CUR’s Constitution & By-Laws encourages contested elections for CUR officers. One element of this process involves a Nominations Vetting Committee (NVC) to review nominations, approve candidates, and develop a slate of candidates for each open officer position. In addition, the NVC will play an important role in vetting candidates for Council and General Representatives to the Executive Board. The NVC will consist of the Nominations Chair, the Immediate Past-President, and five additional members elected by the General Council. The five additional members serve staggered three-year terms. Given CUR’s commitment to diversity, we encourage consideration of individual, disciplinary, and institutional diversity on the Nominations Vetting Committee in order to bring a broad perspective to review officer candidates.
Please visit the NVC Committee directory if you wish to see the current members. One individual will be elected to a three-year term starting September 1, 2021, through August 31, 2024.
Members of the CUR General Council are able to vote for one individual until July 16, 2021.
Each candidate was asked the following questions:
What is your leadership experience in CUR and outside of CUR?
Why are you interested in serving on the NVC and how does your past experience with CUR or other organizations support your role on NVC?
How will you represent and advance CUR-wide interests? (Please reference the CUR mission and strategic plan.)
Please select the below candidates to read their answers before casting your vote.
The CUR Engineering Division announces the 2021 recipients of its Mentoring Awards and winners of its Student Video Competition. The Mentoring Awards recognize mentors who have influenced undergraduate research through direct mentoring of individuals or groups of undergraduate students in engineering research. The video competition is designed to highlight faculty-mentored undergraduate research projects in engineering.
Recipient, Early-Career Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award
Lesley W. Chow, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Lehigh
University, earned a BS in materials science and engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University and conducted postdoctoral work at Imperial College London. Her research interests focus on the design of novel biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Since she joined the department in 2015, she has mentored more than 30 undergraduates, including more than 20 female students, 6 students from underrepresented groups, and 9 students who have enrolled in advanced degree programs. In Dr. Chow’s mentoring approach, she promotes a collaborative scientific environment and pairs undergraduate researchers with graduate students to provide a multi-mentor model for undergraduates and build mentoring skills in graduate students.
Recipient, Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award
Eda Yildirim-Ayan, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering and undergraduate program director at the University of Toledo, earned a BS in mechanical engineering at Ege University (Turkey), an MS in mechanical engineering at Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey), and a PhD in mechanical engineering at Drexel University. Her research centers on the interface among biomimetic design, biomanufacturing, cellular processes, biomaterial sciences, biophysics, and mechanobiology. Promoting a welcoming environment for diverse students, she has mentored more than 25 undergraduates and coauthored 9 peer-reviewed journal articles with undergraduates. Dr. Yildirim-Ayan has established course-based undergraduate research experiences as well as a two-semester Freshman Design course to provide preparation and research projects involving ideation and entrepreneurship for students early in their college career.
Austin Brant (Georgia Southern University; mentor Valentin Soloiu), “Jet Engine Emissions and Vapor Contrail Reduction through Increased Combustion Efficiency with the Aim to Mitigate the Greenhouse Effect and Greenhouse Gases Emissions”
Sounak Chakrabarti (Virginia Tech; mentor: Rolf Mueller), “Merging Soft-Robotics with Deep Learning in Replicating the Biosonar-Sensing Capabilities of Bats”
James O’Hara (Georgia Southern University; mentor: Valentin Soloiu), “Thermoelectric Effect Augmented Solar Power Generation for Orbital Applications”
Emilee Rickabaugh (Utah State University; mentor Elizabeth Vargis), “Using Hagfish Proteins to Simulate Bruch’s Membrane in the Subretinal Tissue”
Cody Watson (University of Colorado Boulder; mentors: Torin Clark, Allie Anderson), “Astronaut Performance Enhancement through Auditory and Vestibular White Noise”
The CUR Mathematics and Computer Sciences Division announces the 2021 recipients of its Faculty Mentor Awards, which honor mentors for their success in mentoring undergraduate researchers:
Rania Hodhod (Columbus State University, mid-career awardee)
Erik Insko (Florida Gulf Coast University, mid-career awardee)
Christopher Seaton (Rhodes College, advanced career awardee)
Rania Hodhod, associate professor and assistant chair in the TSYS School of Computer Science at Columbus State University, earned a BS in computer science and pure math and MS in computer and information sciences at Ain Shams University in Egypt, as well as a PhD in computer science from the University of York in the United Kingdom. Her research interests include artificial intelligence, expert systems, serious games, interactive narrative, and computational creativity. Since 2014, she has mentored more than 60 students.
Erik Insko, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Florida Gulf Coast University, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Loras College and master’s and PhD degrees in mathematics from the University of Iowa. His main research interests are in algebraic combinatorics and discrete mathematics. Dr. Insko has mentored more than 47 undergraduates and coauthored 11 publications with undergraduates. A founding co-organizer of the Underrepresented Students in Topology and Algebra Research Symposium—a national research conference for graduate and undergraduate students from underrepresented groups—he believes that positive research experiences can help undergraduates discover the joy of mathematics and empower them to pursue their passions.
