K-State Research Forum award winners
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
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The following students were selected as the top presenters in the various presentation sessions of the 20 annual K-State
Research Forum (KRF). For each presentation session listed below, the first place winner received a $500 scholarship award,
and his or her name was engraved on a perpetual plaque to be displayed in the student's respective department until the next
year's K-State Research Forum. Second and third place winners received scholarships in the amounts of $250 and $125,
respectively. Unless otherwise stated, awards were presented by the Graduate Student Council with funds provided by the
Kansas State University President and Provost offices.
Agricultural Sciences Oral Session 1
Place
Name
Degree Program
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Shelly Wiggam
Entomology, PhD
Brian McCornack
Patch-burn grazing promotes
pollinator diversity in Flint Hills
rangelands
2nd
Kimberly O’Keefe
Biology, PhD
Jesse Nippert
Physiological responses of South
African tree seedlings to drought and
nighttime freezing
3rd
Evan Alderman
Horticulture, MS
Jared Hoyle
Influence of Nitrogen Fertilizer
Source and Rate on Buffalograss
Divot Recovery
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Agricultural Sciences Oral Session 2
Place
1
st
2nd
Name
Degree Program
Ryan Schmid
Entomology, PhD
Brian McCornack
Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor,
(Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), attraction
to different wavelengths and
intersities of LEDs
Analena Manbeck
Grain Science, MS
Greg Aldrich
The Effect of Low Bloom Gelatin on
the Physical Properties of Pet Food
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
T.G. Nagaraja
Culture- and Pcr-Based Methods for
Detection and Quantification of Shiga
Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli
O157 in Cattle Feces
Stefan Rothenburg
Host-Specific Inhibition of Rabbit Pkr
by Myxoma Virus M156 and
Characterization of A Loss-ofFunction Mutation in Australian
Myxoma Virus Isolates
Luis Mendoca
Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone
Treatment of Lactating Dairy Cows
Exposed to Summer Heat Stress
before First Artificial Insemination
Biological Sciences Oral Session
Place
1
st
2nd
3
rd
Name
Lance Noll
Chen Peng
Benjamin Voelz
Degree Program
Pathobiology, PhD
Microbiology, PhD
Animal Science, PhD
Engineering, Math, and Physical Sciences Oral Session 1
Place
Name
Degree Program
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Kathleen Sellens
Chemistry, PhD
Chris Culbertson
Identification of Serpin 2 Complex
Binding Partners in Anopheles
gambiae by Immunoaffinity
Chromatography and Mass
Spectrometry
2nd
Amendra Fernando
Hewa Dewage
Chemistry, PhD
Christine Aikens
Insights into Cobalt Oxide Water
Oxidation Catalysts: Promoting a
Future Based on Hydrogen Fuel
Engineering, Math, and Physical Sciences Oral Session 2
Place
1
st
Name
Degree Program
Nana Baah AppiahNkansah
Biological and
Agricultural
Engineering, PhD
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Donghai Wang
Model Study on Extraction f Both
Fermentable Sugars and NoStructural Carbohydrate from Sweet
Sorghum through Diffusion Process
Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education Oral Session 1
Place
Name
Degree Program
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Trias Mahmudiono
Human Nutrition, PhD
Richard Rosenkranz
Household Dietary Diversity and
Child Stunting in East Java,
Indonesia
Mark Barnett
Using Storybooks to Improve Young
Children’s Attitudes Toward Obese
Peers: Role of Storybook
Character's Popularity and Children's
Popularity
2nd
Taylor Wadian
Psychology, PhD
Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education Oral Session 2
Place
1st
Name
Md. Imranul Islam
Degree Program
Apparel and Textiles,
PhD
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Melody LeHew
Replacing 100% Cotton Fabric with
Jute-Cotton Blended (Jutton) Fabric:
An Eco-Environmental Sustainability
Approach in the Context of
Bangladesh
2nd
Lauren Reiter
Apparel and Textiles,
PhD
Kim Hiller Connell
Investigating the Role of Social
Networking Sites in Creating
Consumer Demand for
Environmentally Sustainable
Apparel: An Exploratory Study
3rd
Jules Yimga
Economics, PhD
Philip Gayle
Airline Code-Sharing and On-Time
Performance: The Case of the Us
Domestic Airline Industry
Interdisciplinary Research Oral Session
Half of the first place award for this session was funded by the K-State chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Association.
