Exceptional undergraduate scholarship earns students Kirmser research awards
Friday, May 11, 2018
At left, Dean of K-State Libraries Lori Goetsch with three honorees at the Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award ceremony: Scott Heise, Ayana Belk and Zach St. Clair. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Excellence in research has earned several students at Kansas State University recognition through the fifth annual Kirmser Undergraduate Research Awards.
On May 1, the award committee rewarded outstanding undergraduate research in topics ranging from anthropology to biosystems engineering. Grand prize awards were given in three categories: individual freshman, individual non-freshman and group. Individual grand prizewinners each received $1,000, and the group grand prizewinners shared a $4,000 award. Honorable mentions were also named in the individual freshman and individual non-freshman categories.
The awards are made possible through a gift from the Philip and Jeune Kirmser estate.
"We work with students on research projects throughout the year, but we rarely see final versions," said Cindy Logan, associate professor, academic services librarian and chair of the award committee. "It's so gratifying to have this opportunity to review and recognize the extraordinarily high-caliber research they're completing."
Both grand and honorable mention prizewinners are invited to archive their projects in the university's institutional repository, the K-State Research Exchange, or K-REx, so that they are available online to the public.
The following students were recognized at the Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award ceremony:
• Maxwell Burden, Benton; Laura Krueger, Lebo;Quanqing Guo, Manhattan; and Nicholas Young, Topeka, all juniors in biological and agricultural engineering, grand prize in the group research category for "Pond Eutrophication." The group completed the project for Biological Systems Engineering Project II taught by Lisa Wilken, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering.
• Scott Heise, senior in communications studies, Manhattan, grand prize in the individual non-freshman research category for "Follower Behavior and Followership Identity: A Follower's Perspective." His project was completed for Senior Colloquium taught by Natalie Pennington, assistant professor of communication studies.
• Eunice Lalunio, sophomore in anthropology, Manhattan, honorable mention in the individual non-freshman research category for "Dmanisi: A Study of Species Hypotheses and Hominid Variability." The project was completed for Independent Reading and Research in Anthropology taught by Arthur C. Durband, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and social work.
• Jael Whitney, senior in marketing, Overland Park, honorable mention in the individual non-freshman research category for "Big Food, Big Problems: The Ethical Implications of Nestlé's Impact on Public Health in Brazil." The project was completed for Business Strategy taught by Sabine Turnley, instructor of management.
• Zachary St. Clair, sophomore in English, Stilwell, honorable mention in the individual freshman research category for "Policing in America: Abolish or Ameliorate." The project was completed for Honors English II: Race, Criminality and Punishment taught by Cameron Leader-Picone, assistant professor of English.
• Ayana Belk, freshman in landscape architecture, Kansas City, Missouri, grand prize in the individual freshman research category for "Reviving Troost: Using Phytotechnology to Decontaminate Troost Avenue's Vacant Lots." Belk completed her project for Topics/Developing Scholars Seminar taught by Anne Beamish, associate professor of landscape architecture and regional & community planning.
