114 Husker undergrads receive stipends for summer research projects

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has awarded stipends to 114 Husker undergraduates to participate in research with a faculty mentor this summer.

Nebraska’s Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences Program supports undergraduates to work with faculty mentors in research or creative activities. Students receive stipends of $2,640 to engage in intensive research or creative activity for 20 hours per week. The students’ projects span academic disciplines including engineering, chemistry, modern languages and literatures, psychology, art and art history, architecture, special education, and fisheries and wildlife.

Students from the Nebraska Summer Research Program and UCARE will present posters on their research and creative activities at a campus research symposium Aug. 6. For more information on undergraduate research at Nebraska, click here.

Following is a list of students by hometown who received summer UCARE awards, with their year in school, academic major(s) and project title.

Nebraska

Alvo:

• Hank Ball, senior, emerging media arts, “Speculative Devices Lab: Expanded Realities 3.0.”

Ashland:

• Nick Starns, senior, mathematics, “Fusion Numbers of Ribbon Knots.”

Beaver City:

• Kolby Hunt, sophomore, emerging media arts, “Animating History.”

Bellevue:

• Chelsea Hanway, senior, anthropology, “The Vikings in America.”
• Ava McQuillen, junior, fisheries and wildlife, “Genomic Patterns of Introgression and Hybridization in Light Geese.”

Bennington:

• Joiner Pfister, junior, chemistry, “Nanoparticle Necklace Network Living Transistor to Expedite Antibiotic Resistance Characterization.”

Blair:

• Grace Fowler, junior, speech-language pathology, “Exploring the Self-Efficacy of Parents of Children from 0-5 in Early Intervention.”
• Peter Lux, junior, mechanical engineering, “Polydopamine Coating of Nanoparticles for Increased Physical Properties in Liquid Metal.”

Cedar Bluffs:

• Hailey Anderson, junior, music, “Exploring the Gating Effect of Free-Standing PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 Membranes and van der Waals CuInP2S6 in Two-Dimensional MoS2.”

Columbus:

• Adam Kamrath, senior, computer engineering, “Long-Range High-Frequency RFID Communication System Design.”

Eagle:

• Hermione Lofton, senior, geology, “Mapping Sedimentary Thickness in the Northern Atlantic from Vintage Seismic Reflection Data.”

Elkhorn:

• Aiden Gnuse, junior, chemical engineering, “Structural Basis for the ResR-Dependent Transcriptional Regulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.”
• Sam Peterson, junior, chemical engineering, “Non-Alkaline Electrolytes for Zinc-Air Batteries.”

Elwood:

• Jo Sayer, junior, history, “2024-2025 Continuation of the Animating History Project.”

Firth:

• Ivette Lopez Quintana, senior, physics, “Monte Carlo Simulations of Electron Propagation.”

Grand Island:

• Lisa Fruehling, junior, English, “Fanny Fern in The New York Ledger.”
• Will Johnson, senior, chemical engineering, “Investigating the Ionomer-Catalyst Interaction in Nafion Thin Films Embedded with Platinum Nanoparticles.”

Gretna:

• Luke Schwaninger, junior, mechanical engineering, “Systematic Approach to Improve the Structural Integrity and the Mechanical Properties by Optimization of 3D Printing.”

Hastings:

• Caden Anderjaska, sophomore, biological sciences, “Brain Networks for Pre- and Beginning School-Aged Readers: A Resting-State fMRI Study.”
• Hunter Anderson, junior, nutritional science and dietetics, “Decontamination of Mustard Gas Research Proposal.”

Humboldt:

• Joe Stalder, junior, geology, “Understanding the Fire History of the Nebraska Sandhills Using a Lake Sediment Core from Dewey Marsh, Nebraska.”

Kennard:

• Josh Miller, senior, biological sciences, “The Impact of Obesity on Satellite Cells Action in the Skeletal Muscle.”