Christopher Seaton, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Rhodes College, earned a BA in mathematics from Kalamazoo College and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research interests include differential geometry and topology of singular spaces, invariant theory, and symplectic reduction. Promoting research experiences that synthesize techniques from many fields of mathematics to build student skills, Dr. Seaton has coauthored 9 articles with undergraduate students and supervised more than 20 theses of fourth-year students.
The CUR Biology Division announces the 2021 recipients of its mentor awards and small research grants. The division’s mentor awards recognize exemplary biology mentors for their long-term efforts in supervising undergraduate researchers, and its grants of up to $250 each seek to nurture mentored undergraduate research projects that could benefit significantly from a small grant.
Early- and Mid-Career Mentor Awardees City College of New York-CUNY Associate Professor of Biology Mark Emerson (early career) earned his PhD at Harvard University in neurobiology and conducted his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School. His approach to mentoring diverse undergraduate researchers reflects each student’s individuality and need for guidance while modeling a love of science, yielding 20 conference presentations with 47 undergraduates, 11 student honors, and 9 students enrolled in advanced degree programs. Dr. Emerson spearheads a science outreach program in which his undergraduates return to their middle schools to lead hands-on experiences, thereby equipping his students with mentoring skills and extending the mentoring model to future undergraduates.
North Carolina A&T State University Associate Professor of Biology Misty Thomas(early career) earned her undergraduate degree from the Collège Universitaire de St. Boniface and her PhD in microbiology at the University of Manitoba and conducted her postdoctoral work at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. Her course-based undergraduate research experiences and mentoring of more than 20 undergraduate researchers over the past 5 years have yielded peer-reviewed scientific articles coauthored by undergraduates, numerous conference presentations, and students who have gone on to graduate/professional schools. Dr. Thomas’s mentoring approach involves individual development plans that prioritize the goals, needs, and expectations of her diverse mentees.
St. John Fisher College Associate Professor of Biology Maryann Herman (mid-career) earned her BS at Allegheny College and her PhD at Cornell University, focusing on plant pathology. She has mentored more than 60 undergraduates, with more than 70 percent presenting at scientific meetings and 75 percent pursuing advanced degrees. Dr. Herman engages in professional development opportunities to enhance her mentoring skills and promotes a model in which the mentor and mentees work, learn, and reflect on science together, and mentees take ownership of their research question.
Awardees, Small Research Grants Corey Cleland(associate professor of biology, James Madison University), “Identification of Muscle Synergies in the Rat Tail.” The project presents a novel approach that combines behavioral measurements to computationally identify potential patterns of muscle activity leading to a better understanding of synergies.
Drew Crain(professor of biology, Maryville College),
Effect of Cannabidiol (CBD) on Xenopus laevis Developing Liver and Skin.” The project examines the role of CBD in the amphibian model organism Xenopus laevis, which may offer implications for addressing inflammatory diseases and illnesses.
Andrew Merwin(assistant professor of zoology, Baldwin Wallace University), “Characterizing Arboreal Arthropod Communities along a Gradient of Urbanization.” The project samples arthropods on native tree species throughout Cleveland that vary in their degree of urbanization. The research may offer implications for landscaping decisions.
Abigail Neyer(assistant professor of biology, University of North Georgia, in collaboration with Jennifer Mook and Natalie Hyslop), “Investigating the Effects of Winter Temperature Patterns on Overwintering Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina).” The project will characterize the effects of winter temperatures on the overwintering behaviors of the vulnerable eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina).
Tara Pelletier(assistant professor of biology, Radford University), “Population Genetics of a Caddisfly (Glossosomatidae).” The project will collect DNA sequence data to estimate the genetic diversity and connectivity among populations of a species of caddisfly throughout several tributaries within the New River watershed in the southern Appalachians of Virginia. The project shows promise for providing insight on the ecosystem health of the region.
Tara Rajaniemi(professor of biology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), “Root Growth Responses to Soil Microbial Communities.” The project collects plants and soil from the field to culture soil microbial communities in pots in a greenhouse, conducting experiments to test their effects on plant fitness and ascertain whether root growth responds to the presence of harmful or beneficial microbes.
Bisi Velayudhan (assistant professor of biology, James Madison University), “Cumulative Effects of Sodium Benzoate, a Food Preservative, on Gut Mucosal Immunity.” The project investigates the effect of sodium benzoate (SB) on gut mucosal immunity in the ileum of mice. The aims are to determine the effect of SB on goblet cell index, amount of mucin production, Paneth cell index, and Paneth cell granular density in the ileum.
