Undergraduate researchers at the Wiess School of Natural Sciences recently presented their findings at the annual Natural Science Undergraduate Research Symposium (NSURS). Of the over 300 students that participated, five were awarded for an outstanding poster presentation.
“It’s a privilege to recognize exceptional effort and achievement with the NSURS Moody Awards for Outstanding Poster Presentation,” said Tom Killian, dean of the Wiess School. “I am proud of all our student researchers and extend my congratulations to our winners, whose presentations stood out in a field of excellence.”
Moody Awards, which include a cash prize, are granted to one student presenter in each of the following five categories: Cancer; The Earth; Materials; Patterns and Origins in Nature; and Human Development, Health, Performance and Disease. The panel of judges for each category could also select exceptional presentations for honorable mention.
Cancer: Biology, Prevention and Therapy
Iris Li, a junior working in Jason Mills’ lab at Baylor College of Medicine, received the Moody Award for her presentation, “PERK Inhibition Induces Gastric Paligenosis Through Secretory Cell Injury.” She studies ways to induce stem cell regeneration in the stomach and presented work that compared two drugs in the lab, showing one had less potential side effects.
“Everyone at NSURS showcased such thoughtful and interesting work that it made winning feel almost unreal, but I am proud and grateful for the recognition,” Li said. “I want to thank my amazing PI, Jason Mills, and bench mentor, Thanh Nguyen, for their support, kindness and guidance.”
Honorable mentions in the Cancer category included Mikaela Garza, Emlyn Joniec, Amy Li, Punarvash Mitta, Esteban Pierren and Parth Singal
The Earth: Geology, ecology and environment
Maddie Jeffery, a senior working in Amy Dunham’s lab, received the Moody Award for her poster, “Chameleon thermoregulation strategies direct targeted species and microhabitat conservation.” Her research examined how small variations in temperature shaped Madagascar chameleon species’ locations and activities.
“It truly was a moment of recognizing that I am a researcher,” Jeffery said. “I can contribute to the broader science community. I am grateful to my host family, the School for International Training and my field team members Desi, Peter Sukstorf and Mena.”
Honorable mentions in the Earth category included Ainsley Ganti and Nat Pujet.
Materials: From the fundamental to the complex
Sophmore Diego Terrones Floresgomez, who works in the lab of Pulickel Ajayan, won the Moody Award for his poster, “Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering in Vanadium Doped Tungsten Disulfide.” His research showed a new way to detect low concentrations of rhodamine 6G by incorporating vanadium into the growth of a metal compound called two-dimensional tungsten disulfide used in the detection process.
“It felt rewarding seeing a phenomenon in this material that hadn’t been documented get recognized,” Terrones Floresgomez said. “I want to thank the Ajayan group at Rice University and the Terrones group at Penn State University.”
Honorable mentions in the Materials category included Hiya Dattani and Steven Qiu.
Patterns and Origins in Nature
Senior Kelly Yang won the Moody Award for her poster, “Early Structure Formation in Self-Interacting Wave Dark Matter.” Her research, done under the supervision of Mustafa Amin, focused on wave dark matter defined by the Schrödinger-Poisson system. She examined the effects of adding a quartic self-coupling to the equation, finding that attractive interactions result in strengthened gravitational clustering within the defined dark matter system.
“I am very honored and surprised as there were many amazing posters at NSURS,” Yang said. “Shout out to Dr. Mustafa Amin, Dr. Andrew Long and the entire cosmology group at Rice, who made this award possible!”
Honorable mentions in the Patterns and Origins in Nature category included Ana Beatriz Contrucci, Annamika Konkola, Neo Lefeta, Ignacio Quiroz Vargas, Lily Sriram and Jeffrey Youngson.
Human Development, Health, Performance and Disease
Isabelle Shen won the Moody Award for her poster “Chondrocyte Activity and Structure Impacted by TonEBP Mutants.” Her research, done in the lab of Florent Elefteriou at Baylor School of Medicine, focused on understanding the role of transcription factor TonEBP in cartilage-supporting cells known as chondrocytes.
Honorable mentions in the Human Development, Health, Performance and Disease category went to Keshav Chandrasekhara, Samitha Nemirajaiah, Lauren Nguyen, Milton Nguyen, Annika Patel, Samyutha Talagadadeevi, Elie Wang and Victoria Zhang.