Ashlee George, Crop Science, “Developing Sustainable Fiber Hemp Production Recommendations and Investigating Dew Retting in North Carolina,” September 29, 2026, 9:00 a.m., 2223 Williams Hall. Major Professors: Dr. David Suchoff and Dr. Alex Woodley.

Siye Cen, Electrical Engineering, “Grid-Forming Inverter Control for Fault Ride-Through Under Capacity Constraints,” September 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m., FREEDM Energy Board Room. Major Professor: Dr. Iqbal Husain.

Amanda Van Pelt, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, “Preparing for the Future: Stormwater Control Measure Maintenance, Large-Event Pollutant Loading, and a New Flow-Through Design Approach,” September 29, 2026, 2:00 p.m., 101 Weaver Administration. Major Professor: Dr. William Hunt.

Alicia Whitley, TELS, “”That Could Be Me!”: HOw Preservice Teachers Engage With and Think About Social Media”, September 30, 2026, 3:30 p.m., Friday Institute Room 115B, Major Professor: Dr. Jill Grifenhagen.

Mansi Saxena, Computer Science, “Benchmarking AI for Trauma Support: Victim-Blaming Myths in Narratives of Trauma,” October 2, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Zoom. Major Professor: Dr. Munindar P. Singh.

Tommy Sailor Koeplinger, Aerospace Engineering, “High-Order Flux-Reconstruction for the Large Eddy Simulation of High-Speed Air-breathing Combustors,” October 5, 2026, 9:00 a.m., EBIII-3115. Major Professor: Dr. Jack R. Edwards.

Katherine Burkett, Learning and Teaching in STEM, “Beyond Instructional Labels: Illuminating Classroom Practice and Exploring Student Beliefs in Undergraduate Mathematics”, October 5, 2026, 10:00 a.m., CTI Building Room 317, Major Professor: Dr. Erin Krupa.

Aafaq Sabir, Computer Science, “Addressing Privacy Concerns in Smart Voice Assistants via Verbal Privacy Notices,” October 5, 2026, 2:00 p.m., 2240 Koch Hall/EB2. Major Professor: Dr. Anupam Das.

Santosh Vaibhav Varigonda, Aerospace Engineering, “Experimental Investigations of Fluid Structure Interactions in Supersonic Flows,” October 5, 2026, 2:30 p.m., EBIII 3115. Major Professor; Dr. Venkat Narayanaswamy.

Quinn Mills, Chemistry, “Adapting and Standardizing IR-MALDESI Mass Spectrometry Imaging Workflows for
Analysis of Complex Biological Samples,” October 6, 2026, 11 a.m., Dabney, Rm. 210. Major Professor: Dr. David Muddiman.

Srishti Adhikary, Aerospace Engineering, ” Investigation Of Fluid-Structure Interactions of Elastic Panels Under The Influence Of Shock-Boundary-Layer Interactions,” October 6, 2026, 2:00 p.m., EBIII-3235. Major Professor: Dr. Venkat Narayanaswamy.

Taylor Mahoney, Physics, “Under Pressure: How Nuclear Envelope Force Regulates Spindle Protein Binding and Microtubule Dynamics in S. pombe,” October 9, 2026, 9:30 a.m., Riddick 202. Major Professor: Dr. Mary Elting.

Pinar Guner, Forestry and Environmental Resources, “Genomic Dissection of Mendelian and Complex Traits in Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.)”, October 9, 2026, 10:30 a.m., Jordan Hall Room 5103, Major Professors: Dr. Trevor Walker and Dr. Fikret Isik

Rielly Harrison, Chemistry, “Advancing Hyperpolarization Techniques via Modified SABRE Catalyst Systems,” October 9, 2026, 12 p.m., PSB 4152. Major Professor: Dr. Thomas Theiss.

Katy Haywood, TELS, “Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Use Among Rural Middle and High School Educators: A Mixed Methods Study”, October 12, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Florence Martin.

