Scholars Honored at Graduate Student Research Symposium

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Scholars Honored at Graduate Student Research Symposium

The research and service of University of Southern Mississippi graduate students was celebrated at the 2016 Dr. Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Student Research Symposium March 24 on the Hattiesburg campus. The event, held at the Thad Cochran Center, was presented by the Southern Miss Graduate School and the Graduate Student Senate.

Graduate student research excellence was marked in the categories of oral and poster presentations, with first, second and third place awards announced by Vice President for Research Dr. Gordon Cannon and Graduate School Dean Dr. Karen Coats during the symposium luncheon. The Graduate Assistant of the Year and Mentor of the Year were also recognized.

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Honorees and research category winners include the following:

Graduate Assistant of the Year: Allison Tharp, Department of English

Graduate Mentor of the Year: Dr. Shahdad Naghshpour, professor of International Development, Southern Miss Gulf Park

Oral Presentations
*Arts and Humanities: Mary Wolverton (1^st), Victoria Brown (2^nd) Danianese Woods (3^rd)
*Education and Psychology: Maria Zapetis (1^st), Jonathan Doyon (2^nd), Allison Battaglia (3^rd)
*Health, Nursing and Life Science: William D’Angelo (1^st), Dexter Dean (2^nd), Elizabeth Jones (3^rd)
*Physical Sciences and Mathematics: Richard Cooke/Phillip Pickett (1^st), Keith Parsons (2^nd), Jonathan Broome/Harrison Kotapati (3^rd)
*Social Sciences and Business: Richard Ayers (1^st), Robert Thompson (2^nd), Courtney Taylor (3^rd)

Poster Presentations
*Arts and Humanities: Corey Bradberry (1^st), Piyawan Charoensap (2^nd), Sean Fourney (3^rd)
*Education and Psychology:  John Lum (1^st), Claire Houtsma/Emilie Aplin (2^nd), Lisa Lauderdale (3^rd)
*Health, Nursing and Life Science: Amber Paul (1^st), Sarah Walkley (2^nd), Anushobha Regmi (3^rd)
*Physical Sciences and Mathematics: Kyler Knowles/Austin Maples/Ramesh Krishnan Ramakrishnan (1^st), Laura Whitmore (2^nd), Dahlia Amato (3^rd)
*Social Sciences and Business: Emmalea Gomberg (1^st), Chris Hair (2^nd), Rylie Halfhill (3^rd)

Sponsors for the event included the Southern Miss Office of the Vice President for Research, Graduate School, Graduate Student Senate and Signs First. For information about the Southern Miss Graduate School, including graduate programs offered at USM and the annual Dr. Susan A. Siltanen Graduate Student Research Symposium, visit https://www.usm.edu/graduate-school.