The Vice President for Research is pleased to announce the 2014-2015 recipients of the SPARC Graduate Research Grant. This year’s 48 recipients represent 11 academic units, and will undertake diverse and exciting research and scholarly projects.
Now in its third year, SPARC provides funds and valuable experience for graduate student researchers who earn the award through a competitive grant process. These outstanding students have already taken a significant step forward in preparing for their careers by developing their SPARC grant proposal packages complete with standard components like a detailed research narrative, budget and other supporting documentation. The application materials are similar to what they will be required to create when they apply for nationally competitive grants in their professional lives.
These students will have up to 15 months to complete their SPARC-funded projects. Once they have finished their research projects, they will present their findings at the 2016 Graduate Student Day, and can develop articles and papers based on their work for publication in research journals, acquiring even more experience to apply to their futures in research and scholarship.
2014-2015 SPARC Recipients
Recipient Name |
Department or Program |
Project Title |
| Md Riaz Ahmed | Mechanical Engineering | Autonomous Energy Scavenging from Low Frequency Ambient Noise using AcoustoElastic MetaMaterials (AEMM) |
| Dawood Al Jahwari | Hospitality Management | The Role of Islamic Religiosity in Predicting Destination Choice Decisions |
| Nazli Asgari | Chemical Engineering | Investigation of NOx-CO Formation in Syngas Combustion in Gas Turbine Applications |
| Jessica Baer | Exercise Science | Enhancing Brain Plasticity with Aerobic Exercise and Transcranial Direct Current Brain Stimulation |
| Cynthia Bateman | English | Performing (Canine) Soldier |
| Douglas Cahl | Geological Sciences | Ocean Surface Current Measurement using HF Radars: Improving Accuracy |
| Dominic Casali | Chemical Engineering | Decellularization of Porcine Tissue Matrices Using Dense-Phase Carbon Dioxide |
| Jessica Chandler | Exercise Science | Maximization of Children's Physical Activity Opportunities in After School Programs |
| Evelyn Chukwurah | Biological Sciences | Characterization of PACT and ADAR-1's HIV-1 Inhibitory Actions |
| Lauren Colomb | Linguistics | Language, Race, and Local Identity in New Orleans: A Comparative Study of Yat and African American English |
| Suvarthi Das | Environmental Health Sciences | Mechanistic Study of Redox Signaling-induced Toll-like Receptor 4 Activation, Which is Crucial for Disinfection Byproduct (DBP)-mediated NASH Progression |
| Liya Deng | Library and Information Science | Equity of Access to Cultural Heritage: The Influence of Museum Experience on Learning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders |
| Daniel Einor | Biological Sciences | Molecular Approach to Studying Effects of Man-made Ionizing Radiation in the Wild |
| Jennifer Ersek | Epidemiology | Molecular Diagnostic Tesing in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| Burcu Gokgoz-Kurt | Linguistics | Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability & the Effects of Pronunciation Instruction in Improving Second Language Listening Skills |
| Katherine Goldberg | Anthropology | Archaeological Explorations of the Dynamics of the 19th Century Slave Trade in Guinea |
| Justin Hardee | Exercise Science | mTORC1 Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis in a Mouse Model of Cancer Cachexia |
| Li Huang | Business Administration | Social Sharing of Consumption Experience -Transactive Memory System and Motivated Forgetting in Pursuit of Identity Preservation |
| Morgan Hughey | Health Promotion Education and Behavior | Innovative Spatial and Statistical Methods to Explore the Impact of Obesogenic Environments on Childhood Obesity in Greenville County, SC |
| Juri Kim | Political Science | Willingness and Opportunity of Actors: Political Legitimacy, Military Capacity, and Conflict |
| Allison Latshaw | Chemistry and Biochemistry | In-situ Investigation of Flux Crystal Growth of Holmium Silicates through Neutron Diffraction |
| Xiaocheng Leng | Mechanical Engineering | Simulation of Atherosclerotic Plaque Delamination with Micromechanical Structure of Collagen Fibers |
| Christopher Ling | Business Administration, Marketing | The Acceptance Source Effect |
| John MacArthur | Biological Sciences | Using plants to produce and deliver tumor suppressor microRNAs as a novel strategy for preventing colorectal cancer |
| Victoria Macht | Experimental Psychology | Neurochemical Bases of Attention in a Rat Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders |
| Amy Mattison Faye | Health Promotion Education and Behavior | Initial Evaluation of First-in-the-Nation Policy of Immediate Postpartum Insertions of Long Action Reversible Contraceptives in Young Women |
| Katherine McFadden | History | Garagecraft |
| Vinal Menon | Biomedical Sciences | Altered Hemodynamics regulates cardiac valve development |
| Heather Mentrup | Biological Sciences | Elucidating the role of Itch in the crypt base columnar stem cell population and intestinal homeostasis |
| Danielle Nesbitt | Physical Education | Examining Supine-to-Stand as a Measure of Functional Capacity and Health Across the Lifespan |
| Jennifer Olejarczyk | Experimental Psychology | Simpler Assessments via Eye Movement Behavior |
| Randall Owens | History | G.I. Joe vs Jim Crow: Legal Battles over Off-Base Public School Segregation of Military Children in the American South in the 1960s |
| Kwame Owusu-Daaku | Geography | A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparative Study of the Narratives of Climate Change Vulnerability in the Volta River Delta of Ghana |
| Rahmi Pak | Electrical Engineering | High-Efficiency Solar Cells Based on Axially Tandem Nanorod CZTSSe/CIGSSe Structure with Q-Dot Down-Conversion Layer |
| Kayla Penta | Biomedical Sciences | In Vitro Arsenic Exposure Linked to Type 2 Diabetes Progression |
| Neal Polhemus | History | A Culture of Commodification: Hemispheric and Intercolonial Migrations in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1660-1807 |
| Mary Ann Priester | Social Work | Holistic Defense Program Development: A Community-Based Participatory Approach |
| Aaron Provence | Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences | Human Urinary Bladder Smooth Muscle: The Role of Voltage-Gated Potassium Channels |
| Sahan Salpage | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Amine functionalized Covalent Organic Frameworks (COF) for efficient carbon dioxide capture and separation |
| Taylor Short | Mathematics | Chemical Graph Theory in Croatia |
| Ryan Starcher | Civil Engineering | Strength and Durability of Soils Treated with Chemical Admixture for Unpaved Roads and Airfields |
| Paul Ryan Strickler | Political Science | Partisan Polarization and Deliberative Democracy: The Role of Affect and Ideology" |
| Ruoyu Sun | Electrical Engineering | Building and Tree Shadowing Effects in Air-Ground Radio Channels for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) |
| Jonathan Trotter | Music Arts, Choral Conducting | "In Hearts at Peace Under an English Heaven": The choral music of four English composers lost in the Great War |
| Brittany Walter | Anthropology | Urbanization and Famine: Environmental Effects on the Mortality of Medieval London |
| Derek Williams | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Light-Harversting and Controllable Energy Transfer in Metal-Organic Frameworks |
| Hongsheng Zhang | Mechanical Engineering | Numerical Studies of Friction Extrusion Process |
| Haiming Zhou | Statistics | Bayesian Causal Mediation Analysis for Survival Data |
12 January 2015