Reception Held for Student Grant Recipients

The Center for Integrated BioSystems at Utah State University has named recipients of the first Center for Integrated BioSystems Research Student Grants. Six graduate students from departments in the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering and Science will be recognized as the first recipients of the CIBR Student Grant program.

A reception for the recipients is Thursday, Sept. 20, in the Taggart Student Center Colony Room and begins at 3:30 p.m.

 

Students receiving the grants were selected from a competitive field, said Ken White, CIB research director. They join seven other graduate students who receive ongoing support for their research from the center.

 

The inaugural group of students includes Ryan Jackson (Biochemistry Department, faculty mentor Sean Johnson, research title: “Structural Analysis of the TRAMP Complex”); Jillian Guttormsen (Bioveterinary Science Department, faculty mentor Quinton Winger, research title: “Role of AP-2gamma in Germ Cell Development and Meiosis”); Jared Ervin (Civil and Environmental Engineering, faculty mentor R. Ryan Dupont, research title: “Molecular Tools for Microbial Community Characterization in TCE Contaminated Soils”); Michelle Mendenhall (Bioveterinary Science Department, faculty mentor Brian Gowen, research title: “Analysis of Host IFN Responses Following Infection with Pathogenic and Nonpathogenic Strains of PTV”); Mingxiang Liang (Plants, Soils and Climate Department, faculty mentor Yajun Wu, research title: “Searching for Proteins Interacting with HAP3b in Arabidopsis”); Whitney Wooderchak (Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, faculty mentor Joan Hevel, research title: “Defining the Methyl-Arginine Proteome Using Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1)”).

 

Awards for the six students total $40,960.

 

CIBR Student Grants program provides support for research and travel and brings the students together of monthly meetings to present their research. Workshops are held to help them sharpen the skills needed in today’s competitive research environment.

 

“This is a unique opportunity for graduate students at USU to interact with other students across disciplines to better understand research activities on campus,” White said. “The goal is to foster in these students the potential of interdisciplinary research and provide them unique educational opportunities.”

 

The reception recognizes the young scientists for their efforts, talent and passion to explore the world around them, White said.

 

 

 

Contact: Ken White (435) 797-2149