Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award winners selected
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award winners in the group category are, from left: Colette Shields, Macy Heinrich and Brooklyn Jesseph. | 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 8, the award committee rewarded outstanding undergraduate research in topics ranging from social work to music education. Grand prize awards were given in two categories: individual non-freshman and group. The individual grand prizewinner received $1,000, and the group grand prizewinners shared a $3,000 award. Honorable mentions were also named in both categories.
The awards are made possible through a gift from the Philip and Jeune Kirmser estate.
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 members of the grand prize in the group research category completed their project, "Adverse Childhood Experiences Lead to Depression," for Social Research Methods & Analysis taught by Jung Sim Jun, assistant professor of social work. The members of the group winning honorable mention honors completed their project, "Action Research in Underserved High Schools: Effective Pedagogy in Music Classrooms," for Undergraduate Research in Arts and Sciences taught by Ruth Gurgel, assistant professor of music education.
The following students were recognized through the Kirmser Undergraduate Research Awards:
Macy Heinrich, senior in social work, Abilene, grand prize, group research project; Abigail Giles, senior in music education, Byers, honorable mention, group research project; Alex Meek, senior in music education, Derby, honorable mention, group research project; Colette Shields, sophomore in social work, De Soto, grand prize, group research project; Olivet Martinez, senior in biology and pre-medicine, Dodge City,honorable mention in the individual non-freshman research category for her project, "Effects of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Glycemic and Insulinemic Outcomes: A Randomized Control Trial," completed for Undergraduate Research Experience, with Sara Rosenkranz, associate professor of human nutrition; Sidnie Davidson, senior in music education, El Dorado, honorable mention, group research project; Jessica Brummel, senior in music education, Louisburg, honorable mention, group research project; Aubrey Busenitz, senior in civil engineering, Tecumseh, grand prize in the individual non-freshman research category for her project, "Feasibility Study of Bioretention Cells," completed for Written Communications for Engineers, taught by Marcella Reekie, instructor in English; Natalie Wolf, junior in English and Spanish, Tonganoxie,honorable mention in the individual non-freshman research category for her project "Learning History from Patent Medicines: Newbro's Herpicide in Early Twentieth Century Kansas, English," completed for Introduction to Historical Thinking, with M.J. Morgan, adjunct professor of history.
From Wichita: Brooklyn Jesseph, junior in social work, grand prize, group research project; and Abigail Robinson, senior in music education, honorable mention, group research project.
From out of state: Addyson Howard, senior in elementary education, Kansas City, Missouri, honorable mention, group research award.
