College of Arts and Sciences Presidential Installation Research Poster Competition

On Tuesday, October 16, Dean Antonio Cepeda-Benito presented awards to four College of Arts and Sciences students who were finalists in the Presidential Installation Research Poster Competition held on October 5.  The Dean also presented awards to four graduate and undergraduate students whose posters were judged in a separate College of Arts and Sciences Presidential Poster Competition.  The two poster categories for that competition were the Sciences, and the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Award Recipients, pictured left to right: Bonnie Cross, Tera Fazzino, Max Graves, Jacqueline Metzger, Samya Chakravorty, Jen Grauer, Martin Seehuus, and Sarah Gallalee.

Finalists for the Presidential Poster University Competition

Bonnie Cross is a second year English graduate student from Saegertown, PA. Bonnie was a finalist in the Arts and Humanities category for her poster, The Closest Shave:  Sweeney Todd’s Passing Through Class as Victorian Terror (PDF).  Her advisor for the poster was Assistant Professor of English Sarah Alexander. She is currently applying to PhD programs in the English department. During her time at UVM, Bonnie has loved working with her fellow graduate students and teaching the English 1 course. 

Tera Fazzino is a second year graduate student in the Experimental Psychology PhD program at UVM. Tera was a finalist in the Health and Biological Sciences category for her poster, The Bi-directional Relationship between Craving and Alcohol Consumption as Measured via Interactive Voice Response (PDF). Working with her poster advisor Gail Rose, PhD, and John Helzer, MD in the department of Psychiatry, her research focuses on novel technology-based interventions for addiction and severe mental illness.  One of the unique qualities of UVM is that it encourages working with researchers independent of their department affiliation. This cross-disciplinary focus has allowed Tera to reach across departments to work with the best investigators with expertise in her areas of interest. Gaining a broad perspective from clinical psychologists, experimental psychologists, physician-researchers, and biostatisticians has provided her with diverse viewpoints and allowed her to consider research questions in a unique way. She is originally from southern Connecticut.

Max Graves is originally from Mebane, North Carolina.  He performed undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he graduated in fall 2011 with three different bachelor's degrees:  a BS in Interdisciplinary Mathematics, a BA in Chemistry, and a BA in Physics.  Max is currently a PhD candidate in the Materials Science program at UVM and is working with the Condensed Matter Theory group under Physics Assistant Professor Adrian Del Maestro.  Max’s poster was a finalist in the Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering category and is titled Path Integral Monte Carlo Study of Proximity Effects in Confined 4He (PDF).  He plans to seek a post-doctoral research position after graduation.  He really enjoys his interactions with the professors as well as his fellow students.

Jacqueline Metzger’s hometown is Albany, NY, and her major is Asian Studies, with a minor in Linguistics. Jacqueline was the winner in the Arts and Humanities category for her poster Puppetry of the Mind: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & Nathanael in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman (PDF).  Her poster advisor was German Professor Dennis Mahoney.  Her post graduation plan is to teach English for two years, one in Japan and one in South Korea. She will also hopefully be studying abroad in South Korea for a year next fall.  After teaching for two years, she wants to go to graduate school. The things she likes most about her time at UVM are too plentiful to list, but she particularly liked living in Living/Learning and being a program director of Korea House, as well as having the opportunity to learn Japanese, and finally, she liked the professors and students here.

Winners of the College of Arts and Sciences Presidential Poster Competition

Samya Chakravorty is a sixth year PhD candidate in the Department of Biology, planning to defend and finish his PhD by May 2013. His poster, To Sing or To Fly:  Role of Muscle Proteins in Drosophila Mating and Flight Behaviors (PDF), was the winner in the Graduate -- Sciences category.   Biology Professor and department chair Jim Vigoreaux was his advisor. Samya’s hometown is Kolkata, India.  He received his engineering (Bachelor of Technology) degree in Biotechnology from West Bengal University of Technology, India, after which he came to UVM. He plans to do post-doctoral research after his PhD to gain more experience and achieve a lifelong goal of becoming a top-notch scientist. During his time at UVM the Biology department provided him a level of versatility in research from molecular and cellular science to ecology and evolutionary aspects. Moreover, UVM allowed him to collaborate in other departments like the Dept. of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the College of Medicine. Last but not least, the opportunities of mentoring and teaching undergraduates helped him immensely in becoming a better scientist, mentor, and presenter.

Branford, Connecticut is the hometown of Geography major Sarah Gallalee.  Her poster is titled Using GIS to Analyze Mobile Dental Care Need in Vermont (PDF).  It was chosen the winner in the Undergraduate -- Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences category, and her advisor was Associate Professor of Geography Beverley Wemple. After graduating with a minor in Psychology, Sarah hopes to conduct research abroad and then attend graduate school in public health.  During her time at UVM, Sarah enjoyed leading TREK, an intense and unique team-building and enrichment program for first-year students led by upper-class peers.  She also enjoyed participating in outing club trips, the Integrated Study of Earth and the Environment program, and discovering the Geography department.

Jen Grauer is from Baltimore, Maryland.  She is a Zoology and Environmental Sciences double major with a minor in Philosophy. Her poster was the winner in the Undergraduate -- Sciences category and is titled Ecological Niche Modeling of Pogonomyrmex Harvester Ant Lineages (PDF). Jen’s advisor on the poster was Associate Professor of Biology Sara Cahan. Currently, Jen is applying to grants that would allow her to conduct research abroad after graduation.  If she does not receive these, she will be looking for a job before applying to graduate school. Jen has most enjoyed the opportunities to conduct research in lab settings and in the field throughout her undergraduate career, as well as specific classes in the sciences such as Bernd Heinrich's Winter Ecology and Bill Kilpatrick's Mammalogy.

Martin Seehuus is from Princeton, New Jersey and he is in the Clinical Psychology PhD program working under the mentorship of Dr. Alessandra Rellini in the Sexual Health Research Clinic.  Martin’s poster, The Relationship between Sexual Function and Cardiovascular Health in Women: Preliminary Results (PDF) , won in the Graduate -- Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences category.   After graduation and his clinical internship, Martin is looking forward to an academic career as a professor in a research university. He has very much enjoyed the collaborations with people in other departments—in this project, for example, he worked with Ira Bernstein, MD and Sarah Hale, PhD from OB/GYN, and Martha Monson, MD, a recent graduate of the UVM Medical School.