STUDENT FOCUSED
Students win awards for research at NDSU Explore
Published November 2017
Award recipients have been announced for the 2017 NDSU EXPLORE Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity held Nov. 1 in the Memorial Union. It was the fourth year for the event, where students from across campus present original projects during oral and poster presentation sessions.
First place awardees will receive travel funding to present their research at a national conference.
The award winners include:
Morning oral presentations
• First place
Sierra Walker, senior, chemistry and biochemistry
“AIF: A Universal Regulator on Cell Redox Signaling”
Advised by John C. Wilkinson, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry
• Second place
Mitch Musel, senior, and Noah Thompson, senior, architecture and landscape architecture
“Designing Pervasive Energy Games to Impact Behavior”
Advised by Malini Srivastava, assistant professor of architecture, and Michael Christenson, professor of architecture
• Third place
Noor Abdelhamid, junior, and Benjamin Dalton, junior, architecture and landscape architecture
“Energy Analysis through Visualization”
Advised by Christenson and Srivastava
Morning poster presentations
• First place
Alexandra Howatt, senior, and Isabel Krum, junior, sociology and anthropology
“Healthy Women are Beautiful Women: Health and Beauty Practices at the Crystal Palace”
Advised by Kristen Fellows, assistant professor of anthropology
• Second place
Lauren McIntosh, senior, health, nutrition and exercise science
“Effects of L-arginine and Exercise on Heart Rate Variability”
Advised by Kyle Hackney, assistant professor of health, nutrition and exercise science
• Third place (tie)
Janell Burkart, senior, and Tammy Joe, senior, health, nutrition and exercise science
“Biomechanical Analysis of Hip Angles during a Back Squat with and without Kinesio Tape”
Advised by Katie Lyman, assistant professor of health, nutrition and exercise science
Alexandra Sherrard, senior, health, nutrition and exercise science
“Physical Activity Reduces Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in Older Adults”
Advised by Sherri Stastny, associate professor of health, nutrition and exercise science
• Honorable mention
Michala Palmersheim, senior, biological sciences
“Sub Lethal Effects of Neonicotinoids on the Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee (Megachile rotundata)”
Advised by Julia Bowsher, associate professor of biological sciences
Braden Weight, senior, chemistry and biochemistry
“Mixing of Covalent and Noncovalent Functionalization of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes”
Advised by Svetlana Kilina, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Afternoon oral presentations
• First place
Nathan Johnson, senior, electrical and computer engineering
“Manipulation of Biological Matter Using Electrodeless Dielectrophoresis”
Advised by Dharmakeerthi Nawarathna, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering
• Second place
Thomas Blommel, senior, physics
“Lattice Gas with Monte Carlo Collision Operator Recovers Lattice Boltzmann Method”
Advised by Alexander Wagner, associate professor of physics
Afternoon poster presentations
• First place
Erin Richards, senior, chemistry and biochemistry
“Mec1- Independent Phosphorylation of Rpa2 N-terminus in the DNA Damage Response”
Advised by Stuart Haring, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
• Second place (tie)
Ryan Bares, senior, and Jesstin Krech, senior, mechanical engineering
“Advanced Optical Diagnostics for Airflow Studies at NDSU”
Advised by Jordi Estevadeordal, associate professor of mechanical engineering
Alexis Hoopman, senior, biological sciences
“Toxicity Assessment of Glyphosate on Honey Bee (Apis meliffera) Spermatozoa”
Advised by Julia Bowsher, associate professor of biological sciences
• Third place
Ryan Callahan, senior, microbiological sciences
“Characterization of LIPI-3 Positive Listeria monocytogenes in the Upper Midwest”
Advised by Teresa Bergholz, assistant professor of microbiological sciences
• Honorable mention
Kathryn Bartholomay, junior, chemistry and biochemistry
“Effects of Sex on the Metabolism of Flunixin in Beef Cattle”
Advised by Nancy Shappell, USDA Agricultural Research Service
