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EUReCA 2026 Award Winners

Congratulations to all of the 2026 EUReCA award recipients!

Herbert College of Agriculture
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
First Place Adnan Shihaibar Effects of Suspended Sediment and Simulated Biofilms on the Settling Behavior of Microplastics in Agricultural Streams Doug Hayes
First Place Harrison Phillips Effects of Suspended Sediment and Simulated Biofilms on the Settling Behavior of Microplastics in Agricultural Streams Doug Hayes
Second Place Nathan Tucker Effect of Light Quantity on Morphology and Physiology of Hydroponic Basil Kellie Walters
Third Place Jacob Weston RUBY as a Superior Visual Marker for Transformation of Switchgrass Cell Cultures Reggie Millwood
Honorable Mention Jacob Wittmer Optimizing Organic Corn Production Using Legume Living Mulches Renata Nave Oakes

 

College of Architecture and Design
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Graphic Design First Place Caroline Elliott Nest Survival: Experiencing the Life of Tree Swallows Cary Staples
Graphic Design Second Place Hannah Morris ClimateKind: Designing Awareness through Research Cary Staples
Graphic Design Third Place Brandon Correia Expansion and Historical Tree Swallow Populations Cary Staples
Architecture First Place Yogin Patel Shellworks–A Center for Waste-to-Material Transformation Ryan Roark
Architecture Second Place Sofie Johnson On-Site Brick Making In Vietnam Hojung Kim
Architecture Second Place Kai Camacho On-Site Brick Making In Vietnam Hojung Kim
Architecture Third Place Sarah Page Humanity and the Digital Environment James Halliwell
Interior Architecture First Place Jasmine Rosas Stasis Felicia Dean

 

College of Education, Health & Human Sciences
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
First Place Brianna Cumberbatch Iroquois Homeobox Gene 3 (IRX3) Drives Browning and Thermogenic
Activation in White Adipocytes
Ahmed Bettaieb
Second Place Kignon Crowder Jr. Influence of Anticipated and Unanticipated Conditions on Knee Joint Mechanics Related to ACL Injury Risk Joshua Weinhandl
Third Place Payton Riddle ESTIMATION OF ENERGY EXPENDITURE DURING RESISTANCE TRAINING BY CONSUMER WEARABLES Scott Crouter, Nicholas Remillard

 

Haslam College of Business
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
First Place Tyler Porter Predictive Modeling of International Prospect Performance in College Basketball Adam Spannbauer
Second Place Jake Blankenship Optimizing Salesforce Strategy Through Predictive Analytics in Medical Device Commercialization Sean Willems
Third Place Jackson Reid 30–Year Population Growth and Housing Price Index (HPI) in Tennessee Robert Mee

 

College of Communication & Information
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
CCI Undergraduate Research Excellence 1st Place Abigail Fanning “Comparative Credibility and Readability in Traditional and Solutions Journalism Articles” Mark Harmon
CCI Undergraduate Research Excellence 1st Place Sarah-Nicole Jackson “Comparative Credibility and Readability in Traditional and Solutions Journalism Articles” Mark Harmon
CCI Undergraduate Research Excellence 2nd Place Matthew Billings Understanding The Effects of Customer Aggression: The Untold Abuse Within Our Customer-Facing Service Industries Michelle Violanti

 

