University of Nebraska at Kearney Graduate Research Awards

Graduate Oral Presentation Award Winners:

1st Place (tie): Kelsey Walker – “Structured Student Conversations and their Impact”

Kobe Lo – “Management of Post-Concussion Syndrome in a High School Wrestler: A Case Study” 

Graduate Writing Award Winners:

1st Place: Laura Gregory – “There’s a Double Meaning in That: Female Kinship and the Multifaceted Nature of Heroism and Blessedness in Much Ado About Nothing” 

Graduate Poster Presentation Award Winners:

Natural & Physical Sciences

1st Place: Blase Rokusek and Sunayn Cheku – “Utilizing the Drosophila Activity Monitors (DAM2) from TriKinetics to Automate Heat Tolerance Assays in Drosophila melanogaster” 

2nd Place: Sunanda Rajput and McKenna Vininski – “AR Signaling Protects Mice from Developing Allergic Responses to Peanut”  

Professional & Applied Studies  

1st Place: Katherine Kovanda – “Effects of Fluency Intervention in Fourth Grade”  

2nd Place: Kirstyn Leffler – “Abdominal Strains in Collegiate Volleyball Player with Genetic Markers of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome”  

Fine Arts & Humanities 

1st Place: Gwendolynn Folk – “Perceptions of the Kearney Outdoor Learning Area” 

2nd Place: Jada Ruff – “Let’s Talk, Analysis of Communication Effectiveness in Higher Education”  

Outstanding Thesis Awards:

John Masker - Growth, Maturation, and Weight Status: Insights from a Longitudinal Cohort of Nebraska Youth Kate Heelan – Kinesiology & Sports Sciences, Advisor 

Tanya Woodward - My Soul Cries Out: Reimagining Lament for Research and Language Practice with Edwidge Danticat Amanda Sladek - English, Advisor  

Graduate Student of the Year Award:

Blase Rokusek (Biology)

Faculty Mentor Awards:  

College of Business & Technology: Dr. Ngan Chau – Marketing, Agribusiness, and SCM

College of Arts & Sciences: Dr. Austin Nuxoll – Biology 

College of Education: Dr. Jane Roitsch – Communication Disorders

Graduate Studies: Dr. Ladan Ghazi Saidi – Communication Disorders