The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has awarded stipends to 147 undergraduates to participate in research with a faculty mentor this summer.
Nebraska’s Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) Program supports undergraduates to work with faculty mentors in research or creative activities. Undergraduate students receive stipends of $2,400 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.
The students also will have opportunities to participate in mentoring workshops and activities with undergraduates from other institutions who are participating in Nebraska’s Summer Research Program. In August, both groups of students will present posters on their research and creative activities at a campus research symposium.
Learn more about undergraduate research at Nebraska.
The following is a list of students by hometown who received summer UCARE awards, with their academic major(s) and project title.
Nebraska:
Ainsworth: Ethan Johnson, mechanical engineering, “Matching Control Schemes to Applications.”
Ashland: Quinn Fricke, psychology, “Peer Victimization and Parental Response.”
Auburn: Tyler Barker, computer engineering, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team.”
Beatrice: Allison Carothers, animal science, and fisheries and wildlife, “Feeding Methods for Head Starting in Juvenile Bull Snakes (Pituophis catenifer).”
Blair: Benjamin Larsen, political science, “A History of Decolonization: World History in Local and Regional Archives”; McKenzie Taylor, interior design, “Outpatient Clinic Design to Support Emerging Collaborative Workflow: A Comparison of the Onstage/Offstage and Linear Modules”; Holly White, fisheries and wildlife, and environmental studies, “An Observational Study of Undergraduate Teaching in CASNR.”
Broken Bow: Grayson Minnick, mechanical engineering, “Investigation of Laser-Driven Free Electron Laser.”
Columbus: Matthew Greiner, water science and environmental restoration science, “Milkweed Characteristic in Nebraska Agricultural Land: A Focus on Monarch Butterflies Health”; Nicholas McElhose, meteorology-climatology, “A Wind Speed Climatology for Drones.”
Cortland: Sophia Kisling, microbiology and biochemistry, “Impact of Dietary DHA in Ready-To-Use Supplemental Foods on Pregnancy and Infancy in Food Insecure Populations in Zambia.”
Elkhorn: Samuel Gerdes, biological systems engineering, “Analyzing the Effect of Bioprinter Settings on the Quality of Three-Dimensionally Printed Biological Tissues.”
Fremont: Anya Morozov, biological sciences, “Investigating Student Expectations and Transitions in Introductory STEM Courses.”
Grand Island: Fatima Barragan, mathematics, “Finer Understanding of Those Undergraduate Minorities and Measuring Student Success with University Resource, OASIS”; Lizeth Fraire, psychology, “Differences Between Service Usage and Experiences between LGBTQ and Straight Survivors”; Maricela Paramo, civil engineering, “Creating and Assessing New Disability-Based Technology to Combat Ableism”; Juana Paramo Reyes, international business and accounting, “Synthetic Control Methods for Research Study: Estimating the Effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement”; Cody Willnerd, environmental studies, “Gaining a Systems Perspective on Pastoralist Settlement Impacts Within Sibiloi National Park, Northwestern Kenya.”
Gretna: Rebecca Human, English and political science, “Evaluating Parent Perception of Fairness in the Douglas County FIRST Court”; Nathan Ray, physics and mathematics, “Design of a Magnetic Chicane for Use in Determining Chirp of a Relativistic Electron Beam.”
Herman: Fiona Shogren, biological sciences, “Higher Order Learning Ability of the Amblypygi, Phrynus marginemaculatus.”
Hickman: Rachel Van Cott, chemical engineering, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team.”
Holdrege: Logan Piening, biological systems engineering, “Creation of an Injectable ECM for Tissue Engineering of the Intervertebral Disc.”
Kearney: Hyunji Jhi, art and computer science, “The George Eliot Digital Archive Project”; Cole Kovarik, global studies, Spanish and political science, “A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Religious Belief Change and Adjustment in University Students.”
La Vista: Haley DeWitt, biological sciences, “Health Communication”; Amanda Lewis, biochemistry, “Identification of the Heparin/Antisense Oligo Binding Domain in Stabilin-2”; Parker Pombrio, physics, “Investigation of Laser-Driven Free Electron Laser.”
