About 100 students presented poster or made oral presentations at this year's Discovery Day, a celebration of undergraduate research on the Columbia campus.

Awards totaling $6,200 from USC's Office of Research and Health Sciences and corporate sponsor Milliken & Co. were given for the top posters and oral presentations.

Winners selected by Milliken & Co. were:

• Grand Prize: Nishita Dalal, chemical engineering, "Analysis of Dipicolinic Acid Released from Spores Treated with Supercritical CO₂ ." Faculty mentor: Michael Matthews, chemical engineering.
• Top Posters: Rachael Hipp, chemistry, "Chemical Composition of Latent Fingerprints by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry." Faculty mentor: Stephen Morgan, chemistry and biochemistry.
• Heather Taylor, chemistry, and Jennifer Yiu, chemistry, "Systematic Investigations of Environmental Effects on Textile Fibers for Forensic Fiber Examinations." Faculty mentor: Stephen Morgan, chemistry and biochemistry.
• Meredith Tershansy, chemistry, "Solvothermal Synthesis, Structural Determination, Optical Properties and Thermochromic Behavior of Several New Mixed-Metal Bismuth Halide Compounds." Faculty mentor: Hans-Conrad zur Loye, chemistry and biochemistry.

BIOMEDICAL
First place, Xiaoyi (Tina) Zhang, biological sciences, "Effect of Hyperglycemia on the Cardiac Fibroblast Response to Mechanical Stretch." Faculty mentor: Wayne Carver, cell and developmental biology and anatomy.

Second place, Heather Mentzer, chemical engineering, "Mapping MSP1-19 Binding Regions in Band 3 Peptide." Faculty mentor: Athar Chishti, pharmacology, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Third place, Thomas Smith, biological sciences, "In Vitro Studies of the Application of Ferromagnetic Wire Implants for Magnetic Drug Targeting: Analysis of Delivery Parameters for Maximum Magnetic Drug Targeting Efficiency." Faculty mentor: James Ritter, chemical engineering.

Honorable Mention, Thomas Smith, biological sciences, "Mechanism of HOX A9 to Down Regulate Endothelial Cell Activation." Faculty mentor: Rekha Patel, biological sciences.

BUSINESS
First place, Vivek Thakur, chemistry, "Two Roads from Laboratory to Commercial Project." Faculty mentor: Davis Baird, Honors College.

EARTH AND MARINE SCIENCE
First place, Corinne D'Ippolito, marine science, Alice DuVivier (Colorado College), "Changes in the Southwest Asian Monsoon." Faculty mentors: David Anderson, Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado; Anil Gupta, Indian Institute of Technology; and Robert Thunell, geological sciences, USC.

Second place, Elizabeth Bell, geology, "Applications of Geochemistry to the Provenance of Calcareous Sandstones." Faculty mentor: David Barbeau, geological sciences.

Third place, Bonnie Coggins, marine science, "Ghost Fishing by Blue Crab Pots." Faculty mentor: Robert Feller, Biological Sciences.

ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
First place, Nishita Dalal, chemical engineering, "Analysis of Dipicolinic Acid Released from Spores Treated with Supercritical CO₂." Faculty mentor: Michael Matthews, chemical engineering.

Second place, Kelvin Moore, chemical engineering, "Development of Metal-free Catalysts for PEM Fuel Cells." Faculty mentor: Branko Popov, chemical engineering, and Vijayadurga Nallathambi, PhD candidate, chemical engineering.

Third place, Anna Pickerell, chemical engineering, "Preparation of Silver-Platinum Bimetallic Catalysts via Electroless Deposition." Faculty mentor: Christopher Williams, chemical engineering.

NATURAL SCIENCE
First place, Suchita Pancholi, biological sciences, "Activation of MAP Kinases in Tomato and Potato Leaves in Response to Wounding." Faculty mentor: Johannes Stratmann, biological sciences.

Second place, Meredith Tershansy, chemistry, "Solvothermal Synthesis, Structural Determination, Optical Properties and Thermochromic Behavior of Several New Mixed-Metal Bismuth Halide Compound." Faculty mentor: Hans-Conrad zur Loye, chemistry and biochemistry.

Third place, Rachael Hipp, chemistry, "Chemical Composition of Latent Fingerprints by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry." Faculty mentor: Stephen Morgan, chemistry and biochemistry.

NEUROSCIENCE
First place, Ryan Newsom, experimental psychology, "Prenatal Tetrahydrocannabinol Exposure Disrupts Social and Open Field Behavior in Male Long Evans Rats." Faculty mentor: Sandra Kelly, psychology.

Second place, Teresa Mark, biological sciences, "Effect of Binge Morphine Exposure on Pain Thresholds and Opioid Analgesia in Neonatal and Adolescent Rats." Faculty mentor: Sarah Sweitzer, pharmacology, physiology, and neuroscience.

Third place, Alisha Epps, experimental psychology, "Alterations of GAD Production by Lentivirus Mediated Gene Transfer Modified Seizure Severity in Genetically Epilepsy Prone Rats." Faculty mentor: James Coleman, psychology.

SOCIAL SCIENCES I
First place, Payton Foust, experimental psychology, "The Role of Landlords in the Functioning of Persons with Severe Mental Illness Living in Supported Housing." Faculty mentor: Bret Kloos, psychology.

Second place, Amy Goddard, experimental psychology, "Examining Means of Increasing Generalization Across Time: Repeated Readings v. Multiple Exemplars." Faculty mentor: Scott Ardoin, psychology.

Third place, Lindsey Stone, experimental psychology, "Women's Attitudes on the Effects of Domestic Violence on Children." Faculty mentor: Frederic Medway, psychology.

SOCIAL SCIENCES II|
First place, Lauren Saleeby, biological sciences, "Healthcare access and nutrition education of Hispanics in South Carolina." Faculty mentor: Deborah Parra-Medina, health promotion, education, and behavior.

Second place, Amanda Seals, interdisciplinary studies, "The Effect of Gender on Judicial Voting in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals of Canada." Faculty mentor: Donald Songer, political science.

Third place, Sam McQuillin, experimental psychology, Gill Strait, experimental psychology, Shawneequa Thompson, experimental psychology, "Curriculum Based Measurement and State-of-the-Art Training to Help Middle School Students Solve Math Word Problems." Faculty mentor: Bradley Smith, psychology, and Carolyn Pender, Ph.D. candidate, psychology.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS -- SECTION 1
First place, Melinda Lynch, biological sciences, "The Down Regulation of the mRNA Stability Factor HuR Through the Use of Small Interfering RNAs." Faculty mentor: Dan Dixon, biological sciences.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS -- SECTION 2
First place - tie, Robert Freeman, civil engineering, "Vertical Porosity Distributions in Pervious Concrete Pavement." Faculty mentor: Liv Haselbach, civil and environmental engineering.

First place - tie, Laurel Stanko, marine science, "Organic Matter Cycling in the Chukchi Sea." Faculty mentor: Ronald Benner, biological sciences.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS -- SECTION 3
First place, Joshua Kammerer, religious studies, "Christianity Meets Philosophy." Faculty mentor: Ed Munn, philosophy.

Honorable mention, Jeff Stephens, English, "Collecting Creativity." Faculty mentor: Donald Greiner, English.

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