Design student Gwendolyn Sibley receives Undergraduate Research Award

LAWRENCE — This spring, 50 KU students will receive an Undergraduate Research Award (UGRAs). UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects. 

Students apply for UGRAs by writing a four-page research proposal under the guidance of a mentor. Faculty reviewers evaluate the applications based on the merit of the applicant's proposal, the applicant's academic record and a recommendation from the mentor. 

“The process of writing a proposal for the Undergraduate Research Awards provides an opportunity for students to not only plan out their projects, but also to gain experience in grant writing,” said Alison Olcott, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and associate professor in geology. “Doing undergraduate research helps students develop skills that are applicable to all kinds of careers once they leave KU.” 

The Center for Undergraduate Research is currently taking applications for the Summer/Fall 2020 UGRA competition. The deadline for student proposals is March 26. More information can be found here: www.ugresearch.ku.edu/ugra 

Students receiving awards for spring 2020 are listed below in alphabetical order, along with their academic level, hometown, project title, mentor and mentor’s department: 

Ritu Agarwal, a senior from Overland Park: “Examining Differences in Opioid Prescription Philosophy Between U.S. and Indian Healthcare Professionals,” mentored by Tracey LaPierre, sociology. 

Elizabeth Aikman, a junior from Andover: “Optimizing Pentenoic Acid Substitution for Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels,” mentored by Jennifer Robinson, chemical & petroleum engineering. 

Sasha Arteaga, a senior from Olathe: “Beyond Selena: A New Canon of Female Tejano Musicians,” mentored by Colin Roust, musicology. 

Zachary Atkins, a senior from Lansing: “Towards Optimality of Domain Decomposition Methods for Eigenvalue Problems,” mentored by Agnieszka Miedlar, mathematics. 

Natalie Babich, a senior from Lawrence: “Exploring Symptom Pathology in Men with Eating Disorders: A Latent Profile Analysis,” mentored by Kelsie Forbush, clinical psychology. 

Mariam Balogun, a senior from Lawrence: “Depolymerization of Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastics by Ozonolysis,” mentored by Bala Subramaniam, chemical & petroleum engineering. 

Elsey Barnhart, a senior from Olathe: “Mediating Stress Response with Security Priming,” mentored by Omri Gillath, psychology. 

Darian Bequette, a senior from Basehor: “Deluge,” mentored by Maria Velasco, visual art. 

Gabriella Bernard, a junior from Largo, Florida: “Systematic Review of Trauma-Informed Care Practices with Music for Refugees and Implications for Music Therapy Practice,” mentored by Abbey Dvorak, music therapy. 

Maya Bluitt, a senior from Lawrence: “Elucidating how Flamingo Selectively Regulates Anteroposterior Axonal Outgrowth of VD Motor Neurons Using MSRB-1 as a Model Protein,” mentored by Brian Ackley, molecular biosciences. 

Leo Budy, a senior from Lawrence: “Efficacy of Plant-Based Adsorbents as Pretreatment for Biodiesel Feedstock,” mentored by Susan Williams, chemical & petroleum engineering. 

Morgan Buoy, a senior from Chicago: “Delay Discounting of Hyper-palatable Food: A Single and Cross-Commodity Evaluation,” mentored by Tera Fazzino, psychology. 

Kirstie Camp, a senior from Overland Park: “We Are Powerless At Work: When The Customers Harass,” mentored by Anna Pope, psychology. 

Casey Carlile, a senior from Lawrence: “Merger Signatures in Cold Quasars,” mentored by Allison Kirkpatrick, physics & astronomy. 

Haley Cooper, a senior from Lawrence: “Internalized Gendered Racism and Sexual Consent Expectancies,” mentored by Glenn Adams, psychology. 

Vaughn Craddock, a senior from Wichita: “Screening of Aspergillus Nidulans Secondary Metabolites that Block Quorum Sensing in the Bacterium Pseudomonas Aeruginosa,” mentored by Josie Chandler, molecular biosciences. 

Annabel Dolan, a junior from St. Louis: “Defining Climate-displaced Persons Under International Law,” mentored by Brian Lagotte, global & international studies. 

Nicole D'Souza, a senior from Overland Park: “High-efficiency Transfection of Exosomes for Programming Cellular Responses,” mentored by Mei He, chemical & petroleum engineering. 

Tyler Duncan, a senior from Lawrence: “Density Functional Theory Characterization of Surface Activities for Niobium-doped Silica Catalysts,” mentored by Ward Thompson, chemistry. 

Logan Forshee, a junior from Kalamazoo, Michigan: “Dual-Catalytic Three-Component Cross-Coupling,” mentored by Jon Tunge, chemistry. 

Madison Foster, a senior from Tecumseh: “The Role of Nutrient Form, Ratio, and Lake Microbiome in Nitrogen Fixation,” mentored by Amy Burgin, environmental studies. 

Aaron Fugate, a junior from De Soto: “Determination of Classical Marble Provenance Through Strontium Isotopic Analysis,” mentored by Philip Stinson, classics. 

