CUGR announces 2016–2017 Research and Creative Activities Fellowship winners

November 17, 2016 Research, Signature and Emerging Areas, STEM Education

The University of Maine’s Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) has announced the recipients of the Research and Creative Activities Fellowships for 2016–17.

The fellowships were developed to enhance and increase undergraduate student involvement in faculty-supervised research and creative activities, and are supported through the office of the Vice President for Research.

Each fellowship provides a $1,000 award for the student to help cover costs of their project.

Results of the research projects and creative achievements will be presented to the community Monday, April 24, 2017 as part of the UMaine Student Research Symposium (#USRS17).

The winning projects:

  • Brady Andrews of Litchfield, Maine; Tyler O’Keene of Fryeburg, Maine; and Amelia Reinhardt of Tenants Harbor, Maine; English, “English(es) as a Language & Subject” with faculty mentor Paige Mitchell;
  • Aidan Bauer of Portland, Connecticut, new media, “Escape: A Roguelite Stealth Experience” with faculty mentor Jon Ippolito;
  • Abby Bellefleur of Auburn, Maine, communication, “Mental Health and the Media: Exploring the Relationship Between Television Viewing Habits and College Student’s Attitudes Toward Mental Health” with faculty mentor Liliana Herakova;
  • Aaron Bissonnette of Lewiston, Maine, chemical engineering, “Synthesis of Carbohydrate Chains” with faculty mentor Matthew Brichacek;
  • William Patrick Breeding of East Granby, Connecticut, bioengineering, “Photocatalysis of Atrazine by Various Bismuth Oxyhalides: Rates, Mechanisms and Byproducts” and “Homogenous Integration of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles into Cellulose Nanofibers” with faculty mentors Howard H. Patterson and Michael Mason;
  • Christopher J. Carey of Winslow, Maine, psychology, “The Impact of Training Methodologies on Learning Categorical Representations and their Generalizability to Novel Tasks Using Rule Based Structures” with faculty mentor Shawn W. Ell;
  • Sarah Courtright of Bangor, Maine, new media, “Four Hellhounds of the Apocalypse” with faculty mentor Jon Ippolito;
  • Meaghan Delcourt of Old Town, Maine, psychology, “The Pathway from Nonsuicidal Self-Injury to Suicidal Ideation: Investigating the Role of Depressive Rumination and Heart Rate Variability” with faculty mentor Emily Haigh;
  • Alan Estes, theatre, “(sign) or A Staged Collection of Experiences in the Deaf Community” with faculty mentor Marcia Douglas;
  • Christopher Frantz Gilbert of Scarborough, Maine, psychology, “Non-Invasive SleepMove Mattress Used to Detect Cognitive Decline” with faculty mentor Marie Hayes;
  • Graham Van Goffrier of Norwell, Massachusetts, physics, “Investigating a Correlation Between Minimal Surfaces and Relativistic String Dynamics” with faculty mentor Neil Comins;
  • Catherine Gottwalt of Little Falls, Minnesota and Emma Barnes, English, “Creative and Communicative Integrity” with faculty mentor Paige Mitchell;
  • Kayla Greenawalt of Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, ecology and environmental science, “Identifying Pollen of Native Grasses from the Falkland Islands to Build a Reference Collection” with faculty mentor Jacquelyn Gill;
  • Silvia Guzman of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, new media, “Deconstruction of Stereotypes and Biases Manufactured by the Media to Create a More Conscious Society” with faculty mentor Mike Scott;
  • Samuel Landry of Yarmouth, Maine, chemical engineering, “Microfluidic mixer for studying nanoparticle formation” with faculty mentor Scott Collins;
  • Trevor LeGassie of Presque Isle, Maine, new media, “Project Dismay” with faculty mentor Mike Scott;
  • Nat Midura of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, civil and environmental engineering; Cara Morgan of Exeter, Maine; and Molly Masters of New Gloucester, Maine, English, “Intertextual Binaries among CLAS and STEM Ideologies” with faculty mentor Paige Mitchell;
  • Matthew A. Moyet of Jacksonville, North Carolina, biology, “Synthesis of New Bismuth Nanoparticles for Photocatalysis of Harmful Pesticides” with faculty mentor Howard H. Patterson;
  • Malik Robinson, philosophy, “Overlapping Otherness: A Phenomenological Exploration of Black Homophobia” with faculty mentor Kirsten Jacobson;
  • Nathan Roscoe of Falmouth, Maine, mechanical engineering, “Controlling a Martian Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) of a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) Vehicle using an Internal Movable Mass Actuator (IMMA)” with faculty mentor David Rubenstein;
  • Grace Scott of China, Maine, chemistry, “Phenolic Compounds in Maine Coast Sea Vegetables” with faculty mentor Angela Myracle;
  • Hannah Harling Stefl of Syracuse, New York, human nutrition, “Exploring the Nutritional Value of Carrots and Determining Attributes that are Favored by Consumers” with faculty mentor Angela Myracle;
  • Mackenzie Leigh Tefft of Surry, Maine, psychology, “Dyadic Interactions as they Relate to Emotional Adjustment in Adolescents” with faculty mentor Rebecca Schwartz-Mette; and
  • Christian Zwirner of Windham, Maine, biochemistry, “Investigation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor’s Role in Host Response to C. albicans Infection” with faculty mentor Sally Dixon-Molloy.