College of Nursing
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
STTI EUReCA Award Kelsey West Evaluating Comorbidities and Family History Beyond Traditional Screening Criteria Patricia Roberson
STTI EUReCA Award Mira Schantzen Challenges of Hepatitis C care after pregnancy Jennifer Miller
STTI EUReCA Award Madeline Baldwin A Comparison of Emotional Intelligence and Burtnout Scores in Two Different Nursing Programs at a Large Southeastern State University Carrie Bailey, Jennifer Smith
STTI EUReCA Award Kai Saeed Employing Metaproteomics to Identify Alterations in Gut Microbiome Derived Proteins in Children With Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Anujit Sarkar
STTI EUReCA Award Andrew Wattanaskolpant The Relationship Between Psychological Distress and Hair Cortisol in Korean Firefighters Ji Yoo
EUReCA Award Hannah Massey Tablet and Writing Board Communication for Adult Tracheostomy Patients Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Olivia Falocco Tablet and Writing Board Communication for Adult Tracheostomy Patients Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Melanie Panico Tablet and Writing Board Communication for Adult Tracheostomy Patients Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Hayley Pike Tablet and Writing Board Communication for Adult Tracheostomy Patients Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Tara Zimmerman Tablet and Writing Board Communication for Adult Tracheostomy Patients Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Lydia Perrigo Nurse-led, Structured, Hands-on Newborn Care Education to Improve Maternal Confidence Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Abigail Mahoney Nurse-led, Structured, Hands-on Newborn Care Education to Improve Maternal Confidence Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Sloane Mueller Nurse-led, Structured, Hands-on Newborn Care Education to Improve Maternal Confidence Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Malia Grace Liehr Implementation of Daily Dedicated Central-Line Rounding to Reduce CLABSI Rates Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Anna Burton Implementation of Daily Dedicated Central-Line Rounding to Reduce CLABSI Rates Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Jasmine Scott Implementation of Daily Dedicated Central-Line Rounding to Reduce CLABSI Rates Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Molly Wahlfeld Implementation of Daily Dedicated Central-Line Rounding to Reduce CLABSI Rates Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Audrianna Wyatt Implementation of Daily Dedicated Central-Line Rounding to Reduce CLABSI Rates Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Mary Campbell Better Handoffs, Better Care: Education’s Effect on Bedside Report Compliance Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Sydney Curl Better Handoffs, Better Care: Education’s Effect on Bedside Report Compliance Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Samantha Gradilla Better Handoffs, Better Care: Education’s Effect on Bedside Report Compliance Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Owen Hall Better Handoffs, Better Care: Education’s Effect on Bedside Report Compliance Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Addison Williams Better Handoffs, Better Care: Education’s Effect on Bedside Report Compliance Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Elizabeth Claire Massaglia Peppermint Essential Oil Inhalation for the Reduction of Acute Nausea in Hospitalized Adults Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Jiro Greenber-Oster Peppermint Essential Oil Inhalation for the Reduction of Acute Nausea in Hospitalized Adults Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Brianna Martin Peppermint Essential Oil Inhalation for the Reduction of Acute Nausea in Hospitalized Adults Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Kendell Radocesky Peppermint Essential Oil Inhalation for the Reduction of Acute Nausea in Hospitalized Adults Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Anna Pazdzior Empowering Pain Relief: Nurse-Led Education for Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Isabella Beilke Empowering Pain Relief: Nurse-Led Education for Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Tara Driscoll Empowering Pain Relief: Nurse-Led Education for Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Abigail Fitzgibbons Empowering Pain Relief: Nurse-Led Education for Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Sarah Neller
EUReCA Award Rebecca Baltimore Reducing Sundowning in Hospitalized Dementia Patient Through Personalized Music Therapy Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Emma Williams Reducing Sundowning in Hospitalized Dementia Patient Through Personalized Music Therapy Laurie Acred-Natelson
EUReCA Award Christy Devan Hospital-Wide Noise Reduction Policy to Promote Sleep Quality in Adult Medical-Surgical Patients Gail Griffith
EUReCA Award Alison Hoffman Hospital-Wide Noise Reduction Policy to Promote Sleep Quality in Adult Medical-Surgical Patients Gail Griffith
EUReCA Award Catherine Sudbrack Hospital-Wide Noise Reduction Policy to Promote Sleep Quality in Adult Medical-Surgical Patients Gail Griffith
EUReCA Award Olivia Stubblebine Reducing Inpatient Falls Through Structured Hourly Rounding Kimberly Brown
EUReCA Award Taylor Rudolph Reducing Inpatient Falls Through Structured Hourly Rounding Kimberly Brown
EUReCA Award Brooke Magoulick Structured Family Engagement to Reduce Delirium in Medical ICU Patients Gail Griffith
EUReCA Award Madison Dennis Structured Family Engagement to Reduce Delirium in Medical ICU Patients Gail Griffith

 

 

 

College of Social Work
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Award of Merit Breanna Berry A comparison of survey results of satisfaction of families with family members who received hospice services in home and in nursing facilities Bill Nugent
Award of Merit Elsie Crisp The effect of distance learning developmentally with Head Start aged children Bill Nugent
Third Place Kenslee Thomas How were elementary-aged students affected by online learning? Bill Nugent
Second Place Jessica Douglas Examining How Poor Mental Health Days and COVID-19 Impacted Rates of Premature Deaths and Suicides in Tennessee Bill Nugent
First Place Elizabeth Martin Effects of COVID-19 on SNAP Enrollment Numbers in 6 Appalachian Counties Bill Nugent

 

