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FUSE 2025 Faculty Mentors and Students

• Dawn Drumtra, senior lecturer of biology, along with students Taerin Jeong and Alyssa Simpson, Bisphenol A (BPA) in Wild Birds
• Zachary Elison, assistant professor of psychological science, along with students H. Alex Reyes and Christian Lopez, Social Emotional Belonging Intervention
• Ralph Hale, associate professor of psychological science, along with students Iris Wright and Tiffany Little, Future so bright, we are going to need shades: How brightness and contrast impact perceptual organization and illusory color spreading
• Sonny Mantry, professor of physics, and Dilina Perera, assistant professor of physics, along with student Alexander Lele, Machine Learning in High Energy Particle Physics
• Amanda Reynolds, assistant professor of biology, along with students Madeline McCloskey and Miguel Vilchis Tinoco, Physiological Fitness in Native Species of Crayfish
• Alejandro Sarria, assistant professor of mathematics, along with students H. Hayes Hogan and Angel Eustice, Plasma Dynamics
• Troy Smith, associate professor of psychological science, along with student Steffani Pass, Investigating the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Dissonance
• Nathan Wagner, lecturer of english, along with students Kathryn Brazeal and Marissa Migneco, Underground U: A Faculty/Undergraduate Collaborative Podcast
• Meng Zhang, associate professor of mathematics, along with student David Chandler, A Graph-Theoretic Approach to Analyze Microbial Community Relationships

FUSE students and faculty mentors funded by CURCA include:

• Dobroslawa Bialonska, associate professor of environmental microbiology, and Karrie Ann Fadroski, senior lecturer of biology and outreach and engagement coordinator for environmental leadership, along with students David Morris and Grace Scott, The effect of chestnut cultivation on soil microbial communities at the Hurricane Creek Field Station
• Francisco Guzman Fulgencio, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, along with students David von Meyer and Sydney Sharrock, The Origin of the Elements: Understanding Neutron Capture Abundances in NGC 7027
• James Mackenzie, associate director of film, along with students Genevieve Lima and Ellie Nicolson, Cordati, a short documentary on an Italian painter
• Abby Meyer, associate professor of psychological science, along with student Ryan Lambert, Effects of Diet and Exercise on Long-Term Memory and Cognition in C57BL/6 Mice
• L. Zane Miller, assistant professor of chemistry, along with student Michael Liner and Tyler Simpson, Synthesis and Application of Porous Hybrid Materials for the Removal of Water Pollutants
• Kathryn Narciso, lecturer of psychological science, along with student Elizabeth Hawn, Students’ Behaviors & Attitudes about Generative AI: A Pilot Study
• Lori Wilson, associate professor of chemistry, along with student Erika Guzman-Cantellano, Advancing Water Quality Analysis for Lumpkin County Residents

Projects funded by Dr. John Leyba, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics include:

• Jeremy Olson, assistant professor of chemistry, along with students Hagan Eubank and Kaitlyn Roach, Upcycling Laboratory Waste Into the Next Generation of Antibiotics
• Rahul Shahni, assistant professor of chemistry with Alex Christensen, The Synthesis of a Bio-Based Semi-Rigid Diamine Monomer for Polymers and Plastics

Projects funded by a NASA Space Grant include:

• Gregory Feiden, associate professor of physics and astronomy, along with student Emerson Bentley, Convective Deepening as a Driver of Weakened Magnetic Breaking in Solar-like Stars, and student Jack Vogel, Radial Velocity Confirmation of Candidate Hot Jupiter TOI-2024b

