2014–2015 CUGR Fall Creative and Academic Achievement Fellowship Winners Announced

November 14, 2014 County, Research

The University of Maine’s Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) has announced the recipients of the CUGR Fall Creative and Academic Achievement Fellowships for 2014–15.

The fellowships were developed to enhance and increase undergraduate student involvement in faculty-supervised research, and awarded by the President’s Office.

Each fellowship provides a $1,000 award for the student to help cover costs of the project. The awards are supported through a PRE-VUE grant with additional funding from the Maine Economic Improvement Fund (MEIF).

The winning projects:

  • Wilson Adams of Barrington, Rhode Island, bioengineering, “A device for entrapment and microinjection of larval zebrafish”
  • Gwendolyn Beacham of Farmington, Maine, biochemistry, “Characterization of lysogeny regulation in the Cluster E mycobacteriophage Ukulele”
  • Jennifer LF Burnham of Bangor, Maine, microbiology, “Vaccine awareness assistance within the Greater Bangor area healthcare system”
  • Nina Caputo of Canaan, New Hampshire, chemistry, mathematics and environmental sciences, “Fluorescence monitoring of contaminant mixtures in surface fresh water”
  • Tyler Carrier of Barre, Vermont, “Cellular and molecular responses of sea urchin embryos to dissolved saxitoxins from the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium fundyense”
  • Nicklaus Carter of Franklin, Maine, bioengineering, “Magnetic properties of iron nanoparticles”
  • Joshua Deakin of Hampden, Maine, business, “Rituals in restaurants: Exploring how newcomers learn organizational culture”
  • Vincent DiGiovanni of Belmont, Massachusetts, biology and chemistry, “New approach to the treatment of Type 2 diabetes using inhibitors based on the acarviostatin family of natural products”
  • Nathan Dunn of Berwick, Maine, mathematics and computer science, “An enhancement of the P301dx application using advanced statistics”
  • Robert Fasano of Jefferson, Maine, physics, “Initialization of composite galaxies in dynamic equilibrium”
  • Scott Forand of Hermon, Maine, new media, “Tiny tactics”
  • Thomas Fouchereaux of Yarmouth, Maine, new media, “Commentrain”
  • Samuel Gates of Old Town, Maine, computer science, “Multi-tag radio frequency indication for indoor positional tracking system enhanced with accelerometer for fall detection”
  • Allison Goodridge of Bowdoin, Maine, mechanical engineering, “Motors and power: Generating physical phenomena for examination of spatial cognition and impulse response in virtual environments”
  • Katrina Harris of Ellsworth, Maine, business and microbiology, “Characterization of the integration morphology of mycobacteriophage ChipMunk including de novo assembly of the genome”
  • Hina Hashmi of Veazie, Maine, microbiology, “Is the ubiquitous antibacterial agent triclosan an uncoupler of mammalian mitochondria?”
  • Leslie Hood of Bangor, Maine, new media, “Epitaph: A humanistic approach to mortality and human-computer interaction”
  • Meghan Hurlburt of Union, Maine, computer science, “Noninvasive monitoring using radio frequency indicator technology: An inexpensive solution for independent aging in place”
  • Eliza Kane of Deer Isle, Maine, anthropology, “The geochemistry and historical ecology of a burnt Mississippian house at the Lawrenz Gun Club site in the central Illinois River Valley”
  • Charm Tharanga Karunasiri of Caribou, Maine, biochemistry, “Characterizing the catalytic domain of Calpain 5”
  • Jay Knowlton of Camden, Maine, biology, “Transplacental arsenic exposure effects on mouse hepatic protein expression”
  • Kathryn Liberman of Sumner, Illinois, marine science and aquaculture, “Developing a zebrafish model for Saprolegnia parasitica to investigate pathogenesis and alternate treatments”
  • Jason Lively of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, Earth sciences, “Neutralization capacity of major rock types found in Maine”
  • William London of Carrabassett Valley, Maine, mechanical engineering, “Experimental characterization of fatigue response of mechanically fastened joints in 3-D woven carbon composites”
  • Isaiah Nathaniel Mansour of Fairfield, Connecticut, marine science, “A comparative study of the hemocyanins of the giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata) and the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens)”
  • Zakiah-Lee Meeks of Bangor, Maine, biology and pre-medicine, “Methylation patterns in OPRM1 and COMT variants during opioid withdrawal in the neonate”
  • Alexander William Moser of York, Maine, mechanical engineering and mathematics, “Clean CNG snowmobile”
  • Chelsea Ogun of North Providence, Rhode Island, anthropology, “Promoting and advancing climate education in Maine middle and high schools”
  • Brenden Peters of Orono, Maine, computer science, “Low-power device for indoor mapping and navigation”
  • Samuel Reynolds of Ellsworth, Maine, psychology and biology, “Investigating the role of NMDA receptors in long-term ethanol withdrawal”
  • Jena Rudolph of Old Town, Maine, human dimensions of climate change, “Assessing the efficacy of scenario building to alter perceptions of climate risk and stimulate climate adaptation planning”
  • Andrea Santariello of Tolland, Connecticut, marine science and zoology, “How prey selection contributes to Arctic tern breeding success and chick health at fledging”
  • Julia Sell of Cushing, Maine, physics, “Development of a combinatorial deposition method to allow for rapid synthesis and testing of nanolaminate thin film structures”
  • Adam Simard of Shelburne, New Hampshire, microbiology, “JCPyV internalization: Insight into scaffolding proteins and associated intracellular binding domains of serotonin 5-HT2 receptors”
  • Dustin Sleight of Orono, Maine, mechanical engineering, “Dynamic motion control: Generating physical phenomena for examination of spatial cognition and impulse response in virtual environments”
  • Bryer Sousa of Shapleigh, Maine, chemistry and mathematics, “Two-temperature model molecular dynamics study of the coalescence of metal nanoparticles”
  • Margaret Stavros of Freeport, Maine, biochemistry, “Prenatal exposure to methadone’s effect on the oxytocin receptor pathway”
  • Cody Thies of Pittsfield, Maine, psychology, “Adrenergic modulation of voluntary ethanol intake in C3H/HeJ mice in a chronic intermittent exposure protocol”
  • Ethan Tremblay of Mariaville, Maine, economics and journalism, “An examination of the pro-social impacts of local food purchasing”
  • Ryan A. Wahle of Round Pond, Maine, new media and Spanish, “New age versatile furniture”
  • Emily Whitaker of Westport Island, Maine, molecular and cellular biology, “Identification and characterization of mycobacteriophage Ukulele integration site attP”