News and Announcements
Prestigious award for his research
granted to Michael Morehead, one of our first Magellan Scholars!
 It
is with great pleasure that we announce that one of our first
Magellan Scholars, Michael Morehead, Sport and Entertainment
Management and Capstone Scholar, has been named the recipient of
the 2007 Sport and Recreation Law Association Undergraduate
Student Research Award. Michael's paper analyzing the legal
standards of proof used to decide international ambush marketing
cases was developed out of his legal research project funded by
the Magellan Scholar award. The award will be presented to
Michael at the Sport and Recreation Law conference to be held in
Chapel Hill on March 2nd. He is the first USC student to be
presented with an award from this prestigious group of sport law
academicians.
About the recipient
Michael’s winning research paper is entitled, “An analysis of
standards of proof in international ambush marketing cases.” The
faculty mentor for his paper is Dr. John Grady, a faculty member
in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management. Michael
is active in the Sport and Entertainment Management Club and is
a founding father of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Michael’s
parents are Mickey and Betty Morehead from Shelby, North
Carolina.
DISTINGUISHED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
MENTOR AWARD
Dr. Sandra J. Kelly, Professor of Psychology, joins Dr. Cathy
Murphy (Chemistry and Biochemistry), Dr. Matt Kohn (Geological
Sciences), and Dr. Jay Coleman (Psychology) as the fourth
recipient of this Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor
Award. This award relies heavily on recommendations from our
student researchers.
Dr. Sandra Kelly received her Ph.D. from McGill University in
behavioral neuroscience in 1985. Her research focuses on the
effect of alcohol exposure during development on the central
nervous system, using an animal model of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Current research in the laboratory is focused on alcohol-induced
deficits in the ability to respond appropriately to social cues
as the explanation for alterations in social behavior. In
addition, the neural and neurochemical bases of the
alcohol-induced alterations in social behavior are also being
investigated. The laboratory is also studying how cortical
organization changes when animals acquire skills that they did
not evolve to do.
Dr. Kelly has mentored 9 undergraduates in the past two years
who have contributed to 16 scholarly works, generally as first
author. Dr. Kelly encourages diversity to enhance everyone's
laboratory experience. She believes her role as mentor extends
beyond the walls of the lab - showing her students how to behave
professionally, emphasizing the importance of having a job that
you love, and proving that it is possible to have a successful
career and fulfilling family life. Her students recommended her
for this award "enthusiastically and without reservation!"
USC President Andrew Sorensen and Dr. Harris Pastides, Vice
President for Research and Health Sciences announced the grand
opening of the Office of Undergraduate Research on November 17th
to a crowd of high school principals and guidance counselors and
USC faculty and students. The premiere took place in the Theatre
Department's Lab Theatre in the Booker T. Washington Building.
This unique location embodies the mission of this office -
emphasizing that research happens in all disciplines across
campus and that undergraduate research is about experimenting
and gaining knowledge. No better way exists to highlight a new
program than to hear how real people have benefited. So the
premiere of the Office of Undergraduate Research revolved around
an interview of three students engaged in research: Nikolai
Oskolkov, Art; Abbie Isaac, Theatre/Economics; and Eric Moulton,
Electrical Engineering. These students discussed how they got
involved in research, how their experience has affected them,
and offered advice to students interested in getting into
research. To learn more about the Magellan Scholar program,
please go to
http://www.sc.edu/our/magellan.shtml.
Announcing the first recipients of the University Libraries Award for Undergraduate Research
The first three recipients for the University Libraries Award for Undergraduate Research were honored at a reception at the Thomas Cooper Library on Friday, May 4th. This award recognizes and rewards excellence in undergraduate research projects that incorporate the use of University Libraries collections, resources, and services. The awardees:
FIRST PLACE: Corinne D’Ippolito, “Wilderness Perceptions and Feral Hog Management in Congaree National Park” HIST 497Q
SECOND PLACE: Jennifer Brackett, “The Work is All the Author’s: Changes to Hemingway’s ‘Garden of Eden’” SCCC 499 501
THIRD PLACE: Alan Clamp, “Pure Science and Practical Science in the Nineteenth Century” HIST 499
For more information about this award, please visit: http://www.sc.edu/library/undergradaward.html.
Congratulations to OUR 2008 Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor Award recipients – Dr. Rekha Patel and Dr. Benjamin Hanken
Dr. Rekha Patel
Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Dr. Patel received her PhD in Molecular Biology from the Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore, India) in 1987 and joined USC in 1998. Dr. Patel’s commitment to students has been a strong component throughout her time at USC, being recognized with the Outstanding Faculty Adviser Award (2003), the Michael J. Mungo Undergraduate Teaching Award (2004), and the Excellence in Teaching, USC Mortar Board Award (2005-2006). Her research focuses on the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. The impact of Dr. Patel’s mentoring and the important life lessons her students learn are abundantly apparent in their own words, “Because she inspired me to challenge myself and to learn as much as I could, I owe many of my accomplishments (both inside and outside of the classroom) to Dr. Patel—and for that I am truly grateful.”
Dr. Benjamin L. Hankin
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Dr. Hankin earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001 and joined USC in 2005. He came to USC from University of Illinois-Chicago. Dr. Hankin’s research focuses on the development of depression among youth. In the past five years, he has mentored approximately 50 students encouraging them to present at national conferences (45 presentations with student authors) and has co-published 19 articles with his undergraduates (another 7 are in review). This clearly shows Dr. Hankin’s commitment to his students’ professional development, as is also demonstrated through his student’s statements, “He does not sell his students short. He takes every perceivable effort to ensure that each of us who are willing to, will succeed in our undergraduate career and make a smooth transition after graduation.”
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