Said guest editor James Hewlett (Finger Lakes Community College-SUNY, Canandaigua, NY), “It has been inspiring to work with the authors of the spring 2021 SPUR, who are broadening undergraduate research participation at community colleges through their innovative approaches, teaming with higher ed and community partners, and helping to build skills for students’ further educational and career paths. As these faculty members often encounter challenges in support and space as well as significant course loads, their commitment to excellence in their undergraduate mentees across a broad range of disciplines offers much for individuals and institutions to emulate.” (Read Hewlett’s introduction to the issue.)
About the image: The custom-built research vessel Phocoena (funded by NSF) on the waters of Possession Sound with high school student researchers and SPUR author/captain Ardi Kveven (Everett Community College, WA).
BONUS WEBSITE FEATURE: Editor-in-chief Matthew Schuster (Anoka-Ramsey Community College) talks about the STAR Journal, one of the few undergraduate research journals produced at a community college.
Hanna Szydlowski (Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI)
Starting in spring 2020, Zoe Lacey (Class of 2021, Trinity University) developed a reactive transport model to describe the biogeochemical controls on the mobility of trace elements in an aquifer contaminated by crude oil. Lacey created a new model framework for describing how carbonate minerals can adsorb trace elements in aquifer environments, demonstrating ingenuity, perseverance, sophisticated knowledge of (bio)geochemistry, and advanced coding skills. Her results are applicable to thousands of aquifers contaminated by organic carbon and suggest novel geochemical approaches for remediating trace elements in groundwater. Her research is reflected in a senior thesis that will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Lacey presented her research at the South-Central Geological Society of America Meeting.
Hanna Szydlowski is a third-year student in geochemistry at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). Szydlowski’s research project tested multiple hypotheses of groundwater aquifer size and travel time using stable isotopes. She monitored groundwater levels and gradients, and stream stage in three small spring-fed streams in Michigan, collecting weekly water samples of precipitation and small spring-fed streams for one year. She then analyzed the data to test two alternative hypotheses of aquifer size, travel time, and mixing rates. Szydlowski presented her research at the 2020 online Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, winning an award for best undergraduate poster from the Hydrogeology Division.
CUR’s Geosciences Division (GeoCUR) gives annual awards to full-time undergraduate students currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year educational institution engaging in research emphasizing the geosciences such as geology, oceanography, and atmospheric sciences.
The CUR Chemistry Division has announced the 2021 recipients of its Outstanding Mentorship Award, which recognizes excellence in mentoring of undergraduate researchers:
Tarek Abdel-Fattah is the Lawrence J. Sacks Endowed Professor of Chemistry at Christopher Newport University (CNU) and the CNU director of the Applied Research Center at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News. He earned his BS and MS degrees in chemistry from Alexandria University in Egypt and his PhD degree in inorganic and materials chemistry from Northeastern University. His research focuses on nanochemistry and nanomaterials science. Enthusiastic about undergraduate research collaborations and mentorship, Abdel-Fattah has coauthored 40 papers with undergraduate students.
Fadi Bou-Abdallah is a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York at Potsdam. He earned an MS in chemistry from the Lebanese University in Lebanon and a PhD in biophysical chemistry from the University of Paris 7 in France. His research focuses on structure-function relationships of major iron transport and storage proteins, as well as the role of iron in health and disease. Bou-Abdallah has mentored approximately 40 undergraduate students, coauthoring 26 papers with undergraduates and promoting an environment that encourages the participation, professional development, and graduation of underrepresented students.
Loretta Jackson-Hayes is James H. Daughdrill Professor in the Natural Sciences, professor of chemistry, and chair of the Department of Chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis. She earned her BS in chemistry from Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS, and her PhD in pharmacology from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Her research focuses on investigating regulatory mechanisms of eukaryotic gene expression. Fostering scaffolded undergraduate research experiences and continual professional development for diverse students, Jackson-Hayes has coauthored more than 28 publications with undergraduates.
The Outstanding Mentorship Awards of CUR’s Chemistry Division honor exceptional mentoring and advising by higher education faculty across all subdisciplines of chemistry. Each award consists of a $500 cash prize to the recipient, a certificate of recognition, a one-year individual membership to CUR funded by the Chemistry Division, and a letter of commendation from CUR sent to the recipient’s institution.
On April 27–28, undergraduate students from colleges and universities in 42 states and the District of Columbia will participate in the 2021 Posters on the Hill event, sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). In a virtual public poster session on April 28 from 2–4 pm ET, undergraduate researchers and their mentors from institutions such as Edmonds College and Grinnell College to Norwich University and Penn State University will share their research projects on topics ranging from examining air pollution amid COVID-19 shutdowns and analyzing household data to inform local revitalization efforts to studying hydrogen as a more environmentally friendly aerospace fuel and assessing the effectiveness of a virtual reality intervention in improving relationships between communities of color and the police.
