Student Enhancement Awards presented to 26 OHIO students

Ohio University has presented Student Enhancement Awards to 26 students from a wide range of majors.

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. Students may request up to $6,000 per proposal.

The program received 67 proposals with a total funding request of $361,045, resulting in a very competitive cycle. After the review of the proposals, 26 were awarded funding totaling $130,000 to pursue research or creative activity.

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

The 2026 Student Enhancement Award recipients and their proposals

• Oluwaseun Adegbite, graduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Novel Derivatives of Natural Products.” $5,924, mentor: Stephen Bergmeier
• Umair Ahmad, graduate student in Biological Sciences, “How Does Wildfire Alter Rates of Parasitism, Thermal Ecology, and Habitat Occupancy in a Semi-Arid Forest Lizard Community?” $5,998, mentor: Donald Miles
• Sydney Aller, graduate student in Psychology, “Parent Involvement-Engagement Perceptions After the COVID-19 Pandemic.” $5,902, mentor: Julie Owens
• Tami Caines, graduate student in Nursing, “Reducing Burnout among Behavioral Health Staff through Mindfulness-Based Huddles.” $3,650, mentor: Marjorie Vogt
• Renee Cronin, graduate student in Biomedical Sciences, “Effects of GH/IGF-1 Signaling on Cellular Senescience in Liver and Kidney of Growth Hormone Antagonist (GHA) Mice.” $6,000, mentor: Darlene Berryman
• Rajesh Dhar, graduate student in Art + Design, “MFA Thesis Exhibition: Made in Bangladesh.” $6,000, mentor: Kate Hampel
• Scott Downard, graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, “Additive Manufacturing of Solid-State Electrolyte for an AI-ion Battery.” $5,536, mentor: Brian Wisner
• Maria Flores, graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, “Techno-Economic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Zero Liquid Discharge Systems for Brackish Groundwater Reverse Osmosis.” $2,329, mentor: David Quiroz
• Danielle Garza, graduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Exploring Polymer-Surfactant Interaction at Interfaces with Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations.” $5,431, mentor: Katherine Cimatu
• Subekshya Ghimire, graduate student in Teacher Education, “Exploring Rural Teachers' Perception and Approaches to Cultivating Social-Emotional Learning through Place-Based Storytelling.” $3,164, mentor: Sara Hartman
• Bijay Gurung, graduate student in Biomedical Sciences, “Targeted Probiotic Interventions for Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile Infection.” $5,804, mentor: Shaohua Wang
• Carolina Herrera, graduate student in Communication Studies, “Exploring Lyme Disease Risk Perceptions and Protective Behaviors in Emerging Regions.” $4,820, mentor: Benjamin Bates
• Samantha Imperi, graduate student in English, “I Can't Be Your Mother Poetry Collection.” $6,000, mentor: Mark Halliday
• Adnan Khan, graduate student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, “Understanding the Molecular Basis of Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion.” $5,986, mentor: Tingyue Gu
• Waleed Khursheed, graduate student in Biomedical Sciences, “Characterization of TisB/IstR Toxin-Antitoxin System in Shigella Flexneri.” $6,000, mentor: Erin Murphy
• Nikhil Kondam, graduate student in Media Arts and Studies, “Platform Precarity and Digital Voice: Content Creation as Collective Strategy among Gig Workers.” $4,670, mentor: Laeeq Khan
• Sophie Laich, graduate student in Geography, “Open-Pit Mining in a Warming Arctic: The Pebble Mine Conflict in the Context of Struggles in Climate Justice.” $6,000, mentor: Harold Perkins
• Emily Meckler, undergraduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, “High Throughput Differentiation between Legal and Illegal Kratom Products by DART-MS.” $6,000, mentor: Mengliang Zhang
• Elina Nikolskaya, graduate student in Communication Studies, “Ethnographic Fieldwork with Russian Emmigrants.” $5,800, mentor: Devika Chawla
• Emmanuel Olaoluwa, graduate student in Environmental and Plant Biology, “Core Arabidopsis F-box Proteins as Regulators of UPS-Autophagy Balance during Nutrient Starvation.” $5,600, mentor: Zhihua Hua
• Olivia Osmun, undergraduate student in Psychology, “Investigating How Perceptions of Causal Models of Addiction may Increase or Decrease Relapse Rates for Those in Recovery.” $4,558, mentor: Jennifer Grant Weinandy
• Joshua Osondu, graduate student in Educational Studies, “Development and Psychometric Validation of the GAIC Scale.” $5,994, mentor: Jesse Strycker
• Cody Polinski, undergraduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Food Waste-derived Bacterial Cellulose Membranes.” $6,000, mentor: Omar Movil-Cabrera
• Allan Regunton, graduate student in Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Defining the Role of Amphiphilicity in Self-Assembly of Extensins.” $5,968, mentor: Micheal Held
• Alex Smith, graduate student in Art + Design, “Authentically Imperfect.” $866, mentor: John Sabraw
• Akua Pomaah Wiredu, graduate student in Biomedical Sciences, “Impact of Rapamycin and Growth Hormone Antagonist on Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Signaling in Mice.” $6,000, mentor: Darlene Berryman