2017-2018 Graduate Grant Recipients

Spyros Karaiskos, PhD Candidate in Computational & Integrative Biology
Proposed Dissertation Title: Analysis of the mode of action of tRNA fragments in a cell

Nicole Revaitis, PhD Candidate in Computational & Integrative Biology
Proposed Dissertation Title: The evolution of the TGF-a like ligand, Gurken, shapes dorsal structures of the Drosophilia eggshell

Daniel Russo, PhD Candidate in Computational & Integrative Biology
Proposed Dissertation Title: The Chemical In-vitro, In-vivo Profiling Project (CIIPro)

Ryan Bunch
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Playing with Childhood in the Twenty-First Century
Conference Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Presentation Title: Fun Home and Broadway’s Ghostly Queer Kids
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Meredith Bak

Julian Burton
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Bangor Interdisciplinary Conference on Childhood and Youth
Conference Location: Bangor, Wales
Presentation Title: Echo chambers, safe spaces, and the meaning of democratic engagement: How young “activits” frame online discourse
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Kate Cairns

Kacey Doran
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts
Conference Location: Orlando, FL
Presentation Title: Little Red Riding Hood and Her Fellow Wolves
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Susan Miller

Katherine Fredricks
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association
Conference Location: Philadelphia, PA
Presentation Title: #scholar: girls’ perceptions of computing in a NY Public School
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Lauren Silver

Diana Garcia Gomez
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association
Conference Location: Philadelphia, PA
Presentation Title: Building Bridges: International Students’ Use of Facebook in Multicultural Contexts
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Sarada Balagoplana

Rosemarie Pena
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: German Studies Association
Conference Location: Atlanta, GA
Presentation Title: Authorial Stakes in Documentary Testimonial: The Postwar Adoption of Black Germans, Revisited
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Carol Singley

Michelle Lyttle Storrod
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Conceptualizing Childhood and Youth
Conference Location: St. Catharines, Ontario
Presentation Title:Do No Online Harm: Balancing Safeguards to Researchers and Participants
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Daniel Cook

Samantha White
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: American Studies Association
Conference Location: Chicago, IL
Presentation Title: Geographies of Athletic Black Girls in Film: From The Fits to T-Rex
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Susan Miller

Elisabeth Yang
PhD, Childhood Studies
Conference Title: Conceptualizing Childhood and Youth Conference
Conference Location: Brock University, Canada
Presentation Title: Horace Bushnell’s Notion of the Essentia Organica in “Christian Nurture” and his Child-Centered Anthropology
Faculty Adviser: Dr. John Wall

Ruchi Lohia
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Conference Title: Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society
Conference Location: San Francisco, CA
Presentation Title: Conformational effects of various hydrophobic-to hydrophobic substitution located at the midpoint of the intrinsically disordered region of proBDNF
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Grace Brannigan

Liam Sharp
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Conference Title: Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society
Conference Location: San Francisco, CA
Presentation Title: Interactions of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors with Cholesterol and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Model, Native-like, and Oocyte membranes
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Grace Brannigan

Kristen Woods
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Conference Title: Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society
Conference Location: San Francisco, CA
Presentation Title: Oligomerization of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Domain-Forming Membranes
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Grace Brannigan

Linlin Zhao
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Conference Title: Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology
Conference Location: San Antonio, TX
Presentation Title: Mechanism-Driven Computational Modeling of Hepatotoxicity Based on Chemical Information, Biological Data and Toxicity Pathways
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Hao Zhu

Matthew Closter
PhD, Public Affairs
Conference Title: Urban Affairs Association
Conference Location: Toronto, Canada
Presentation Title: The Emergence of University-School Partnerships: A Comparative Case Study Analysis of Two Public Schools Built by Universities in Small Cities
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago

Straso Jovanovski
PhD, Public Affairs
Conference Title: 39th Fall Research Conference: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Conference Location: Chicago, IL
Presentation Title: Concentrated Poverty, Racial Segregation, and Health: The Spatio-Temporal Dynamics Shaping Health Outcomes Across U.S. Metros
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn

David Okereke
PhD, Public Affairs
Conference Title: 39th Fall Research Conference: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Conference Location: Chicago, IL
Presentation Title: Is State Aid a Driver of Economic Revitalization?: Comparing Camden to Peer Municipalities in New Jersey
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Paul Jargowsky