College of Arts & Sciences: Humanities
Award  Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Achievement Award Declan Jones Faungshka: The Constructed Language of Heritage Maria Gallmeier
Achievement Award Natalie Gardner Students’ Perceptions of GenAI: The Case of the IMRaD Genre Hooman Saeli
Achievement Award Elena Faust Students’ Perceptions of GenAI: The Case of the IMRaD Genre Hooman Saeli
Achievement Award Tori McCall Neutrality Under Fire: The ICRC, the Holocaust, and Postwar Moral Reckoning Margaret Andersen
Achievement Award Karlotta Schley Impact of Cultural Values on Food Waste Reduction Efforts in the United States versus in Germany Stefanie Ohnesorg
Achievement Award Sophie Barker Advanced Gas Analysis and Human Decomposition: A First Look into VOC Trends in Decomposition Studies Yangseung Jeong

 

College of Arts & Sciences: Natural Sciences
Award Name Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Achievement Award Ian Scott Holocene Fire History Reconstruction in the American Southeast from Macroscopic Charcoal in Sediment at Lake Louise, Georgia. Sally Horn
Achievement Award Sarah Cook Geochemical Fingerprinting: Using pXRF to Solve a Mapping Mystery Jacob Benner
Achievement Award Elana Bruns Effects of Myosin XI Mutations on Organelle Movement and Root Hair Growth in Arabidopsis thaliana Andreas Nebenfuehr
Achievement Award Ryan Mesler Investigating the Role of Superoxide Dismutase in Group B Streptococcus Vaginal Colonization Lindsey Burcham
Achievement Award Sachi Ramachandran Establishment of a public molecular epidemiology database for the zoonotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii Chunlei Su
Achievement Award Hamza Ranjha Cryo-EM Image Analysis of a Glycan-Targeting Peptide–Antibody Fusion Elias Fernandez
Achievement Award Hannah  Lam Chromosome End Interactions as Determinants of Programmed DNA Elimination Jianbin Wang
Achievement Award Natalie Aldrich Analysis of RNA Targets of MCT/TEL Proteins in the Arabidopsis Meristem Elena Shpak
Achievement Award Matthew Traywick Recombination Contributes to Diversification of the Tailocin Locus in Xenorhabdus bacteria Heidi Goodrich-Blair
Achievement Award Samantha Horak Purification of Molten Salts for Nuclear Applications Sheng Dai
Achievement Award Neil Parek Electronic Characterization and Comparison of Tetracyanometallates Brendon McNicholas
Achievement Award Melanie Shiller Aminoglycoside Phosphotransferase Provides Resistance Against Multiple Antibiotics Through a Partially Unfolded Active Site Edward Wright
Achievement Award Jaden Levin Building a Programable Temperature Control Device for Light Microscopy Sarah Shelby
Achievement Award Alyssa Holmes Calcium Signaling in the Infralimbic Cortex During Social Avoidance Test Reflects Stress Resilience Matthew Cooper
Achievement Award Sara Martin Evaluating the Effects of a Lure on Pollinators on Major Row Crop Anne Murray
Achievement Award Elizabeth Brown Bean Beetle Oviposition: Analyzing the Effect of Bean Size on Female Bean Beetle Oviposition Preferences and Host Selectivity Jessie Tanner
Achievement Award Emma Scheibe Under Pressure: Characterizing the General Stress Response in Azospirillum brasilense Gladys Alexandre
Achievement Award Tamara Smith High temperatures reduce song output in zebra finches: Implications for communication in a warming climate Elizabeth Derryberry
Achievement Award Devin Naredo Peripartum Perineuronal Net Dynamics in the Rat Somatosensory and Insular Cortex​ Keerthi Krishnan
Achievement Award Johnson Zhang Peripartum Perineuronal Net Dynamics in the Rat Somatosensory and Insular Cortex​ Keerthi Krishnan
Achievement Award William Armstrong Persisting in the Saltiest Pond on Earth – Strategies for Extremophile Survival Jill Mikucki
Achievement Award Amelia Sandoval Polarized 3He via Metastability Exchange Optical Pumping Development Dien Nguyen
Achievement Award Thomas Nguyen Functional Analysis of the Orphan CheW4 Protein in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae Gladys Alexandre
Achievement Award Gena Choi Identifying the Optimal Developmental Stage for Sparse Labeling of NPF Neurons in Drosophila melanogaster Jae Park
Achievement Award Jeremy Fitzpatrick Nursing the Spread of Fungi: Commercial Greenhouses as Vectors for AM Fungal Distribution Stephanie Kivlin
Achievement Award Elijah Smith Beta Catenin Signaling Pathway Mediates the Effects of PKM2 on Adipocyte Differentiation Ahmed Bettaieb
Achievement Award Sara Grubbs The effects of estradiol fluctuations on neuroplasticity in brain regions associated with reproductive behavior in female California mice. Kalynn Schulz
Achievement Award Madeleine Sorrell Studying Nucleosynthesis in Three-Dimensional Models of Core-Collapse Supernovae William  Hix
Achievement Award Ashton Dy Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning for NLRP3 Inhibitor Discovery in Alzheimer’s Disease Konstantinos Vogiatzis
Achievement Award Cassidy Fleenor Searching for Instability in Core-Collapse Supernovae Tony Mezzacappa
Achievement Award Natalie  Heaton The Role of Lactobacillus spp. in Modulating Group B Streptococcus Colonization Lindsey Burcham

