Category: Research

Chemistry Grad Student Receives NSF Fellowship for Summer Research in China

AsiaDouglas Smith will be traveling to Beijing this summer, courtesy of the National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. Smith, who is earning his MS in Chemistry, received the EAPSI fellowship to conduct research at Beijing Technological University.

Smith started his research career as an undergraduate, working with Assistant Professor Lanrong Bi (Chemistry). After he completed his BS in Pharmaceutical Chemistry, she continued as his advisor.

Read more at Tech Today.

Two From CLS Among Top 25 Psychology Professors in Michigan

Kedmon HungweAssociate Professor of Teacher Education Kedmon N. Hungwe and Assistant Professor of Psychology Edward T. Cokely have been named among the top 25 psychology professors in Michigan.

Hungwe is the Cognitive and Learning Sciences Director at Michigan Tech. His research interests include youth and adolescent development and science education.

Cokely received the Raymond S. Nickerson Best Paper Award, sponsored by the American Psychological Association, for his co-authored paper.

Edward Cokely Read more at the CLS News Blog.

Ninth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum Winners

ESC BRC Research ForumThe Ecosystem Science Center and the Biotechnology Research Center announced award recipients of the Ninth Annual ESC/BRC Student Research Forum, held March 27. For the graduate students, two Grand Prize Awards and six Merit Awards were presented.

One of the Grand Prizes went to Ramkumar Mohan, a graduate student in Biological Sciences.

There were four Merit Awards to grad students in Biological Sciences: Komal K. Bollepogu Raja, Brian Danhoff, Anthony Matthys, and James Olson.

Undergraduate Jade Oritz in Biological Sciences was awarded one of the Grand Prizes for undergraduate research.

Read more at Tech Today.

SURF Awards 2013

SURF 2013This summer, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) will fund 26 students from across the University with funds from the Vice President for Research, the Honors Institute, the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, the Earth Planetary and Space Sciences Institute, and the Department of Physics. The total funding for the program this year is $85,800.

From Tech Today.

Recipients from Physics are Joseph Charnawskas, Mick Small, Angela Small, and Kevin Rocheleau. Audra Winter in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Madeline Topitzes in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are SURF 2013 award recipients. Marie Rene Mets in Exercise Science, Michael Johnson III in Mathematics, Kimberly Stanke in Computational and Applied Mathematics, and Adam Cary in Biological Sciences will also receive awards.

World Water Day Poster Awards

Miles CorcoranThe Center for Water & Society World Water Day poster competition was held at the Great Lakes Research Center on Thursday March 21, 2013. Awards were made in two categories: Original Research (presentation of thesis or project research) and Coursework/Informational (presentation of coursework or literature-based research). CWS Faculty presented a showcase of CWS research, followed by A dinner in the Atrium overlooking the lake.

Miles Corcoran received the First Place Award Original Research for “Respiration and Consumption Rates of Lake Superior Diporeia.” His advisor is associate professor of biological sciences Nancy Auer.

Nancy Auer’s BL4465 Biological Oceanography class placed first in the Coursework/Informational category:

First Place
“Plastic and Pharmaceutical Accumulation in the Great Lakes: A Local Problem with Global Impacts”
Presenter: Barbara Michel, BL4465 Biological Oceanography (Barbara Michel, Jade Ortiz, Amanda Miller, Kyle Schueller, Melissa Patterson, Eryn Grupido, Eric Dipping, Erin Collins)
Advisor: Nancy Auer

Many excellent posters were presented at World Water Day 2013.

Undergraduate Research Expo 2013

URE 2013The Undergraduate Research Expo, will be held this Friday, March 22, 2013, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Rozsa Lobby. Twenty-one undergraduates from ten different departments and schools will be represented this year. “The Honors Institute created this expo to increase awareness of, participation in, and respect for undergraduate research opportunities at Michigan Tech,” said Honors Institute President Andrew Hoekstra.

Read more at Tech Today.

Confocal Microscope for Chemistry

Confocal MicroscopesLanrong Bi and her research group in the Department of Chemistry will be acquiring an Olympus confocal microscope, which uses lasers and high-end optics to take 3D images of cells, tissue and nanomaterials, without destroying the sample.

The scientists decided to do something about it. They began checking into equipment and rallied support from faculty, chairs and administrators, in particular the dean of sciences and arts.

“We are extremely appreciative of Dean Seely for being our strongest support in times of need,” Bi wrote in her Christmas missive. “His leadership and extraordinary ability to get things done are an inspiration to us all.”

Read more at Tech Today, by Marcia Goodrich.