DeVoshia Mason Martin, TELS, “Exploring School Belonging for Black and Hispanic Autistic Adolescents in the General Education Setting”, October 12, 2026, 10:00 a.m., CTI Building Room 317, Major Professor: Dr. Jamie Pearson.

Jonathan Kressuk, Forestry and Environmental Resources, “Assessment of Fraxinus pennsylvanica Dynamics and Genomics Following Emerald Ash Borer Invasion in the North Carolina Piedmont for Genetic Conservation and Restoration”, October 12, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Jordan Hall Addition Room 1214, Major Professors: Dr. Kelly Oten and Dr. Robert Jetton.

Brojo Kishor Schachib Dhali, Chemistry, “SABRE and SABRE-SHEATH Driven Hyperpolarization in Benchtop NMR: Enabling Applications from Chemosensing to Rapid Metabolic Profiling in Cancer Cells and RASER Dynamics,” October 12, 2026, 1 p.m., DAB 210. Major Professor: Dr. Thomas Theis.

Alireza Vahedi Fakhr, Textile Technology Management, “Impact of Lean Six Sigma Implementation on U.S. Textile and Apparel Companies,” October 12, 2026, 1:00 p.m., WCOT Room 4404. Major Professors: Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey and Dr. Warren Jasper.

Julie Whetzel, Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, “Beginning Special Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparedness to Collaborate After Completing an Alternative Licensure Pathway: An Intrinsic Case Study”, October 13, 2026, 10:00 a.m., CTI Building Room 333, Major Professor: Dr. Jenn Ayscue.

Waliur Rahman, Mechanical Engineering, “Guided Wave Manipulation using Flexurally Resonant Elastic Metamaterials,” October 13, 2026, 10:00 a.m., EBIII-3115. Major Professor: Dr. Kara Peters.

Roland Gonzalez Calderon, Toxicology, “TAK1 Inhibition Triggers Dual Effector-Triggered Immunity Pathways: Mitochondrial Pore-Mediated Defense and Interferon-Driven Pathology,” October 13, 2026, 11:15 a.m., TOX 2204. Major Professor: Dr. Jun Ninomiya-Tsuji.

Elizabeth Wiles, Entomology, “Bed bugs and bacterial symbionts: Exploring the Wolbachia nutritional mutualism using aposymbiotic insects,” October 13, 2026, 1:30 p.m., 3503 Thomas Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Coby Schal.

Jingshan Chai, Materials Science & Engineering, “Doping Mechanism and Charge Carrier Generation in Molecularly Doped conjugated Polymers,” October 13, 2026, 3:00 p.m., EBI – 3003. Major Professor: Dr. Franky So.

Peter Oppenheimer, Plant Pathology, “Minority FHB Fusaria in Eastern U.S. Wheat,” October 15, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Gardner 2301. Major Professor: Dr. Christina Cowger.

James Birkett, ELPHD, “The Impact of Federal Grad PLUS Loans on Professional Degree Production: A Comparative Interrupted Time Series Analysis of Professional Masters and Doctoral Programs”, October 15, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Stephen Porter

Rachel Rana, ELPHD, “Weathering the Storm Amid the Sunset: How Rural Principals Navigated Hurricane Helene and the Loss of ESSER Funds”, October 15, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Jenn Ayscue.

Randi Butler, Geospatial Analytics, “Before the Season Ends: Rethinking How We Understand and Anticipate Crop Loss”, October 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Jordan Hall Room 5103, Major Professor: Dr. Natalie Nelson.

Hatif Bin Abdul Majeed, Electrical Engineering, “Power Converters with Integrated Energy Buffers for Variable Loads and Sources,” October 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Keystone Science Center, Board Room. Major Professor: Dr. Zeljko Pantic.