FUSE Grant Teams and Research Topics

• Ralph Hale, assistant professor of psychological science, along with students Courtney Nutt & Tanner Lumpkin, An investigation of visual false memories in a virtual reality environment
• Alison Kanak, assistant professor of biology, along with student McKenna Coile, Functional and Genetic Characterization of Novel Bacteriophage KSKraber
• James Leaphart, assistant professor of biology, and Nancy Dalman, professor & department head of biology, along with students Taryn Tu & Sydney Griffith, Cracking the Shell on Heavy Metal Exposure and Metallothionein Expression in a Marine Delicacy: The Eastern Oyster
• Robin O’Day, associate professor of history, anthropology, and philosophy, along with student Lauren Bowman, Oral Histories of Enslaved Lifeways in the South Carolina Lowcountry
• Jessy Patterson, lecturer of biology, along with students Lillian Hayes & Atticus Tomcho, An Assessment of Human Impacts on Mammal Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Melissa Schindler, assistant professor of English, along with students Asa Conroy, Rebecca Egan, and Grey Nebel, An Entrepreneur’s Tale: The Life of Miss Fanny Harrell, a North Georgia Businesswoman

FUSE Grant Teams and Research Topics

• Dobrusia Bialonska, associate professor of environmental biology, and Paul Johnson, associate professor of biology, along with students Jessica Howard and Katherine Earl – Quest for Probiotics in Milk Produced by Georgia Dairy Goat Breeders Association
• Kelly Cate, assistant professor of psychological science along with students Victoria Hart and Taylor Higgins – Online Dating: Mate Potential and Decision Speed
• John Dewey, associate professor of psychological science along with student Tyler Goodwyn – Agency and Spatial Attention
• Margi Flood, associate professor of biology along with students Amy Rodriguez and Hannah Fontenot – Biomonitoring of Dreissena polymorpha in Lake Lanier via environmental DNA (eDNA)
• Alison Kanak, assistant professor of biology along with student Jared Oenick – Novel Technique for the Isolation of Bacteriophage
• Robin O’Day, associate professor of anthropology along with students Kirstie Carson and Jordan Aethelric – Voices from Tohoku: Oral Narrative Translation Project
• Ryan Thompson, associate professor of mathematics along with students Madison Waldrep and Georgia Burkhalter – Classical Solutions in the Fornberg-Whitham Equation

FUSE Grant Teams and Research Topics

• William Balco, associate professor of history, anthropology, and philosophy along with student Lucy Kendrick – Exploring Ancient Middle Woodland Structures at Rice Farm
• Dobrusia Bialonska, associate professor of biology and Paul Johnson, associate professor of biology along with student Madison Bunch – Do KT Tapes Increase Skin Exposure to Disease Causing Bacteria?
• Ami Everett, lecturer of biology and Jessy Patterson, lecturer of biology along with student Anna Cronan – Determining Safe Concentrations for the Chronic Exposure of Amphibians to Neonicotinoid Insecticides in Southern Appalachia
• Ralph Hale, assistant professor of psychological science along with students Patsy Folds and Kyle Kroeger – Influence of Various Gestalt Cues on Perceptual Organization of Ambiguous Figure/Ground Images & Watercolor Illusions vs. Priming: An Assessment of the Strongest Figure-Ground Cues.
• Danielle Hartsfield, associate professor of elementary and special education along with student Sebastian Cherres – A Collective Case Study on K-12 Book Challenges.
• Amanda Moffett, assistant professor of physics and astronomy along with student Destin Encardes – Mapping the Cosmic Web: Capturing Extragalactic Structures with Zooniverse
• Abby Neyer, assistant professor of biology along with student Kaili Boyes – The Effects of Warmer Winter Temperatures on Blood Metabolite Levels and Reproductive Health in Ornate Box Turtles
• Robin O’Day, associate professor of history, anthropology, and philosophy along with students Cursten Howard and Maryann Seaman – Voices from Tohoku: Oral Narrative Translate Project, Tokumizu Rie & Ise Kumiko
• Jessy Patterson, lecturer of biology along with student Nicolas Szabo – The Effects of Anthropogenic Activities on Scavenging Communities in Southern Appalachia.
• Chuck Robertson, professor of psychological science along with student Alyssa McGrail - Are Smart Home Devices Good Study Partners?
• Margaret Smith, associate professor of biology and Nancy Dalman, professor and department head of biology along with students Grace Maurer and Kacie Miller – The Effect of Salinity and pH on Development in Lytechinus variegatus
• Denise Woodall, senior lecturer of sociology and human services along with students Tameron Smith and Daniel Jackson – The Problems with Needle Exchange Programs & Is there a High Prevalence of Unwanted Sexual Contact in the LGBTQ+ Community?

