2016 Erickson Discovery Grant Recipients

Funded through the Office of Undergraduate Education and support from Colleges.

Alexandra Alfonso Castro
Penn State Erie
Constructing Variants of Human Serum Albumin Reconstituted with Heme and Testing for Nitrite Reductase Activity

Ricardo Braga Nogueira Branco
College of Engineering
Plasma Shielding for Micrometeoroid Protection on Spacecraft

Stephanie Brown
Eberly College of Science
Direct Measurement of Gravity on Antihydrogen Atoms

Natalie Cope
College of Information Sciences and Technology
Creating Guidelines for Visualizations in a Mobile Environment

Jennifer Curtis
Eberly College of Science
Selenoprotein Effect on Francisella Infection and Replication in Macrophage Cells

Katherine Dent
College of Health and Human Development
Fluctuating Neural States in Face Processing- Predicting Who They Are vs. How They Feel

Aviva Doery
College of the Liberal Arts
The Lives of Women in the Berlin LGBT Community Before and During the Holocaust: 1933-1945

Lina Duiker
College of the Liberal Arts
The Effect of Formal Education on Palenquero Heritage Speakers

Adam Fenton
Eberly College of Science
Identifying the Molecular Mechanism of Adenylosuccinate Lyase Deficiency, An Inborn Error of Purine Metabolism

Andrea Frank
College of the Liberal Arts
The Role of Global Processing in Perceived Attractiveness

Mark Frederick
College of Engineering
Investigation of Instability Suppression in Low-Emission Combustors

Jordan Gibby
College of Health and Human Development
Quality of Interparental Interactions and Adolescent Well-being in India: A Family Systems Perspective

Caroline Gooch
College of the Liberal Arts
Predictors of Suicidality in Outpatients with Childhood Trauma History: Does Context Matter?

Steven Griffin
Eberly College of Science
Determining Regulatory Proteins of the P25 Transcript in Plasmodium Yoelii

Alyssa Gurklis
College of Agricultural Sciences
Examining the Role of Arts Spaces in Fostering Democracy

Joseph Hall
College of Engineering
Surface Display Biocatalyst Enzyme for Waste Water Decontamination

Timothy Hay
College of the Liberal Arts
New Approaches to Understanding Old Landscapes

Hayly Hoch
College of Agricultural Sciences
Implementing an Integrated Pest Management Outline for the Student Farm's Sustainable Agroecosystem

Nicholas Hugo
College of Agricultural Sciences
Invasive Species Abundance in Hartley Wood Over Time

Nicole Hume
College of Agricultural Sciences
Influence of the Gut Microbiota on Inflammation-promoting Ceramide Synthesis

Haley Janowitz
Eberly College of Science
Elucidation of the Metabolic Function of Adenylosuccinate lyase in Oogenesis and Reproductive Development

Morgan Kauffman
College of Arts and Architecture
Performance in the Digital Age: A Study of the Physical Effects of Digital Archiving

Matthew Keebaugh
Eberly College of Science
Functional Study of S-Locus F-Box Proteins in Self-Incompatibility in Petunia

Joshua Kessler
College of Engineering
Pulsatile Assessment of the FDA Benchmark Model for Simulation Validation

Samantha Kirk
College of Engineering
Development and Characterization of Citrate/Xylitol Biodegradable Composites for Orthopedic Tissue Engineering

Zachary Klueber
College of Engineering
Spatial and Temporal Variations of Soil Hydraulic Functions in Warm Conditions

Ben Kupp
Eberly College of Science
Investigation of the Impacts of Substrate Properties on 2D Materials

Paige Laughlin
Eberly College of Science
The Investigation of Antibiotic Resistance to Beta-Lactam Antibiotic meropenem

Cody Lebo
College of Engineering
Hierarchical Architecture of 1D-2D systems for High Performance Supercapacitors

Emily Luteran
Eberly College of Science
Investigating the Folding of PreQ1 Riboswitch Classes in Cellular Conditions

Kaylie Maines
College of the Liberal Arts
Make it Do, or Do Without: A Collection of Poems and Folk Memoirs

Eric Moyer
Penn State Abington
The Effect of Aging on Macrophage Phenotype in Spleen and Kidney

Hansa Nawani
Eberly College of Science
Study of the Effects of R-loops and G-quartets on Replication Forks Progression

Luiza Neddermeyer Van Krimpen Lodder
College of the Liberal Arts
The Effect of Words and the Influence of Literature on Western Perceptions of Madness and the Mental Health Establishment

Nolan O'Connor
College of Engineering
Quantifying and Maximizing Greenhouse Water Savings

Tanmay Patel
Eberly College of Science
Characterization of Genes Required by Francisella tularensis for Growth at Cytosolic pH

Alexander Patin
College of Engineering
Leveraging Wearable Technology for Music Therapy Practices with Alzheimer's Disease

Laura Post
Penn State Berks
Distinguishing Between Specialism and Opportunism in the Diet of Herring Gulls: Evolutionary Implications for Waterbird Conservation and Management

