OHIO students honored with Student Enhancement Awards

The Ohio University Student Enhancement Awards (SEA) program provided 30 students with a total of $143,490 in funding for their original research, scholarship and creative work this spring.

The Student Enhancement Awards are funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity and reviewed by the Council for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity, which is appointed by Faculty Senate. 

"I am extremely grateful to the Student Enhancement Award for providing me with this opportunity to fund genetic work and travel to multiple national forests across the eastern United States this summer to collect live violets and environmental data for my PhD research,” said Emily Barbee. “It is an incredible privilege to be able to travel to so many beautiful and diverse habitats for research as a botanist."

Milton Lindsey explained that the Student Enhancement Award program is providing essential support for research this summer.

"Receiving the SEA has been a tremendous honor,” Lindsay said. “The Season Farmworker Visa Program is one of the most overlooked aspects of the immigration debate, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to pursue a relatively unexplored topic, especially one with such national importance."  

The program received 47 proposals with a total funding request of $207,110. Students may request up to $6,000 per proposal.

For more information about the program, visit www.ohio.edu/research/funding.

The 2024  Student Enhancement Award recipients

• Ellie Abbott, HTC undergraduate student in Music, “Why American Classical Music Isn't a Universal Language: An Exploration of Japanese-Composed Trombone Repertorie,” $4,517; mentor: Lucas Borges
• Arshad Ahmad, graduate student in Translational Biomedical Sciences, “Growth Hormone Receptor Antagonism Markedly Improves Chemotherapy Efficacy Against Mouse Models of Lung Cancer,” $6,000; mentor: John Kopchick
• Nida Ajmal, graduate student in Translational Biomedical Sciences, “Identification of a unique GTPase switch DIRAS2 in the Pancreas during the Exposure of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Therapeutic Compound,” $6,000; mentor: Craig Nunemaker
• Dhanushka Amarasiri, graduate student in Chemistry & Biochemistry, “Probing BCL2 Protein Interations using Scyllatoxin-based BH3 Domain Mimetics,” $6,000; mentor: Justin Holub
• Johanna Amaya and Michelle Camargo, graduate students in Music, “Solar Duo at the Edeta Arts Festival,” $6,000; mentor: Roger Braun
• Brady Bailey, graduate student in Geological Sciences, “Protolith Determination of Subduction-Related Metamorphic Rocks: Comparing Bulk-Rock and Zircon-Based Approaches,” $6,000; mentor: Katherine Fornash
• Emily Barbee, graduate student in Environmental & Plant Biology, “Evolutionary Origins of Acaulescent White Violets of Eastern North America,” $6,000; mentor: Harvey Ballard
• Sean Bogart, graduate student in Psychology, “An Intergroup Threat Theory Approach to Understanding Political Misinformation Susceptibility,” $6,000; mentor: Keith Markman
• Mabel Bustamante, graduate student in Geography, “Nuestra Ciudad: Experiences of Latin American Immigrant Women in Urban Assimilation Processes,” $4,711; mentor: Risa Whitson
• Jorge Castillo, graduate student in Emerging Communication Technologies, “Large-Scale Immersive Pollinator Sculpture and Exhibt: Reconnecting Youth with Nature in Native Appalachian Forests,” $5,747.71; mentor: Nancy  Stevens
• Lauren Dennie, medical student; Abel Jarrahi, graduate student in Communication Media; Sam Scott, undergraduate student in Biological Sciences; and Ted Lau, medical student; “Patient-centric Care: Utilizing VR Innovations to Improve Anxiety During Chemotherapy,” $6,000; mentor: Melissa Thomas
• Josie Franks and Gwen Minute, graduate students in Chemistry & Biocheminstry, “Synthesis and Characterization of Two Enantioselective Molecules,” $6,000; mentor: Eric Masson
• Kelsey Krumm, graduate student in Biological Sciences, “Comparing Movement and Dispersal of Wild and Head-started Diamondback Terrapins,” $6,000; mentor: Willem Roosenburg
• Taylor Lambertus, graduate student in Psychology, “Language and Alzheimer's Disease Risk,” $6,000; mentor: Julie Suhr
• Jessica Lang, graduate student in Psychology, “Responsiveness in Interactions Study,” $6,000; mentor: Brett Peters
• Milton Lindsay, graduate student in visual Communication*, “Working Season,” $6,000; mentor: Stan Alost
• Hyunjoo Moon, graduate student in Instructional Technology, “Integrating ChatGPT into Korean K-12 English Classes,” $3,520; mentor: Greg Kessler
• Gbolaga Oluwasegun Olanrewaja, graduate student in Molecular and Cellular Biology, “Temporal Profiling of Root Gravitropism: Correlating Physiological Transcriptome and Proteome Players,” $6,000; mentor: Sarah Wyatt
• Ibrahim Omer, graduate student in Interdisciplinary Arts, “The Continuity of Kushite Heritage in the Medieval Kingdom of Nubia,” $6,000; mentor: Charles Buchanan
• Brady Phelps, HTC undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, “Interactive Visualization of Gate-based Quantum Computing,” $5,485; mentor: Chad Mourning and Chang Liu
• Avery Richardson, HTC undergraduate student in Art History; “Michelangelo: Redefining the Pietà,” $6,000; mentor: Jenny Klein
• Christopher Walsh, graduate student in Translational Biomedical Sciences, “The Effect of Growth Hormone Antagonism on Lymphatic Vessel Growth,” $6,000; mentor: John Kopchick
• Katie Wilkins, undergraduate student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, “A Novel Therapeutic for Vitiligo,” $6,000; mentor: Douglas Goetz
• Ghulam Yaseen, graduate student in English, “Exploring, Collecting, and Translating Oral, Published, and Folkloric Poetry on Landscape, River, and Climate Change in South Asian Vernacular Saraiki Language,” $5,509; mentor: Joseph McLaughin
• Frances Zengel et al., graduate and undergraduate students in Music, “Edeta Arts Festival, Valencia, Spain: Ohio University Percussion,” $6,000; mentor: Roger Braun