research competition
research competition
research competition
Top photo: Award recipients and sponsors
Middle photo: Competition judge and entrant
Bottom photo: Deborah Moore, GSA treasurer

UTSA graduate researchers honored for projects

(March 2, 2009)--The UTSA Graduate Student Association and the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) sponsored a March 27 reception in the University Center galleria on the Main Campus to honor winners of the Graduate Student Project Presentation Competition. David Johnson, UTSA vice provost for academic and faculty support, presented certificates to 17 graduate students who participated in the competition, commending them for their stellar research work.

Projects judged outstanding and distinguished in the four categories of Creative Works, Humanities, Science and Engineering, and Social Sciences also received cash awards, funded by the Teaching and Learning Center. The event, which included a program with poster abstracts, was organized by GSA officers Carla Pezzia and Deborah Moore. To raise funds for GSA, viewers paid $1 to vote on a People's Choice Award.

Four judges in disciplines related to the categories interviewed the 42 entrants and critiqued their posters. Three Master Teaching Fellows sponsored by the Office of the Provost volunteered as judges: Emeka Ovuegbe, civil engineering; Marilyn Wooten, chemistry; and Charles "Andy" Speer, anthropology. The fourth judge was Barbara Millis, English, director of the Teaching and Learning Center. The judges completed for each candidate a 13-point rubric that included categories such as Overall Appearance, Objective/Purpose, Design and Method, Discussions of Limitations and Value/Importance.

"The GSA was formed to encourage communication among graduate students in different disciplines," said Deborah Moore, a UTSA doctoral student in anthropology. "The transition to graduate school can be difficult. GSA offers a support network, allowing students to get to know one another and to talk about their work. They can also learn about the various services available to graduate students, including the Teaching and Learning Center."

The GSA president is Gabrielle Guy, a doctoral student in chemistry.

According to TLC director Barbara Millis, "The TLC is eager to support graduate students in all their professional roles -- not just teaching. We are also partnering with the GSA to sponsor teaching awards. The Master Teaching Fellows are visiting the classes of the 24 graduate students nominated for Distinguished TA Awards. Additionally, UTSA Provost John Frederick will hand out the plaques and checks at a reception on April 30. The entire university is invited to this celebration of teaching."

The People's Choice Award recipients were Jose Munoz and Aday Magec Mederos, who presented a poster documenting their work on "Creating and Training Entrepreneurs in an Isolated Model: The Canary Islands Case."

Aditional award recipients were:

Awardee

Category

Amount

Award

Title

Jacob Brown

Creative Works

$400

Outstanding

Ars Electronica Digital Gallery

Roberta Barki

Creative Works

$175

Distinguished

Matando Mariposas

Lauren Vasek

Creative Works

$175

Distinguished

Design of an Educations Facility in Poblenou area, Barcelona, Spain

Jason Sandoval

Creative Works

Honorable Mention

Greyhound Icehouse

Anne Reamey

Humanities

$400

Outstanding

August Hirt: Deadly Collector of the Victims of the Holocaust

Lynn Kim

Humanities

$175

Distinguished

Dancing Identities: A Photographic Ethnography of the Aymarans in the Gran Poder Parade

Rebecca Gomez

Humanities

$175

Distinguished

The Relacion Geografica Map of Tehuantepec

Annette Rodriguez

Science and Engineering

$400

Outstanding

Mast cells provide critical innate signaling and a strategic platform for vaccine development against the potential bioweapon Francisella tularensis

Chengwei Lei

Science and Engineering

$175

Distinguished

A Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Finding DNA Sequence Motifs

Stephen Rodriguez

Science and Engineering

$175

Distinguished

Targeted insertion mutagenesis of Francisella tularensis genes by group II Introns

Madhulika Jupelli

Science and Engineering

Honorable Mention

Neonatal Pulmonary Chlamydial Infection Induces Chronic Sequelae Including Altered Pulmonary Architecture and Respiratory Dysfunction

Annica Poyas

Social Sciences

$400

Outstanding

Pair bonding in socially monogamous primates: a comparative study of the white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) and the white-faced saki (Pithecia pithecia)

Kimberly Smith

Social Sciences

$175

Distinguished

Comparing Attachment Across Relationship Types

Emily Lloyd

Social Sciences

$175

Distinguished

Analyzing Sanje mangabey (Cercocebus sanjei), foraging patterns using ArcGIS

Pete Cadena

Social Sciences

Honorable Mention

The Use of Stone Tools as an Index of Mobility and a Measure for Intensification