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K-State Today

April 13, 2016

41 graduate students earn scholarships at the campuswide research forum

Submitted by Kelsey Peterson

Sam Emerson

Scholarships were on the line as 140 graduate students presented their research and scholarly work in the annual graduate student research forum, K-State Graduate Research, Arts and Discovery, or GRAD Forum, formally known as K-State Research Forum, March 30 in the Engineering Complex.

Winners received scholarships of $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $125 for third place.

The GRAD Forum provided graduate students from all disciplines an opportunity to share their work with the K-State community and to gain experience presenting their work in a professional setting. The forum included oral presentations and poster presentations from research topics including engineering, social sciences, humanities, education, agricultural sciences, math, physical sciences, biological sciences and interdisciplinary research. To see the event's schedule, visit the Graduate School website.

"The new title of the forum, the K-State Graduate Research, Art and Discovery Form, reflects the diversity of the type of scholarly activities that our graduate students are engaged and provided all graduate students the opportunity to share their scholarly work with the K-State community," said Carol Shanklin, dean of the Graduate School.

"Events such as K-State Grad Forum provide our students an excellent opportunity to practice their communication skills while informing their peers and others at K-State about their scholarly work," Shanklin said.

University faculty judges selected the top presenters in each session. An awards ceremony included a special presentation from Matt Garcia, assistant professor of art; and April Bojorquez, instructor of American ethnic studies and assistant curator at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum, about their interdisciplinary research.

The forum is sponsored by the Graduate School, the Graduate Student Council, and the offices of the president and provost.

2016 K-State GRAD Forum winners:

Interdisciplinary Research Oral:
• First place — Pabodha Galgamuwa, doctoral student in horticulture
• Second place — Yulia Burakova, doctoral student in chemical engineering
• Third place — Nandana Weliweriya, doctoral student in physics

Interdisciplinary Research Poster:
• First place — Laura Soto Sierra, master's student in biological and agricultural engineering
• Second place — Sam Emerson, doctoral student in human nutrition
• Third place — Yue Yuan, master's student in apparel and textiles

Biological Sciences Oral:
• First place — Tuyen Nguyen, doctoral student in chemistry
• Second place — Bettina Jancke, doctoral student in entomology
• Third place — Catherine Stewart, doctoral student in plant pathology

Biological Sciences Poster:
• First place — Trenton Colburn, master's student in kinesiology
• Second place — Kelsey Casey, master's student in human nutrition

Engineering/Math/Physical Sciences Oral 1:
• First place — Jacob Lamb, doctoral student in electrical engineering
• Second place — Jan Sebek, doctoral student in electrical engineering
• Third place — Kari Bigham, master's student in biological and agricultural engineering

Engineering/Math/Physical Sciences Oral 2:
• First place — Raiya Ebini, doctoral student in physics
• Second place — Colleen Gura, master's student in geology
• Third place — Michelle Berube, master's student in geology

Engineering/Math/Physical Sciences Poster 1:
• First place — Weston Koehn, master's student in civil engineering
• Second place — Balram Kaderiya, doctoral student in physics

Engineering/Math/Physical Sciences Poster 2:
• First place — Rund Al Masri, doctoral student in civil engineering
• Second place — Akanksha Singh, doctoral student in electrical engineering
• Third place — Kimberly Plevniak, master's student in biological and agricultural engineering

Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Oral 1:
• First place — Miranda Klugesherz, master's student in communication studies
• Second place — Katrina Hanna, master's student in communication studies

Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Oral 2:
• First place — Conor O'Dea, doctoral student in psychology
• Second place — Amanda Fairbanks, doctoral student in counseling and student development
• Third place — Stuart Miller, doctoral student in psychology

Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Oral 3:
• First place — Jules Yimga, doctoral student in economics
• Second place — Krishna Pokharel, doctoral student in agricultural economics

Social Sciences/Humanities/Education Poster:
• First place — Brittany Hollerbach, master's student in kinesiology
• Second place — Jessica High Cless, doctoral student in marriage and family therapy
• Third place — Lauren Oseland, doctoral student in marriage and family therapy

Agricultural Sciences Oral 1:
• First place — Ryan Schmid, doctoral student in entomology
• Second place — Kelsey Phelps, doctoral student in animal sciences
• Third place — Kassandra McKillip, master's student in animal sciences

Agricultural Sciences Oral 2:
• First place — Jacob Alsdurf, doctoral student in biology
• Second place — Karthik Putta, master's student in agronomy

Agricultural Sciences Poster 1:
• First place — Garrett McCoy, master's student in animal sciences
• Second place — Yanting Shen, doctoral student in human nutrition

Agricultural Sciences Poster 2:
First place — Junjun Ou, doctoral student in agronomy
Second place — Matthew Galliart, master's student in biology

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