2014 Erickson Discovery Grant Recipients

Funded through the Office of Undergraduate Education and support from Colleges.

Matthew Adams
Eberly College of Science
Anastomosis Development in Mice After Vibrissa Somatosensory Deprivation

Dylan Barbera
Eberly College of Science
Control of Dendrite Polarity by a Heterotrimeric G-Protein

Marta Beczek
College of the Liberal Arts
Effects of Non-Traditional Sources of Media in Spain

Robyn Jael Behar
College of the Liberal Arts
Strategic Analysis: The Impact of Female Integration on Regional Stability in the Middle East

Mikayla Borusiewicz
Eberly College of Science
Do Individuals with Autistic Traits See People Differently?

Joshua Bram
Eberly College of Science
Determining the Competitive Ability of Drug-Resistant Parasites

William Chase
Eberly College of Science
A Computational Approach to Understanding Expansin Structure and Function

Tracie Cobb Irvin
Penn State Altoona
Are Environmental Stressors and Their Effects on Hippocampal Characteristics Heritable?

Joanne Collins
Eberly College of Science
Growing Up Quick: A Behavioral Analysis of Newly Emerged Ants

Kenya Crawford
College of Health and Human Development
The Implications of Early Family Experiences for Young Adult Romantic Relationship Quality

Robert Custer
Penn State Erie
Spectroelectrochemistry of Iron Porphrynins for Gasotransmitter Detection

Melinda Dennis
College of Health and Human Development
Interaction of Lexically Similar Languages: Do Palenquero-Spanish Bilinguals Code-Switch?

Jules Dupont
College of Inofrmation Sciences and Technology
Abusive User Analytics: Identifying and Monitoring Deviant Users

Brooke Durham
College of the Liberal Arts
Expressions of Identity and Postcolonial Commentary in the Writings of Ken Bugul and
Mariama Bâ

Shannon Francis
College of the Liberal Arts
English After the Conquest: Peterborough, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the Place of English in Anglo-Norman England

Nicholas Frazzette
College of Engineering
Synthesis of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles as a Drug Delivery System

Geoffrey Gao
Eberly College of Science
The Role of the Rcs Phosphorelay in the Development of Antibiotic Resistance

Ummekulsoom Ghadai
College of the Liberal Arts
Sarojini Naidu – How a Woman Indo-Anglian Writer Reformed Literature and Activism

Adison Godfrey
College of the Liberal Arts
Benjamin Franklin and the Culture of Friendship

Virginia Gonzalez
College of Engineering
Nanoparticle Mediated Drug to Target Circulating Breast Cancer Cells

Stephanie Gruver
College of the Liberal Arts
Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga Teotihuacán

Mustafa Hammudi
Eberly College of Science
Analysis of Cellulose Synthase Expression Along the Arabidopsis Stem

Shelby Harkless
College of Agricultural Sciences
A Study to Examine the Stress Levels of Urocitellus Parryii During a Reintroduction into Extirpated Sites in Southwest Yukon

Ryan Henrici
Eberly College of Science
Crystallization of a Gene Regulation Enzyme/Nucleosome Complex

Divya Hosangadi
Eberly College of Science
Target Identification of trans-Translation Inhibitor A7

Kosho Hoshitsuki
Penn State Berks
Adaptive Flocking in 3D

Ciara Hovis
Eberly College of Science
Parsing Propagule Pressure: The Effects of Multiple Aspects of Propagule Pressure on the Success of an Invasive Species

Kira Hydock
College of Agricultural Sciences
Culture and Animal Husbandry Cultural Constraints of Goat Production and Management Among the People of the Muhanga District of Rwanda

Kevin Jansen
Eberly College of Science
Contact Angle Analysis of Acid-Treated Clay Mineral Samples

Zak Khayat
College of Earth and Mineral Science
Characterization and Growth of Epitaxial Functional Oxide Films for Electronic Applications

Michelle Lai
Eberly College of Science
How Does Host Nutritional Status Impact the Drug Resistance Phenotype of P. chabaudi Parasites?

Ting Yi Lai
Eberly College of Science
Studies Toward Nonmetal-Catalyzed O-H and N-H Transfer Reactions

Deborah Lee
College of Engineering
Site Inhibition of Thrombin Using Anti-Thrombin Aptamers

Daniel Magerman
College of the Liberal Arts
Palenque and It’s Neighbors: Languages and Attitudes

Cydnei Mallory
College of Arts and Architecture
Digital Technologies in the Foundry Process

Alexandra Manbeck
College of the Liberal Arts
Applying Mental Brakes: An fMRI Investigation of Prepotent Motor Response Suppression

Brian McKellar
College of Engineering
An Integrated MEMS Device for Cancer Cell Culture and Manipulation

Jacob Moore
Penn State York
Identification of Growth-Regulatory Genes During Germination and Early Embryogenesis of Solanum lycopersicum

Darian Nocera
College of Engineering
Conducting Polymer Films with Gradients of Biomolecule for Cell Growth Studies

Alexandra Perry
Eberly College of Science
Investigation of a Novel Quorum-Sensing Regulator in Vibrio fischeri

Megan Radyk
Eberly College of Science
The Effects of Spectrin Mutations on Terminal Web Biology in Drosophila

Christopher Rae
Eberly College of Science
Novel Antibiotic Development: trans-Translation Inhibition in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus

Haley Randolph
Eberly College of Science
Molecular Evolutionary Genetics of Chromosomal Breakpoints

Josh Rice
College of Agricultural Sciences
Defining the Master Regulator of Sexual Stage Differentiation in Malaria Parasites

Ben Rosenwasser
Eberly College of Science
The Nature of Galaxies: Probing the Unseen Universe

Benjamin Rowles
College of the Liberal Arts
Troll Bridge: Hub for Information on Internet Trolling

Zenas Michael Savage
Penn State Berks
Computational Analysis of Learning Transference Between the Dominant and Non Dominant Hand in a Virtual Shuffleboard Game

Britta Schumacher
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods: Climate Change at the Interface of Parks and People

Christopher Sharkey
College of Agricultural Sciences
Applications of Bioinformatics to Identify Structure Based G-Rich Quadruplexs in Herpes Simplex Virus Genome

Kevin Shebek
College of Engineering
Investigation of the Molecular Mechanisms of the Antimicrobial peptide MOCP

Mary Beth Spang
College of the Liberal Arts
Individual and Group Differences in the Production of Lengua Palenquera

Bryn Spielvogel
College of the Liberal Arts
Sugar-Coated Racism: When Fondness for Stereotypic Activities Masks Discrimination

Shelby Stigers
Penn State Altoona
Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Aluminum Using Boron-Carbon Nanotube

Matthew Swatski
College of Engineering
Investigation Into Epigenetic Changes in Mesenchymal Stem Cells Caused by Biophysical Factors

Karissa Thal
Eberly College of Science
Pediatric Pharmacometabolomics of Valproic Acid

Colin Tkatch
College of Engineering
In Vitro MRI Visualization of Thrombosis at Varying Reynolds Numbers

Liana Trigg
Eberly College of Science
Evolution of the Axon Initial Segment: Looking for Axon Diffusional Barriers in Cnidarians

Carl Udren
EMS
Direct Growth of Graphene on Glass Using Novel Microwave Processing

Gage Walters
College of Engineering
LIDAR Sensing of Water Waves and Fluid Surfaces

Nathan Wasilko
Eberly College of Science
Impact of fliY Regulation on Colonization of the Squid Light Organ by Vibrio fischeri

Student gets lesson in leadership at presidency study center

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