Joseph Pry
Penn State Beaver
Energy Efficient Encryption for Mobile Medical Data

Josh Riley
College of Engineering
Understanding Proteolysis of von Willebrand Factor Due to Shear Rate and Presence of ADAMTS13

Katie Ringler
Penn State Berks
Ecological Succession of Colonial Waterbirds

Alison Roby
College of Engineering
Acute and Chronic Neural Changes in Response to Nicotine Administration in Rats

Roger Salguero
Penn State Berks
Attitude Estimation of a Quadcopter using Multiple Range Sensors

Kaitlin Saloky
College of Health and Human Development
Studying the Effects of Shear Stress on Platelet Adhesion in Ventricular Assist Devices

Dorothy Schaadt
College of the Liberal Arts
The Efficiency Of Clause-Final Negation: A Look at Lengua Palenquera

Samantha Seils
Eberly College of Science
Determination of Initial and Acquired Viromes of Free-Ranging Blacklegged Ticks

Erin Servey
College of the Liberal Arts
Disorder: Poems on Mental Illness and Autoimmune Disorders

Alexander Smith
Eberly College of Science
Genome-wide Screen for Induction of Phosphoethanolamine Modifications on Lipopolysaccharide

Michael Spencer
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
High Performance Interdigitated Carbon Nanotube Based Micro-Capacitors

Abagayle Stock
College of the Liberal Arts
Cardiometabolic Risk and Sleep Duration: Should College Students be Concerned?

Cody Stubbs
College of Agricultural Sciences
Perceived Variety and Food Consumption

Rhea Sullivan
Eberly College of Science
Characterizing Autism Spectrum Disorder 16p11.2 Deletion in C. elegans

Jacob Thomas
Eberly College of Science
The Effects of Chronic Variable Social Stress during Adolescence on Adult Ethanol Consumption in Mice

Ray Watkins
College of Engineering
The Production of a Micro-Endoscopes:  For Imaging of the Choroid Plexus in the Awake Mouse Brain

Alexis Weaver
College of Health and Human Development
Impact of Age and Vitamin A Supplementation on Thermogenic Factors in a Rat Model of Childhood Obesity Risk

Zhiyu Zhao
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Synthesis of Metal Oxide Nanowires by Metal Substrate Oxidation

Penn Stater named Junior Fellow of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

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Furman appointed interim director of University Fellowships Office

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2015 Erickson Discovery Grant Recipients

Funded through the Office of Undergraduate Education and support from Colleges.

Edward Badding
Eberly College of Science
Unraveling the Biosynthesis of Dimethyl Indolic Acid, a Key Moiety of the Antibacterial Nosiheptide

Emily Bramel
College of the Liberal Arts
Quantifying the Phenotypic Effects of Genes Associated with Hair Form and Pigment

Ian Campbell
Penn State Erie
Optimizing the Stability and Fluorescence of "Bubble" DNA Templated Silver Nanoclusters

Sarah Chang
Eberly College of Science
Investigating the Role of Mitochondrial sirtuins in Oxidative Stress Response

URee Chon
Eberly College of Science
Determining X-ray Crystal Structure of Gram Positive Bacteria Bacillus subtilis for Antibiotic Advancement

Jacob Cipar
College of Earth and Mineral Science
The Origin of Intermediate Lavas at Hasandag Stratovolcano: A Geochemical Analysis

Alexandra Close
College of Health and Human Development
Do Maternal Maladaptive Eating Behaviors Relate to the Development of Overeating and Obesity Development in Children?

Daniel Doleiden
Penn State Erie
Mathematical Modeling of Electrode Performance in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Evan Donkus
Penn State Berks
SwimFly Robot: Design and Development of Water Swimming and Aerial Flying Ornithopter

Alexander Driban
College of Engineering
Interactions of the MLL Mixed Lineage Leukemia Chromatin Enzyme and Its Nucleosome Substrate

Jennifer Dumel
Penn State Altoona
Harvesting Low Grade Waste Heat into Electrical Energy Using Carbon Nanotube Based Thermoelectric Device

Katrina Eckel
College of the Liberal Arts
An English Governess in the Great War: The Brussels Diary of Mary Thorp

Declan Evans
Eberly College of Science
Biophysical Characterization of the Medipal Domain of TRPB

Chelsea Eyer
College of Earth and Mineral Science
Mineralogy of Icelandic Hyaloclastites

Angela Gettemy
Eberly College of Science
Enhancing the Energy Performance of Carbon Based Flexible Supercapacitor using Quinone Modified Lignin

Vivek Gohil
Eberly College of Science
Designing Misfolding Protein Simulations

Philip Graybill
College of Engineering
Exploring Novel Methods for Intracranial Pressure Measurement

Justin Griffith
Eberly College of Science
Ecology of Emerging Infectious Disease in Peromyscus leucopus

Marissa Guarriello
College of Arts and Architecture
The Third Reich Suppression of Musical Culture as Shown Through the Compositional Output of Hans Gal

Terry Hafer
Eberly College of Science
Identification of Proteins Involved in Dendritic Regeneration Mechanisms of Drosophila melanogaster

Kristen Hagenah
College of Engineering
Predicting Thrombus Age by Imaging and Studying Blood Clots with Ghost Cells

Kyle Hilliard
College of Agricultural Sciences
Testing the Evolutionary Connection Between Seminal Coagulation Genes and Intensity of Mating Competition

Madeline Iffert
College of the Liberal Arts
Do Cognates Facilitate the Processing of a Codeswitched Sentence?

