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