Lincoln:

• Yasir Almotawa, junior, computer science, “Development of Web Application for Transcriptome Assembly Analysis and Improvement of Next-Generation Assembly Methods.”
• Jasmine Amaya, senior, political science, “Nebraska Stories of Humanity Website.”
• Jacob Ashman, junior, computer engineering, “Identifying Risk and Disease Markers for Delirium.”
• Riley Brown, sophomore, mathematics, “Enumeration of Lozenge Tilings of a Hexagon with Holes.”
• Iris Bumgarner, sophomore, biological sciences, “The Impact of Woody Encroachment by Smooth Sumac on Prairie Environmental Conditions.”
• Tina Duong, senior, speech-language pathology, “Perspectives and First Impressions of Using Generative AI by Undergraduate Communication and Sciences Disorders Students.”
• Avery Florea, junior, biological systems engineering, “Wearable Ultrasound Device for Monitoring Blood Flow in the Middle Cerebral Artery.”
• Alex Gee, senior, emerging media arts, “Speculative Devices Lab: Expanded Realities 3.0.”
• Lincoln Graham, junior, emerging media arts, “Narrative Systems and Performative AI Part 3.”
• Trae Greve, senior, criminology and criminal justice, “Investigating the Relationship Between Drinking and Mental Health in College Students.”
• Ryleigh Grove, junior, plant biology, “Deciphering Dynamics and Adaptations in PACMAD Gene Family Evolutionary Patterns.”
• Cassidy Healey, junior, landscape architecture, “Creating Land-Based Commemorations.”
• Alaa Ismail, junior, computer science, “Equitable Access to Civil Justice: Interdisciplinary Research Project.”
• Olivia Jenkins, senior, emerging media arts, “Speculative Devices Lab: Expanded Realities 3.0.”
• Halfeen Khudada, senior, biochemistry, “Discovery of Small Molecules for Anti-Filovirus Infection by Targeting Receptor Binding Sites.”
• Andy Knopik, senior, women's and gender studies, “Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West.”
• Bharath Kumar Manchikanti, senior, computer science, “Differences in Microaggressions, Sense of Belonging and Self-Efficacy in Undergraduate Female Students across Software Engineering and Social Sciences.”
• Leo Lu, senior, biological sciences, “Testing for a Flight-Reproduction Trade-off in Male Wing-Dimorphic Variable Field Crickets, Gryllus lineaticeps.”
• Abby Lutjeharms, junior, speech-language pathology, “Exploring the Scoring Practices of Standardized Assessments for Children with Down Syndrome.”
• Chloe Mann, junior, civil engineering, “First-Generation Engineering Students: Passion vs. Stability.”
• Marissa Mendez-Santiago, junior, biochemistry, “Comparing the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species in the Presence of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.”
• Nia Meyer, junior, fisheries and wildlife, “Spatial Ecology of Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer) Unveiled: Insights from Radio Telemetry at Cedar Point Biological Station.”
• James Moeller, senior, psychology, “Alternatives to the Manosphere: An Analysis of Messages Appealing to Men Online.”
• Paige Myers, senior, chemistry, “Wild Bee Species Abundance and Floral Preference on University of Nebraska–Lincoln Campus.”
• Lilian Nguyen, junior, English, “(Re)Connections Through Time: Developing a Model for Multi-Modal Storytelling about Indigenous Communities and Their Collections.”
• Braxton Peters, junior, mechanical engineering, “The Effect of Housing Shape on the Vibration Mitigation Performance of a Nonlinear Vibration Absorber.”
• Jasmine Pham, sophomore, mathematics, “Understanding the Fire History of the Nebraska Sandhills Using a Lake Sediment Core from Dewey Marsh, Nebraska.”
• Noelle Pinneo, junior, English, “Advancing Fanny Fern in The New York Ledger.”
• Aram Pirali, sophomore, chemical engineering, “Fabrication of van der Waals Material Heterostructures with Emergent Quantum Transport Phenomena.”
• Taylor Powell, senior, art, “Abstraction, Distortion and the New Artistic Experience.”
• Dillon Richert, senior, psychology, “Stressful Aspects of Nature and Their Cognitive Implications.”
• Hannah Romell, senior, emerging media arts, “Speculative Devices Lab: Expanded Realities 3.0.”
• Bre Sabin, sophomore, biological sciences, “Characterization of C. elegans genes that Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Targets to Evade Host Insulin-Like DAF-2/16 Pathway Defenses.”
• Alora Schneider, senior, environmental studies, “Relationship between Species Rarity and Extinction Risk in Mammals.”
• Mayank Sharma, sophomore, computer science, “Engineering a Graph-Based Genome Visualizer for Viral Species.”
• Natasja Swanson, junior, history, “Anticolonials: A World History.”
• Rohan Tatineni, senior, biochemistry, “Crystallization and Mutagenesis of LaPhzS into a TetX-Like Enzyme.”
• Jacey Tran, sophomore, biological sciences, “Inactivation of RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Genes RDR3a, RDR3b and RDR3c in Arabidopsis thaliana Using Gene Editing.”
• Jenna Wakefield, junior, biochemistry, “Creating a Cross-Protective Vaccine for Canine Influenza with Adenoviral Vector Delivery System.”
• Elizabeth Westfahl, junior, electrical engineering, “Evaluation and Comparison of Multiomics Data Integration Using Probabilistic Graphs and Machine Learning.”

