Dozens of West Virginia University undergraduates will head to the State Capitol Wednesday (March 4) hoping to show state lawmakers concrete evidence of why research is important and worthy of their support.

“I want to show legislators what undergraduate research funding supports,” says Stephen Sullivan, one of 53 WVU students participating in Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol.

Sullivan’s research into the natural gas futures market “analyzed short-term price variability and shows how volatile the natural gas market is,” he said. “This is significant, because businesses use futures contracts prices to make investment and operations decisions.” He notes that the way the natural gas industry is regulated has a direct effect on West Virginia’s economic competitiveness.

Undergraduate Research Day is a day of research, networking and discoveries and gives college students from across the state the opportunity to present their research in poster format and present their findings to state legislators.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. until noon in the Capitol’s upper and lower rotundas. After a poster session, students and their faculty mentors will gather for a luncheon with WVU President Gordon Gee as the keynote speaker.

WVU and Marshall University collaborate to organize the event. Funding for the program comes, in part, from a grant from the Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science and Research. Additional funding for the lunch provided comes from WVU’s Office of Graduate Admissions and Recruitment.

Cate Johnson, coordinator of WVU’s ASPIRE program who has managed Undergraduate Research Day for WVU over the past several years, says this was the most competitive year yet.

“Because we received 158 total submissions for only 80 spots, we chose to open the lower rotunda,” she said. “This gave us the ability to accept up to 30 more submissions.”

Along with Johnson, Undergraduate Research Day receives programming support from Kenneth Blemings, the interim dean of the Honors College, and Michelle Richards-Babb, associate professor of chemistry and a long-time coordinator of WVU’s STEM Student Undergraduate Research Experience programs.

The program is competitive, with statewide selection. A selection committee comprising experts from across the state reviews all submissions and selects those who will present. Among the criteria for selection, the committee looks for a wide representation of research from across schools and fields.

Historically, the event was limited to the upper rotunda, and Johnson is unsure whether the research committee will accept as many submissions next year. “It’s really an experiment,” she said. “The upper rotunda certainly sees more traffic, as legislators walk between chambers.” She hopes that people will be encouraged to go to the lower rotunda to see all the research presented.

The state legislators and student researchers work together to advance West Virginia. The research the students conduct can have a positive effect on policy and can help inform policymakers. When legislators see how useful academic research is in practice, they are more likely to support future research efforts.

“Undergraduate Research Day helps to highlight research that might be of use to West Virginia legislators,” Johnson says.

One example is research that Amanda Marple and Dillon Muhly-Alexander are presenting. Their project, titled “WV Foodlink,” presents the work of WV Foodlink, a Food Justice Laboratory program.

Marple says WV Foodlink has real importance for the families of West Virginia. “We are working for the citizens of West Virginia in order to bring to light the situation of hunger and food insecurity,” she says. “We are also creating a website tool so West Virginia residents can find emergency food agencies.”

Muhly-Alexander agrees. A Judith A. Herndon Fellow this year at the West Virginia Legislature, he is interested to see how research supports policy.

“In West Virginia, there are high rates of poverty for children, for families,” he says. “It’s extremely important to address the problem of hunger among West Virginians. We hope our research creates a sense of urgency around the issue.”

Richards-Babb notes that research is important for students, too.

“When students participate in research, it helps to retain them in their majors,” she says. “It allows them to experience the more creative side of their discipline.” Students who conduct research as undergraduates are also more likely to seek advanced degrees, which results in a more educated workforce.

Sullivan is an example of that. He looks forward to presenting his research: “I want to show legislators what undergraduate research funding supports. This project makes my learning experience more active, as opposed to passively taking in information. Now I want to go deeper into this, whether it’s in grad school or in my career.”

The students attending this year, and their research, are:

From the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources:

• Andrew Maloney, Morgantown, “BioNano Enzyme Conjugates for Efficient Bacterial Decontamination of Surfaces.”
• Lee Chirpas, Huntington, “Investigation of indium zinc oxide (IZ0) sputtered PET flexible electrodes under various fatigue loading patterns.”
• Melanie Wieland, Carnegie, Pennslyvania, Taylor Price; and Anand Kadiyala, “Increasing the Efficiency of LEDs through the Fabrication of Photonic Crystals using Nanosphere Lithography.”
• Justine Schultz, Stewartsville, New Jersey, Gina Eberhart, Morgantown, “Conventional and Magnetically-Enhanced Microgravity Soldering.”
• Quinn Jones, Fairchance, Pennsylvania, “Automatic Classification of Neuron Morphology by Age or Type.”
• Denna Davari, Charleston, “Hydration study of hand/finger/nail system to understand mechanism of glove-related injuries.”
• Catherine Hefner, Marlinton, “Glock Model 21 Consecutively Fired Cartridge Cases Shot Variation.”
• Nicholas Ohi, Morgantown, “Cataglyphis Health and Status Management System.”
• Kathleen Baker, Morgantown; Tyler Durham, Granville; and Eric Harshbarger, Morgantown, “Speak Your Mind: A Proof of Concept Neuroheadset Assistive Device for Aphasia Patients.”
• Scott Harper, Spencer, “Design of Inertial Navigation System for Planetary Rover.”

