UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Erickson Discovery Grants were awarded to 52 undergraduate Penn State students to help cover costs related to undergraduate research.
The Erickson Grant program is administered by the Office of Undergraduate Education and can be used for implementation of methods and communication of results. Students may also use the grant to support some living expenses to assist in making the research time possible.
All projects are conducted under the supervision of faculty. While the project is required to be the student’s own independent work, it can be a part of a larger faculty member’s research, when possible.
The program is named in honor of Rodney A. Erickson, the 17th president of Penn State.
This year’s Erickson Grant recipients come from many colleges and campuses across Penn State:
- Jack Tyndall, “Collection Efficiency Experimental Characterization and Correlation to Ice Adhesion Strength,” College of Engineering
- Dominique Sottosanti, “Archaeological Illustration Training: Field Season 2023,” College of the Liberal Arts
- De'jah Coates, “Relationship between stress, depression, and SOCS3 expression,” College of Health and Human Development
- Jaedon Sadler, “Investigating NAD+ Flux in Acute Kidney Injury via Isotope Tracing,” Eberly College of Science
- Saranraj Govindaraj, “ER-Stress in Oligodendrocyte Affects Myelin Sheath Production,” Penn State Erie
- Kevin Mouck, “Scanning Ancient Human Genomes for Signatures of Adaptation,” Eberly College of Science
- Matthew Springer, “Analyzing Age-Dependent Changes in Somatostatin Neurons in Adolescent Mice,” Eberly College of Science
- Alexander Kociuba, “Glycosaminoglycan Composition of the Glycocalyx of Bovine Aortic Endothelial Cells in vitro,” Penn State Lehigh Valley
- Gia Ramos, “Development of DIPA-CRISPR methods to determine gene function in arachnids,” Penn State York
- Sofia Brewer, “Investigating the Presence of Novel Tissue-Resident Inflammatory Immune Cells within the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and their Effects on ACL Reconstructions,” Eberly College of Science
- Falkenhagen Rodriguez and Maria Fernanda, “Single-Molecule Investigations of KIF1A Mutant Kinesin Motors Implicated in KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorders in Children,” College of Engineering
- Milap Mistry, “Surveying JNK Signaling in Drosophila models of ALS,” Penn State Harrisburg
- Gracie Guerin, “Formation of Metal Complexes, Cu(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) of Naringenin Hydrazone Flavonoid Derivatives for Cytotoxic, Antioxidant, and Anti-cancer Activities,” Penn State Brandywine
- Sean Zsoldos, “Phosphorylation of Adenosine Under Wet-Dry Cycling Within Coacervates,” Eberly College of Science
- Zane Burris, “Forming Coacervate-Containing Fatty Acid Vesicles in Conditions Mimicking Prebiotic Oceans,” Eberly College of Science
- Alexis Dell, “Oxidative Cross-Coupling of Monolignols and Model Peptides,” Penn State Altoona
- Atlas Winemiller, “Effects of Non-Watson-Crick Base Paired Structures on Thermodynamic Stability of RNA Duplexes,” Eberly College of Science
- Brandon Oswald, “Explore the Impact of Lipid Geometry on Lipid Flip-flop Kinetics,” Eberly College of Science
- Sulaiman Nasser Sultan Al Taooqi, “Pulsating Oil Droplets and Potential Applications Research Proposal,” College of Engineering
- Vancie Peacock, “Life Cycle Assessment of a Full-scale Methane-oxidizing Biofiltration System,” College of Agricultural Sciences
- Leena Wardeh, “Exploring the Specialization of Expansion Segments in Stage-Specific Plasmodium Ribosomes,” Eberly College of Science
- Alexandra Kwiatkowski, “Investigating the Plastic Response in Cichlid Morphology due to Foraging Techniques,” Eberly College of Science
- Lindsey Rogers, “DNA Replication and DNA Damage Tolerance,” Eberly College of Science
- Kushaal Chokhany, “The Effect of Membrane Surface Charge and Ionic Strength in Solution on FUS Phase Separation Using High-Throughput Arrayed Microfluidic Devices,” Eberly College of Science
- Yuki Yoshida, “The Inhibition of Erm Methyltransferases in S. aureus to Prevent Antibiotic Resistance,” Eberly College of Science