CUR hosts the annual Posters on the Hill event to highlight the work of undergraduate researchers from around the country to Members of Congress, congressional staffers, federal government officials, academics, and others, demonstrating the value of federal investment in undergraduate research. The event is highly selective—several hundred applications are received each year and judged by a national panel of experts in their fields, and only the best teams are chosen. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ImDM6SzAq7E
“It is always exciting to see the superb work of undergraduate researchers at Posters on the Hill each year,” said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer. “The event showcases the talent, hard work, and invaluable research results of these students and their mentors as well as the caliber of the individuals being prepared for careers in a wide variety of fields, helping to meet the needs of academe, employers, the nation, and the world.”
The following is a small sample of the Posters on the Hill participants. Learn more about all the presenters and their projects on CUR’s “Meet the Researchers” webpage.
Alicia Grana (The College of New Jersey) Project Title: Felony Disenfranchisement and Its Effect on Recidivism. This study examined the relationship of the revocation of the voting rights of formerly incarcerated individuals and the likelihood of such individuals to re-offend.
D. Melanie Kistnasamy, Kai Welsh, and Cameron Gaspord (Gustavus Adolphus College) Project Title: Seven Mile Creek Watershed: Monitoring Water Quality and Ravine Erosion for a Sustainable Agriculture. This project monitored several pollutants and visual indicators of erosion, measuring the effectiveness of best management practices adopted by farmers in the watershed of southern Minnesota.
Jenny Mendis (Gallaudet University) and Ekrem Kaya (Freedom High School, South Riding, VA) Project Title: Identification of Hotspots for SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Human ACE2 Binding. This project studied the role of a glycoprotein in the entry of COVID-19 into human cells.
Jonah Nordeen, Caroline Durham, and Armani Sumpter (Coastal Carolina University) Project Title: An Analysis of Perceptions and Personal Experiences of the Gun Violence Public Health Crisis. This study examined gun violence beliefs based on the presence or lack of guns in southeastern households, seeking to gather data that can assist in increasing the safety of communities.
Gregory Young, professor in the School of Music and founding director of the Undergraduate Scholars Program at Montana State University in Bozeman, has been selected as the 2021 CUR-Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Awardee. The award consists of a plaque and $1,000 for the recipient’s work with undergraduate researchers.
A member of the Montana State faculty since 1988, Young also has served as assistant dean of the College of Arts & Architecture and director of the School of Music. In addition to working with undergraduates on collaborative projects, he played a crucial part as vice provost for undergraduate education in requiring research of all undergraduates—the first public university to do so—and established Montana State’s McNair Scholars Program to encourage underrepresented students to engage in research. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Western Ontario, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees in music from the University of Michigan. Young has lectured or performed on five continents and is a clarinetist with the Intermountain Opera and Bozeman Symphony Orchestras.
Said Lindsay Currie, CUR’s executive officer, “Dr. Young’s innovative interdisciplinary work has inspired undergraduate researchers and faculty members alike, fusing music with fields such as architecture, economics, history, and neuroscience. His involvement in the CUR publication Creative Inquiry in the Arts and Humanities: Models of Undergraduate Research and other books have provided invaluable resources for faculty and administrators wishing to nurture undergraduate research in the arts and humanities. Dr. Young’s active roles with the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, the British Conference of Undergraduate Research, and similar events have helped to build dynamic international communities supporting undergraduate research.”
Said Royce Smith, dean of the Montana State University College of Arts and Architecture, “Professor Young’s award serves as a timely and well-deserved recognition of his vision of research as a unifying force in the university community. His efforts democratize scholarship for students such that inclusivity, interdisciplinarity, and intellectual rigor can all contribute in equal measure.
The CUR-Arts and Humanities Faculty Mentor Awards were established in 2018 through an endowment by 2012 CUR Fellow Joyce Kinkead (Utah State University) to nurture undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative inquiry in arts and humanities disciplines.
The Arts and Humanities Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research announces the 2021 recipients of its student scholarships. The scholarships—a maximum of $300 each—support undergraduate student research and creative inquiry projects at any stage of development up to and including presentation, thus nurturing diverse, innovative, and engaged undergraduate research in the arts and humanities.
The 2021 recipients are the following:
Chitra Dassapa (Chapman University; mentor: Joe Rosenberg) Project title: Headlights (a music video that explores the researcher’s fear of repeating her older sibling’s mistakes)
Amelia Parkerand Jesus Sanchez-Orozco (California State University, Monterey Bay; mentor: Sam Robinson) Project title: Higher Education Is Not Immune to Messaging Mishaps: A Qualitative Rhetorical Analysis of COVID-19 Messaging on US Campuses (evaluates campus communication in times of crisis to help inform campus administrators of best practices in future communication)
