Graduate students presenting Kansas-related research at Capitol Graduate Research Summit
Monday, Feb. 19, 2018
Graduate students discuss their Kansas-related research at the 2017 Capitol Graduate Research Summit in the State Capitol Building in Topeka.
Note: This event was originally scheduled for Feb. 20, but was rescheduled to March 27 because of winter weather.
MANHATTAN — The 15th Capitol Graduate Research Summit on Tuesday, March 27, will feature 10 Kansas State University graduate students who research important Kansas topics, including highway safety, mental health, animal health and more.
The event will be on the second-floor rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Topeka. The statewide summit includes current research from graduate students at Kansas State University, Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University, University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, and Wichita State University. Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer has proclaimed Feb. 20 as Graduate Research Day.
Graduate students will present their research posters from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 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. In addition, BioKansas will select a winner from each university whose research has the greatest potential for commercialization. Each winner will receive a $500 award from BioKansas.
The 10 students were chosen based on their research presentations at Research and the State, an annual on-campus event in November 2017:
• Stuart Sprague, doctoral student in horticulture, Manhattan, for "Expression of ATGRXS17 in maize increases yield under heat stress." His faculty advisor is Sunghun Park, associate professor of horticulture and natural resources.
• Kahao Lim, doctoral student in civil engineering, Temple City, California, for "Sustainable resource recovery from municipal wastewater in a pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (anmbr) at Fort Riley, KS." His faculty advisor is Prathap Parameswaran, assistant professor of civil engineering.
• Samantha Fox, doctoral student in biology, Dawson, Georgia, for "Soil microbial community shifts due to different fire severities." Her faculty advisor is Ari Jumpponen, professor of biology.
• Barrett Scroggs, doctoral student in family studies and human services, Duluth Georgia, for "The influence of parental emotional support on income and well-being during the transition to adulthood: a life-span approach comparing sexual minority and heterosexual individuals." His faculty advisor is Amber Vennum, associate professor of family studies and human services.
• Laura Constance, doctoral student in veterinary pathobiology, Clyde, North Carolina, for "Role of the gut microbiome in response to vaccination and viral respiratory infection in growing pigs." Her faculty advisor is Megan Niederwerder, assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology.
• Jillian Joyce, doctoral student in human nutrition, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, for "Development of evidence-based school lunch best practices: a critical review." Her faculty advisor is Sara Rosenkranz, assistant professor of food, nutrition, dietetics and health.
• Ashley Kelly, master’s student in horticulture, Australia, for "Inspiring future conservationists through a junior zookeeper program." Her faculty advisor is Jeffrey Skibins, assistant professor of park management and conservation.
• Yile "Tom" Su, master’s student in family studies and human services, China, for “Enhance health with a new evidence-based treatment for depression.” His faculty advisor is Joyce Baptist, associate professor of family studies and human services.
• Rijesh Karmacharya, master’s student in civil engineering, Nepal, for "Calibration of highway safety manual for 4-legged signalized intersections at urban and suburban areas in Kansas." His faculty advisor is Sunanda Dissanayake, professor of civil engineering.
• Narmadha Mohankumar, doctoral student in statistics, Sri Lanka, for "Optimizing the design of the kansas mesonet environmental monitoring network." Her faculty advisor is Andres Patrignani, assistant professor of agronomy.
