COST Research Day 2022 Award Winners

 

COST Research Day 2022, held on Friday, April 29, provided an opportunity for COST students to present the results of their work with faculty mentors and other collaborators.  Professor Emerita and undergraduate research mentor extraordinaire, Dr. Cindy Venn, kicked off Research Day with a keynote address that shared her journey as a researcher and teacher.  The keynote was followed by 46 student poster presentations on topics ranging from hybrid stars to honeybees!  Fourteen Bloomsburg University alumni and friends returned to campus to help judge presentations and celebrate students’ achievements. 

There was a tie for top prize (highest overall scores) and both winners were from Biological and Allied Health Sciences.  Katelyn Kelchner (faculty advisor: Abby Hare-Harris) won for PEX-DETEX Analysis of Splice Donor Variation Indicates an Enrichment of Poison Exons in Individuals with Developmental Brain Disorders and Mitchell Liddick (faculty advisor: Steven Rier) won for Exploring the Impact of Polyester Microfiber Contaminants on the Structure and function of Stream Biofilms

In Biological and Allied Health Sciences, the undergraduate first prize winner was Haley Fiske (faculty advisor: Abby Hare-Harris) for Identification of Poison Exons in Genes Associated with Improved Athletic Performance, and the honorable mention was awarded to Nathan Slotnik (faculty advisor: Kate Beishline) for BORIS Expression in HCT116 Cells.

Among Biological and Allied Health Sciences graduate students, the first prize winner was Oriana Balascio (faculty advisor: Kate Beishline) for Characterizing BORIS Dynamics at Telomeres in a Colon Cancer Cell Model, and the honorable mention was awarded to Braeden Gonzales (faculty advisor: Steven Rier) for Microbial Extracellular Enzymes as Indicators of Riparian and Upstream Forest Cover in Headwater Streams.

In Chemistry and Biochemistry, the first prize winner was Helena Eby (faculty advisors: Ellen Kehres and Michael Borland) for Evaluating the Anti-Proliferative Effects of a PPARβ/δ Ligand Isosteric Selenium Replacement in a Human Melanoma Cell Line with honorable mention recognition for Elizabeth Decoteau (faculty advisor: Matthew Polinski) for New Families of Lanthanide Perrhenate Complexes.

In Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences, first prize went to Lindsey Kerstetter (faculty advisor: Rebecca Bourgault) for Assessing the Cerium Anomaly as a Hydropedologic Tracer in a Forested Northeastern Catchment with honorable mention recognition to Stephen Tapsak and Hannah Jorgenson (faculty advisor: Jennifer Whisner) for Geochemical Analysis of an Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Site Near Ranshaw, PA.

In Mathematics and Digital Sciences, first prize was awarded to Andrew Clickard (faculty advisor: Chris Lynd) for Synthetic Geometry in Hyperbolic Simplices.

In Physics, Health Physics, and Electrical Engineering, first prize was awarded to Aaron Rudolph (faculty advisor: Peter Stine) for Exomoon Detection Using Transit Method, and Honorable Mentions were awarded to John Siebert (faculty advisor: Peter Stine) for Amplitudes and Frequency Correlations of Hybrid Star Candidates and Zach Whisner (faculty advisor: John Huckans) for Design and Construction of an ECDL to Create Rubidium-87 Rydberg.

The Audience Favorite award went to Abigail Lecker of Biological and Allied Health Sciences (faculty advisor: Abby Hare-Harris) for Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Genetic Variant Curation Assignment.

The COST Research Day Committee gratefully acknowledges support from the faculty of Andruss Library, friends and alumni of the College of Science and Technology, the COST Dean’s Office, the BU Foundation, BU Alumni and Professional Engagement, and a BU Group Experience Grant.