Ryan Walker
MS, Biology 
Conference Title: Entomology 2017
Conference Location: Denver, CO
Presentation Title: The effects of temperature on the nutritional ecology of arthropod predators
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Angelica Gonzalez

Nouf Alzahrani
MS, Chemistry
Conference Title: Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM)
Conference Location: Hershey, PA
Presentation Title: Study co-agfregations of nucleic acid nanostructures with tetracycline molecules and their potential applications in smart drug delivery
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jinglin Fu

Damiano Consilvio
MA, English
Conference Title: Popular Culture Association Annual Conference
Conference Location: Indianapolis, IN
Presentation Title: Launching Ethan Forme: A Digital Scholarly Ediction
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Carol Singley

Nicholas Silcox
MA, English
Conference Title: Minding Animals
Conference Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Presentation Title: Creature Queer: Species Liminality and Posthuman Ethics in Shelley’s Frankenstein
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jillian Sayre

Nicole Ferris
MA, Psychology
Conference Title: Pavlovian Society
Conference Location: Philadelphia, PA
Presentation Title: On the Representation of Novelty in Associative Learning
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Bill Whitlow

Sara Fiorot
MA, Psychology
Conference Title: SPSP Annual Convention
Conference Location: Atlanta, GA
Presentation Title: Presentational Payoff: The Behavioral Underpinnings of Making a Desired Impression
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Kristin August

Patrick Hanlin
MA, Psychology
Conference Title: American Psychological Association: Social Justice – Providing Access to Educational and Mental Health Opportunities for Diverse Youth
Conference Location: Washington, DC
Presentation Title: Victimization, At-Home Language, and Substance Use Outcomes Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Youth
Faculty Adviser: Dr. J J Cutuli

Nathaniel Marino
MA, Psychology
Conference Title: Association for Research in Personality
Conference Location: Sacramento, CA
Presentation Title: Incorportaing Self-Presentational Concerns with Personality Judgement During a Get-to-Know-You Interaction
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Christopher Nave

Sarah Vanacore
MA, Psychology
Conference Title: American Psychological Association
Conference Location: Washington, DC
Presentation Title: Victimizaqtion, Assets, and Academic Outcomes: Applying a Resilience Framework
Faculty Adviser: Dr. J J Cutuli

Madison Rogers
MAT, Teaching Spanish
Conference Title: Second Language Research Forum 2017, “Growing Connections in SLR”
Conference Location: Columbus, OH
Presentation Title: Conscious Conceptual Manipulation as a Gateway to Aspectual Awareness and Morphological Control in the Spanish L2 Classroom
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Propsero Garcia

Conference Title: XXIV Sociocultural Theory & Second Language Learning
Conference Location: Las Vegas, NV
Presentation Title: Conscious Conceptual Manipulation in the K-12 Classroom: Fostering Development through the Transformation of Grammatical Categories of Meaning
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Propsero Garcia

Wenyi Wang
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Research Topic: From QSAR to Big Data Profiling: the New Generation of Animal Toxicity Modeling
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Hao Zhu

Linlin Zhao
PhD, Computational & Integrative Biology
Research Topic: Mechanism-Driven Computational Modeling of Hepatotoxicity Based on Chemical Information, Biological Data and Toxicity Pathways
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Hao Zhu

Darya Pavlenko
MS, Biology
Research Topic: Thyronamines in adult brain and adrenal medullaIntroduction
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Joseph Martin

Ryan Walker
MS, Biology
Research Topic: The effects of temperature on the nutritional ecology of arthropod predators
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Angelica Gonzalez

Catherine Buck
MFA, Creative Writing
Research Topic: Fiction Thesis – Tentative Title “Lone Star”
Faculty Adviser: Prof. Patrick Rosal

Juliana Roth
MFA, Creative Writing
Research Topic: “At the Door,” a novel
Faculty Adviser: Prof. Patrick Rosal

Sharece Blakney
MA, History
Research Topic: Of Her Own Volition: The Manumission of Females Slaves and Women Slaveholders in Virginia, 1806-1860
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Janet Golden

Melissa Callahan
MA, History
Research Topic: Equal Rights Amendment
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Janet Golden

Britney Ingersoll
MA, History
Research Topic: Illuminating Serglios: Brothel Guides as a Literary Device
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Janet Golden

Matthew Ward
MA, History
Research Topic: Women’s Boxing History: 1990-2010
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Janet Golden