Students from several departments applied for funding to attend conferences to present research, compete in academic competitions, and purchase supplies to complete research. The current semester of faculty sponsors, the students, and the title of the projects are listed by department below.
Fall 2019 Awards
Biological Sciences Department Faculty Sponsor: Josephine Antwi
Students: Eleanor Kilmon – The effect of Urbanization on Diversity and Parasitism of Pollinators
Faculty Sponsor: Dianne Baker
Students: Lauren Closs & Bailey Bashara – Investigating reproductive success and endocrine regulation of mating strategies in male Japanese medaka
Faculty Sponsor: Andrew Dolby
Student: Thomas Bustamante – Assessing the presence and concentrations of Micro-plastics in the gizzards, intestines, and feces of VA waterfowl
Faculty Sponsor: Lynn Lewis
Student: Fernando Cabezas – Bacteriemediation Student: Fernando Cabezas & Justin Adams – Bacteriemediation of diesel contamination soil
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah O’Dell
Student: Tamara Al-Qaq – Aggregation of Alpha Synuclein and Tau Protein in Cell Cultures Containing APOE4 Gene in Response to Taxol and Estrogen Treatments
Faculty Sponsor: Parrish Waters
Student: Jenny Bosserman – Effects of social rank on neural systems and cognition
Student: Brittany Gowarty – Influence of Social Status on Hippocampal and Amygdalar Brain Derived Neuotrophic Factor Student: Nicole Taylor -Effects of Wheel Running on the Serotonergic Dysfunctions of Bulbectomized Mice
Faculty Sponsor: April Wynn
Student: Kelly Flynn – Environmental Stress Response Cross-talks with the Floral Development Program in Arabidopsis Student: Logan Hargis – Transgenic Arabidopsis Student: Benjamin Moss -Drought stress During Gametophyte Development may Cause Germination Delay in Offspring through Epigenetic Variability in the Endosperm of Arabidopsis Thaliana
Chemistry Department Faculty Sponsor: Leanna Giancarlo
Student: Emily Matuczinski –Inducing Programmed Cell Death in Glioblastoma Utilizing SPIONs
Faculty Sponsor: Davis Oldham Student: Chris Amurrio – The Bio-resolution of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol Cells Student: Allie Brooner – Synthesis and Chiral Resolution of the Oxidative Metabolites of Di (2-ethylhexyl) pththalate and the Effects of Chirality on Binding with Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptors
Student: Kaitlyn Parker– Synthesis and Purification of KasA Inhibitors: A New Approach to the Treatment of Tuberculosis
Faculty Sponsor: Randall Reif
Student: Catherine Zwemer -An extended Length View of Caspase Activity during the Extrinsic Process of Apoptosis
Faculty Sponsor: Charlie Sharpless
Student: Allison Burgess -Analysis of Pesticides in Honey
Faculty Sponsor: Kelli Slunt
Student: Payton Bailey -Development of Laboratory Exercise for United States Chemistry Olympiad
Computer Science Department
Faculty Sponsor: Gusty Cooper Students: Chad Baxter & Colin Mistr – Yellow Cake – An Open Source Single Board Computer
Earth and Environmental Science Department
Faculty Sponsor: Tyler Frankel Student: Catherine Crowell – The impacts of pH on Trace Contamination Leaching and Toxicity of Coal Ash in Planorbella duryi (2 grants) Student: Thanh-Binh Duong – Determination of the impact of Polyethylene Nano-plastics on the Toxicity of Methoxychlor on Daphnia magna
Student: Faith Hodges – Assessing the impacts of sulfoxaflor exposure on the viability, growth, behavior, and hematocrit of the Seminole Ramshorn snail (Planorbella duryi)
Faculty Sponsor: Pam Grothe
Student: Cheyenne Palmo -Oxygen isotope variation in Crassostrea Virginia shell and the Chesapeake Bay (and its tributaries): Applications to Regional Paleohydrology
Faculty Sponsor: Ben Kisila
Student: Lauren Chartier – Bio-geochemistry of sand Mine Reclaimed Lands of Coastal Virginia and Analysis of soil biochemical resilience and recovery after sand mining operations in Virginian landscapes
Economics Department
Faculty Sponsor: Shawn Humphrey
Students: Zach Handlin, Patrick George, Harry Masters, Julie Van Ommeren, Annalee Kopp, Luke Lilienthal, Madeline Enderle, Tatjana Farjadi, Amanda Waldron, Calhoun Stirling, Tom Meldrum, Caitlin Exum, Jessica Suddreth, Lillian Lester, Ashley Utz, & Petra Aloizos– Social Good Lab
Geography Department
Faculty Sponsor: Dawn Bowen
Student: Owen Donovan – Temporal Mapping of Green Book Locations in Richmond, VA 1940-1960 Student: Matthew Lehane -A Multi-Modal Study of Transit in Fredericksburg, VA
Faculty Sponsor: Jackie Gallagher
Student: Alex Biles– Automated Processing for Interior Routing using Point Clouds Collected with Terrestrial LiDAR Students: Lindsey Minges, Samantha Melvin, Matthew Bova, & Nicholas Buccella– Mapping Ivy Hill Cemetery
Faculty Sponsor: Steve Hanna
Student: Kelsey Chavers, Kylie James, Chinnae Faustor, Elizabeth Devine, & Thomas Blackburn – Descendant Community Involvement in Plantation Museum Tours and Exhibits
Faculty Sponsor: Joe Nicholas
Student: Thomas Blackburn, Dylan Burkett, Alex Chrvala, Elizabeth Devine, Kylie James, & Keelin O’Hara – Team VA in the SEDAAG World Geography Bowl Competition
History and American Studies Department
Faculty Sponsor: Erin Devlin
Student: Virginia Bixby– AMST 485 Senior Capstone/Thesis: Mills Godwin, Massive Resistance, and School Names
Mathematics Department
Faculty Sponsor: Jeb Collins
Students: Ashley Scurlock, Isabella Gransbury, & Hannah Frederick– Travel to Joint Mathematics Meeting
Modern Languages and Literature Department
Faculty Sponsor: Antonia Delgado-Poust
Student: Genesis Avila Lugo – Narrative Complexities in Rosario Frère’s Literary Works
Physics Department
Faculty Sponsor: Laura Dickinson
Student: Rebecca Callaway – Laser Harp
Theatre and Dance Department
Faculty Sponsor: Gregg Stull Student: Jacob Dodges – Directing Clever Little Lies in Studio 115
Students: Jessica Elkins & Benjamin Lechtman – First Year Showcase Festival
Student: Victoria Fortune – Directing Time Stands Still in Studio 115 Student: Morgan Shotwell – Directing Mojo in Studio 115
Student: Olivia Whicheloe– Presenting in the Katy Pfaffl Studio in NYC
Previous Awarded Grants:
| YEAR | |||
| 2019 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2018 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2017 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2016 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2015 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2014 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2013 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2012 | FALL | SPRING | SUMMER |
| 2011 | |||
| 2010 | |||
| 2009 | |||
| 2008 |