FUSE Grant Teams and Research Topics

• Swapna Bhat, associate professor of biology, Jeanelle Morgan, associate department head of biology, and Margi Flood, associate professor of biology along with student Tyler Henderson - Enumeration of coliforms and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Tumbling Creek construction zone.
• Ami Everett, lecturer of biology and Jessy Patterson, lecturer of biology along with students Brandon DeBlois and Amanda O’Connell - Elucidating the effects of Eastern Hemlock chemical treatments on amphibian feeding behaviors.
• Gregory Feiden, associate professor of physics and astronomy along with student Rebecca Corley - Planet Hunting at ÖйúPÕ¾: Developing a Data Reduction Pipeline for ÖйúPÕ¾'s Echelle Spectrograph.
• Tatiana Maslova, lecturer of modern & classical languages along with students Tucker Coan and Samuel Hicks - Intercultural Competence in Learning Russian.
• Connie Ringger, professor of psychological science along with students Allyson Porras and Caitlyn Wlosko - Race and gender identity: Do the combination of defendants' characteristics affect juror decisions?

FUSE Grant Teams and Research Topics

• William Balco, assistant professor of anthropology along with students Ethan House and McKenna Johnson – Archaeological Investigation of the prehistoric enclosure ditch at Rice Farm near Dawsonville, Georgia
• Michael Bender, assistant professor of biology along with student Maggie Woodall – Investigating the influence of small-scale light pollution on bat activity
• Frank Crittenden, lecturer of biology along with student Elisabeth Bradberry – Using CRISPR genome editing technology to engineer gene deletions in a neuron-derived cancer cell line
• Gregory Feiden, assistant professor of physics and astronomy along with student Miles Johnson — Mottled Stars: How Does Starspot Surface Coverage Affect Stellar Brightness Variability
• Lauren Johnson, assistant professor of Culture, Language & Leadership along with students Madison Rodriguez and Josue Zavala — RISE Program Research Project
• Alison Kanak, assistant professor of biology along with student Samantha Kates — Genomic evaluation of novel Mycobacteriophage
• Abby Meyer, assistant professor of psychological science, Jennifer Mook, associate professor of biology and Natalie Hyslop, associate professor of biology along with students Hailey Echols and Ben Wortman — Pesticides and the Harm They Cause
• Sonny Mantry, associate professor of physics and astronomy and Mark Spraker, professor of physics along with student Tyler Wilson - Development of computer-generated experiments to analyze the outcome of proton-proton collisions inside a Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe.
• Abigail Neyer, assistant professor of biology — Interactions between physiology, habitat use, and temperature in a long-lived ectothermic vertebrate
• Thomas Vogel, assistant professor of physics and astronomy – Energy audits of ÖйúPÕ¾ buildings

SUPRE Grant Teams & Research Topics

• John Dewey, assistant professor of psychological science along with student Siena Dittrich - Applied Lab to exam technology integration factors that enhance statistical learning.
• Chuck Robertson, professor of psychological science along with student Hannah Johnson - Cognitive Aging Lan that will design and experimentally test natural naming schemes/commands that match hierarchical industry with designs toward improved usability of IoT smart homes toward developing a single home infrastructure that supports independent living in an aging population.
• Tyler Harrison, assistant professor of psychological science along with students Ashley Minor and Alletta Morris - Memory Lab will study cognitive ability constructs such as fluid intelligence and working memory as they relate to self-defining memories to establish the construct validity of self-defining memories and particular features of self-defining memories as an operational definition of intelligence.