The NDSU Office of Research and Creative Activity has announced the winners for NDSU EXPLORE event held April 11. Now in its fifth year, NDSU EXPLORE featured 61 students and 50 mentors representing 56 research projects. Every NDSU college was represented.
Participants discussed their work during two poster and oral sessions, and awards were presented to the top oral and top poster presenters. A total of 24 evaluators provided feedback.
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
• First place: Tyrel Iron Eyes, an anthropology major from Standing Rock, North Dakota, for “Lakota Code Switching: Assimilation and Resistance.” Advised by John Creese, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology.
• Second place: Kate Volk, a biological sciences major from Mandan, North Dakota, for “Can regional differences in physiological traits impact restoration success? The relationship between stomatal traits and water-use efficiency in Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum).” Advised by Jill Hamilton, assistant professor of biological sciences.
•Third place: Atiya Khan, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Fargo, for “Characterization of genes required for both Rpg1- and rpg4-Mediated Wheat Stem Rust Resistance in Barley.” Advised by Robert Brueggeman, associate professor of plant pathology.
Honorable Mentions
• Benjamin Eichholz, a mechanical engineering major from Jordan, Minnesota, for “An Experimental Study of Pulsatile Flow Diversion using Superhydrophobic Mesh.” Advised by Yan Zhang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
• Hashem Sonbol, a civil engineering major from Plymouth, Minnesota, for “Rainfall Intensity-Duration Curves for Post-Wildfire Debris Flows: Tools to Assist with Early Warning Systems.” Advised by Beena Ajmera, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
POSTER SESSIONS
• First place: Martin Eichers, a mechanical engineering major from Loretto, Minnesota, for “DDGS Biocomposite 3D Printing Filament.” Advised by Dilpreet Bajwa, professor of mechanical engineering
• Second place: Reed Jacobson, biological sciences major from Fargo, for “Pancreatic Microvasculature Phenotypes in Healthy and Cancerous Environments.” Advised by Jiha Kim, assistant professor of biological sciences.
• Third place: Elizabeth Rono, a biological science major from Ham Lake, Minnesota, for “Transgenerational plasticity in sex ratio distribution in a species with temperature-dependent sex determination: A possible response to global climate change. Advised by Matthew Smith, associate professor of practice in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Honorable Mentions
• Claire Campion, a biological sciences major from Rochester, Minnesota, for “Genotoxicity Assessment of Agrochemicals on Honey Bee Spermatozoa Using the TUNEL Assay.” Advised by Julia Bowsher, associate professor of biological sciences, and Heather North, doctoral graduate research assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences
• Korie DeBardlabon, a biological sciences major from Fargo, for “Let me out: emergence patterns of an important pollinator, Megachile rotundata.” Advised by Kendra Greenlee, associate professor and chair of biological sciences.
• Rebecca Haller, a music major from Glenburn, North Dakota, for “Chemoselective Oxidations of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural and its Derivatives.” Advised by Mukund Sibi, University Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry.
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