Lincoln: Alexander Batelaan, chemistry and physics, “Electropolymerization of Substituted Phenols for Passivation”; Isabelle Brehm, interior design, “Outpatient Clinic Design to Support Emerging Collaborative Workflow: A Comparison of the Onstage/Offstage and Linear Modules”; Brian Bulin, advertising and public relations, “Utilizing Social Media Platforms to Engage Younger Generations of Czech-Americans in Nebraska”; Chloe Christensen, food science and technology, “Effect of Gastrointestinal Environment on the Persistence of Fermented Food Microbes”; Hung Chu, computer science, “A Software Application for Improving Performance in Large Undergraduate Classes”; Shardhat Daggumati, chemical engineering, “Optimizing the Interactions of a Two-Member Microbial Community of Methylobacter and Methylomonas”; Cole Dempsey, mechanical engineering, “Safe Joint Mechanism for Human-Robot Interaction”; Walker Dimon, mechanical engineering, “Supporting Study to Transform En-Route Care System”; Jeffrey Gabell, biological sciences and biochemistry, “Exploring the Effects of FATP2 Gene Deletion on Fatty Acid-Responsive Gene Expression in Liver”; Margaret Gies, architectural studies, “Design for Decline”; Ashli Glosser, pre-health and nursing, “Development and Evaluation of Interactive E-Learning Modules on College Students Understanding and Application of Pathophysiologic and Pharmacologic Principles”; Rachel Gordon, English and political science, “Collaborative Digital Literary Archive Development: The George Eliot Archive”; Duane Green, economics and mathematics, “Entrepreneurship: The Fuel for Economic Growth”; Kaustubh Gupta, computer science, “Analysis of Mobile Payment Application for Security Vulnerabilities”; Anna Gutmann, interior design, “Outpatient Clinic Design to Support Emerging Collaborative Workflow: A Comparison of the Onstage/Offstage and Linear Modules”; Thomas Hafner, mechanical engineering, “Turbulent Drag Reduction via Spanwise Body Forces”; Victoria Hinrichs, microbiology, “Targeting the Biosynthesis of Mycobacterial Peptidoglycan Precursors in Search of Novel Targets for Drug Development and Vaccines”; Hallie Hohbein, software engineering, “Building a Combinatorial Testing Tool for KBASE”; Claude Iradukunda, integrated science, “Elucidating the Physiological Effects of Resonant Leaders”; Grant King, mechanical engineering, “Additive Manufacturing: Polymer and Metal Parts Correct as You Build”; Aliya Kunikeeva, biological systems engineering, “The Role Mechanical Stress in Adhesive Junctions Play in Cell Adhesion”; Jessica Larsen, architectural studies, “Steven Holl and Phenomenology”; Lam Le, biological sciences, “Examining the Experiences and Beliefs of Asian Parents in Nebraska”; Tina Le, secondary English (7-12), “Increasing Motivation in High School Students through Secondary-College Public Writing Partnerships”; Tony Le, biochemistry, “Optimizing the Interactions of a Two-Member Microbial Community of Methylobacter and Methylomonas”; Lauren Lesiak, chemistry and biochemistry, “Synthesis and Evaluation of Nebraska Red Derivatives for Protein Labeling Studies”; Claire Maaliao, chemical engineering, “Understanding Stress Response Mechanism in Rice”; Madeline Maschka, biological sciences, “Evaluation of the Pap Smear for Cervical Cancer Screening in Tanzania”; Gloria Mwiseneza, integrated science, “Elucidating the Physiological Effects of Resonant Leaders”; Nancy Nguyen, biochemistry, “Determining the Mechanism of Action of the Antifungal Falcarindiol”; Tung Nguyen, chemical engineering, “Antibacetrial Coatings from Polysiloxanes”; Zeta Nguyen, mechanical engineering, “Wireless Inertial Measurement Unit”; Alejandro Pages, computer science, “Evaluating the Application of Deep Learning Approaches to Image-Based Phenotype Extraction”; Hessan Sedaghat, mechanical engineering, “Development and Integration of an Autonomous Robotic System for Harvesting Apples in Simulated Environments”; Lee-Ann Sims, global studies and political science, “To Enter Africa from America: U.S. Empire, Race and the African Question, 1847-1919”; Stephan Sutter, biological sciences and biochemistry, “Elucidating Inter-Protein Interactions of Archaeal Chromatin Proteins”; Serena Tenhumberg, biological systems engineering, “Hyperglycemia Inhibits Endothelial Cell Sensing of Atheroprotective Mechanical