberation and Noise by Adults Fitted with Auditory Prostheses,” a study that seeks to better understand speech intelligibility by cochlear implant listeners in noisy and reverberant settings; research mentor: Kostas Kokkinakis, speech-language-hearing.

Waterville

Tyler Wieland, senior majoring in atmospheric science; Valley Heights High School; “Urban Heat Island Magnitude and Downwind Precipitation Increase: Analysis and Threshold Values,” a project to analyze cities of various sizes to quantify the correlation between the size of the Urban Heat Island and the increase in precipitation downwind; research mentor: Nathaniel Brunsell, geography.

Wichita

Pann Pichetsurnthorn, junior majoring in chemical engineering; Wichita High School East; “Development of Microanalytical Methods with Electrochemical Detection for Detection and Identification of Reactive Nitrogen Species in Immune Cells,” a project that will optimize microchip electrophoresis coupled to amperometric detection to probe heterogeneity of the production of reactive nitrogen species in immune cells in order to better understand diseases such as atherosclerosis; research mentor: Susan Lunte, chemistry.

Jack Walter, senior majoring in chemical engineering; Wichita Southeast; “Pulsed Flow for Minimizing the Shunt Current Phenomenon Seen in Stacked Fuel Cells,” a project aimed at developing an electrolyte manifold to reduce the shunt current phenomenon seen in flow batteries for energy storage; research mentor: Trung Nguyen, chemical & petroleum engineering.

Out-of-state recipients

Lafayette, La.

Ian Cook, senior majoring in English; “Things I Tried to Sing but Had to Say,” a project that combines poetry and music into a synchronous performance that will seek to explore the malleability of both.

Fri, 08/30/2013

author

Nicole Perry

Media Contacts

Nicole Perry

Center for Undergraduate Research

785-864-3391