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The 17th annual Celebration of Scholarship will showcase more than 85 research projects spanning an array of academic disciplines and conducted by University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students and professors on April 26.

Posters will be displayed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday in rooms 201 and 202 of Reeve Memorial Union, 748 Algoma Blvd. Poster presenters — which include both undergraduate and graduate students — will be available to discuss their projects from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The focus of research ranges from local to global, with presentations ranging from healthcare systems in Central America to sustainable transportation options at UW Oshkosh. The event highlights examples of the high-quality scholarship that results from faculty and student collaborations.

“A cohort of UW Oshkosh students and faculty will be traveling to Central America to develop cultural awareness and to provide medical, dental and veterinary care to underserved communities,” said UWO senior Bob Stenberg, who is working with professor Arlene Haffa. “The primary goal of this research project is to identify the organic basis and the biochemical actions of the most common pharmaceutical agents used in primary care clinics.”

Environmental studies major Nadeesha Thewarapperuma will present a poster that looks at both sides of a hot issue in Oshkosh: eco-friendly transportation.

“By exploring each green transportation option and evaluating its positives and negatives, it is possible to determine if the implementation is feasible at UW Oshkosh,” said Thewarapperuma, who is working with professor James Feldman.

Winners of the summer 2010 Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Grant, awarded by the University’s Office of Grants and Faculty Development, include the following students:

  • Kaci Worth, religious studies and anthropology, with Stephanie Spehar, “Investigating the Impact of Selective Logging on Wildlife Food Sources in East Kalimantan, Borneo”
  • Erin Prader, biology and microbiology, with Stephen Bentivenga and Rebecca Abler, “Investigating and Preserving Medicinal Plants of Hmong Communities”
  • Kenneth Toson, biology and microbiology, with Toivo Kallas, “Possible Functions of Alternative Rieske Iron-Sulfur Proteins in Synechocystis”
  • Katie Streufert, chemistry, with James Paulson, “Chromosomal Proteins and Mitosis”
  • Amanda Anderson, economics, with Sarinda Taengnoi and M. Ryan Haley, “Forecasting Enrollment for a New Academic Program”
  • Pa Shoua Vang, art, with Teresa Lind, “Hmong Dowries: Traditional Practices and Modern Expectations”
  • Jennifer Haegele, geography and urban planning, with Mamadou Coulibaly, “Post-Event Community-Based Urban Flood Hazard-Mapping by Aerial Photography and Recovery Cost Assessment: Case of Fond du Lac, Wis.”
  • Kyle Colburn, geology, with Jennifer Wenner, “How Does the Mantle Beneath the Ring of Fire Change Through Time? A Trace Element Study of Primitive Basalts Erupted in a Small Area in the Southern Cascades”
  • Robert Adler, music, with Matthew Miller, “Beginner’s Classical Guitar Method Book”

Graduate Student/Faculty Collaborative Research Award Recipients for summer 2010 include:

  • Jacob Dittel, biology and microbiology, with Gregory Adler, “The Role of Rodents in Affecting Tropical Forest Regeneration: Seed Dispersal and Seed Predation.”
  • Vai Lor, biology and microbiology, with Lisa Dorn, “The Influence of Competition on Plant Responses to Seasonal Cues”
  • Tristan Thomas, biology and microbiology, with Dana Vaughan, “Possible Control of Mitochondrial Populations by PGC-1alpha in the 13-Lined Ground Squirrel Retina”

For more information visit about undergraduate and graduate research at UW Oshkosh, visit www.uwosh.edu/grants/assets/uw_student_support/celebration_of_scholarship.php.