April 29, 2009
All-USA 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention teams excel
Meet the undergraduates named to the second team, third team and honorable mention in USA TODAY's 20th annual All-USA College Academic
Team competition:
Second team
•Eric Anderson, Arizona State University, Barrett Honors College; home: Phoenix; majors: biomedical engineering, medicinal biochemistry and
biological sciences; conducted research on malignant brain tumors and breast cancer.
•John Casey, Louisiana State University; home: Lafayette, La.; major: biological engineering; helped develop a device for use in knee ligament
repair surgery.
•Matthew Corritore, Brown University; home: Depew, N.Y.; major: public policy and American institutions; as an AmeriCorps VISTA member
in Buffalo, helped develop programs and raise money for a non-profit serving people living with HIV/AIDS.
•Jered Davidson, Oklahoma State University; home: Fort Cobb, Okla.; major: agricultural economics; worked with local agencies to create an
information clearinghouse for communities and counties on the rural economy.
•Jordan DeHerrera, University of Denver; home: Pueblo, Colo.; majors: economics, business administration, accounting; organized students to
volunteer at an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico.
•Henry Donaghy, United States Naval Academy; home: Wallingford, Pa.; majors: mechanical engineering, physics; is researching an electron
beam weapon capable of disabling improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
•Laura Dover, University of Alabama; home: Jasper, Ala.; majors: Spanish, philosophy; helped create an English-language program for at-risk
Hispanic children.
•Lisa Furby, Southern Illinois University; home: Carbondale, Ill.; major: mechanical engineering; working on developing an artificial kidney.
•Sean Goodin, Southern Illinois University; home: Red Bud, Ill.; majors: physiology and philosophy; is researching the effects of an anti-obesity
surgery called ileal interposition on type 2 diabetes.
•Lauren Hayes, Auburn University; home: Abbeville, Ala.; majors: public administration and German; president of the Student Government
Association.
•Bradley Henicke, United States Air Force Academy; home: College Station, Texas; major: aeronautical engineering; helped NASA perform
research on parachutes used by astronauts.
•Adam Knight, The University of Alabama; home: Tuscaloosa, Ala.; major: biology; has used art to study Parkinson's disease.
•Amanda Leatherman, Ursinus College; home: Monrovia, Md.; majors: neuroscience and media & communications studies; analyzed behavior
strategies of online predators.
•(Eva) Xiaoyun Nong, Harvard University; home: Miami; major: biochemical sciences; is researching a simple structural model to predict viral
and bacterial replication rates.
•Michael Rhea, Louisiana State University; home: DeRidder, La.; majors: international studies, political science; was Student Volunteer Corps
leader during Hurricane Gustav.
•Erica Siebrasse, Hendrix College; home: Parsons, Kan.; majors: biochemistry, molecular biology; started a science camp for underprivileged
children.
•Indraneel Sircar, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; home: South San Francisco; major: mechanical engineering; studying a method of improving
efficiency of gas-compression through a liquid-piston concept.
•Davis (Mac) Stephen, University of Arkansas; home: Fayetteville, Ark.; majors: biology, anthropology, Latin American studies; started a school
lunch program for children in Belize while studying a university-run community development project there.
•Yhni Thai, The University of Alabama; home: Long Beach, Miss.; major: chemical engineering; an intern at the Atlantic Oceanographic and
Meteorological Laboratory, created a system to improve analysis of wastewater discharge.
•Jason Young, Miami University; home: Centerville, Ohio; major: geography; created a geographic mapping project to help the Maijuna people
of the northeastern Peruvian Amazon gain title to their ancestral lands.
Third team
•Taylor Barnes, Middle Tennessee State University; home: Jackson, Miss.; majors: chemistry and physics; presented original research on
anomalies in the rotation of chemical bonds.
•Dathe Benissan-Messan, Creighton University; major: biology; studying the biting habits of pernicious black flies in Togo.
•Sukhkamal Bhullar, University of Alabama; home: Huntsville, Ala.; majors: biology, philosophy; created and funded kids' play areas in
hospital emergency rooms.
•Britta Buchenroth, Ohio Wesleyan University; home: Huntsville, Ohio; major: pre-med/zoology; helped organize a medical mission trip to
Limon, Nicaragua.
•Alison Cohen, Brown University; home: San Francisco; major: community health and education policy; developed service learning curriculum
for middle school.
•Allison Dick, Florida State University; home: Tallahassee, Fla.; major: international affairs; created an AIDS education curriculum for school
children in Zambia.
•Yvette Efevbera, Michigan State University; home: Big Rapids, Mich.; major: international relations; created children's arts program at AIDS
center in Namibia.
•Hesham Elnagar, Northern Arizona University; home: Henderson, Nev.; major: music; promoted service learning at his college.
•Laura Godorecci, The University of Alabama; home: Northport, Ala.; major: interdisciplinary studies; made a documentary on the Slow Food
movement.
•Amanda Marie Gonzalez, Florida State University; home: Pembroke Pines, Fla.; major: interdisciplinary social science/family and child
sciences; volunteered at an AIDS agency in Spain.
•Margaret McGlynn, Creighton University; home: Belleville, Ill.; major: biochemistry; started non-profit to fight malaria in Uganda.
•Jonathan Olsen, Brigham Young University; majors: Russian, international relations; provided English learning materials to Russian students.
•Marcelo Ostria, University of North Texas; major: international studies; founded UNICEF chapter.
•David Ouyang, Rice University; home: Houston; majors: biochemistry/cell biology and statistics; worked on a project to brew beer with
antioxidant yeast.
•Caitlin Schroering, Denison University; home: Corvallis, Ore.; major: environmental studies; helped create advocacy kits for student AIDS
activists.
•Jessica Shackleford, University of Southern Mississippi; home: Senatobia, Miss.; major: chemistry; started program to help high schoolers
apply for college.
•Amanda Sheffield, Purdue University; home: Elyria, Ohio; major: synoptic meteorology; researched the microphysics of clouds.
•Coral Stredny, University of Scranton; home: Dallas, Pa.; major: biochemistry; researched age and neurodegenerative disease.
•Xiaowen (Wendi) Zhang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; home: Pearland, Texas; majors: management science, mathematics; created a
China Development Initiative on campus.
•Yan Zhao, Wake Forest University; home: Nashville; major: biology; organized a benefit concert for Chinese earthquake relief.
Honorable mention
•Tori Ballif, University of Utah
•Joseph Batir, Southern Illinois University
•Leeann Brigham, Hamilton College
•Alexander Chamessian, Stony Brook University
•Alexander Flachsbart, The University of Alabama
•David Grant, Virginia Tech
•Katie Hamm, Kansas State University
•Sam Kleiner, Northwestern University
•Alex Merkovic-Orenstein, Florida State University
•Atul Nakhasi, University of Iowa
•Salman Naqvi, New Jersey Institute of Technology
•Christie Ong, Rochester Institute of Technology
•Sarah Ott, Valparaiso University
•Michael Poku, Vanderbilt University
•Yasmin Poustchi, Rutgers University
•Clark Richardson, Iowa State University
•Shannon Santangelo, Cabrini College
•Max Schroeder, Ohio Wesleyan University
•David Yang, Harvard College