From the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences:

• Amy Sardone, Morgantown, “A Search for FRBs with the Green Bank Telescope.”
• Christopher Doss, Shepherdstown, “Space Weather: How the Solar Wind Affects its Efficiency.”
• Candace Bias, Davisville, and Samantha Knowlton, Sardis, Ohio, “Use of a bacterial agent, Pseudomonas aeruginosa expressing ExoS, to identify alterations in plasma membrane properties predictive of malignant transformation.”
• Ryan Mezan, Weirton, “Three-dimensional Microfluidic Co-culture Model of the Bone Marrow Microenvironment for the Study of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.”
• Natasha McMann, Marlinton, “Shapiro Delay of Pulsar J1640+2224.”
• James Fugett, Westover, “Inhibition of ZEB expression in breast cancer cells suppresses EMT and blocks metastasis.”
• Aric Clegg, Parkersburg, and Camille Leon, Fairmont, “Effects of Chronic Stress on Pancreatic Beta Cell Density in Obese and Lean Zucker Rats.”
• Emily Vandevender, Smoot; Jordan Lovejoy, Pineville; Margery Webb, Charleston, “Language Variation in West Virginia.”
• Tyson Currence, Beverly, “Effects of Slice Thickness on Quantitative Computed Tomographic Characteristics of the Lumbosacral Vertebral Canal in German Shepherds.”
• Sundus Lateef, Bridgeport, “Omega-3 fatty acids and soy protein promote fatty liver in polycystic liver disease.”
• Amanda Marple, Bunker Hill, and Dillion Muhly-Alexander, “WV FoodLink.”
• Ellen Aguilera, Shirley, New York, “Gold catalyzed cross-coupling using arenediazonium salt as the oxidant.”
• Michael Elza, Elkins, “Do wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) spatially impact American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) populations?
• Brandy Ledesma, Rialto, California, “Disgust Sensitivity, Prejudice, and Stereotypes: A Mediation Model.”
• Kayla McLaughlin, Wheeling, “Avoidance of Dental Care is associated with a General Sensitivity to Anxiety.”
• Virginia Cunningham, Hurricane, “The Clustering of Galactic H II Regions.”
• Jonathan Tucker, Morgantown; and William Rogers, “Laboratory analysis of individual and collective particle charging, electrostatics, and hydrodynamics relevant across atomic through extragalactic scales.”
• Cody Mullens, Weirton, “Morphological plasticity of dendrites during early nervous system development.”
• Mimi Bukeirat, Morgantown, and James Simpkins, “MiR-34a Inhibits Mitochondrial Function in Cerebrovascular Endothelial Cells and Opens Blood-Brain Barrier.”
• Richard Nolan, Morgantown, and Taylor Grenn, Morgantown, “Guided Imagery to Address Diet, Exercise, and Perceived Stress; Preliminary Results From a Randomized Control Trial.”

From the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design:

• Hannah Clipp, Bel Air, Maryland, “Comparing waterbird diversity, species composition, abundance, and use between a newly created wetland and an established wetland in West Virginia.”
• Sarah Craft, Morgantown, “Effects of allelopathic plant matter in the early emergence rates and growth of native plant species.”
• Kristen Mastrantoni, Weirton; Jacquelyn Hand, Morgantown; and Lei Wang, Morgantown, “Determining the Subcellular Localization of a Novel Transcription Factor Using a Green Fluorescence Protein Vector.”
• Brittany Abruzzino, Morgantown, “West Virginia Primary Care Physicians’ Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Providing Behavioral Counseling for Weight Loss.”
• Rebecca Hagedorn, Morgantown, “Community Research through Teen Implementation.”
• Kelby Fetter, Montrose, “Sensing Biofuel Crop Miscanthus x giganteus Yield in Marginal West Virginia Soils.”
• Stephen Sullivan, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, “Comparative Analysis of the Predictive Capability of STEO Reports and NYMEX Natural Gas Futures-Based Forecasts.”

From the Reed College of Media:

• James Abdallah, Youngwood, Pennsylvania, “Real Mountaineers burn couches (and tell their friends online): Facebook posts in relation to group identity.”

-WVU-

aw/03/03/15

CONTACT: Adrianne Wyatt; WVU University College
304.293.2641; Adrianne.Wyatt@mail.wvu.edu

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