Sanaz Mirtalebi, Food Science, “Comparative Evaluation of Individual and Sequential Electrolyzed Water Treatments for Foodborne Pathogen Reduction In Vitro and in Food Matrices,” October 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m., G-40 / Schaub Hall. Major Professors: Dr. Alexander Chouljenko and Dr. Lynette Johnston.

Michele Schmidt, Fiber and Polymer Science, “Approaches to the Structural Modification of Anthraquinone Natural Dyes for Sustainable Waterless Textile Dyeing,” October 16, 2026, 11:00 a.m., WCOT, room 4404. Major Professor: Dr. Tova Williams Cherry.

Velma Shang, Toxicology, “Early Life Cadmium Exposure and Mechanisms of Hepatocellular Carcinoma,” October 16, 2026, 11 a.m., Tox. Building, Rm. 2102. Major Professors: Dr. Michael Cowley and Dr. Sue Fenton.

Christina Perella, Geospatial Analytics, “Forecasting landscape change to support multi-generational climate adaptation planning”, October 16, 2026, 12:30 p.m., Jordan Hall Room 5103, Major Professors: Dr. Jelena Vukomanovic and D. Adam Terando.

Leticia Santos, Biological & Agricultural Engineering, “Advancing crop residue cover mapping through machine learning and satellite imagery,” October 16, 2026, 1:00 p.m., PSB 3158. Major Professors: Dr. Daniela Jones and Dr. Chris Reberg-Horton.

Samantha Stuppy, Genetics & Genomics, “Elucidating the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis through functional genomics and single-cell transcriptomics in primary human chondrocytes”, October 16, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Cox Hall Room 206, Major Professors: Dr. Reade Roberts and Dr. Brian Diekman.

Siba Sundar Sahoo, Materials Science & Engineering, “Ultrafast Melting and Quenching Pathways for Metastable Phases of Novel Functional Materials,” October 16, 2026, 2:00 p.m., EBI-3003. Major Professors: Dr. Jagdish Narayan/Dr. Roger Narayan.

Jonathan Morizet-Davis, Forest Biomaterials, “Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economics Analysis of Forest Biomaterials and Products”, October 16, 2026 4:00 p.m., Biltmore Hall Room 4204, Major Professors: Dr. Richard Venditti and Dr. Justin Baker.

Kalani Gast, Microbiology, “Genomic and Functional Characterization of CRISPR-Cas Systems and Phages in Bacteria,” October 19, 2026, 10:00 a.m., G40/Schaub Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou.

Pragyan Jha, Chemical Engineering, “Flow-Enabled Self-Driving Laboratories for Precision Synthesis and Optical Engineering of Metal Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals,” October 19, 2026, 12:00 p.m., DAB 210. Major Professor: Dr. Milad Abolhasani.

Sina Sadeghi, Chemical Engineering, “Accelerated Synthesis Studies of Eco-Friendly Semiconductor Nanocrystals Using Autonomous Fluidic Labs,” October 19, 2026, 1:30 p.m., DAB210. Major Professor: Dr. Milad Abolhasani.

Roden Carlo Lizardo, Plant Pathology, “Biosecurity Risk Assessment of Invasive Plant Parasitic Nematode Establishment and Implications for Management in the United States,” October 20, 2026, 9:00 a.m., 202 Partners II. Major Professors: Dr. Peter Ojiambo and Dr. Yu Takeuchi.

Ran Ran, Computer Science, “Algorithm-Hardware Co-Design for Accelerating Homomorphically Encrypted Machine Learning,” October 20, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Zoom. Major Professor: Dr. Wujie Wen.

Shannon Burghart, Community College Leadership, “Between Policy and Practice: Institutional Conditions, Sensemaking, and Dual Enrollment Advising at a North Carolina Community College”, October 22, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professor: Dr. Makena Stewart.

Pranay Kalakonda, Materials Science & Engineering, “Domain Matching Epitaxy of Diamond Thin Films,” October 22, 2026, 1:30 p.m., EBI-3003. Major Professors: Dr. Jay Narayan/Roger Narayan.

