2019 CUGR and MSGC summer fellowship winners announced

April 11, 2019 Climate Change, Medicine, Research, Signature and Emerging Areas

The University of Maine’s Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) has announced the 2019 CUGR and Maine Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) summer fellowship winners.

Undergraduate proposals will be awarded $3,000 for MSGC and $3,300 for CUGR. Graduate projects will receive $6,000 each during the summer semester. Funding is provided by the UMaine Office of the Vice President for Research and NASA’s Maine Space Grant Consortium.

This year’s winners are:

CUGR Summer Fellowship

  • Raegan Harrington, psychology, “Adolescent Depression, Co-rumination and Friendship: A Longitudinal, Observational Study,” advised by Rebecca Schwartz-Mette;
  • Brittany Kucera, anthropology, “Exploration of Rainwater Harvesting Potential at the Nadin-Gradina Archaeological Site, Northern Dalmatia, Croatia,” advised by Gregory Zaro;
  • Rachel Bonney, marine sciences, “Bioaccumulation and Potential Impacts of Nanoplastics and Glyphosate in Developing Zebrafish (Danio rerio),” advised by Nishad Jayasundara;
  • Haley Nelson, new media, “Growing Up Cuban,” advised by Margo Lukens; and
  • Kaj Overturf, biology, “The Effects of Winter Weather on Wild Turkey Roost Site Selection in Maine,” advised by Erik Blomberg.

Undergraduate MSGC Summer Fellowship

  • Mitchell Harling, biomedical engineering, “Optical Exploration of the Adipose Tissue Microenvironment using 2-Photon Microscopy,” advised by Karissa Tilbury;
  • Morganne Robinson, kinesiology and physical education, “The Development of a Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP) Detection Panel,” advised by Kristy Townsend;
  • Angel Loredo, mechanical engineering, “Determining the Mechanical Properties of Sintered Lunar Regolith from Concentrated Sunlight,” advised by Justin Lapp;
  • Basel White, biomedical engineering, “The Computational Assessment of Breast Tissue Density Through the Use of the Continuous Density Score,” advised by Andre Khalil;
  • Joshua S. Stone, Earth and climate sciences, “Improving Methods for U/Pb Dating in Geological Materials,” advised by Alicia Cruz-Uribe;
  • Benjamin Moore, biochemistry, “In Planta Minichromosome Engineering using CRISPR-Cas9,” advised by Ek Han Tan;
  • Hua Lin, engineering physics, “Silicon-Carbide Nanowires and Thin Films for Sensing Strain and Pressure in Harsh Environments,” advised by Sheila Edalatpour; and
  • Jacob Girgi, mechanical engineering, “Design and Fabrication of a Lower-limb Biofeedback Device,” advised by Babak Hejrati.

Graduate MSGC Summer Fellowship

  • John Goulet, engineering physics, “UAV Navigation Through GPS Denied Regions Towards Sources of Interest,” advised by C. T. Hess;
  • Daniel Regan, biomedical engineering, “Pathogen Collection and Handling System for Spacecraft Biosurveillance,” advised by Caitlin Howell;
  • Benjamin Hebert, engineering physics, “UAV Propeller Design for Low Density Martian Atmosphere,” advised by Samuel Hess;
  • Clara Deck, Earth and climate sciences, “Characterizing Changes on the Ross Ice Shelf using 3D Models Informed by Data from NASA’s ICESat-2,” advised by Peter Koons; and
  • Erin McConnell, quaternary and climate studies, “Calibrating Ice Core, Weather Station, and NASA MODIS Ice-Surface Temperature Records to Analyze Atmospheric Variability in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada,” advised by Karl Kreutz.