49 KU students receive Undergraduate Research Awards for spring


Mon, 01/27/2025

author

Olivia South and Erin Wolfram

LAWRENCE — This spring, 49 University of Kansas students received an Undergraduate Research Award (UGRA) from the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships. UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects.  

Students apply for UGRAs by writing a five-page research proposal under the guidance of a mentor. Faculty reviewers evaluate the applications based on the merit of the applicant’s proposal and a recommendation from the mentor.  

The Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships is now accepting applications for 2025 summer and fall semester UGRAs; applications will be accepted through March 30. Online guidance and individual advising appointments are available to help students prepare strong applications. More information can be found on the KU UGRA webpage

Students who received awards for spring 2025 are listed below grouped by field and listed in alphabetical order by last name along with year in school (by credits), hometown, major, project title, mentor and mentor’s department. 

Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences 

Lauren Aguirre, senior, Omaha, Nebraska; global & international studies; “Echoes of 1978: A Comparative Analysis of Personal Narratives and Media Coverage During the 1978 World Cup in Argentina,” mentored by Brian Lagotte, global & international studies. 

Braiden Bangalan, senior, Lawrence; global & international studies; “'Round-Trip' Investment and China’s Global Economic Decoupling,” mentored by Jiakun “Jack” Zhang, political science. 

Allison Bell, senior, Lawrence; Slavic, German & Eurasian studies and linguistics; “Differences in Social Evaluations of American English Regional Dialects Between L1 English Listeners and L2 English Listeners in the U.S.,” mentored by Lacey Wade, linguistics. 

Margaret Brammer, junior, Fort Worth, Texas; interior architecture; “Rural Disparities in Ambulatory Care: The Impact of Infusion Cancer Treatment and the Built Environment,” mentored by Herminia Machry, architecture & design. 

Mattias Brohl, senior, Lawrence; psychology; “Insecure Attachment and Ideal Self-Concept Malleability,” mentored by Omri Gillath, psychology. 

Madelynn Guistwite, senior, Yonkers, New York; interior architecture; “Evaluating Three Decades of Biophilic Design Applied in Health Care Settings: Barriers, Facilitators and Future Trends in Maintaining Access to Nature in Clinical Areas,” mentored by Herminia Machry, architecture & design. 

Charlie Johnson, senior, Lawrence; global & international studies, history, political science and religious studies; “Proximity and Collective Victimhood Consciousness: Jordanian Perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” mentored by Brian Lagotte, global & international studies. 

Kristopher Long, senior, Lawrence; political science; “How Public and Private Influence Shape Trade Policy: Evaluating the Determinants of Section 301 Tariff Exclusion Approvals,” mentored by Jiakun “Jack” Zhang, political science. 

Alice Lubin-Meyer, junior, Lawrence; photography; “To Hold on or to Let Go,” mentored by Elise Kirk, photography.

Jillian Markway, senior, Baldwin City; film & media studies; “Clair de Lune,” mentored by David Mai, film & media studies. 

Bella Marlatt, sophomore, Highlands Ranch, Colorado; architecture; “Storytelling: MOS Architecture’s Digital Videos,” mentored by Peter Olshavsky, architecture.

Olly Mitchell, junior, Lawrence; theatre; “Signs of the Times,” mentored by Michelle Miller and Henry Bial, theater & dance. 

Allison Monteleone, sophomore, St. Marys; social work; “Investigating Language Comprehension with a Coloring Book: A Study on Quantifier Meaning Comprehension Utilizing a Novel Method,” mentored by Utako Minai, psycholinguistics. 

Erin Rockers, senior, Lawrence; photography; “The Time Between Us,” mentored by Elise Kirk, photography.

Bailey Tredway, senior, Lawrence; photography; “Despite, In Spite,” mentored by Elise Kirk and Sky Maggiore, photography. 

Mariia Verbytska, senior, Lawrence; mathematics and economics; “Forecasting Equity Premium Under Structural Breaks,” mentored by Shahnaz Parsaeian, economics. 

Catie Wickersham, senior, St. Louis; anthropology and architecture; “Potential Implications of the Spatial Distribution of Artifacts at the Bender Site,” mentored by Lauren Norman, anthropology.

Jimin Yoo, senior, Overland Park; psychology; “Exploring Guardian-Adolescent Communication as a Protective Factor Against Adolescent Suicide,” mentored by Jeffery Girard and Dasha Yermol, psychology. 

Biological, Physical & Other Sciences

Tatum Aikin, sophomore, Westwood; microbiology; “The Effect of PTPN22 Allelic Variation on Macrophage Production of Immune Cytokines,” mentored by Robin Orozco, molecular biosciences. 

Meghan Arias, junior, Olathe; microbiology; “Identification of PARP14's Impact on HSV-1 Strain 17 Infection,” mentored by David Davido, molecular biosciences.

Evan Barkus, senior, El Dorado; physics & astronomy; “The Effects of Filament Environments on Stellar Masses and Star Formation Rates,” mentored by Gregory Rudnick, physics & astronomy.

Elizabeth Biegger, senior, Clive, Iowa; speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders; “How Text Characteristics Impact Comprehension on the Gray Oral Reading Test, Fifth Edition in Autistic Children,” mentored by Meghan Davidson, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders. 

Saborni Chakraborty, senior, Overland Park; human biology and anthropology; “Evolution of Olfactory and Lonotropic Receptors in Drosophila Across Altitudinal Gradients,” mentored by Allie Graham, molecular biosciences. 

Maia Flynn, junior, Ainsworth, Nebraska; speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders; “'"Creaky Hips," I Mean, "Read my Lips"':  Analyzing Lip-Reading Errors," mentored by Michael Vitevitch, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders. 

