Meet the 2019-2020 Undergraduate Research Fellows

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College of Agriculture
College of Architecture
College of Education
Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences
College of Human Sciences
College of Liberal Arts
Harrison School of Pharmacy
College of Sciences and Mathematics
School of Nursing

College of Agriculture


Andrew Bradford Fisheries

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Quantifying the Effects of Different Environmental Conditions on Sperm Form and Function for Aquatic Species of Importance in Alabama

Mentor: Ian Butts

Brooke Johnson Environmental Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Inventory and Characterization of Gulf Coast Salt Marsh Soil Resources

Mentor: Joey Shaw

Meagan Reeves Animal Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Mitochondrial-Nuclear Interaction Between Breeds of Lean and Obese Pigs

Mentor: Terry Brandebourg

Ian Schlosser Biosystems Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Reclaiming AU Campus Sewage Through an Integrated Wastewater Treatment Process

Mentor: Yi Wang

Lauren Shortnacy Animal Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Effect of the Wooden Breast Myopathy on Broiler Chicken Collagen and Myogenic Regulatory Factor Protein Expression

Mentor: Jessica Starkey

Evan Webster

Evan Webster Fisheries

Sponsor(s): College of Agriculture

Project Title: Assessment of Vendor Preferences and Perceived Quality in the Half-shell Oyster Market

Mentor: William Walton

College of Architecture Design and Construction


Dongnyeok Han Building Science

Sponsor(s): College of Architecture, Design, and Construction

Project Title: Strategies and Lessons Learned for Creating Virtual Reality Immersive Games for Construction Safety Training

Mentor: Salman Azhar

College of Education


Katherine Corona

Katie Corona Exercise Science

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title:  An uphill battle: understanding gait alterations in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Mentor: Jaimie Roper

Caroline Kirkham Exercise Science

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title: Influence of Lower Extremity in Softball Pitching

Mentor: Gretchen Oliver

Robert McLaughlin Exercise Science

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title:  Development of a More Convenient and Affordable Method of Measuring the Arch Height Index

Mentor: Christopher Wilburn

Ryleigh Randall Laboratory Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title: The Impact of Lactation on Autophagy and Mitochondrial fission and fusion in the Liver and Skeletal Muscle

Mentor: Andreas Kavazis

Kathryn Riis Exercise Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title: Get a Grip: Investigation of Non-Slip Socks on Locomotive Parameters in High-Risk Population for Falls

Mentor: Christopher Willburn

Alanis Smith Integrative Biology

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title: Inhibitory Control in Musicians vs. Non-musicians

Mentor: Kristina Neely

Carley Wilson Exercise Science

Sponsor(s): College of Education

Project Title:  Changes in Sleep Efficiency in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder during an Adapted Tennis Intervention

Mentor: Melissa Pangelinan

Samuel Ginn College of Engineering


Ryan Anthony Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Optimization Study of the Synthesis Process for the Mo²C MXene

Mentor: Majid Beidaghi

Cameron Baker Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Analysis of Airborne Soldier Load Carriage Gait

Mentor: Michael Zabala

Noah Blackwood Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Exploring Superparamagnetic Iron-Oxide Nanoparticles as Alternative MRI-T1 Contrast Agents

Mentor: Allan David

Justin Box Bioprocess Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Analyzing the Effect of Antimicrobial Processing Aids in Poultry Processing Wastewater and Investigating the Use of Eukaryotic Algae in Collaboration with Bacteria to Treat Poultry Processing Waste Water

Mentor: Brendan Higgins

Michaela Bush Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Developing MATLAB Code for Analysis of Heterogeneous Engineered Cardiac Tissue during Contraction

Mentor: Elizabeth Ann Lipke

David Carpenter Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Analyzing the Frequencies that Influence Soft Tissue Artifact

Mentor: Michael Zabala

Watson Copeland Aerospace Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: The Acoustics of a Carbon Fiber Guitar

Mentor: Edmon Perkins

Max Garton Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Damping Effects of a Particle Damper on a Torsional Pendulum

Mentor: Edmon Perkins

Lily Gong Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Click Chemistry Towards Allyl-polymer MRI contrast agents: solubility, kinetics, and magnetic responses

Mentor: Bryan Beckingham

Levi Gosdin Aerospace Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Quantifying the Unsteady Aerodynamics of Raptors

Mentor: Vrishank Raghav

Tina Huang Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Improving Polymer-Modified Asphalt by Changing the Characteristics of Block Copolymers Using Click Chemistry

Mentor: Bryan Beckingham

Sierra Jacobs Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Do Biomechanical Measures Change During a Drop-jump Landing with a Cognitive Task?

