WKU News

WKU and Gatton Academy students were honored for their research presentations at the Kentucky Academy of Science virtual meeting Nov. 6-7.

More than 400 scientists and students registered for the 2020 annual meeting, and 195 students from Kentucky and regional colleges and universities participated in the research competitions. 

Student award winners and project titles included the following:

• Engineering: first, Gatton Academy senior Ahmad Ateyeh of Frankfort, Simulation of high-speed metal forming processes: free-forming vs. die-forming
• Geology: first, WKU senior Geology major Emily Wright of Nortonville, Interpreting data from recent volcanic activity to understand the volcanic hazard and societal risk in Hawaii
• Chemistry: Organic/Inorganic: second, WKU junior Biochemistry major Connor Schulte of Crestwood, Polydimethylsiloxane as a substrate to facilitate the use photocatalysts in the breakdown of organic water pollutants; third, Gatton Academy senior Jason Zhang of Bowling Green, The photocatalytic single electron oxidation of ene-ynamides with 2,6-lutidine N-oxide
• Environmental Science: second, WKU senior Biology major Ty Foster of Scottsville, Contaminant remediation potential of Lespedeza cuneata
• Science Education: second, WKU senior Chemistry and Science/Math Education major Trevor Webster of Columbia, Use of Concept Sketching in Introductory Geology Classrooms
• Social Sciences: Psychology/Anthropology Sociology: second, WKU junior Psychological Science majors Emily Knapp of Evansville, Indiana, and BriAnna Lowe of Nashville, Tennessee, Aging and pareidolia: Perceiving emotion in inanimate objects
• Computer & Informational Sciences: second, Gatton Academy senior Diksha Satish of Frankfort, Genome improvement of Magnaporthe oryzae strains Guy11 and U233; third, Gatton Academy senior Trey Stansfield of Shelbyville, TeloReport: Extraction and Classification of Telomeric Raw Reads and Identification of Potential De Novo Telomeres?
• Mathematics: third, Gatton Academy senior Gloria Huang of Bowling Green, Analyzing the parameter space of a wound-healing model with three-dimensional geometry
• Zoology: third, WKU senior Biology major Seth Hoffman of Bowling Green, Vibrational communication in the Atlantic mudskipper, Periopthalmus barbarus

The Kentucky Academy of Science is a non-profit organization, founded in 1914, whose mission is to foster scientific discovery and understanding in Kentucky. WKU faculty, staff and students may become members of the Kentucky Academy of Science at www.kyscience.org.  

A listing of winners in all categories is available at https://www.kyscience.org/2020_student_competition_winne.php

Contact: Amanda Fuller, Kentucky Academy of Science, (859) 227-2837 or executivedirector@kyscience.org