ND EPSCoR announces undergraduate research award winners
The North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR) announces the 2011 Advanced Undergraduate Research Award (AURA) winners at UND. The goal of AURA is to encourage undergraduate students to consider a career that involves research in science, engineering, or mathematics. AURA provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to participate in faculty-mentored research projects at the state’s two research universities. Participants are awarded up to $6,500 for full-time research activities during the summer session and for part-time research activities during the fall semester. Awardees are expected to apply for a nationally competitive undergraduate scholarship during their AURA experience. ND EPSCoR is a program supported by the National Science Foundation and the State of North Dakota at both UND and North Dakota State University.
UND AURA winners, their home towns, their faculty mentors, and the research projects in which they will participate are:
• Jaford Burgad, Fargo, ND, Dr. Wayne Barkhouse, Department of Physics & Astrophysics, “Mapping Galaxy Alignment Over Cosmic Time.”
• Derrick Deering, Sauk Rapids, MN, Dr. Yeo Howe Lim, Department of Civil Engineering, “Efficient Energy Use in Pump Water Supply Systems in Cold Region.”
• Jon Heimler, Colfax, WI, Dr. Turk Rhen, Department of Biology, “Genomic and Genetic Analysis of Temperature-dependent Sex Determination.”
• Amber Nielsen, New England, ND, Dr. Van Doze, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics, “Adrenergic Regulation of Neurogenesis & Cognitive Functions.”
• Devon Peightal, Bismarck, ND, Drs. Vasyl Tkach and Jefferson Vaughan, Department of Biology, “Bacterial endosymbionts within parasitic flukes.”
• Christopher Schaefer, Blooming Prairie, MN, Dr. Yun Ji, Department of Chemical Engineering, “Evaluation And Optimization of Biofuel Production from Sunflower Hulls using Central Composite Design Analysis.”
• Paige Scherer, Beulah, ND, Dr. Cindy Anderson, College of Nursing, “Maternal Dietary Intake during Pregnancy.”
• Rochelle Wickramasekara, Negombo Western, Dr. Lucia Carvelli, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Therapeutics, “Unrevealing Molecular Mechanisms of DA Transmission Involved in Amphetamine Treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHA)”.
For additional information concerning ND EPSCoR or the AURA program, please contact Mark R. Hoffmann, assistant vice president for Research and Economic Development and ND EPSCoR co-project director, Twamley Hall 415, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58201-7093, 777-2492.
— Mark Hoffmann, professor, Chemistry, 777-2511, mark.hoffmann@email.und.edu.