Mentor: Jaimie Roper

Seth Johnston Biosystems Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Studying the Relevance of Stomatal Characteristics on Drought Tolerance in Peanut

Mentor: Alvaro Sanz Saez

Tarun Kore Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Expiratory Flows in the Human Trachea

Mentor: Vrishank Raghav

Christy Manning Civil Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title:  The Effects of Impregnation on Catalyst Pellets

Mentor: Marta Miletic

Catherine McConatha Materials Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Corrosion of Additively Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel Bio-implants in Simulated Human Body Fluid

Mentor: Xiaoyuan Lou

Andrew Moore Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: In Vitro 3D Colorectal Cancer Model Using PEG-fibrinogen Hydrogels

Mentor: Elizabeth Ann Lipke

Zane Oligee Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Chemical Abrasive Flow Polishing of Micro-Channels for use in Additively Manufactured Inconel 718 Heat Exchangers

Mentor: Scott Thompson

Hayden Patteson Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Temperature Control/Sensor for In-situ Sea Turtle Nests

Mentor: Edmon Perkins

Johann Phan Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: The Effects of Arm’s Length on Batted Ball Speed and Distance

Mentor: Gretchen Oliver

Elizabeth Prior

Elizabeth Prior Civil Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Effectiveness of Measuring the Turbidity of Waterways with Multispectral Imaging Obtained by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Mentor: Frances O’Donnell

Aura Reyna Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Shape Memory Polymer Programming Techniques

Mentor: Russel Mailen

Jonathan Schuler Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Engineering Lignin Transformation Mechanisms to Create Value-added Products using Atomistic Modeling

Mentor: Andrew Adamczyk

Anna Catherine Smith Industrial Systems Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Utilizing the Tools of Visual Media to Aid STEM Practitioners in Reporting their Findings Simply and Effectively

Mentor: Edmon Perkins

Philip Snitzer Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: How Waste Heat from a Process Can Be Repurposed and/or Stored to Make Other Areas of the Process More Efficient and Reduce Waste Heat Being Released to the Atmosphere

Mentor: Jay Khondadadi

Helen Steeve Materials Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Optimizing Stereolithography 3D Printing for use with Biodegradable Resins

Mentor: Edward Davis

Jacob Stotser Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: Development of MATLAB Trip/Slip Algorithms to Investigate the Effectiveness of Treadmill-based Perturbation Training

Mentor: Jaimie Roper

Zachary Wadzinski Aerospace Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: A Method of Containing Near-Source Undegraded Floating Plastic

Mentor: Mark Dougherty

Christopher Weathers Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: MRI-Based Quantification of Tibiofemoral Alignment of Female Athletes

Mentor: Michael Zabala

Madison Wichmann Biosystems Engineering

Sponsor(s): College of Engineering

Project Title: The Assessment of Stream Bank Stability vs. Time and of the Relationship Between Plant Roots and Soil Aggregation

Mentor: Thorsten Knappenberger

School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences


Eian Davis Geospatial and Environmental Informatics

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: Streamflow Trend Analysis in the State of Georgia to Determine Changes in Water Availability

Mentor: Sanjiv Kumar

Allison Gary Wildlife Sciences/Pre-Veterinary Medicine

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: Creating a Social Survey to Analyze Differential Veterinary Care Cost for Indoor Versus Outdoor House Cat (Felis Catus) in the South Eastern Region

Mentor: Christopher Lepczyk

Abby Hagelskamp Wildlife Sciences/Pre-Veterinary Medicine

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: Creating a Social Survey to Analyze Differential Veterinary Care Cost for Indoor Versus Outdoor House Cat (Felis Catus) in the South Eastern Region