Stimulation”; Paige Thompson, speech-language pathology, “Infant Communication Lab”; Molly Thornbrugh, pre-speech-language pathology and communication disorders, “Peer Victimization and Parental Response”; BaoLong Truong, chemical engineering, “Self-Assembling Nanoluciferase Fragments as Probes for Alpha-Synuclein Aggregation”; Megan Witcig, nursing, “Development and Evaluation of Interactive E-Learning Modules on College Students Understanding and Application of Pathophysiologic and Pharmacologic Concepts”; George Zambrano, landscape architecture, “Landscape Performance Case Study Investigation: Evaluating Post-Occupancy Sustainable Benefits of Constructed Urban Renewal Landscape Projects in Lincoln and Council Bluffs.”
Nebraska City: Jameson DeFreece, science (7-12), “Creating Research-Based Resources to Support Scientific Teaching Measurement and Implementation in Undergraduate Science Courses.”
North Platte: Carson Green, physics, “Fabrication of High Performance Photodetectors by Integrating Hybrid Halide Perovskite with Transition Metal Dichalcogenide 2D Electronics.”
Ogallala: Hayley Kaiser, political science, “Evaluating Parent Perception of the Lancaster County Family Treatment Drug Court Track”; Micah Most, animal science, “Fetal Programming of IUGR Muscle Stem Cell Function.”
Omaha: Gabriele Astorino, chemical engineering, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team”; Frederick Azalekor, biochemistry, “Association of Microbial Nitrogen Fixers in Prairie Soil with Trypsacum Dactyloides and Their Possible Effect on the Growth of Corn”; Jacob Berggren, political science, “Superheroes, Safety and Social Policy: Induced Levels of Physical Security May Produce Greater Liberal Policy Preferences”; Emily Bremers, microbiology, “Creating Research-Based Resources to Support Scientific Teaching Measurement and Implementation in Undergraduate Science Courses”; Ethan Brush, mechanical engineering, “Safe Joint Mechanism for Human-Robot Interaction”; Sydney Corcoran, environmental studies, “Using Argon-39 as a Tracer to Determine Groundwater Age In Nebraska”; Giovanni Cruz Mojica, chemical engineering, “Probing Local Hydration Environment in Ion Exchange Polymers Under Nanoconfinement”; Megan Ekstrom, English, “The George Eliot Digital Archive Project”; Lily Foley, biological systems engineering, “Gelatin Nanoparticle Oral Gene Delivery System for Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases”; Ian Ghanavati, mechanical engineering, “Engineering a Smart Bandage Capable of On-Demand Delivery of Therapeutics”; Paurnima Ghotikar, chemical engineering, “Utilizing Biotrickling Filters to Reduce Water Consumption and Energy in Ethanol Plants”; Alexandra Hruby, biological systems engineering, “Text-to-Speech Development for Existing First Hope Initiative”; Kai Johnson, biochemistry, “An RNA Helicase Implicated in DNA Repair”; Drew Kortus, biological sciences, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team”; Emma Lonergan, biological sciences, “Supporting Study to Transform En-Route Care System”; Natalie Lucas, English and psychology, “Habeas Corpus and Legal Histories of the North American West”; Timothy McCaslin, computer engineering, “Volunteer Intelligent Task Allocation-Math Day”; Brooke Mott, classics and religious studies, and fisheries and wildlife, “An Observational Study of Undergraduate Teaching in CASNR”; Jordan Murman, biological sciences, “Lateral Habenula Involvement in Maternal Peripartum Stress”; Angel Olivera-Torres, biological systems engineering, “Researching Cell Adhesion Forces and Cell Growth in a 3-D Scaffold System”; Tomer Palmon, mechanical engineering, “Microfluidic Chip Design Used in the Study of Atherosclerosis”; Nathan Pettid, biological sciences and psychology, “Exercise and Psychological Well-Being”; Megan Ruckman, biological systems engineering, “Sensitization of Pediatric Brain Cancer Cells to Radiation by Nanoparticles”; Gregory Tracey, global studies and economics, “Impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the U.S. Economy”; Lauren Uhlig, environmental studies, fisheries and wildlife, and public health, “Drought Perception and Impacts on Outdoor Recreation in the Great Plains”; Lauryn Wengert, global studies, Spanish and political science, “Understanding Backlash to the International Criminal Court.”
