Three Arts & Sciences graduate students earn honors at Research and the State
Gathered from K-State Today
Three graduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences, along with six other K-State graduate students, have been chosen to represent the university at the 13th Capitol Graduate Research Summit, Feb. 2, 2016, at the State Capitol in Topeka.
The students were selected based on their research presentations at Research and the State, an annual on-campus event that occurred Oct. 27 in the K-State Student Union. The graduate students are researching a variety of topics important to Kansas, including nutritional quality of grain products, food safety, animal health and product quality, among other topics.
Research and the State involved 50 participants from four colleges and 20 departments. The event was sponsored by the Graduate Student Council, the Graduate School, the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President. Each winner received a $250 scholarship.
"These students exemplify the quality of our graduate students and illustrate the excellence in research they are conducting that will benefit our state and the nation," said Carol Shanklin, dean of the Graduate School. "Their mentors and the Graduate School administrators are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to them representing Kansas State University at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit."
At the Capitol Graduate Research Summit, the 10 students have the opportunity to present and showcase their research in front of the Kansas Board of Regents and Kansas legislators. The annual statewide summit for Kansas legislators features current research of graduate students at Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University and Pittsburg State University. A university professor and an industry representative will judge the poster and student presentations. The top presenter from each university will be awarded a $500 scholarship.
The three ArtSci were selected to present at the Capitol Graduate Research Summit are:
• Matthew Galliart, master's student in biology, Hutchinson, for "Adaptive ecotypic variation and genetic divergence of a widespread grass andropogon gerardii across a great plains' climate gradient." His advisor is Loretta Johnson, professor of biology.
• Tuyen Nguyen, doctoral student in chemistry, Manhattan, for "Engineering biomimetic nanoabsorbent for detoxification of chemotherapeutics." Her faculty mentor is Santosh Aryal, assistant professor of chemistry.
• Soma Sekhar Sriadibhatla, master's student in chemistry, India, for "Bisphosphonate functionalized nanomedicine for targeting bone microenvironment." His faculty mentor is Santosh Aryal, assistant professor of chemistry.
Other graduate students from Kansas State University selected to attend the Research Summit are:
• Bryant Miller, master's student in marriage and family therapy, Goessel, for "What can we learn about health from Kansas teens: results of the Kansas adolescent health needs assessment." His faculty mentor is Elaine Johannes, associate professor of family studies and human services.
• Nicole Delimont, master's student in human nutrition, Lawrence, for "Protein quality and micronutrient availability of extruded corn, soy, sorghum, and cowpea fortified-blended foods." Her faculty mentor is Brian Lindshield, associate professor of human nutrition.
• Syeda Rubaiyat Aziz, doctoral student in civil engineering, Bangladesh, for "Highway safety manual calibration and crash prediction for rural multilane highways in Kansas." Her faculty mentor is Sunanda Dissanayake, associate professor of civil engineering.
• Caroline Ylioja, doctoral student in animal sciences, Canada, for "Spinning straw into milk: can an all-byproduct diet support milk production?" Her faculty mentor is Barry Bradford, associate professor of animal sciences and industry.
• David Gomez, master's student in human nutrition, Colombia, for "Consumer acceptance of dry dog food visual characteristics." His faculty mentor is Edgar Chambers IV, university distinguished professor of human nutrition.
• Olalere Olatoyre, doctoral student in agronomy, Nigeria, for "Genomic dissection of leaf and panicle architecture traits in sorghum using nested association mapping." His faculty mentor is Geoffrey Morris, assistant professor of agronomy.
• Dilooshi Weerasooriya, doctoral student in agronomy, Sri Lanka, for "Transcription profiling of als herbicide resistant sorghums with early season leaf yellowing." Her faculty mentor is Tesfaye Tesso, associate professor of agronomy.
