FY27 Undergraduate STEM Research and Education awards announced

The ND EPSCoR State Office accepted proposals to fund undergraduate STEM research activities at Tribal Colleges and Universities and Primarily Undergraduate Institutions, for both equipment and undergraduate research. Equipment proposals were accepted for pieces of equipment that will help advance scientific inquiry, R&D, and education. Undergraduate research awards will allow students to do paid research work under the supervision of a faculty mentor.

The following twelve proposals have been funded.

Equipment

Establishing a Surveying and Geomatics Field Laboratory at Turtle Mountain College

PI: Austin Allard, Turtle Mountain College

Calcination and Sintering Furnaces for Undergraduate and Faculty Research in Materials Science and Engineering at United Tribes Technical College

PI: Alexa Azure, United Tribes Technical College

Expanding the VCSU Computing Opportunities in Research and Education (CORE) Lab for STEM and Planetarium R&D

PI: Yang Du, Valley City State University

Acquisition of a Research-Grade Humanoid Robotic Platform to Advance STEM Education, Multi-Disciplinary Research, and Outreach at Dickinson State University

PI: Ehsan Memary, Dickinson State University

STEM Education Technology Laboratory: Preparing Teachers. Expanding Access. Building North Dakota’s STEM Future

PI: Marisa Riesinger, Dickinson State University

Micropipettes for Research and Teaching Use

PI: Brent Voels, Turtle Mountain College

 

Undergraduate Research

Evaluating the In Vitro Efficacy of Commercial Amygdalin Capsules on Bladder Cancer Cell Lines (RT4, 5637, T24)

Carl White and faculty mentor Emily Biggane, United Tribes Technical College

Investigation of the Rapid Leuckart Reaction Between 2-acetylpyrazine and Spatially-hindered n-alkylformamides

Sofiah Crowe and faculty mentor Mikhail Bobylev, Minot State University

Investigation of the Rapid Leuckart Reaction Between 4-acetylpyrimidine and Spatially hindered n-alkylformamides

Deidra Jensen and faculty mentor Mikhail Bobylev, Minot State University

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Conventional Antibiotics and Extracts from Galium aparine against Clinically Important ESKAPE Pathogens

Jon Harley and faculty mentor Abiodun Odufuwa, Minot State University

The Antibacterial Effects of Extracts from Galium aparine on Clinically Important ESKAPE Pathogens

John Armstrong and faculty mentor Abiodun Odufuwa, Minot State University

Where Water Meets Land: Linking Riparian Plant Communities and eDNA-Detected Fish Biodiversity in Southwestern North Dakota

Wesley Isaac, Daniel Gardner, and faculty mentor Colin Strine, Dickinson State University