Papillion: John Bowley, fisheries and wildlife, “Diurnal Pattern Recognition in Thermoregulation Behavior in Varying Soil and Water Temperatures in Yellowstone National Park of the Westsalts Tiger Beetle (Cicindela haemorrhagica)”; Meghan Caldwell, pre-health and nursing, “Development and Evaluation of Interactive E-Learning Modules on College Students Understanding and Application of Pathophysiologic and Pharmacologic Concepts”; Vida-Michelle Nixon, physics and mathematics, “Design of a Magnetic Chicane for use in Determining Chirp of a Relativistic Electron Beam.”
Peru: Nicholas Kite, biochemistry, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team.”
Potter: Rebekah Hutchinson, speech-language pathology, “Evaluating the Impact of Child Behaviors During Play on Parenting Behaviors for Preschool Children with Developmental Risk.”
Roca: Alexi Robertson, classics and religious studies, and classical languages, “Classics at the Capitol.”
Seward: Breanna Pekarek, nursing and psychology, “Development and Evaluation of Interactive E-Learning Modules on College Students Understanding and Application of Pathophysiologic and Pharmacologic Concepts.”
Sidney: Rose Nelson, microbiology, “Sensitization of Pediatric Brain Cancer Cells to Radiation by Nanoparticles.”
South Sioux City: Jade Moravec, food science and technology, “Effects of Resistant Starch on Host Physiology.”
Spalding: Ashley Glesinger, architectural studies, “Nazi Documentation Centers in Germany — Photographs, Drawings and Archival Materials.”
Syracuse: Aaron Halvorsen, psychology and biological sciences, “Changes in Hemodynamic Responses to Faces, Scenes and Objects in a Visual Statistical Learning Task: An fMRI Analysis.”
Tekamah: Nicholas Bohannon, nutritional science and dietetics, “Validation of Smartphone Application During Power Push-Up Test.”
Wahoo: Rebecca Virgl, interior design, “Outpatient Clinic Design to Support Emerging Collaborative Workflow: A Comparison of the Onstage/Offstage and Linear Modules.”
Yutan: Cody Feist, biological systems engineering, “Ultrasound Sonication as a Treatment for Heart Disease.”
ELSEWHERE:
Farmington, Arkansas: Joseph Broadway, mechanical engineering, “Optimising Magnetic Abrasive Finishing as a Means of Polishing Complex Metal Additively Manufactured Parts.”
Valencia, California: August McClenahan, physics, mathematics and mechanical engineering, “Building Fast and Accurate Heat Transfer Simulations for Metal 3-D printing.”
Castle Rock, Colorado: Abigail Lewis, special education (7-12), “The Structures Program Effectiveness Study.”
Centennial, Colorado: Madalyn Somer, chemical engineering, “Engineering Lipid Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery for Vitamin E to Treat Inflammation in Arterial Tissues.”
Colorado Springs, Colorado: Tyrell Williams, biological systems engineering, “3D Bioprinting of Nanoribbons for Muscle Tissue Engineering.”
Highlands Ranch, Colorado: Caleb Johnston, biological systems engineering, “Identification of Antioxidants that will Decrease Sensory Neuron Stimulation in the Intervertebral Disc.”