Jingyi Jiang
Eberly College of Science
Behavior, Neurological, and Morphological Deficits in PV-interneuron Specific CTNNB1 Knockout

Ryan Kalkbrenner
College of Health and Human Development
Determinants of Force Generation During Rapid Plantarflexion in Sprinters

Shriya Kane
Penn State Harrisburg
Transcriptomics Analysis of the Effect of Cold and Salt Stressed Camelina sativa

Michelle Kilmer
Eberly College of Science
Impact of Rcs Phosphorelay for E. coli Cells That Show Increased Resistance Against Beta-Lactam Antibiotics

Do Young Kim
College of Engineering
Identification and Quantification of Factors Affecting the Spheroid Size in 3D Cell Structure

Tim Kunz
Eberly College of Science
Visualizing and Understanding Chromatin Interactions Using Self Organizing Maps

Harvey Li
College of Engineering
Inducing Chondrogenesis in Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Paige Lynch
College of the Liberal Arts
An Examination of Children's Roles in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age of Eastern Spain

Yuezhou Lyu
Eberly College of Science
Edge Transport of Photons in a Lieb Lattice

Benjamin Mathews
College of Engineering
Impact of Swirl Flow Fluctuations and Flame Oscillations on Combustor Cooling Effectiveness

Vivianne Mazzocco
College of the Liberal Arts
Tempo of Prenatal Cranial Development

Christopher Miller
College of Engineering
Low-Cost Autonomous Wheelchair Localization and Integration of Human and Brain-Computer Interface Methods

Juan Mogoginta
College of Agricultural Sciences
Anti-inflammatory Activity of Tempeh in a Model of Colon Cancer

Benjamin Nason
College of Agricultural Sciences
Effects of Light and Manganese Toxicity in A. thaliana Tissues

Sara Orr
College of Engineering
The Development of Electrospun Biodegradable Meshes for Hernia Repair

Kayla Paulosky
College of Agricultural Sciences
Determining the Role of the Branched Chain Keto-acid Dehydrogenase (BCKDH) in P. falciparum

Emily Pearlman
College of Health and Human Development
Does Infant Activity Level Predict Rapid Weight Gain?

Gretchen Perhamus
College of the Liberal Arts
PTSD and Postpartum Depression in the NICU: Prevalence and Contributing Factors

Emily Pia
College of Health and Human Development
The Influence of Deceptive Front-of-Package Health Claims on Parental Food Purchasing Patterns

Alexandra Riehl
College of Agricultural Sciences
Mother Knows Best: Understanding the Mechanisms of How Maternal Stress Influences Offspring Phenotype in Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus)

Erin Sacksteder
College of the Liberal Arts
Disrupted Eye-Gaze Following: An Endophenotype of Autism

Kimberly Schmid
College of Earth and Mineral Science
Recognition and Importance of Relict Periglacial Pingo Scars as Biodiversity Hotspots and Headwater Recharge Zones in the Valley and Ridge Physiographic Province, Pennsylvania

Daniel Schultz
College of Engineering
Assessing the Temporal Inequality of Nutrient Loads to the Chesapeake Bay

Ryan Shaner
College of Agricultural Sciences
Examining the Physiological Effects of Dicistroviridae and Iflaviridae Viruses on Apis mellifera

Timothy Sullivan
College of the Liberal Arts
The Influence of Emotion Inexpression and PTSD on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration

John Swab
College of Earth and Mineral Science
After the Fire: Examining the Reemergence of the Business District in Early 20th Century Baltimore and San Francisco

Mark Travor
Eberly College of Science
PP2A Cytoskeletal Interactions in Drosophila

Erin Vrana
Eberly College of Science
Investigation of Gene Regulation During Malaria Transmission

Anna Wing
Eberly College of Science
The Role of Transcription-coupled DNA Repair Proteins in mRNA Degradation

Megan Wisniewski
College of the Liberal Arts
The Effects of Household Structure on Educational Attainment in Ghana

Jacob Wisser
Eberly College of Science
Growth and Characterization of Thin Film Thermoelectric Superlattices

Rachel Wolfe
College of Engineering
The Effects of a Fiber Matrix on Adherens Junctions and Localization of β-Catenin

Hang Yang
College of Engineering
Vehicle Road Departure Detection and Trajectory Recovery

Stephen Zimmerer
College of Arts and Architecture
Architecture and Ecologies of Urban Trees