Winners Named for 2024 Graduate Research Symposium

Nearly 200 NC State graduate students presented their research projects during the 17th annual Graduate Student Research Symposium held at the McKimmon Center on April 3. Co-sponsored at NC State by the Graduate School and Graduate Student Association, the research symposium is the signature event of Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week and recognizes the importance of graduate education and research to the university’s mission.

This year 27 graduate students were selected as top performers after being evaluated on the quality of their research, the effectiveness of their poster presentation, their oral communication skills, and the creativity and aesthetic appeal of their poster.

“The Symposium is a true showcase of talent at the graduate level here at NC State,” said David Shafer, Assistant Dean for Outreach and Recruitment. “It’s always amazing to see the vast variety of work going on at the graduate level—listening to the presenters interact with each other, the judges and often communicating their work to those in totally different fields than their own.” 

Abstracts for all student posters can be found online: 2024 symposium abstracts.

All winners receive a plaque and a cash prize. First place winners receive $500; second place, $350; and third place, $250.

Winners are listed below by discipline and department:

Agricultural Sciences
First place, Esdras Carbajal, Crop Science
Second place, Seongmin Park, Soil Science
Third place, Laurie Pisciotta, Biological and Agricultural Engineering

Design
First place, Paula León, Industrial Design
Second place, Natalie Thibault, Industrial Design
Third place, Maren Parsell, Doctor of Design

Education
First place, Amanda JF Hall, STEM Education
Second place, Tyler Harper-Gampp, Science Education
Third place, Devan MacKenzie, Teacher Education and Learning Sciences

Engineering
First place, Siena Mantooth, Biomedical Engineering
Second place, Vinson Williams, Aerospace Engineering
Third place, Ana Sheridan, Biomedical Engineering

Environmental Sciences
First place, Munmun Basak, Forest Biomaterials
Second place, Kazi Md Yasin Arafat, Forest Biomaterials
Third place, Taylor Kanipe, Forest Biomaterials

Humanities
First place, Allyson Gee, World Languages and Cultures
Second place, Mandy Paige-Lovingood, Public History
Third place, Rachel Suffern, History

Life Sciences
First place, Chloe Mariant, Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Second place, Glenn Jackson, Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Third place, John Ivarsson, Nutrition

Mathematical and Physical Sciences
First place, Melody Hancock, Bioinformatics
Second place, Emmett Kendall, Statistics
Third place, Jenna Berger, Chemistry

Social Sciences
First place, Daniela Trujillo-Hassan, Anthropology
Second place, Chris Boyer, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management
Third place, Yinman Zhong, Public Administration