Provost Undergraduate Research Fund offers awards to 28 OHIO students

The Ohio University Provost Undergraduate Research Fund (PURF) awards program has provided 28 students with a total of $34,764 in funding for their original research, scholarship and creative work this fall.

The Provost Undergraduate Research Fund awards are administered by the Research Division.

The program received 52 proposals with a total funding request of $62,619. Students may request up to $1,500 per proposal.

The FY2022 recipients are:

• Tina Athans (Biological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Shiyong Wu) received $1,500 for Effect of Ultraviolet-induced Activation of Constitutive Nitric Oxide Synthase in Fibroblasts
• Lydia Belinski (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Russ College of Engineering and Technology; mentor: Doug Goetz) received $1,500 for SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and IRF and NF-kB Signaling
• McKayla Biniker (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Brad Schwieger) received $661 for A Women's Choice
• Nicole Cobb (Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences; mentor: Molly Morris) received $1,500 for Variation in Female Mate Preferences and the “Signal Reliability” Hypothesis
• Grace Counts (Biological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Craig Nunemaker) received $1,500 for The Characterization of Zinc Distribution in β-cells in Low-grade Inflammation
• Taae Hamid (School of Music, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Christopher Fisher) received $306 for Classical Music Performance in Southeastern Ohio
• Emma Harter (Educational Studies, Patton College of Education; mentor: Michael Hess) received $1,047 for Rural Educational Leaders’ Perceptions for Adolescent Students Impacted by the Opioid Crisis
• Camilla Hibbard (Educational Studies, Patton College of Education; mentor: Charles Lowery) received $190 for Reflections of LGBTQ+ Adolescents on School Support Systems in High School
• Naila Latham (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Cassidy Brauner) received $1,267 for Smoke Brain
• Jade Lewis (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Brad Schwieger) received $1,027 for Fragmented Artifacts
• Nick Licata (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: David LaPalombara) received $1,358 for Normalizing Queer Expression
• Helena Littler (Environmental and Plant Biology, College of Arts and Sciences; mentor: Ahmed Faik) received $1,500 for Functional Analysis of Possible Xylan Glucuronosyltransferases from Rice Using CRISPR/Cas 9 Technology
• Jacob Lloyd (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Russ College of Engineering and Technology; mentor: Doug Goetz) received $1,500 for Exploring Inflammatory Activity of SARS-CoV-2 Pseudovirus
• Molly Marek (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Shelley Gruendler) received $1,473 for Environmental Disaster Vessels
• Emily Marino (Biological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Ronan Carroll) received $1,500 for Staphylococcus aureus Extracellular Vesicles and the Effects of Pathogenic RNA on Human Cells
• Abby Martin (School of Arts + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: John Sabraw) received $1,395 for It's Just Not Fair
• Madison Parker (Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences; mentor: Molly Morris) received $1,411 for The Impacts of Nitrate on Mating Behavioral Plasticity in the Green Swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii)
• Hailey Payne (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Shiyong Wu) received $1,469 for Creating and Standardizing a Skin Explant Model for Studying Solar Damage and Repair
• Abigail Pennington (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: David LaPalombara) received $656 for Lucid Dreaming
• Joseph Pettis (Chemistry and Biochemistry, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Justin Holub) received $1,500 for Synthesis of Hydrocarbon-stapled Peptide Antagonists of the Human Growth Hormone Receptor
• Katie Schroeder (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Jennie Klein) received $586 for Something in the Water
• Kristen Schuch (Biological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Corinne Nielsen) received $1,496 for Exploring the Role of Endothelial Rbpj in Intestinal Lymphatic Vasculature of Postnatal Mice
• Mallory Stowe (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: John Sabraw) received $1,435.57 for Painting the People of Sunday Creek
• Andrew Studzinski (Geological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Katherine Fornash) received $1,500 for Zircon Record of Neotethyan Ocean Closure
• Caleb Sunderhaus (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: John Sabraw) received $1,293 for What the Cloud Doeth
• Kristy Vargo (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: Tom Bartel) received $1,500 for Why is it Still Raining?
• Jessica Zhao (School of Art + Design, College of Fine Arts; mentor: David LaPalombara) received $1,192.74 for Caught in the Middle
• Riley Zielinski (Biological Sciences, Honors Tutorial College; mentor: Ronan Carroll) received $1,500 for Investigating the Toxicity of Staphylococcus aureus “Naked RNA”