Jessica Grinage, a senior from Lawrence: “Neurological Processing of Pronoun Reference in Second Language Learners,” mentored by Alison Gabriele, linguistics. 

Bhavna Gupta, a senior from New Delhi, India: “Detection of 5-Fluorouracil Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Electrochemical Detection in Zebrafish Brain,” mentored by Michael Johnson, chemistry. 

John Higgins, a senior from Olathe: “Misinformation on Networks: A Game Theoretic Approach,” mentored by Tarun Sabarwal, economics. 

Kelsey Hillyer, a senior from Shawnee: “In-vitro Study of FTDP-17 Tau Mutations,” mentored by T. Chris Gamblin, molecular biosciences. 

Robert Honeychurch, a sophomore from Chapman: “Attributions and Explanations of Cognitively Dissonant Infidelity In Committed Dyads,” mentored by Omri Gillath, psychology. 

Madisen Huscher, a senior from Andover: “Neural Correlates of Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder,” mentored by Matt Mosconi, clinical child psychology. 

Matthew Jaeschke, a senior from Overland Park: “Tuning Bimodal Imaging Nanoprobes for Biomedical Application,” mentored by Candan Tamerler, mechanical engineering. 

Grace Lamar, a senior from Overland Park: “Body, Identity, and Cultural Context in Ghana & the U.S.,” mentored by Glenn Adams, psychology. 

Lindsay Lord, a senior from Wichita: “She Departs from Herself,” mentored by Mary Anne Jordan, visual art. 

Payton Markley, a junior from Hays: “Identification and Characterization of the ELAVL1 Promoter Region,” mentored by Dan Dixon, molecular biosciences. 

Alexis McGhee-Dinvaut, a senior from Olathe: “The Effects of Racial Group Membership and Religious Beliefs on Treatment-Seeking Behavior for Mental Illness,” mentored by Stephen Ilardi, psychology. 

Alicen Meysing, a senior from Canton: “The Interaction of Time and Sleep Quality Following a Traumatic Experience,” mentored by Nancy Hamilton, psychology. 

Nicholas Monroe, a senior from Lawrence: “CRT TVs: Intersection of Analogue Audio and Visual Art,” mentored by Ingrid Stölzel, music composition. 

Danielle Mullins, a senior from Naperville, Illinois: “Gender and Disaster Policy: Impacts on Women’s Menstrual Hygiene Management,” mentored by Joane Nagel, sociology. 

Pearl Nelson-Greene, a senior from Lawrence: “Nominalization in Badini Kurdish,” mentored by John Gluckman, linguistics. 

Halle Norris, a junior from Eudora: “An Assessment of Token Value and Effectiveness: Does Form Matter?” mentored by Pamela Neidert, applied behavioral sciences. 

Abigal Percich, a junior from Lawrence: “Sediment Source Assessment Along an Urban to Rural Transition Using Stable Isotopes and Geochemical Tracers,” mentored by Admin Husic, civil, environmental & architectural engineering. 

Joseph Perry, a sophomore from Lawrence: “Fossil Fagalean Fruits Preserved from the Late Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada,” mentored by Brian Atkinson, ecology & evolutionary biology. 

Grace Price, a senior from Lawrence: “Citizenship Education in China: Construction of National Identity in Inland Tibetan Schools,” mentored by Brian Lagotte, global & international studies. 

Mathew Reinhold, a senior from Leavenworth: “Language Attitudes and Gender on the Miskitu Coast,” mentored by Arienne Dwyer, anthropology. 

Olivia Shaffer, a junior from Lee's Summit, Missouri: “Neocolonial or Not: An Examination of Macron’s French Language Policies in Africa,” mentored by Brian Lagotte, global & international studies. 

Dania Shoaib, a senior from Elizabethtown, Kentucky: “Investigating the Role of Septate Junction Proteins in Border Cell Migration in Drosophila,” mentored by Robert Ward, molecular biosciences. 

Gwendolyn Sibley, a senior from Garnett: “Coherence in Concrete Poetry and Material,” mentored by Linda Samson Talleur, design. 

Elizabeth Sundahl, a senior from Centennial, Colorado: “To Be Where One Does Not Belong,” mentored by Brandi Lee Cooper, visual art. 

Claire Wakefield, a senior from Overland Park: “Starting the Conversation,” mentored by Yoonmi Nam, visual art. 

Ethan Wissmann, a junior from Parkville, Missouri: “An Application of Fully Convolutional Neural Network to Predicting Realistic Fluid Flows in Real-Time,” mentored by Z.J. Wang, aerospace engineering. 

Hunter Woosley, a junior from Leawood: “Investigation of Cellular Protein Targeted by ICP0 for Degradation,” mentored by David Davido, molecular biosciences. 

Jeffrey Xu, a senior from Lawrence: “Adaptive Ln Guidance Method,” mentored by Shawn Keshmiri, aerospace engineering.