- Caitlin Honus, “The Connection Between Noise Pollution and Bird Cognition,” College of Agricultural Sciences
- Cecil Smith, “Identifying Insect Communities Associated with the Rosinweed Gall Wasp Antistrophus silphii,” Eberly College of Science
- Ryan White, “Structural Semantic Network Comparison Study Via Multivariate Network Analysis Between Engineering Students and Students in Non-Engineering Disciplines,” College of Engineering
- Elle McGregor, “Categorizing the Behavior of Transgenic Alzheimer Disease Zebrafish,” Penn State Altoona
- Daniel Abramov, “A Computational Study of the Interaction of Phenylalanine Hydroxylase with Phenylalanine in the Phenylalanine-Tyrosine Pathway,” Penn State Berks
- Siddarth Gupta, “Enhancing Backdoor Detection in Deep Neural Networks,” College of Engineering
- William Corvino, “Combining Data- and Physics-Based Models to Reveal the Nature of Walking,” College of Engineering
- Simran Mukhi, “Investigating the Microstructure Dependence on Part Thickness in Binder Jet Printed Stainless Steel Using Ultrasonic Testing,” College of Engineering
- Caroline Stickler, “Evaluating the Effect of Peromycus leucopus Allogrooming on Ixodes scapularis Tick Feeding Success,” College of Agricultural Sciences
- Katrina Taylor, “Searching for a Theorized Origin of Life Metabolic Pathway: Culturing the Wächtershäuser Pyrite-Forming Microorganisms from Two Independent Sample Sites,” College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
- Emma Suplizio, “The Effects of Clothing Size Inconsistency Experienced in Adolescence on Disordered Eating Trends Amongst Female College Students,” Penn State DuBois
- Olivia Spotto, “The Relationship Between Environment and Concealment of Sexual Identity in Working College Students,” Penn State Fayette
- Lilly Riddle, “Documenting the Lives of Irish Farmers Amid a Changing Political Landscape Using Multimedia Journalism,” Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
- Sydney Bankert, “The Future of Physical Therapy and Artificial Intelligence,” Penn State Berks
- Gregory Costanzo, “Documenting North-Central Anii – Language Description, Analysis, and Preservation, University Park,” College of the Liberal Arts
- Rachel Bonfini, “Polycaprolactone 3D Printing for Bone Fracture Fixation,” College of Engineering
- Quentin Anderson-Watson, “Characterizing Interaction Modalities that Humans Use to Correct Different Types of Errors Made During Robot Task Execution,” College of Engineering
- Joseph Broniszewski, “Development of Model and Heat Exchanger Using Phase-change Material,” College of Engineering
- Zachary McKee, “Sonification of the Bay Tides From 2003 to 2023,” College of Arts and Architecture
- Philip Chamberlin, “Radial CNT-Si Core-Shell for Efficient Solar Harvesting,” Penn State Altoona
- Baird Bankovic, “Semi-automated Fabrication of Atomically Sharp Tips for Scanning Tunneling Microscopy,” Eberly College of Science
- Anushka Durg, “Optimization of the Next Generation of Tau Neutrino Detectors,” Eberly College of Science
- Jillian Lesikar, “The Relationship between Screen Time and Short-Term Empathetic Reactions in Young Children,” Penn State World Campus
- Arushi Grover, “Understanding Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ in a Post-Grief Society,” College of Arts and Architecture
- Marianne Chico, “To Bend Metal and Forge Clay: Exploring Applications of Ceramics and Steel,” College of Arts and Architecture
- Erica Yozie, “Analysis of Kink Solitons in Motion,” Penn State Fayette
- Jenna Seigworth, “Understanding the Underserved: Why Farmers Market Access is Not Equitable,” Penn State Erie
Applying for an Erickson Discovery Grant
Details on the Erickson Discovery Grant can be found at the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring website. Applications typically open in October and close in February. Grant awardees are notified late in the spring semester.
The Penn State Office of Undergraduate Education is the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State. Learn more about Undergraduate Education at undergrad.psu.edu.