Mentor: Christopher Lepczyk

Jace McCauley Forestry

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: How Change in Temperature Patterns Affect Pine Sawflies in the South Eastern United States

Mentor: Lori Eckhardt

Abigail Morgan Wildlife Sciences/Pre-Veterinary Medicine

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: Cat and Island Ecosystems: Zoonotic Pathogens in Feral Cats in Hawaii, Madagascar, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Mentor: Sarah Zohdy

Gabrielle Ripa Wildlife Ecology and Management

Sponsor(s): College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Project Title: The Effect of Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense), an Invasive Shrub, On Herpetofaunal Communities

Mentor: Christopher Anderson

College of Human Sciences


Beatriz Carmona Nutrition Science

Sponsor(s): College of Human Sciences

Project Title: The Effects of Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction on the Rhythmicity of Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide

Mentor: Michael Greene

Anna Fouty Nutrition Science

Sponsor(s): College of Human Sciences

Project Title: Salivary Amylase Gene Copy Number and Childhood Obesity

Mentor: Geetha Thangiah

Aaron Riviere Nutrition: Dietetics

Sponsor(s): College of Human Sciences

Project Title: Zonulin levels decline in serum and fecal samples after the addition of green leafy vegetables to a high red meat diet in obese individuals with high risk for colorectal cancer.

Mentor: Andrew Frugé

College of Liberal Arts


Abigail Bennett Communication Disorders

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Using an Interactive Phonetics Learning Management System and User-Centered Design to Inform Phonetics Education Methods

Mentor: Marisha Speights

Brianna Burks Communication Disorders

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Event Boundary Effects on Speech in Physical and Virtual Reality Environments

Mentor: Dallin Bailey

Jorge Castro Lebron Neuroscience/ Musical Performance-Voice

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Allophone and Syllable Stress Perception in Spanish as a Second Language

Mentor: Gilda Socarras

Natalie Conboy Psychology/ Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Development of a Comprehensive Measure for the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome

Mentor: Joseph Bardeen

Kaitlyn Connor Neuroscience

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Psychophysiological Correlates of Pain in Cannabis Users and Non-Users

Mentor: Jennifer Robinson

Sarah Etherton Neuroscience

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Finding the Neurofunctional Topography of the Human Hippocampus using fMRI

Mentor: Jennifer Robinson

Lily Fess Art History

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: The Repatriation of Art Objects Taken from the Kingdom of Benin During Late Nineteenth-Century British Colonialism

Mentor: Emily Burns

Taylor Mitchell Psychology

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Anxiety Levels in Adolescents Adjudicated for Illegal Sexual Behavior

Mentor: Kelli Thompson

Elizabeth Murphy Communication Disorders

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Auditory Brainstem Responses to Altered Orchestral Music

Mentor: Sridhar Krishnamurti

Leslie Schuneman Art History

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: The Ideas of Materiality and Unfinished Quality: A Closer Look at Auguste Rodin’s Sculptures

Mentor: Emily Burns

Adam Sienkiewicz Health Services Administration

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Asking the Right Questions: The Demanding Task of Developing an Interactive Survey Instrument for Hospitalized Pediatric Patients

Mentor: Haneen Ali

Mary Grace Vinson English Literature

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Plas Newydd: Mapping the Networks of the Ladies of Llangollen

Mentor: Emily Clair Friedman

William West History

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Auburn

Mentor: Kelly Kennington

Victoria Zona Neuroscience

Sponsor(s): College of Liberal Arts

Project Title: Determining How Images of Different Exercise Contexts are Spontaneously Registered in the Brains of Non-exercisers Via Electroencephalography (EEG)

Mentor: Matthew Miller

Harrison School of Pharmacy


Alison Beverly Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): Harrison School of Pharmacy

Project Title: Cytokine Recepto CXCR3 Blockade Enhances Hyperexcitability and Synaptic Transmission Changes That Occur Following a Peripheral Viral Infection

Mentor: Miranda Reed

Kavon Diggs Biomedical Sciences/Pre-Pharmacy

Sponsor(s): Harrison School of Pharmacy

Project Title: Factors Influencing Medicare Beneficiary’s Decisions Regarding Medicare Plan Selection

