Eleven graduate students earn scholarships at campuswide research forum
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
First-place winners of Kansas State University's annual Graduate Research, Arts and Discovery Forum. From left: Tucker Jones, Thao Tran, Hunter Post, Jillian Joyce, and Stephanie Davis. Not pictured are Chelsea Dixon, Nicholle Hatton, Ying Lin, Joel Steyer, Weilun Tsai and Rachel Wilkins. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Oral and poster presentations about their research has earned 11 Kansas State University graduate students first-place honors at the recent annual K-State Graduate Research, Arts and Discovery, or GRAD, Forum.
This year, 85 graduate students competed for scholarship awards at the event. The GRAD Forum provides graduate students from all disciplines an opportunity to share their work with the university community and gain experience presenting their work in a professional setting. The forum included oral presentations and poster presentations on topics in engineering, social sciences, humanities, education, agricultural sciences, math, physical sciences, biological sciences and interdisciplinary research.
University faculty and postdoctoral judges selected the top presenters in each session. An awards ceremony included a special presentation from Timothy Keane, professor and director of research, scholarship and creative activity for the landscape architecture and regional & community planning department. First-place winners received $500 scholarships and their names were engraved on a perpetual plaque specific to each group. The plaque will be displayed in their department until the 2019 GRAD Forum event.
The forum is sponsored by the Graduate School, the Graduate Student Council, the offices of the President and Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Sigma Xi, the scientific research society.
GRAD Forum first-place winners:
• Hunter Post, master's student in kinesiology, Beloit, in the biological sciences oral 1 category. Post's major professor is Carl Ade, assistant professor of kinesiology.
• Joel Steyer, doctoral student in genetics, Lenexa, in the biological sciences poster category. Steyer's major professor is Richard Todd, associate professor of plant pathology.
• Rachel Wilkins, master's student in entomology, Overland Park, in the biological sciences oral 2 category. Wilkins' major professor is Kun Yan Zhu, university distinguished professor of entomology.
• Stephanie Davis, master's student in animal sciences, Silver Lake, in the agricultural sciences oral presentation category. Davis' major professor is John Gonzalez, associate professor of animal sciences and industry.
• Tucker Jones, master's student in psychology, Mosca, Colorado, in the social sciences/humanities/education oral category. Jones' major professor is Mark Barnett, professor of psychological sciences.
• Nicholle Hatton, master's student in biological and agricultural engineering, Parker, Colorado, in the engineering/math/physical sciences oral category. Hatton's major professor is Ajay Sharda, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering.
• Jillian Joyce, doctoral student in human nutrition, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in the social sciences/humanities/education poster category. Joyce's major professor is Sara Rosenkranz, assistant professor of food, nutrition, dietetics and health.
• Chelsea Dixon, doctoral student in biological and agricultural engineering, San Antonio, Texas, in the engineering/math/physical sciences poster category. Dixon's major professor is Lisa Wilken, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering.
• Ying Lin, doctoral student in economics, China, in the social sciences/humanities/education oral 2 category. Lin's major professor is Philip Gayle, professor of economics.
• Weilun Tsai, master's student in nutrition, dietetics and sensory sciences, Taiwan, in the interdisciplinary research poster category. Tsai's major professor is Kadri Koppel, assistant professor of food, nutrition, dietetics and health.
• Thao Tran, master's student in nutrition, dietetics and sensory sciences, Vietnam, in the agricultural sciences poster category. Tran's major professor is Edgar Chambers IV, university distinguished professor of sensory analysis.
