West Virginia University will be well represented on Jan. 25 as almost half of those participating in the eighth annual Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol will be Mountaineers.
Fifteen institutions will be represented at Undergraduate Research Day, which runs from 8 a.m. to noon in the Capitol Rotunda; 30 of the 67 students will be from WVU.
Undergraduate Research Day allows students to present their discoveries in poster format and talk to legislators about their findings. The projects are original research and the posters have been designed for a general audience.
Students mentored by faculty from the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will present posters in the areas of animal science, plant science, biology, psychology, computer science and information technology, forensic science, physics, chemistry, biochemistry, sociology/social work, engineering, history, African studies, political science, English, environmental studies and geology.
In addition to WVU, other institutions represented are Alderson-Broaddus College, Bluefield State College, Concord University, Fairmont State University, Glenville State College, Marshall University, NASA Langley Research Center, SGT Inc., University of Charleston, West Liberty University, West Virginia State University, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Wheeling Jesuit University and WVU Institute of Technology.
“Research of the kind conducted by these students is the basis of our economic future and this event offers a great opportunity for members of the state Legislature to interact with students who will be the innovators of the future. It also highlights the importance WVU places on the one-on-one academic activities that take place between students and faculty,” said Keith Garbutt, Eberly Family Professor and Dean of WVU’s Honors College.
Garbutt, co-chair of the event’s organizational committee, said legislators have shown a lot of interest in the students and their projects in the previous years.
“The students really appreciate the interest shown by members of the state Legislature.” Garbutt said. “Visits with the students have increased each year, we feel this is a clear indication of the interest legislators have in higher education in West Virginia.”
The following is a list of WVU’s participants, along with their residence, disciplines, research posters and advisors:
Jordan Beilhart, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Study of Corrosion of YSZ at High Temperatures for Use in Direct Carbon Fuel Cells.” John Zondio and Ed Sabplsky – Advisors
Alan M. Didion, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Procurement & Engineering Support” Kevin Castellucci – Advisor
Erica Fitzsimmons, Morgantown, WV (Environmental Science)- “Bio-organic Agricultural Systems: Residual Effects of Five Years of Compost Application on Soil Quality.” Eugenia Pena- Yewtukhiw – Advisor
Samantha Pareso, Savanna Tate and Erica McDermott, Morgantown, WV (Biology)- “Mechanisms of Intracelluar Calcium Homeostasis at Different Developmental Stages of the Bovine Corpus Luteum.” Jorge Flores – Advisor
Adil Moghal, Morgantown, WV (Biochemistry)- “Production of Chicken Anti-Mouse a-Aminoadipate d-Semialdehyde Synthase Antibodies.” Kenneth Blemings – Advisor
Andrew Craig, Morgantown, WV (Psychology)- “Internal Disruption of Operant Behaviour: An Investigation of Behavioral Momentum Theory.” Kennon Lattal – Advisor
Alan Campbell, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Activity and Stability Studies for BioNano Conjugates.” Cerasela Dinu – Advisor
Andrea Labus, Morgantown, WV (Biology)- “NPY and Adipose Tissue Have Opposing Effects on Breast Cancer Progression.” Linda Vona-Davis – Advisor
Nicholas Mariani, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Nanofiber Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells.” Nianqiang Wu – Advisor
Garrett White, Morgantown, WV (Chemistry)- “Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Stabilized by Pluronic Copolymers in Aqueous Solution for Drug-Delivery.” Lloyd Carroll – Advisor
Sarah Martinelli, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Evaluation of Disinfectant Efficacy on Antibiotics Treated Bacteria and Related Biofilm in a Laboratory Drinking Water System Model.” Lance Lin – Advisor
Adly Noore, Morgantown, WV (Biology)- “Could Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides Be a Better Option than Conventional Antibiotics?” Bingyun Li – Advisor
Grant Shulman, Morgantown, WV (Psychology)- “Resilience in Young Adults: Resolving Emotional Pain and Trauma.” Daniel McNeil – Advisor
Jennifer Wiegand, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Graphene-Stabilized Emulsion Drilling Fluids” Rakesh Gupta and Sushant Agarwal – Advisors
Matthew S. Zitney, Morgantown, WV (Chemistry)- “STEM Based Education Outreach to Northern West Virginia Institutions and 4-H Camps.” Michelle Richards-Babb – Advisor
Matthew Thompson, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Barrier Properties of Surface-Treated Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelets (xGnP) in the xGnP/Polyvinyl Acetate System.” Rakesh Gupta – Advisor
Travis Corwell, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Electro-Magnetically Enhanced Cylindrical Fluidized Bed in Microgravity.” John Kuhlman – Advisor
Sripadh Sharma, Morgantown, WV (Chemistry)- “A Novel Charged Bicyclic Aroatic Structures from 1,2,3 Triazole-yne.” Xiadong Shi – Advisor
Jamie A. Barr and Anand Narayanan, Morgantown, WV (Biochemistry)- “Magnetic Nanoparticles for Treatment of Cancer.” Peter Gannett – Advisor
Matthew Boots, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Design and Structural Analysis of Contoured Aircraft Wings for a Ground Effect Aircraft.” James Smith – Advisor
Ryan Daniel Coder, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Development of a Six Degrees of Freedom Aircraft Model for Hardware in the Loop Simulation.” Mark Motter – Advisor
Zachary Cohen, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Development of Hybris Supervisory Control System for WVU 2-Mode Hybrid Electric Vehicle.” Scott Wayne – Advisor
Kristen M. Felice, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “1/f noise in Length and Type Sorted Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.” Daneesh Simien and Clayton Simien – Advisors
Steve Mandish and Grace Skaff, Morgantown, WV (Biology)- “Engineering Plasmid Vectors for High-Efficiency Transformation of Legumes via Agrobacterium tumefaciens.” Vagner Benedito – Advisor
Kaitlin Mock, Morgantown, WV (Biochemistry)- “Consuption of Different Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Alters Fatty Acid Composition in Growing Rats.” Janet Tou – Advisor
Byron Patterson, Morgantown, WV (Engineering)- “Enhancement of Circulation Control as Influenced by Ground Effect.” James Smith – Advisor
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