Office of Undergraduate Research Announces Spring 2021 URCA Award Winners

Published May 14, 2021 by
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East Carolina University’s Office of Undergraduate Research announced that 31 student primary investigators received Spring 2021 Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity awards.

The award provides support for faculty-mentored research and creative projects led by undergraduates in four disciplines: biomedical science, STEM, social science, and the arts and humanities.

Awards are typically awarded twice during the academic year, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, awards were presented just once during the 2020-21 academic year. Students apply for the award with a defined project narrative and budget justification summary that they’ve developed in collaboration with a mentor.

Awards range from $1,500-2,000 for each project. Honors College recipients can receive up to $2,500 with support from the college. The award may go toward project materials and cost, a stipend for the student, or used for travel to conduct field or archival research.

Award recipients are required to present their findings at venues including Undergraduate Day during ECU’s Research and Creative Achievement Week and the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium held in November.

This spring’s URCA award recipients are:

  • Marco Agostini and Olivia Jarvis, Coastal Studies, Mentor: Tim Christensen
  • Victoria Chan, Psychology, Mentor: David Smith
  • Rachana Charla, Pediatrics, Mentors: Ryan Schacht and Charles Ewen
  • De Diavoukana, Biology, Mentor: Michelle Oyen
  • Bronté Gerber, Chemistry, Mentor: Elena Murenina
  • Rachel Golden, Physical Therapy, Mentor: Elena Murenina
  • David Halatek, Chemistry, Mentor: Lauren Sastre
  • Savannah Harris, Kinesiology, Mentor: Virginia Stage
  • Khadijah Hendrix, Nutrition Science, Mentor: Michael Wheeler
  • Brendon Hildreth, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Mentors: David Collier and Melissa Johnson
  • MaKenna Johnston, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Mentor: Nathan Hudson
  • Adam Juwaied, Computer Science, Mentor: Kendell Thornton
  • Bradley Kleinert, Kinesiology, Mentor: Tarek Abdel-Salam
  • Ethan Knorr, Engineering, Mentor: Colin Burns
  • Spencer Lynch, Physics, Mentor: Elizabeth Ables
  • Shea Middleton, Engineering, Mentors: Hoben John Patrick and Banerjee Sambuddha
  • Julie Miller, Engineering, Mentors: Eli Hvastkovs and Elizabeth LaFave
  • Nainika Nandigama, Physical Therapy, Mentor: Adam Offenbacher
  • Hunter Pigg, Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Mentor: Kurabachew Duba
  • Rasheanah Russell, Biology, Mentor: Lauren Sastre
  • Georgia Sasser, Honors College, Mentors: Stacey Meardon and John Willson
  • Dana Shefet, Nutrition Science, Mentor: Tarek Abdel-Salam
  • Molli Sholar and Jonathan Hall, Nutrition Science, Mentor: Sambuddha Banerjee
  • Rachel Signorelli and Marco Agostini, Chemistry, Mentors: David Lagomasino and Michael Muglia
  • Carson Stanley and Mihail Tofimov, Chemistry, Mentor: Kamran Sartipi
  • Spencer Story, Anthropology, Mentor: Ali Vahdati
  • Brandon Stroud, Nutrition Science, Mentor: Ted Graber
  • Maria Tallant, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Mentor: Teal Darkenwald
  • Abigail Telenko and Sydney Cook, School of Theater and Dance, Mentor: Bhibha Das
  • Anna Vassallo and Samantha Mills, Chemistry, Mentor: Eli Hvastkovs
  • Kenneth Weddle and Joshua Lawton, Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Mentor: Nicholas Murray

Learn more about the URCA awards online. For more information on individual projects, view the Spring 2021 URCA spreadsheet.