Mentor: Salisa Westrick

Marissa Dogan Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): Harrison School of Pharmacy

Project Title: Investigating the Role of the Lateral Entorhinal Cortex in Alzheimer’s Disease

Mentor: Miranda Reed

Connor Jones Chemical Engineering

Sponsor(s): Harrison School of Pharmacy

Project Title: Tofacitinib Analogs as Agents for MPO Inhibition

Mentor: Forrest Smith

Shivani Rangari Biomedical Sciences/Pre-Medicine

Sponsor(s): Harrison School of Pharmacy

Project Title: Formulation of Acyclovir and Lidocaine Topical Gels for Herpes Simplex Virus Infection

Mentor: Jayachandra Ramapuram

College of Sciences and Mathematics


Angela Burns Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Evaluation of the Influence of Work and Heat Exposure on Physiological Measures in Firefighters

Mentor: JoEllen Sefton

Abigail Campbell Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Evaluation of the Effects of Work and Heat Exposure on Cognitive Function in Firefighters

Mentor: JoEllen Sefton

Andrew Caskey Chemistry

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: A New Synthetic Approach to the Paracyclophane Core of the Anti-cancer Alkaloid Hauamine A

Mentor: Bradley Memer

Brett Clark Physics and Mathematics

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Effectiveness of Identifying Liquefaction Deposits from Large-Scale Earthquakes using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Mentor: Lorraine Wolf

Sarah Dolinger

Sarah Beth Dolinger Biomedical Sciences/Pre-Physical Therapy

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Studying the Effects of a Wellness Fair Program on High School Students’ Mental and Physical Health

Mentor: Melissa Pangelinan

Michael Erwin Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Can Inhibitory Control be Trained?

Mentor: Kristina Neely

Noah Gibson Chemistry

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Synthetic Exploration of Metal Catalyzed Cu²O Formation Using a Hot Injection Methodology

Mentor: Kristina Neely

John Grundhoefer Biochemistry

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: The Investigation of Emissive Properties of Imine and Hydroxyl-Coordinated Luminescent Lanthanide Complexes

Mentor: Anne Elizabeth Gordon

Leann Kopp Mathematics

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Improving 3D Reconstruction Algorithms Using Computational and Numerical Algebraic Geometry

Mentor: Luke Oeding

Regan Moss Microbiology/Pre-Medicine/Neuroscience

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Heterogeneity in Trauma Exposure and Biopsychosocial Health of Male Sex Trafficking Survivors

Mentor: Lauren Ruhlmann

Kyle Oswalt Integrative Biology

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Investigating Ganglia Importance in Discontinuous Gas Flow Patterns of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches (Gromphadorhina Partentosa).

Mentor: Arthur Appel

Holden Paz Biomedical Sciences

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: The Role of p62 Ubiquitination in Viral Infection

Mentor: Jason Upton

Jacob Sinopoli Biochemistry

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Design and Optimization of Microfluidic Droplet Traps Using High Resolution, 3D-printed Templates

Mentor: Christopher Easley

Xavier Streety Biochemistry

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Investigating Late-stage Polypeptide Diversification Via Formation of Twisted Amides

Mentor: Monika Raj

Brady Unzicker Physics

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Exact Characterization of Attosecond Pulses Using Atomic Hydrogen Wavefunctions

Mentor: Guillaume Laurent

Ansley Welham Organismal Biology

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Isolation and Cultivation of Human and Plant Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria from the Snouts of Locally Sources Sus Scrofa in South Alabama

Mentor: Lori Eckhardt

Natalie Williams Microbiology

Sponsor(s): College of Science and Mathematics

Project Title: Antibacterial Properties of Europa Lander Solid Rocket Motor Adhesive, EA9394, Against Sporulating Gram-positive Bacteria

Mentor: Mark Liles

Nursing


Trae Anderson Nursing

Sponsor(s): College of Nursing

Project Title: Recruitment of Underrepresented Populations Into Health Outcomes Research: Review of the Literature and Strategies for Recruitment

Mentor: Caralise Hunt

Last Modified : Jul 22, 2023 @ 9:12 pm