Graduate students present Kansas-related research to legislators at statewide summit
Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016
MANHATTAN — Ten Kansas State University graduate students researching important Kansas topics, including crop development, highway safety, food quality, animal health and more, will share their work Tuesday, Feb. 2, at the 13th Capitol Graduate Research Summit on the second floor rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol Building in Topeka.
The statewide forum includes current research from graduate students at Kansas State University, University of Kansas, University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburg State University.
The students will present their research posters from 10 a.m. to noon and interact with legislators, the Kansas Board of Regents and the public. Members of the community are invited to attend.
A university professor and an industry representative will judge the poster and student presentations. The top presenters from each university will be awarded a $500 scholarship.
The 10 students were chosen based on their research presentations at Research and the State, an annual on-campus event that occurred in October 2015.
The students want to show how their research is relevant to Kansas and how it will make a difference.
"It is very important to communicate our research to Kansas state legislators and the Kansas Board of Regents to show the impact Kansas State University has not only in the state, but also nationwide," said Bryant Miller, Goessel, master's student in marriage and family therapy. "Sharing cutting-edge research with our government officials can continue to inform them of the work being done each day to continue making our state a great place to live, work, and raise a family."
Miller will present "What can we learn about health from Kansas teens: results of the Kansas adolescent health needs assessment." His faculty mentor is Elaine Johannes, associate professor of family studies and human services.
"The majority of the highways in Kansas are in rural locations, which have been experiencing more than 60 percent of the fatal crashes every year," said Syeda Rubaiyat Aziz, Bangladesh, doctoral student in civil engineering. "My research would help determine the precise crash prediction for such rural roadways in Kansas and would facilitate state agencies to identify possible factors that may influence rural crash occurrence."
Aziz will present "Highway safety manual calibration and crash prediction for rural multilane highways in Kansas." Her faculty mentor is Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering.
Along with Miller and Aziz, the following Kansas State University graduate students will present their research at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit:
• Matthew Galliart, master's student in biology, Hutchinson, will present "Adaptive ecotypic variation and genetic divergence of a widespread grass andropogon gerardii across a great plains' climate gradient." His advisor is Loretta Johnson, professor of biology.
• Nicole Delimont, master's student in human nutrition, Lawrence, will present "Protein quality and micronutrient availability of extruded corn, soy, sorghum, and cowpea fortified-blended foods." Her faculty mentor is Brian Lindshield, associate professor of human nutrition.
• Tuyen Nguyen, doctoral student in chemistry, Manhattan, will present "Engineering biomimetic nanoabsorbent for detoxification of chemotherapeutics." Her faculty mentor is Santosh Aryal, assistant professor of chemistry.
• Caroline Ylioja, doctoral student in animal sciences, Canada, will present "Spinning straw into milk: can an all-byproduct diet support milk production?" Her faculty mentor is Barry Bradford, associate professor of animal sciences and industry.
• David Gomez, master's student in human nutrition, Colombia, will present "Consumer acceptance of dry dog food visual characteristics." His faculty mentor is Edgar Chambers IV, university distinguished professor of human nutrition.
• Soma Sekhar Sriadibhatla, master's student in chemistry, India, will present "Bisphosphonate functionalized nanomedicine for targeting bone microenvironment." His faculty mentor is Santosh Aryal, assistant professor of chemistry.
• Olalere Olatoyre, doctoral student in agronomy, Nigeria, will present "Genomic dissection of leaf and panicle architecture traits in sorghum using nested association mapping." His faculty mentor is Geoffrey Morris, assistant professor of agronomy.
• Dilooshi Weerasooriya, doctoral student in agronomy, Sri Lanka, will present "Transcription profiling of ALS herbicide resistant sorghums with early season leaf yellowing." His faculty mentor is Tesfaye Tesso, associate professor of agronomy.