Odell:

• Korey Theye, senior, psychology, “On That Damn Phone So Much: Short-Form Media and its Effect on Attention.”

Omaha:

• Amara Bryant, senior, biological sciences, “Immune Senescence in Human Cytomegalovirus.”
• Emma Cavalier, senior, sociology, “Soldiers to Scientists: A Comparative Study of Educational Benefits in GI Bills, 1947-2001.”
• Caden Connealy, senior, biochemistry, “West Nile Virus Helicase Enzyme and its Effects on Viral Fidelity.”
• Grace Faltin, senior, speech-language pathology, “Exploring Caregiver Stress in Families Receiving Nebraska State-Funded Early Intervention.”
• Laura Kirshenbaum, senior, biochemistry, “Expanding the Dynamic Range of Methanosarcina acetivorans through Recombinant Expression of the T7 Promoter System.”
• Carsyn Loncke, junior, global studies, “Economic Impact of Immigrants and Refugees in Nebraska.”
• Kylee Matousek, senior, meteorology-climatology, “What is the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Deep Convection Initiation in the Eastern United States?”
• Jack Murphy, junior, mathematics, “Computational Insights into Pancreatic Cancer: A Model-Based Approach to Growth and Treatment.”
• Lim Puoch, junior, art, “Painting in Practice Studio Assistant and Professional Practices Mentorship.”
• Karen Rodriguez, senior, philosophy, “Consequences of and Solutions to Mitigate Perceived Fear of Deportation Among Immigrants in Nebraska.”
• Sam Sanketh, sophomore, mathematics, “Property Analysis in Connected Sums of Dimension Three Knots.”
• Veronica Sargbah, sophomore, architectural studies, “Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West.”
• Adam Schuhmacher, junior, biological sciences, “Examining The Reproductive Trade-offs of Ornate Box Turtles in Western Nebraska.”
• Palmer Wright, senior, biological sciences, “Mucosal Immune Pathways in Taste Papillae.”

Papillion:

• Hayley Moree, senior, biological sciences, “Determining if Palmitoleate Prevents Inflammation, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Apoptosis during West Nile Virus Infection.”
• Ethan Stowell, junior, computer science, “Geophysical Mapping and Tectonic Evolution of the Kolbeinsey Ridge.”

Ravenna:

• Rowan Havranek, junior, English, “Synthesizing Fanny Fern in The New York Ledger.”

Schuyler:

• Crystal Carrillo Lupercio, senior, Spanish, “Centering the Voices of Adults Living with Type 2 Diabetes and Functional Disability.”

Scottsbluff:

• Lauren Fleenor, junior, psychology, “Equitable Access to Civil Justice: Interdisciplinary Research Project.”

Seward:

• Claire Novak, senior, chemistry, “Mutations of the T7 RNA Polymerase to Increase RNA Yield and Purity.”

Waverly:

• Emma Smith, junior, speech-language pathology, “Exploring Pragmatic Language Skills in Youth with Down Syndrome.”

Elsewhere

Hensley, Arkansas:

• Bethany Sessions, junior, landscape architecture, “Grounding Heat: Measuring Urban Heat Using Handheld Devices.”

Ladera Ranch, California:

• Ayden Topping, junior, psychology, “Equitable Access to Civil Justice: Interdisciplinary Research project.”

