Eleven undergraduate students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields have been selected by a research proposal evaluation committee to receive Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) fellowships for summer 2017.

SURE is aimed at undergraduates who are interested in performing research in their future careers, according to Dr. Michael Norton, professor of chemistry at Marshall. Norton noted the SURE program, which has supported student research at Marshall since 2005, is funded through the West Virginia Research Challenge Fund, administered by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Division of Science and Research.

“We want students to know how strongly Marshall and the state of West Virginia support undergraduate research. This is the time when these young minds sharpen their research skills in preparation for graduate school,” Norton said.

Students will receive stipends totaling $4,000 each for their research for a period of ten weeks uninterrupted by classes during the summer. The SURE program, now in its thirteenth year, will begin Monday, May 15, and continue through July 28. The awardees, their projects, their research mentors and research areas are listed below:

  • Dana Sharma, Opioids and Neuron Development, Dr. Richard D. Egleton, Biomedical Sciences
  • Deben Shoup, Modification of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles with Fluorinated Phosphonic Acids, Dr. Rosalynn Quinones, Chemistry
  • Ian Waddell, Assembly of Carbon Nanotubes on Linear Origami Arrays, Dr. Michael Norton, Chemistry
  • Jason Lykins, MonitOR – Operating Site Infection Incidence Monitoring and Analysis, Dr. Paulus Wahjudi, Computer Science
  • Thomas Whitlow, Development of a Novel Cellular and Molecular based Heavy Metal Toxicology Assay using Rtgill-W1 Cell Cultures Exposed to High Concentration of Manganese (II), Dr. Mindy Armstead, Natural Resources and the Environment
  • Kira Owsley, Even-Cycle Decompositions with no Subsystem, Dr. Michael Schroeder, Mathematics
  • Lauren Reasor, Manganese Neurotoxicity in Crayfish, Dr. Brian Antonsen, Biological Sciences
  • Mary Bunten, Investigating the Amino Acid Sites in Cytochrome C Vulnerable to Malondialdehyde (MDA) Modification: A Kinetics Study Focusing on Mass Spectrometry, Menashi Cohenford, Forensic Sciences
  • Patrick Shinn, Test Intelligence: Speeding the Analysis of Load Testing for Ultra-Large-Scale-Software Systems, Dr. Haroon Malik, Computer Science
  • Nick Nolan, Natural Derivatives of Capsaicin Induce Apoptosis and Inhibit Invasion in LAC Cell Lines, Dr. Piyali Dasgupta, Biomedical Sciences
  • Nicole Perry, How increasing manganese concentrations affect the metabolic processes of Chlorella vulgaris, Dr. Derrick Kolling, Chemistry

Learn more about last year’s awardees and their projects by visiting www.marshall.edu/SURE. For more information about Marshall’s SURE recipients, contact Norton by e-mail at norton@marshall.edu.