Graduate Student Research Grants Awarded

  • Recent Graduate Student Research Grant Award recipients and their projects:

    Spring Semester 2015
    Name
    		Dept/Program Project Title
    		Award
    Leigh Campetti
    		Applied Archaeology, MA 
    		A Predictive Model for the Archaic/Woodland Transition in Isle Royale National Park, Michigan
    		$1,000
    Thomas Firneno
    		Biology, MS 
    		Species Delimitation in Sympatric and Parapatric Distributions of Mesoamerican Toads Utilizing nDNA and Electrophoretic Protein Profiling
    		$1,000
    Jennifer Follett
    		English, PhD, Composition and TESOL
    		How Writing Center Tutors Respond Cognitively, Emotionally and Behaviorally to Student Writers' Expressions of Negative Emotions Associated with Academic Writing
    		$1,000
    Kevin Gubbels
    		Applied Archaeology, MA 
    		Investigating Fire-Cracked Rock at Monongahela Sites: An Experimental Approach
    		$515
    Timothy Hummel
    		Biology, MS 
    		Molecular Detection of the Eastern Hellbender in Pennsylvania Streams
    		$971
    Adam Matz
    		Criminology, PhD 
    		Enhancing Community Supervision: A Unified Voice for Community
    		$1,000
    Amanda Rasmussen
    		Applied Archaeology, MA
    		An Analysis of the Archaeological Remains at Fort Halifax Park
    		$950
    Adam Wassel
    		English, PhD, Literature and Criticism
    		More than Murderers: Confronting Perpetrators in Holocaust Fiction
    		$1,000
    Fall Semester 2014
    Name
    		Dept/Program Project Title
    		Award
    Kayla Bennett
    		Art, MFA 
    		Relationship Series
    		$497
    Laura Ellis Applied Archaeology, MA 
    		Investigating the Orchard Site: A Protohistoric Fort Ancient Site in West Virginia
    		$1,000
    Laura Gilman
    		Psychology, PsyD 
    		Common Profiles and Clinical Utility of the MMPI-2RF in Competency to Stand Trial Evaluation
    		$900
    Michael Itgen
    		Biology, MS 
    		Integrative Taxonomic Reassessment of Salamanders of the Lenca Highlands of Honduras
    		$1,000
    Vishal Keshari
    		Biology, MS 
    		Molecular Function of the lhx 1 a Transcription Factor
    		$970
    Catherine Krygeris
    		Biology, MS 
    		Conservation and Management for Two Critically Endangered Anurans from the Cordillera de Celaque, Honduras
    		$1,000
    Janelle Newman
    		English, PhD, Composition and TESOL
    		Discourse Analysis of the Recontextualization of Educational Discourse Affecting the Parent Involvement of Families of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity
    		$570
    Daniel Peles
    		Biology, MS 
    		Determining Mycobacterium avium Host Immune Response Evasion: Serovar 8 and its Significance in Phagosome-Lysosome Fusion
    		$1,000
    Jessica Showalter
    		English, PhD, Literature and Criticism
    		Archival Research for the Lowell Biglow Papers Digital Edition
    		$730
    Spring Semester 2014
    Name
    		Dept/Program Project Title
    		Award
    Thomas Firneno
    		Biology, MS 
    		Species Delimitation in Mesoamerican Toads: Phylogenetic Systematics and Electrophoretic Protein Profiling of Paratoid Venom
    		$1,000
    Jennifer Rinkevich
    		Curriculum and Instruction, EdD 
    		The Relationship Among Student Creativity, Curiosity, and Academic Intrinsic Motivation: A Mixed Methods Phenomenological Study of Sixth Grade Students
    		$808
    Galen Smith
    		Applied Archaeology, MA 
    		An Experimental Approach to Identifying Prehistoric Netting Technologies in the Delaware River Valley
    		$886
    Katie Turner
    		Applied Archaeology, MA 
    		An Examination of Late 18th Century Forts: A Pennsylvania Typology
    		$767
    Alexander Wiredu
    		Biology, MS 
    		Biomarkers in the Chemotaxonomy of Rhizoctonia solani species complex performing LC/MS metabolite profiling
    		$1,000
    Fall Semester 2013
    Name
    		Dept/Program Project Title
    		Award
    Hopeton Bailey
    		Biology, MS A Multigenerational Study of the Effect of Stressors on the Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) $1,000
    Tyler Kulp
    		Music, MA 
    		Six-Mallet Marimba $780
    Ashlee Long
    		Biology, MS 
    		Development of Nucleic-acid Probe to Detect Novel Viral Sequences from select Isolate of Rhizoctonia solani
    		$1,000
    Darin McNeil
    		Biology, MS 
    		A Comparison of Golden-winged Warbler Use and Nesting Success in Forested Wetlands and Upland Timber Harvests
    		$1,000
    Danna Rzecznik
    		Art, MFA Glaze Development with Mason Stains and Gold Lustre $982
    Erika Stearly
    		Art, MFA 
    		Take A Painting $891
    Chiao-thong Yong
    		Psychology, PsyD The Psychological Screening of Chinese-Speaking International Students $324
    Spring Semester 2013
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Jessica Showalter

    English PhD
    Literature and Criticism

    		American Minstrelsies: Passing and Performance $1,000
    Tobechukwa Ukah Biology MS Generation of a Transgenic Zebrafish Line to Characterise Kidney Injury and Regeneration $982
    Justin Gross Biology MS Monitoring the Response of Allegheny Woodrat (neotoma magister) Population to Habitat Management in Pennsylvania $585
    Lydia DeHaven Archaeology MA The Squirrel Hill Site: A Geophysical Investigation and Reevaluation of a Monongahela Site $1,000
    Courney Nicks Biology MS The Use of Landscape Genetics to Determine Factors Facilitating Fisher Recolonization $1,000
    Linda Herrera Criminology MA When Men Leave Al Otro Lado (to the Other Side) of the Border: Voices of Mexican Women $800
    Emily Sciulli Art MFA The One Good Thing Project: Socially Engaged Art as Community Outreach $338
    Erika Farester Administrative and
    Leadership Studies
    PhD    		 Assessing Stress and Coping among Federal Probation Officers $1,000
    Paul Kelly Biology MS Generation of a Zebrafish Transgenic Line that can be used as a Genetic Tool to Fate Map Kidney Stem Cells in the
    Zebrafish (Danio rerio)     		$839
    Erika Stearly Art MFA Properties of Encaustic Paint and Strategies for Integration with Other Materials $546
    Victoria Westin
    Harding    		 Archaeology MA A Spatial Analysis of the Ripley Archaeological Site $1,000
    Iman Abubaker Criminology MA Adapting to Stress in Alexandria, Egypt: Case Studies of Women during the Islamic Spring $500
    Matthew Dovey Biology MS Photoperiod Regulation of Mammalian Circadian Rhythms through Social Interactions and Aggression $500
    Nicolette Bell Administrative and
    Leadership Studies
    PhD    		 Motivation to Run: Using Fishbein and Aizen's Theory of Reasoned Action to Predict Participation in 5K Races $1,000
    Fall Semester 2012
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Erin Knisely Art MFA Traditional Jewelry Fabrication Techniques: Non-Traditional Materials $993
    Travis Ferry Biology MS The Effects of Parasitism by Larval Arrenurus danbyensis Water Mites on Adult Couillettidia perturbans Mosquito parity and Dispersal $995
    Tomoko Oda English PhD 
    Comp and TESOL    		 Imagined Communities, Participation and Identities in Study Abroad Experiences of College Students $1,000
    Sarah Ryan Psychology PsyD Accuracy and Confidence in Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations: A Comparison of Clinical and Legal Decision Making $873
    Emily Sciulli Art MFA The One Good Thing Project $43
    Garick Tai-Lee Art MFA Crystalline Glazes $844
    Lisa Weddell English MA
    Literature    		 A Sailor's Life is (not) for Me: Literature from the Seas and the Rise of National Identity $850
    Spring Semester 2012
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Ethan Cullen Biology MS Nutrient composition of Lepidoptera larvae in relation to host-plant: implications for insectivorous forest songbirds $900
    Carly Dunn English PhD
    Literature and Crit    		 Deirdre Madden and the Expanding Traditions in Irish Women's Literature $1,000
    Travis Ferry Biology MS The Effects of parasitism by Larval Arrenurus danbyensis Water Mites on Adult Coquillettidia perturbans Mosquito Parity and Dispersal $995
    Brian Farester Sociology PhD
    Admin and Leadrshp    		 Growing Up Working Class in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania: How Class Impacts Career and Educational Decisions $1,000
    Erin Knisley Art MFA Traditional Jewelry Fabrication Techniques: Non-Traditional Materials $993
    Callista Holmes Anthropology
    Archaeology MS    		 Modeling Magnetic Signatures of Sunken Ships: 1750-1900 $940
    Rebecca McDougall Biology MS Assessing the influence of habitat management on forest composition and population demographics of the Allegheny woodrat (neotoma magister) in Pennsylvania $815
    Amber Nolder Biology MS Effects of Logging Practices on Bats in a Managed Hardwood Forest $889
    Zachary Rhone English PhD
    Literature and Crit    		 Mythopoeic Worldviews: The Writings of George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, and the Inklings $1,000
    Lindsay Sabatino English PhD
    Comp and TESOL    		 Interactions of the Online Writing Center: A Student's Perspective $225
    Cheryl Sheridan English PhD
    Comp and TESOL    		 The Development of a Local Journal and its Role in a Discourse Community on the Periphery $618
    Christopher Weiss Student Affairs in Higher Ed MA Correlation Between Undergraduate College Students' Facebook Use and Co-Curriculum Involvement $105
    Fall Semester 2011
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Andrea Boon Anthropology
    Archaeology MS    		 A Faunal Analysis of the Eleventh Horizon of the Koster Site $640
    Laura Kaufman Anthropology
    Archaeology MS    		 What Difference Does 50 Years Make? An Examination of Faunal Remains from the Monongahela Johnston Village Site $969
    Laura King Criminology PhD The Simplicity and Complexity of Public Attitudes toward Sex Crimes $1,000
    David Kroskie Anthropology
    Archaeology MS    		 The Role of Small Habitation Sites in Monongahela Subsistence Settlement Patterns $1,000
    James McNabb Art MFA Exploring Creative Applications of Digital Manufacturing Technology $1,000
    Dana Poole English PhD 
    Comp and TESOL    		 Assessing the Impact of an Increased Knowledge of Student Writing Anxiety on Professors' Pedagogical Practices $328
    Emily Sciulli Art MFA The Craft of Handmade Paper in Contemporary Sculpture $895
    Spring Semester 2011
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Abdullah Al-Dagamseh English PhD
    Lit and Crit    		 Geopolitical Fractures: Representation and Resistance in the Literary Narratives of World Bank Literature $1,000
    Laura D'Acunto Biology MS Bat Activity and Species Composition of Pennsylvania Landscapes Infected with White-Nose Syndrome $1,000
    Mack Frantz Biology MS Breeding Habitat Use of Golden-winged Warblers in Pennsylvania $1,000
    Rebekah Keating Biology MS Lepidoptera Host Preference in a Temperate Forest Ecosystem $1,000
    Constance Kramer Counseling MA Cyberbullying: A Pilot Study $535
    Michael Muder Geography MS Spatial and Temporal Variations of Bacterial Densities in the Receiving Waters of Combined Sewer Overflows: The Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh $1,000
    Michelle Myers-Claypole Biology MS Isolation of Fusobacterium necrophorum: Associate Etiological Agent of Equine Hoof Abscess $1,000
    Kyle Nuske, Hiromi Kobata and Tomoko Oda English PhD,
    Comp and TESOL    		 An Examination of Japanese and English Written Language Proficiency in Japanese Native-Speaking Adolescents in Japan and the U.S. $1,000
    Rebecca Rosemeier Biology MS The Effects of Cyclic AMP on the Regulation of Biological Rhythms in Paramecium tetraurelia $887
    Kiel Shaley Chemistry, MS Structural Characterization of the SRS2 Protein $1,000
    Phillip Sharrow Chemistry, MS Preparation of Carbocycles by Intramolecular Cyclizations of Acyllithium Equivalents $981
    Chin Hong Siew Biology MS Strategic Approaches to cDNA Synthesis and Comparative Proteomics of Double-Stranded (ds) RNA infecting Rhizoctonia solani isolates $1,000
    Amy Swingle Psychology,
    PsyD    		 Undergraduate Student Parents: Stress, Role Conflict, and Coping $250
    Fall Semester 2010
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Ibrahim Ashour English PhD 
    Comp and TESOL    		 The EFL Enterprise in Syria: An Examination of Teachers' and Inspectors' Interactive Relationships, Beliefs, and Attitudes $1,000
    Jennifer Huck Criminology PhD Blue Ribbon Sentencing: Judicial Decision-Making and Situated Identities $1,000
    Angela Jalliet Anthropology MA Understanding Panenarium in the Present: Proposal for Research at Site 35ME235 and the Subsequent Presentation to the Public $1,000
    David Kroskie Anthropology MA The Role of Small Habitation Sites in Monongahela Subsistence-Settlement Patterns $1,000
    Seth Mitchell Anthropology MA Chronology of the Late Woodland Monongahela Tradition Johnston Village Site $1,000
    Kristin Swanton Anthropology MA Sacred Landscapes of the Pequot War: How Social Memory ahs Influenced Archaeological Research at the Battle of Mystic Fort $1,000
    Shannon Tanghe English PhD 
    Comp and TESOL    		 Transnational Teaching Development Collaboration $1,000
    Benjamin Tost Biology MS Kin recognition at the spiderling level in the common house spider Achaeraranea tepidariorum $334
    Spring Semester 2010
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Faith Bellinger and Stephanie Marczuk Food and Nutrition MS The Relationship between Regular Breakfast Consumption and Academic Performance, Attendance and Alertness among College Students $425
    Bifei Cao Art MFA Experimental Painting Methods in the Enamel Field $951
    Rebecca Chamberlin, Kathryn Jenney
    and Leah Zeman    		 Food and Nutrition MS The Power of Nutrition Information $215
    Joseph Grata Biology MS A Comparison of Golden-Winged Warbler Breeding Habitats in Northcentral Pennsylvania $210
    Melissa Jakubcak Biology MS The Feeding Habits of Red-Eyed Vireos as Discerned through CNB Barcoding $400
    Jonathan Libbon Anthropology MA Roosevelt's Forest Army: A Study of Consumer Behavior at a Civilian Conservation Corp $1,000
    Melissa Lingle-Martin English PhD
    Lit and Crit    		 Disfiguring Lady Justice: 19th Century American Women Writers' Visions of Justice $1,000
    Julie Mibroda Biology MS Understanding Factors that Influence the Distribution of the Endemic Shorthead Garter Snake in Northwestern Pennsylvania $1,000
    Tina Madison Peschock English PhD
    Lit and Crit    		 A Well-Hidden Secret: Harper Lee's Contribution to Truman Capote's In Cold Blood $976
    Katy Ringbloom Biology MS The Physical and Chemical Effects of Wolf Spiders on Pest Insects $342
    Heather Rininger Biology MS The Effects of Guanylate Cyclase (GC) on the Biological Rhythms of Paramecium tetrurelia $923
    Michael Romagano Art MFA Emergence $498
    Tina Rose Psychology PsyD Clinical Utility of Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Practitioner's Perspective $163
    Fall Semester 2009
    Name Dept/Program Project Title Award
    Elizabeth Campbell English PhD
    Comp. and TESOL    		 Being and Writing with Others: On the Possibilities of an Ethnographic Composition Pedagogy $500
    Carly Dunn English PhD
    Lit and Crit    		 The Irish Language: An Intensive Study $1,000
    Rachel Hagar Music MA
    History/Lit    		 An Overview of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Operatic Works, with Emphasis on Monna Vanna $500
    Yuan Hu Chemistry MS Na2(Zn,Co)Si04, A Promising Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor $1,000
    Jennifer James Criminology PhD Attitudes and Reality: The Impact of Perceptions of Police on Students' Victimization Reporting Behaviors $248
    Erica Kempler Art MFA Crystalline Glazes $881
    Emmanuelle Maryse Wambach Art MFA A Dreamlike Installation $500
    Erica Meyers Biology MS Identification of the Floal Scent Compounds Emitted bySymplocarpus foetidus $373
    Mickey Moffe Biology MS Influence of Metal Concentrations, Percent Salinity, and Length of Exposure on the Metabolic Rate of Golden Shiners $992
    James Nestor Art MFA Environmental Phenomenology $480
    Mike Stofiel Art MFA Sustainability in Furniture Design: Materials and Finishing $1,000
    Lauren Wheatall Biology MS The Effects of White-Tailed Deer Browing on Insect Diversity in the Allegheny Hardwood Forests $1,000
    Chad Whitaker Art MFA The New Pittsburgh Daguerreotypes $1,000
  • School of Graduate Studies and Research
  • Associate Dean for Research
    Stright Hall, Room 113
    210 South Tenth Street
    Indiana, PA 15705-1081
  • Phone: 724-357-7730
  • Fax: 724-357-2715
  • Office Hours
  • Monday through Friday
  • 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
  • 1:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.