Place
Name
Department
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Corin White
Biology, PhD
Michael Herman
Gene Expression and Functional
Analysis of the Interaction between
Nematodes and Bacteria
Tesfaye Tesso
Next Generation Sequencing Unveils
Genes Associated with Abnormal
Phenotype in Als Herbicide Resistant
Sorghums
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
2
nd
Dilooshi
Weerasooriya
Agronomy, PhD
Agricultural Sciences Poster Session
Place
Name
Degree Program
1st
Ammar Bhandari
Agronomy, PhD
Nathan Nelson
Developing Best Management
Practices (Bmps) to Minimize
Phosphorus Loss from Poultry Litter
Applictions in Southeast Kansas
2nd
Jacob Reeves
Horticulture, MS
Jared Hoyle
Bermudagrass Control with
Glyphosate, Fluazifop, and
Mesotrione for Spring Renovation
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Timothy Musch
Chronic Heart Failure and Nitrate
Supplementation: Impact on Skeletal
Muscle Vascular Control in
Exercising Rats
Biological Sciences Poster Session
Place
1
st
Name
Trenton Colburn
Degree Program
Kinesiology, MS
Engineering, Math, and Physical Sciences Poster Session
Place
Name
Degree Program
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Chelsea Dixon
Biological and
Agricultural
Engineering, PhD
Lisa Wilken
Aqueous Enzymatic Extraction of Oil
and Protein from Microalgae
2nd
Nicoleta Ploscariu
Physics, PhD
Robert Szoszkiewicz
A Method to Measure
Nanomechanical Properties of
Biological Objects
Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education Poster Session 1
Place
1
st
2nd
3
rd
Name
Degree Program
Erika Smith
Human EcologyMarriage and Family
Therapy, PhD
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Jared Durtschi
Exercise and Diet as Potential
Moderators between Trauma,
Posttraumatic Stress, Depression,
and Relationship Quality
Sarah Alzahrani
Apparel and Textiles,
PhD
Joy Kozar
Fostering the Professional
Development of Saudi Female
Students: Implications for Educators
in Apparel and Textiles Programs in
Saudi Arabia
Emilee Morris
Family Studies and
Human Services-Early
Childhood Education,
MS
Bronwyn Fees
Parental Perceptions of Transitions
Between Child Care Classrooms For
Children Birth to Three Years
Social Sciences, Humanities, and Education Poster Session 2
Place
Name
Degree Program
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
1st
Curtis Maughan
Human Nutrition, PhD
Edgar Chambers IV
Food Safety Information in Egg Dish
Recipes
2
nd
3rd
Tammi Paolilli
Kinesiology, MS
Katie Heinrich
Is High-Intensity Functional Training
Sufficient for Improving
Cardiovascular Endurance in Cancer
Survivors?
Catherine Lynch
Human Nutrition, MS
Kadri Koppel
Sensory Characteristics and
Consumer Acceptance of Black
Walnut Gelato
Interdisciplinary Research Poster Session
Place
1st
2nd
Name
Damien Downes
Pavithra Pitumpe
Arachchige
Degree Program
Genetics, PhD
Agronomy, PhD
Faculty Advisor
Presentation Title
Richard Todd
Duplication and Redundancy of
Leucine, Valine and Isoleucine
Biosynthesis Genes in Aspergillus
Nidulans
Ganga Hettiarachchi
Characterization of Organic Carbon
in Soil Aggregates from Temperate
Continuous Corn System with
Contrasting Management Practices
Using Nexafs and 13c-Nmr
Spectroscopy