During the annual Discover USC event in Columbia, 45 University of South Carolina Aiken students participated, many bringing home awards.
"Our students were wonderful and did such a great job," said Dr. Chad Leverette, director of sponsored research at USC Aiken.
"Kudos to all our students and faculty who participated. You represented USC Aiken so well."
Undergraduate researchers throughout the USC system participated in the day of discovery. Discover USC gives students a chance to share their scholarly work with peers from all over the state.
The list of Pacers selected for awards included:
Social Sciences and STEM: First Place, Homologous recombination repair facilitates replicative transposition of the mPing element from rice, Lisette Payero, senior, biology major and Dr. Nathan Hancock, department of biology and geology; Second Place-Tie, Nest monitoring of American wood storks via remote cameras, Michaela Day, senior, biology major and Dr. Kristina Ramstad, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Biomedical Sciences A: First Place, The effect of HDAC inhibition on tbx5a and tbx5b expression in zebrafish, Alec Jones, biology, senior, chemistry minor and Dr. April DeLaurier, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Biomedical Sciences E: First Place, Using siRNAs to downregulate HIV-1 Tat expression and decrease viral production in siRNA-protected T lymphocyte populations
Christian Fay, senior, biology major and Dr. William Jackson, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Biomedical Sciences F: First Place, Analyzing a Tol2-Based activation tag construct in zebrafish and yeast, Allison Swiecki, junior, biology major; Dr. C. Nathan Hancock, Department of Biology and Geology; and Dr. April DeLaurier, Department of Biology and Geology; Second Place, Improving the Transposition Efficiency of the Harbinger3n_Dr Transposable Element, Sarah Zamiela, junior, biology major with a Spanish minor; Dr. C. Nathan Hancock, Department of Biology and Geology; and Dr. Clint Page, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Biomedical Sciences G: First Place-Tie, Analysis of F2 Activation Tagging Wheat Lines, Amanda Askins, junior, biology major and Dr. C. Nathan Hancock, Department of Biology and Geology; First Place-Tie, Comparison of a prototype remote monitoring system with conventional video observations for rat drinking behavior, Heather Nall, senior, psychology major with a biology minor; Dr. Derek Zelmer, Department of Biology and Geology; and Dr. Michelle Vieyra, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Biomedical Sciences H: First Place, Investigating the mPing Transposition Complex Through Overexpression of ORF1 and Transposase Proteins, Reese King, sophomore, biology major and Dr. C. Nathan Hancock, Department of Biology and Geology
Biology and Environmental Sciences D: First Place, Assessing genetic population structure of American wood storks, Austin Herbert, junior, biology major; Dr. Kristina Ramstad, Department of Biology and Geology; Dr. Natalia Bayona, University of Georgia; and Dr. Stacey Lance, Savannah River Ecology Lab
Chemistry, Physics, and Math C: Second Place, An LC/MS Assay for the Quantification of Analytes in the DAD-Catalyzed Reaction, Catherine Cave, senior, chemistry major abd Dr. Kenneth Roberts, Department of Chemistry and Physics
Psychology and Neuroscience H: Second Place, Effects of facial expression and coloration on electrodermal activity, Gabrielle Gray, junior, psychology major; Sarah Przywara, junior, psychology major; Collytte Cederstrom, junior, psychology major; and Dr. Adam Pazda, Department of Psychology.