Lina M Espinosa Otalora, Civil Engineering, “Seismic Behavior of High Strength Reinforcing Steel at Low Temperatures,” October 22, 2026, 3:00 p.m., FWH 3301. Major Professor: Dr. Mervyn Kowalsky.

Jophr L. Galian, Plant Pathology, “Performance of Weather-Based Decision Support System and Parameterization of a Process-Based Fungicide Efficacy Model to Optimize Fungicide Use in Managing Cucurbit Downy Mildew,” October 23, 2026, 9:00 a.m., 202 II Partners Centennial Campus. Major Professor: Dr. Peter J. Ojiambo.

Mary Elizabeth McIntosh, ELPHD, “A Qualitative Study on Building Bridges to Community Vibrancy”, October 23, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Belk Center Room 1103, Major Professors: Dr. Audrey Jaeger and Dr. Bobbie Frye.

Seaver Wesley Thorn, Computer Science, “Identifying Flaws in Specifications & Code Generators to Improve Network Protocol Security,” October 23, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Koch Hall 2240. Major Professor: Dr. William Enck.

Noah H. Agata, Mechanical Engineering, “3D-Printed Gradient Zeolite Topologies for Enhanced Gas Separation and Carbon Dioxide Removal,” October 23, 2026, 1:00 p.m., EBIII-3115. Major Professor: Dr. Sajjad Bigham.

Elizabeth Irvin, Toxicology, “Characterization of Protein-DNA Interactions Critical for Genome Stability Maintenance using Single-Molecule Imaging Approaches,” October 23, 2026, 2 p.m., Tox. Building – Auditorium and Rm. 2102. Major Professor: Dr. Hong Wang.

Yusen Pei, Materials Science & Engineering, “Organic optoelectronic characterization and optimization,” October 23, 2026, 2:00 p.m., EBI-3003. Major Professor: Dr. Franky So.

Kairi Tanaka, Animal Science, “Metagenomic discovery of archaea and bacteria from the bovine gut, lagoon, and manholes,” October 26, 2026, 11:00 a.m., Polk 125. Major Professors: Dr. Vivek Fellner and Dr. Zhe Lyu.

Gene Deese, Adult & Lifelong Education, “Examining Baccalaureate Completion Outcomes for AAS Transfer Students at Minority-Serving Institutions Using Propensity Score Matching”, October 26, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Remote, Major Professors: Dr. Audrey Jaeger and Dr. Bobbie Frye.

Azka Arshad, Chemistry, “From Fundamental Photophysics to Automated Discovery,” October 26, 2026, 2 p.m., PSB 4152 Boardroom. Major Professor: Dr. Felix N. Castellano.

Mariangeles Salas, Forest Biomaterials, “AI-Driven Hypervision and Multimodal Sensing for Real-Time Material Characterization Toward Waste-to-Energy”, October 27, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Jordan Hall Addition Room 1214, Major Professor: Dr. Lokendra Pal.

Yabaiz Tahir, Poultry Science, “Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Peanut Skin on Growth Performance, Salmonella Control, and Gut Microbiota in Broiler Chickens,” October 27, 2026, 10:00 a.m., 216 Scott Hall. Major Professor: Dr. Lin Walker.

Alison Trettin, Chemistry, “Method Development and Optimization of Cellulosic Substrate-Based Ambient Ionization
Mass Spectrometry for Direct Analysis and Characterization of Complex Mixtures,” October 27, 2026, 2 p.m., TEX 3-4-3438. Major Professor: Dr. Nelson Vinueza Benitez.

Ta seen Reaz Niloy, Electrical Engineering, “Context Aware Spectrum Coexistence Design and Implementation of Terrestrial 5G Networks in FR3 Satellite Bands,” October 28, 2026, 2:00 p.m., ECE meeting Room, 3075. Major Professor: Dr. Vijay K. Shah.