 

College of Arts & Sciences: Social Sciences
Award Name Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Highest Honors Kiley Shumpert Move Like a Leader: How Motion Shapes Social Judgement Sarah Lamer
High Honors Quincey Pawlikowski Rejection sensitivity as a moderator of the association between borderline personality disorder symptoms and suicidal ideation in college students Gregory Stuart
Honors Joshua Adedokun Neural Mechanisms of Transsaccadic Visual Stability Caglar Tas
Honors Grace Claerbout Mapping Maritime Piracy: Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Pirate Activity, 1978-2025 Brandon Prins
Honors Barrett Welchons A Picture is Worth a Thousand Stereotypes: Examining the spatial location of​
characters in popular children’s picture books​
Sarah Lamer
Honors Samuel Besh Feature-Based Scaffolding: How Dimensional Features Influence Spatial Memory Precision Aaron Buss
Honors Bella King Unequal Protection: Structural Conditions, Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Differential Benefits for White and Marginalized Youth Cynthia Navarro Flores
Honors Margaret Dobson A Content Analysis of How Bisexual Characters are Portrayed on TV Sarah Lamer
Honors Gabrielle Puckett Reimagining Strategies for Cleaning Zooarchaeological Remains at Makounta-Voules Erin Darby
Honors Finley Bilbrey Divided by Design Natasha Ellis
Honors Maggie Fox Breaking the Cycle: Using Systems Modeling to Assess Sports as a Catalyst for Post-High School Success in Vulnerable Youths. Tom Berg
Honors Leah Oppel State-Level Opportunity and Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Suicidality Risk Cynthia Navarro Flores
Honors Emma Morten Shape Your IQ; Dimensional Attention to Shape Predicts Later Working Memory in Early Childhood Aaron Buss
Honors Gwynevere Chaffin Shape Your IQ; Dimensional Attention to Shape Predicts Later Working Memory in Early Childhood Aaron Buss
Honors Aastha Bhatt Sexual Assault on College Campuses: The Reality Kyra Martinez

 