Thornton, Colorado: Finn Cassidy, biological sciences, “Investigation of Novel Phage Found in Soil around the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.”
Carroll, Iowa: Sydney Macke, psychology, “The Modern Medea.”
Hutchinson, Kansas: Colton Harper, computer science and mathematics, “Estimating the Energy Consumption of Engineered Communication Among Biological Cells: A Computational Approach.”
Leawood, Kansas: Sophie Brown, French, “To Enter Africa from America: U.S. Empire, Race and the African Question, 1847-1919.”
Lenexa, Kansas: Taylor DeMint, software engineering, “Constraint Systems Processing Applied to Minesweeper.”
Louisburg, Kansas: Whitney McDaniel, insect science, forensic science and biology, “Exploring the Effects of Pesticide Residues in Brood Comb on the Behaviors and Development of the Honey Bee, Apis mellifera.”
Merriam, Kansas: Douglas DeBose, classics and religious studies, and classical languages, “Creation of an Archive on the Epidaurus Festival.”
Wichita, Kansas: Spencer Jones, biochemistry, “Residues of SigA Essential in Binding with WhiB1 in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis.”
Eagan, Minnesota: Nicolette Holcomb, biochemistry, “Biological System for the Treatment of Nitrate and Atrazine from Groundwater in Rural Areas Using Immobilized Algae”; Hannah LoPresto, landscape architecture, “Landscape Performance Case Study Investigation: Evaluating Post-Occupancy Sustainable Benefits of Constructed Urban Renewal Landscape Projects in Lincoln and Council Bluffs.”
Maple Grove, Minnesota: Claire Patnode, psychology, “Peer Victimization and Parental Response.”
Lee’s Summit, Missouri: Elly Glazier, nutritional science and dietetics, “The Effect of Increased Dietary Protein on Body Protein Breakdown and Anabolic Sensitivity of Bone and Skeletal Muscle During Calorie-Restricted Weight Loss.”
North Canton, Ohio: Nicole Tank, veterinary science, “Effect of Reduced Endogenous GnRHR-II Levels on Porcine Luteal Cells.”
Madison, South Dakota: Simone Droge, history and English, “Complete Letters of Willa Cather.”
Pierre, South Dakota: Emily Petersen, forensic science and biochemistry, “Use of the CRISPR-Cas System to Study the Effects of Farnesol and Antibiotics that Block Ergosterol Synthesis in Candida albicans.”
Changchun, China: Mi Zhou, nutritional science and dietetics, “Regulation of n-3 PUFA on Progesterone to Modulate Pregnancy-Mediated Loss of Brown Thermogenesis.”
Hangzhou, China: Chi Zhang, civil engineering, “A Versatile, Cost-Effective System for High-Definition Flow Measurements.”
Jinan, China: Rongsong Yang, computer science and mathematics, “Computing Plant Phenotypes Using Computer Vision.”
Tianjin, China: Tamayo Zhou, actuarial science and finance (banking and risk management), “Elucidating the Physiological Effects of Dissonant Leaders.”
Wuxi, China: Jianfei Shao, computer science and mathematics, “Network Path Capacity Comparison Without Accurate Packet Time Information”; Di Zhao, computer science and mathematics, “Limitations of Emulating Realistic Network Environments for Internet Applications Debugging.”
Giza, Egypt: Mohamed Aly, computer engineering, “A Software Application for Improving Performance in Large Undergraduate Classes.”
Amritsar, India: Sanat Bhandari, computer science and mathematics, “Identifying Places of Unrest from Twitter Data.”
Hyderabad, India: Shreeya Vaitla, computer engineering, “UNL International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) Team.”
New Delhi, India: Achintya Handa, computer engineering, “Protecting IoT Devices from Malicious Intrusions.”
Vadodara, India: Ayush Mishra, computer science, “Identifying Security Vulnerabilities Among Internet of Things Smart Speakers.”
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Vy Doan, computer science, “Application for Social Media Users To Check Accuracy of News Report And Prevent Spread of Fake News.”