Spencer Ercanbrack, Nuclear Engineering, “Development of Depletion Modeling Capabilities in NEM: Macroscopic Depletion With Improved Plutonium-Based Spectral History Correction,” October 29, 2026, 8:30 a.m., BU-1121 Duke Energy. Major Professors: Dr. Kostadin Ivanov/Dr. Maria Avramova.

Jongha Woo, Electrical Engineering, “PV Digital Twin and Load Model Parameterization with T&D Co-Simulation for Accurate DPV Dynamic Response Assessment in High-IBR Power Systems,” October 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m., FREEDM Conference Room, Keystone Science Center. Major Professor: Dr. Ning Lu.

Samuel Osei Fobi, Electrical Engineering, “Advanced Control Methods for Brushless Single-Salient Synchronous Motors for High-Performance Drive Applications,” October 29, 2026, 10:30 a.m., FREEDM Center, Energy Board Room. Major Professor: Dr. Iqbal Husain.

Ourania Raftopoulou, Microbiology, “Discovery, Characterization, and Applications of Novel Genome Editing Technologies,” October 29, 2026, 12:00 p.m., Rm 4152/ Plant Sciences Building. Major Professor: Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou.

Keith Starke, Horticultural Science, “Integrated Cultural and Herbicide Management Strategies for Improving Sweetpotato Establishment, Yield, and Storage Root Quality,” October 30, 2026, 9:30 a.m., 121 Kilgore Hall. Major Professors: Dr. Jonathan Schultheis and Dr. Katherine Jennings.

Matthew Sawyers, Nuclear Engineering, “Design Analysis of a Transportable Low-Enriched Uranium/Beryllium Fission-Battery Microreactor,” October 30, 2026, 10:00 a.m., Google Meet. Major Professor: Dr. Rob Hayes.

Elliot Maceda, Statistics, “Advances in Amortized Inference for Scientific Applications,” October 30, 2026, 10 a.m., SAS 5270. Major Professor: Dr. Brian Reich.

Vahid Jebraeeli, Electrical Engineering, “Balanced Scalability for Sustainable ML,” November 4, 2026, 12:00 p.m., EBII-3001. Major Professor: Dr. Hamid Krim.

Ta Seen Reaz Niloy, Electrical Engineering, “Context Aware Spectrum Coexistence Design and Implementation of Terrestrial 5G Networks in FR3 Satellite Bands,” November 10, 2026, 12:00 p.m., EBII – 3075. Major Professor: Dr. Vijay K. Shah.

Hiya Bandyopadhay, CRDM, “Sacred Waters, Polluted Narratives: A Comparative Media Framing Analysis of Water Pollution and Festival-Related Pollution in India,” December 2, 2026, 1 p.m., Winston 201A. Major Professors: Dr. Andrew Binder and Dr. Jason Swarts.

Rhonald Ortega, Forest Biomaterials, “Underdstanding the Impact of Dynamic Modeling in the Life Cycle Assessment of Biobased Products”, December 7, 2026, 9:00 a.m., Jordan Hall Addition Room 1214, Major Professor: Dr. Ronalds Gonzalez.

Mahe Jabeen, Chemical Engineering, “Developing in vitro systems of human placenta to study the interaction between the maternal endometrium and fetal trophoblast cells,” December 14, 2026, 1:00 p.m., EBI. Major Professor: Dr. Balaji Rao.

Anibal Moran, Forest Biomaterials, “Upgrading wastepaper fibers to Dissolving pulp grade production and tissue paper application”, January 8, 2027, 9:00 a.m., Jordan Hall Addition Room 1214, Major Professors: Dr. Hasan Jameel and Dr. Ronalds Gonzalez.

Luz Meza, Forest Biomaterials, “Sustainable Cellulose Films for Soft Electronics: Characterization, Biodegradation and Recycling”, January 12, 2027, 2:00 p.m., Location TBD, Major Professors: Dr. Richard Venditti and Dr. Lilian Hsiao.