Carly Gagnon, junior, Overland Park; biochemistry, “Impact of Wild-Type Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Induction on Tumor Progression in Colorectal Cancer Models with Truncated Adenomatous Polyposis Coli,” mentored by Kristi Neufeld, molecular biosciences. 

Andrea Gunara, senior, Leander, Texas; behavioral neuroscience; “Expanding Brain-Computer Interface Access Through Motor Imagery Ability,” mentored by Jonathan Brumberg, psychology.

Emma Hefty, sophomore, Lawrence; speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders; “Learning Sounds from Native and Non-Native Speech Contexts,” mentored by Margarethe McDonald, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders.

Samuel Hanson, senior, Shawnee; atmospheric science; “Impact of Mid-Level Wind Shear on Hail Size Using Numerical Simulations,” mentored by David Rahn, geography & atmospheric science.

Anne Jordan, junior, Leawood, exercise science; “The Effect of the Trunk Being Held Back on Knee Mechanisms During Landing,” mentored by Yu Song, health, sport & exercise sciences. 

Tyson Karl, junior, Manhattan; physics and mathematics; “Computational Study on the Electrostatic Potential and Novel Electronic Properties of 2D Materials,” mentored by Qunfei Zhou, physics & astronomy.

Tamar Kopadze, senior, Gori, Georgia; microbiology; “Sustainable Agriculture: Exploring the Impact of Soil Microbiome,” mentored by Benjamin Sikes, ecology & evolutionary biology.

Lakyn Leupold, senior, Lawrence; atmospheric science; “Impacts of Drought Patterns on Resilience in the Amazon Rainforest in Mato Grosso, Brazil,” mentored by Nathaniel Brunsell, atmospheric science.

Annaliese Nguyen, sophomore, Lenexa; biochemistry; "Population Genetic Diversity of the W Chromosome in Monarch Butterflies,” mentored by Jamie Walters, ecology, evolutionary & organismal biology. 

Thanh Nguyen, senior, Wichita; exercise science; “The Effect of Holding a Chinese Lion Dance Costume on Jump Performance: A Comparison Between Experienced and Novice Individuals,” mentored by Yu Song, health, sport & exercise science. 

Grant Saggars, junior, Lawrence; physics; “Development of Two Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures for Spin-Orbit Torque-Driven, Magnetic-Field-Free Switching in Spintronic Devices,” mentored by Dmitry Ovchinnikov, physics.

Sandra Santos, senior, Olathe; behavioral neuroscience; “Attachment Styles and Bias in Non-Verbal Communication: Extension to Body Language Interpretation and Psychophysiological Measures,” mentored by Mark Landau, psychology.

Kyra Schrock, senior, Olathe, behavioral neuroscience and linguistics, “The Impact of Social Support on Recovery-Oriented Beliefs in Young Adults with Childhood or Adolescent Mental Health Diagnoses: A Secondary Analysis,” mentored by Melisa Rempfer, psychology. 

Ariana Siddique, junior, Stilwell; molecular, cellular & developmental biology, “Optimizing C. Elegans for High Throughput Chemical Screening,” mentored by Lisa Timmons, molecular biology. 

Ian Shire, senior, Lawrence; biochemistry; “Expanding the Scope of Photochemical Generation of Tetrahydrofurans and Pyrrolidines from Strained Heterocyclic Ketones and Their Derivatives,” mentored by Zarko Boskovic, medicinal chemistry. 

Molly Sullivan, senior, Elmhurst, Illinois; speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders; “Autistic Children’s Attention to Social Information’s Impact on Theory of Mind,” mentored by Meghan Davidson, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders.

Sofie Young, senior, Shorewood, Illinois; speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders, “An Analysis of Social Communication Components and Its Related Hierarchy in Autistic Children,” mentored by Meghan Davidson, speech-language-hearing: sciences & disorders. 

Engineering & Computer Science 

Arthur Benson, senior, Lawrence; chemical engineering; “Investigating Parameters Affecting the Reproducibility and Accuracy of Refrigerant Flammability Limits: Advancing International Standards,” mentored by Mark Shiflett, chemical engineering. 

Molly Busenitz, sophomore, Tecumseh; mechanical engineering; “Synthesis of a Software System Capable of Using Machine Learning to Detect Someone Who is Using a Mobility Aid for the Purpose of Creating an Automated Accessible Door,” mentored by Sara Wilson, mechanical engineering. 

Bhavik Goplani, senior, Lawrence; computer science; “Statically Verifying Non-Idempotent Behavior in APIs,” mentored by Sankha Guria, electrical engineering & computer science. 

Molly Kalthoff, senior, St. Paul, Minnesota; civil, environmental & architectural engineering; “Depolymerization of Recycled Plastics through Biocatalysis,” mentored by Justin Hutchinson, civil, environmental & architectural engineering. 

Conner Mispagel, sophomore, Olathe; aerospace engineering; “Gimbaled Thrust Applications in Amateur High-Powered Rocketry,” mentored by Brina Blinzler, aerospace engineering.

Abe Pankratz, senior, Wichita; chemical engineering; “Expanding the Scope of Photochemical Generation of Tetrahydrofurans and Pyrrolidines from Strained Heterocyclic Ketones and their Derivatives,” mentored by Edward Peltier, civil, environmental & architectural engineering. 

Abigail Peters, senior, Lenexa; chemical engineering; “Extraction of PFAS from Zeolites using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide,” mentored by Mark Shiflett, chemical engineering. 

Kris Ryan, junior, De Soto; engineering physics; “Antarctic Subglacial Hydrology: A Survey of Subglacial Meltwater,” mentored by Dave Besson, physics & astronomy.

Mon, 01/27/2025

author

Olivia South and Erin Wolfram

Media Contacts

Erin Wolfram

Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships