The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics sponsored the annual Research Appreciation Week program to highlight scholarly accomplishments of female graduate and undergraduate students as well as faculty. Women in Mathematics, Science, and Technology was held on Monday, April 3.
The program includes a poster competition
for women scientists and a panel discussion about women in STEM fields.
Patricia Hilliard-Robertson
Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Female Science Student
The Patricia Hilliard-Robertson
Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Female Science Student is given annually, and the 2017 recipient was Jakyra Simpson, a chemistry pre-pharmacy major.
The scholarship
was established as a living legacy for Dr. Patty Hilliard-Robertson, a 1985 graduate
of IUP from Homer City who died May 24, 2001, in Houston.
In the summer of
2001, Hilliard-Robertson had been assigned as a crew-support astronaut for
the Expedition Two crew that was preparing for service aboard the International
Space Station.
Simpson is also
the recipient of the Edward Brown Memorial Scholarship and the IUP Chemistry
Academic Achievement Award. She is in the McNair Scholars program at IUP, which
is designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctoral studies through
involvement in research and other scholarly activities.
She is a member of
the American Chemical Society, Alpha Chi Sigma, Residential Hall Council, IUP
Boxing Club, and the National Society of Leadership and Success.
This year’s
panelists were three IUP alumnae: Sally Amero, who serves as National
Institutes of Health review policy officer; Donna Olejniczak, project manager
at Noveome Biotherapeutics, Inc.; and Mary Sewatsky, chief medical officer
and patient safety officer at Moses Taylor Hospital, Scranton.
College-Level Poster Session Awards
This year, a total
of 45 students presented 38 posters judged by a panel of IUP faculty. Winners
and their projects were:
Graduate Student Awards
- First
place: Elisabeth Smith, a biology and nutrition major from Indiana,
“Effects of the Antihistamine Fexofenadine on Body Fat, Glucose and Body
Weight: Impact of Dietary Fat Type and Pre-Drug Run-in Period;” research
project advisor, Dan Widzowski.
- Second
place: Karli Rogers, a biology major from Philadelphia, “Assessment of
Brook Trout Passage through Ambiguous Culvert Barriers in Pennsylvania
Headwater Streams;” research project advisor, David Janetski.
- Third
place: Kusuma Anand, a biology major from Slippery Rock, “The Importance
of Gender and Reward Contingencies in Auditory Discrimination Tasks for
the Zebra Finch;” research project advisor, Paul Nealen.
Undergraduate Student Awards
- First
place: Mary Chey, a biology major from Lebanon, “qPCR Analysis of Tomato
Mosaic Virus (ToMV) Viral RNA from Different Environmental Substrates;” research
project advisors, N. Bharathan and Seema Bharathan.
- Second place: Christina Maziarz, a biology major from Spring City, “Chronic
administration of a clinically relevant dose of H2 antagonist ranitidine
to female mice has no effect on body weight or abdominal fat accumulation;”
research project advisor, Dan Widzowski.
- Third place: Anna Manges, a biology major from Indiana, “Water Mite Parasitism of the
Asian Bush Mosquito and Asian Tiger Mosquito: A Putative Vector of Zika
Virus;” research project advisor, Tom Simmons.
Science Education
Award
Korey Dailey, a biology education major from Dingmans Ferry, “The Effects of Nearpod on Student Learning in
a Keystone Biology 9 Class;” research project advisor, Holly Travis.
Best
Computational Science Poster
Gerneleh Paye, a biology pre-med major from
Folcroft, “Sex Differences in the Circadian Effects of Adolescent Alcohol
Exposure;” research project advisor, Christina Ruby.
High School Poster Session Awards
In addition to the
IUP students, seven Indiana Area High School students participating in the
Science Club Research Collaboration Project, coordinated by Holly Travis, also
presented their work during the poster competition.
Three high school posters
were selected as the most outstanding: Layan Jouhari, “The Fungus Among Us”
(IUP research project advisor is N. Bharathan); Shane Moran, “Fresh vs.
Frozen: A Study of Insect Growth” (IUP research project advisor is Holly
Travis); and Tian Schiera “Comparison of AMF Diversity in Goldenrod Roots” (IUP
research project advisor is Ellen Yerger).
Photo Information: From left, Ilse
Hilliard, mother of the late Patricia Hilliard-Robertson; Jakyra Simpson, the
2017 winner of the Patricia Hilliard-Robertson Memorial Scholarship for
Outstanding Female Science Student; and Deanne Snavely, dean of the College
of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at IUP