Yorba Linda, California:

• Walt Arneal, junior, secondary education, “Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West.”

Fort Collins, Colorado:

• Kaylee Cunning, senior, civil engineering, “Evaluating the Use of Nebraska Agricultural Grain Bag Plastic Waste for Sustainable Asphalt Pavements.”

Lone Tree, Colorado:

• Emma Knezevic, senior, insect science, “Examining College Students’ Perceptions and Reactions Toward Spiders at a Midwestern Land-Grant University.”

Gooding, Idaho:

• Charlotte Brockman, senior, agronomy, “Exploring the Role of Women in Sustainable Agriculture Adoption in the United States and Abroad.”

Altoona, Iowa:

• Octave Kurth, senior, music, “Examining the Factors that may Contribute to Year-to-Year Reproductive Output in Female Ornate Box Turtles.”

Leavenworth, Kansas:

• Edward Stone, sophomore, chemical engineering, “Investigating Neisseria gonorrhoeae's Metabolic Mysteries Through Proteome-Integrated Modeling.”

Prairie Village, Kansas:

• Grace Helmuth, senior, architectural studies, “Daniel Libeskind's Pedagogy at Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1978-85.”

Wichita, Kansas:

• Audrey Denning, senior, psychology, “Validation of Excitatory Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs Using Biochemical Activation and Colocalization with Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Neurons.”
• McKenna Varlack, senior, psychology, “Women and Right-Wing Extremism.”

Chesterfield, Missouri:

• Chloe Ong, sophomore, biochemistry, “Identification and Characterization of Novel Metalloproteins at the Host-Pathogen Interface.”

Sioux Falls, South Dakota:

• Sam Goddard, senior, electrical engineering, “Evaluation and Comparison of Multiomics Data Integration Using Probabilistic Graphs and Machine Learning.”
• Truman Stoller, senior, mechanical engineering, “Thermal Management of Hotspots in Electronics via Pool Boiling with a Dielectric in Dually Functionalized Silicon for Energy Efficiency Enhancement.”

Allen, Texas:

• Ozzy Youngblood, sophomore, insect science, “Mating Practices and Rates of the Fishing Spider, Dolomedes striatus.”

McKinney, Texas:

• Emily Fitzpatrick, senior, mechanical engineering, “Improving Retention in Engineering: Understanding How Engineering Students’ Perspectives Influence their Experience in Statics.”

Plano, Texas:

• Anne Lammes, senior, meteorology-climatology, “The Impact of Weather on Recent U.S. Protests in the Washington, D.C., Area.”

Dhaka, Bangladesh:

• Sajid Raihan Akash, junior, physics, “Improve n(z) and Antenna Position Knowledge with Calibration Data from 2023 Field Season for the Radio Neutrino Observatory in Greenland.”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

• Luiza Zambelli, senior, nutritional science and dietetics, “The Role of miRNAs in Sarcopenia.”

Yueqing, China:

• Haoze Zheng, junior, computer science, “Sequence Motif Generator by Machine Learning on Phosphorylated Proteins.”

Mumbai, India:

• Ved Patel, junior, biological systems engineering, “The Impact of Obesity on Satellite Cells Action in the Skeletal Muscle.”

Ratlam, India:

• Kashish Syed, junior, computer science, “Explore the Parallelization Packages for R Programming.”

Karaj, Iran:

• Shaghayegh Rouhi, sophomore, data science, “Nonlocal Models for the Analysis of the Stock Prices.”

Milan, Italy:

• Rebecca Pecora, junior, biochemistry, “Identification of Small Molecule Inhibitors for Anti-Flavivirus Infection by Targeting RNA Polymerase.”

Ariana, Tunisia:

• Shams Hassiki, junior, physics, “Redesigning the Trigger System for the Askaryan Radio Array Detector.”

Hanoi, Vietnam:

• Arlie Nghiem, senior, microbiology, “Identification of Small Molecule Inhibitors for Anti-Flavivirus Infection by Targeting RNA Polymerase.”

Thanh Hoa, Vietnam:

• Linh Khanh Truong, senior, computer science, “Explore the Interpretability for Graph-Based Deep Learning Models in Gene Regulation.”