April 14, 2020
15 Honors College students win spring 2020 URCA Awards
Caleb Paul, a senior from Greenville, looks over simulations as part of a hydropower research project at East Carolina University. The project aims to harness the energy produced by Gulf Stream currents off the coast of North Carolina. (Photo by Ken Buday)
Fifteen of the 32 recipients of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Awards for the spring 2020 semester were Honors College students.
These awards fund research and creative projects led by undergraduates and are selected by East Carolina University’s Office of Undergraduate Research. This year, awards were limited to students who could complete their spring research off campus due to COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines from the UNC System and ECU.
Below are the spring 2020 URCA recipients from the Honors College:
- Sneha Amaresh, health education and promotion, “Formative assessment for the development of an undergraduate research experience for college students from farmworker families”
- Nicole Cavaliere, dental medicine, “Effects of geraniol against Candida spp.”
- Elizabeth Chan, physiology and East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, “Effect of metformin on the lifespan of Drosophila”
- Melany Contreras, Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, “Extraction of gas hydrates using ocean wave energy”
- Ben Estorge, nutrition science, “LIFT OFF”
- Aaron Johnson, physiology, “Environment programs Drosophila offspring phenotype”
- Amy Lewis, nutrition science, “Finding water: Creative use of digital storytelling”
- Lauren McKee, theatre and dance, “Tracking biometrics in dancers using wearable technology”
- Samantha Taylor Mills, physics, “Novel magnetic therapy to treat breast cancer”
- Caleb Paul, Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, “Computational fluid analysis of 3D hydrofoils”
- Elliot Paul, engineering, “Two- and three-dimensional subject-specific computer modeling of tibial stresses based on MRI and gait analysis”
- Elisabeth Reed, engineering, “Discourse analysis of writing from women in STEM”
- Godgive Umozurike, bioethics and interdisciplinary studies, “In the shadow of Ebola”
- Michelle Voyles, engineering, “Biodiesel production from waste cooking oils”
- Mary Warren, kinesiology, “Optimization of lower-extremity injury prevention”
For more information on this year’s URCA awards, see ECU’s coverage of the Spring 2020 URCA Awards.