College of Arts & Sciences: School of Art
Award Name Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
First Place Isabella  Thomas-Wilson Intertwine: Collaboration and Curation Olivia Crawford
Natalie L. Haslam School of Music
Award Name Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
First Place Ashley Melvin Sounds of Fear: The Evolving Role of Music in Horror Films of the Last 100 Years Ryan Lindveit
Tickle College of Engineering
Award Name Student Project Title Faculty Mentor
Gold Award: Outstanding Poster Presentation Davis Freeman Effect of Pre-Existing Voids on Radiation Damage Evolution in Nickel: A Molecular Dynamics Study Dwaipayan  Dasgupta, Blondel Sophie
Gold Award: Outstanding Poster Presentation Brianna  Lannerd Machine Learning–Based Anomaly Detection and Accident Classification in a Simulated Pressurized Water Reactor Jamie Coble
Silver Award: Distinguished Poster Presentation Jonathan McColl Effects of Site Substitution and Size Disorder on La-Containing Pyrochlores Philip Rack, Kate Page, Claudia Rawn
Silver Award: Distinguished Poster Presentation Marlena Alexander Effects of Site Substitution and Size Disorder on La-Containing Pyrochlores Philip Rack, Kate Page, Claudia Rawn
Silver Award: Distinguished Poster Presentation Megan Gillespie Effects of Site Substitution and Size Disorder on La-Containing Pyrochlores Philip Rack, Kate Page, Claudia Rawn
Silver Award: Distinguished Poster Presentation Jacob Phillips Effects of Site Substitution and Size Disorder on La-Containing Pyrochlores Philip Rack, Kate Page, Claudia Rawn
Silver Award: Distinguished Poster Presentation Reagan Barr Development of a Modelica-Based Physics Model for Digital Twin Implementation of a Three-Loop Flow System Xingang Zhao
Bronze Award: Excellent Poster Presentation Oliver Winkler Effect of Tuning Chemical Composition on Tensile Strength of Refractory Multi-Component Alloys Dayakar Penumadu
Bronze Award: Excellent Poster Presentation Zakerie Hubbs The Development of Ultra-High Power Density Aluminum-Air Batteries for eVTOL Applications Preetam Sharma
Bronze Award: Excellent Poster Presentation Jocelyn Hess Viability and Impacts of Additives in Automotive Pulp Fiber Reinforced Polypropylene Composites David Harper
Bronze Award: Excellent Poster Presentation Zachary Sparks Quantitatively Linking Photopolymerization Reaction Conversions Obtained Using Two Different in Situ Methods Ria Corder
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Thomas Thacker Linking Filler Network Architecture to Printability: A Rheological Approach to Direct Ink Writing of Epoxy Composites Dayakar Penumadu, Zane Smith, Stephen Young
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Samuel Delaney Extracting Rare Earth Elements via Electrolysis Precipitation Feng Zhang, Weitian Wang
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Trevor Albright Effects of Strut Shape on 3D-Printed Lattices Brett Compton
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Brennan Cawley Investigating Scintillation Properties of Doped and Undoped Polycrystalline Wide Band Gap Semiconductor Materials Chuck Melcher, Meredith Harpel
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Ava Wallace Ultrasound Analysis of Blood Clot Formation in Cardiovascular Disease Anatomies Bryan Good
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Hannah Boyd Systematic Analysis of Multitargeting Guide RNAs in Staphylococcus aureus for Next-Generation CRISPR Antimicrobials Cong Trinh
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Stephanie Cho Pulsed Electric Field–Induced Cell Permeabilization and Its Effects on Leaching Kinetics and Biochemical Responses in Ambrosia Apple Cultivars Michael Danquah
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Lily Mize Pulsed Electric Field–Induced Cell Permeabilization and Its Effects on Leaching Kinetics and Biochemical Responses in Ambrosia Apple Cultivars Michael Danquah
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Katherine Parker-Repsher Radiation-Induced Amorphization in WO₃ and MoO₃: Structural Response Maik Lang
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Lily Holder Quantifying Stent Retriever Performance in an Experimental Vascular Tortuosity Model Bryan Good
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Lindsey Fiscor Reuse of Retired Wind Turbine Blades as Alternative Feedstock for Discontinuous Fiber Composites Philip Barnett
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Aidan Holihan Reuse of Retired Wind Turbine Blades as Alternative Feedstock for Discontinuous Fiber Composites Philip Barnett
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Sophia Tegel Reuse of Retired Wind Turbine Blades as Alternative Feedstock for Discontinuous Fiber Composites Philip Barnett
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Ronan Tollefsen Introduction of Additives into Lignin-based Electrospun Fabrics David Harper
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Solomon  Muhangi  Investigation of Size-Dependent Phase Transition, Surface Diffusion, and Atomic Ordering in AlCoCrFeNi High-Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles Seungha Shin
Merit Award: Honorable Mention Coleman Bain Investigation of Size-Dependent Phase Transition, Surface Diffusion, and Atomic Ordering in AlCoCrFeNi High-Entropy Alloy Nanoparticles Seungha Shin

 

Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships
Award  Name College
Faculty Research Mentor Award Rajan Lamichhane College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Research Mentor Award Jacob Latham College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Research Mentor Award Elena Shpak College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Research Mentor Award Zarmina Amin College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Faculty Research Mentor Award Jennifer Smith College of Nursing
Faculty Research Mentor Award Steven Newby College of Veterinary Medicine
Faculty Research Mentor Award Marcella Kaplan Tickle College of Engineering
Graduate Student Research Mentor Award Eugene Agyemang College of Arts & Sciences
Graduate Student Research Mentor Award Brittani Herron College of Arts & Sciences
Graduate Student Research Mentor Award Jessh Mavoungou College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Graduate Student Research Mentor Award Mahipal Rao College of Arts & Sciences