Graduate School holds annual Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Student Research Symposium
Thu, 04/22/2021 - 10:50am | By: David Tisdale
Graduate students at 欧美AV (欧美AV) shared their research with a broader audience and earned recognition for their work during the annual Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Student Research Symposium, held recently online through the ForagerOne Symposium Platform.
The symposium provides graduate students with an opportunity to present their research to faculty, staff and students in a competitive environment through oral and poster presentations. Students submitted pre-recorded videos of oral or poster presentations, then participated in a live, but virtual, question and answer session. In addition, the Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year and Graduate Assistants of the Year are announced at this event.
Winners in the symposium鈥檚 various categories of competition include the following:
Oral Presentations
Arts and Humanities
1st place: Travis Ascione of New Castle, Pennsylvania
2nd place: Fernanda DeOliveira Veiverberg of Ponta Pora, Brazil
3rd place (tie): Jack Hoda of Petal, Mississippi and Sarah King of Ridgeland, Mississippi
Life, Health, and Environmental Sciences
1st place: Annmarie Fearing of Gainesville, Florida
2nd place: Loren Stearman of Stillwater, Oklahoma
3rd place: Neil Redmond of South Kingston, Rhode Island
Physical Sciences and Mathematics
1st place: Luke Galuska of Houston, Texas
2nd place: Song Zhang of Anhui, China
3rd place: Rahul Shankar of Mumbai, India
Social and Educational Sciences and Business
1st place: Kendal Smith of Ellisville, Mississippi
2nd place (tie): Nicholas Maxwell of Olive Branch, Mississippi and Madison Estrada of Iola, Kansas
Poster Presentations
Social and Educational Sciences and Business/Arts and Humanities
1st place (tie): Fayth Walbridge of Burns, Wyoming and Karlie Herndon of Sutherlin, Virginia
2nd place: Nazanin Amerian of Tehran, Iran
Physical Sciences and Mathematics
1st place: Catherine Sarantes of Los Angeles, California
2nd place: Devin Jen of Palatine, Illinois
3rd place (tie): Evan Grimes of Grimes, Iowa and Brad Davis of Carrollton, Texas
Graduate Assistants of the Year include those in the following categories:
Teaching Assistant 鈥 Rachael Fowler of Mobile, Alabama
Research Assistant 鈥 Lacey Wallace of Jayess, Mississippi
Dr. Frank Heitmuller, an associate professor of geology and geography in the School of Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences, was named Graduate of the Year.
欧美AV Graduate School Dean Dr. Karen Coats expressed gratitude to Graduate School staff members Shelby Flores, Tracy Barnhill and Jessica Hurt for their assistance in organizing the symposium.
鈥淟ate last year, clearly influenced by the impact of COVID-19, Forbes magazine included resiliency, flexibility and thriving in a virtual environment among
the top 10 most important job skills companies are looking for in 2021,鈥 Dr. Coats
said. 鈥淭hose attributes were on display by our graduate students during the Susan
A. Siltanen Graduate Research Symposium. As professional societies across the globe
have done, this long-standing annual event showcasing students鈥 research and creative
activity had to pivot to a virtual format.
鈥淚 had the pleasure of judging one category of competition, but I also viewed the
presentations of several other students, and was so pleased with the quality of their
videos, their ability to explain their research, and their depth of knowledge displayed
in the question and answer session with judges. I also was impressed by the innovation
and impact of their projects. While all the videos I viewed were really well done,
the winners were just exceptional.鈥
For information about the 欧美AV Graduate School and annual Susan A. Siltanen Symposium, visit /graduate-school/susan-siltanen-graduate-student-research-symposium.php.