KU News Release

15 graduate students win prizes in campus research competition event

LAWRENCE — Fifteen University of Kansas graduate students received a total of $3,500 in awards at the 2009 Graduate Student Research Competition.

They will be recognized at the Graduate Student Award ceremony at 3:30 p.m. April 29 at the Jayhawk Room in the Kansas Union.

KU’s Graduate and Professional Association sponsored the Feb. 23 competition. The individual prizes, ranging from $150 to $500, were provided by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

A record 116 students entered the competition this year, making oral presentations or poster displays on their original research.

Three students each won $500 first-place awards:

— Jamie Dianne Bone, Talequah, Okla., master’s degree student in music and dance, for her presentation “Is Your Piano Student Ready for College?”
— Madhav Ghanta, Hyderabad, India, doctoral student in chemical and petroleum engineering, for his presentation “Greener Oxidation of Ethylene and Propylene Minimizes Environmental Impact and Increases Safety”
— Jill R. Hoover, Lawrence doctoral student in child language, for her presentation: “The Effect of Vocabulary on Grammar Development in Young Children”

Four students received $200 awards each for second place: Ryan Gaston, Lawrence doctoral student in history; Natalia Luskotova, Overland Park doctoral student in rehabilitation sciences; Suzanne Marie Adlof, Lawrence doctoral student in speech-language pathology; and Elizabeth Kirwan McClain, Shawnee, doctoral student in curriculum and teaching.

Eight students each received $150 awards for third place: Nathan R.Colaner, Lawrence, and William M.Simkulet, Andover, both doctoral students in philosophy; Natalie A. Ciaccio, Champaign, Ill., doctoral student in pharmaceutical chemistry; Linda Cherise Blake, Kennewick, Wash., doctoral student in medicinal chemistry; Yelena Ping Wu, Newton Upper Falls, Mass., doctoral student in clinical child psychology; Tugce Kurtis, Istanbul, Turkey, doctoral student in psychology; Jacob R. Cornett, Lawrence master’s degree student in special education; and Geethavani Chittoor, Chittoor, India, doctoral student in anthropology.

The award winning students are listed below by hometown, degree program; previous degree received; parents’ names (when available), award and the title of research project.

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence 66044
Jacob R. Cornett, master’s student in special education; bachelor’s degrees from Western Washington University and University of Washington; third place for his presentation “A study of Instructional Coaching in secondary schools.”

From Lawrence 66046
Suzanne Marie Adlof, doctoral student in speech-language pathology; master’s from KU; bachelor’s from University of Central Arkansas; second place for her presentation “Grammatical knowledge of children with specific reading comprehension difficulties.”

Ryan Christopher Gaston, doctoral student in history; bachelor’s from University of Evansville; second place for his presentation “Cultivating a Reform: Masculinity, Agricultural Policy and Conservation of the Spanish Empire in the Early Seventeenth Century.”

Jill R. Hoover, doctoral student in child language; master’s from Northern Illinois University; bachelor’s from University of Minnesota; first place for her presentation “The Effect of Vocabulary on Grammar Development in Young Children.”

From Lawrence 66047
Nathan R. Colaner, doctoral student in philosophy; bachelor’s from Miami University; third place for his presentation “Other Than Omniscient: An Interpretation and Defense of Kant’s Rejection of Aristotle’s Notion of Finite Reason.”

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Overland Park 66214
Natalia Loskutova, doctoral student in rehabilitation sciences; second place for her presentation “Bone Density and Brain Atrophy in Early Alzheimer Disease.”

From Shawnee 66216
Elizabeth Kirwan McClain, doctoral student in curriculum and instruction; education specialist degree from KU; bachelor’s from KU; second place for her presentation “Barriers to colorectal cancer screening study recruitment in rural primary care.”

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Andover 67002
William M. Simkulet, doctoral student in philosophy; master’s from KU; bachelor’s from Wichita State University; third place for his presentation “The Morality of Objects.”

ILLINOIS
From Champaign 61822
Natalie A. Ciaccio, doctoral student in pharmaceutical chemistry; master’s from KU; bachelor’s from Purdue University; third place for her presentation “Brain Cancer: New Hope for a Deadly Disease.”

MASSACHUSETTS
From Newton Upper Falls 02464
Yelena Ping Wu, doctoral student in clinical child psychology; master’s from KU; bachelor’s from University of California-Berkeley; third place for her presentation “Discussion of Children’s Psychosocial Problems in a Kansas Family Medicine Practice.”

OKLAHOMA
From Tahlequah 74464
Jamie Dianne Bone, master’s student in music; bachelor’s from Oklahoma State University; first place for her presentation “Is Your Piano Student Ready for College?”

WASHINGTON
From Kennewick 99336
Linda Cherise Blake, doctoral student in medicinal chemistry; bachelor’s from Seattle Pacific University; third place for her presentation “Lung Cancer Chemoprevention: Selective Inhibition of Cytochrome P450 2A13.”

INDIA
From Hyderabad
Madhav Ghanta, doctoral student in chemical and petroleum engineering; master’s degree from KU; bachelor’s degree from Osmania University; first place for his presentation “Greener Oxidation of Ethylene and Propylene Minimizes Environmental Impact and Increases Safety.”

From Chittoor
Geethavani Chittoor, doctoral student in anthropology; third place for her presentation “Relationship between body morphology and lipid levels among the Mennonites of Henderson, Nebraska.”

TURKEY
From Istanbul
Tugce Kurtis, doctoral student in psychology; bachelor’s degree from Bennington College; third place for her presentation “Silence and Memory: A Cultural Psychological Analysis of American Thanksgiving Celebrations.”

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