Students Win UW Arts and Sciences Independent Study Awards

Oct. 6, 2005 -- Nine undergraduate students and 10 graduate students in the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences were awarded $2,500 each to tackle self-designed independent study projects last summer.

The Arts and Sciences Independent Study Awards encourage and assist students considering or beginning a research or creative activity in any of the college's disciplines. Preference is given to projects that have not yet been established, can be completed in one summer and are not a segment of faculty research.

Recipients worked full-time during the summer on their projects and submitted to the college dean a final report detailing their research results and a review by their faculty sponsor.

Rod Garnett, UW professor of music and faculty sponsor for two Independent Study Award students, says the program offers significant aid to students beginning their own original research.

"I have seen many of my students blossom through being able to accomplish research with the assistance of this award. During the past several years students have traveled to Papua New Guinea, Peru, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, New Zealand and Cape Breton with this assistance.

"Their experiences, research and writing have changed their lives. Having a resource like this has enriched their education and set them on new paths of learning," Garnett says.

Each year the College of Arts and Sciences can award up to 20 summer independent study grants and earmarks at least half for undergraduate students. Applications for Summer 2006 research projects are due Feb. 13, 2006. Visit the Arts and Sciences Web site at www.uwyo.edu/A&S/Scholarships/summer_indep.htm to learn more.

2005 award winners from Wyoming are:

ALPINE -- Jaremy Creechley, junior in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, "Quantum Electron Tunneling in Aharmonic Liquids," faculty sponsor, Yuri Dahnovsky.

CASPER -- Alicia Roberts, senior in the Department of Music, "Oberlin in Italy and the Da Capo Aria," faculty sponsor, Katrina Zook; Ryan Sandefer, graduate student in the Department of Political Science, "Faith-Based Community Initiatives: Organizational Differences of Social Service Providers in Wyoming," faculty sponsor, James D. King.

CHEYENNE -- Rachael Eastman, senior in the Department of Art, "Studio Art in South India," faculty sponsor, Mark Ritchie; Kevin Malatesta, junior in the departments of Psychology and Anthropology, "Die Scheuklappen Entfernen: Removing the Blinders," faculty sponsor, Suzanna Penningroth.

GREEN RIVER -- Daniel Grubb, junior in the Department of Theatre and Dance, "Dance Notation," faculty sponsor, Mel Claridge; Christopher King, senior in the Department of Sociology and International Studies, "How Religion and Nationalism Destroyed the Multiethnic State of Yugoslavia," faculty sponsor, Garth Massey; and Julia Stuble, junior in the Department of English, "Time and Reality in Bergson, Proust and Faulkner," faculty sponsor, Lewis Dabney.

LARAMIE -- Scott Carleton, Ph.D. student in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, "Estimating Use and Turnover of Endogenous Lipid Reserves in the Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus Platycercus) Using the Isotope d13 C From Respired CO2," faculty sponsor, Carlos Martinez Del Rio; Sarah Robinson, graduate student in the Department of History, "The Chinese of Wyoming: Looking Beyond the Rock Springs Massacre," faculty sponsor, Michael Brose; Erin Stoesz, senior in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, "An Investigation of the Gaelic Elements in Cape Breton Fiddling," faculty sponsor, Rod Garnett.

RANCHESTER -- Coyle Neal, senior in the Department of History, "Changing Perspectives on Saladin from the Third Crusade to Dante," faculty sponsor, Kristine Utterback.

ROCK SPRINGS -- Mark Chollak, graduate student in the Department of History, "Black Lung Battle Lines," faculty sponsor, William H. Moore; Laura Doser, graduate student in the Department of Music, "Study of Maori Instruments," faculty sponsor, Rod Garnett.

2005 Out-of-State Award Winners are:

CHINA
XINJIANG -- Xiangyang Xie, Ph.D. student in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, "Interpreting the Mechanism and Evolution of Intra-continental Mountain Building Belts and Their Associated Sedimentary Systems, the NE Part of the Tibetan Plateau, P.R. China," faculty sponsor, Paul Heller.

ILLINOIS
TONICA -- Danielle Maack, graduate student in the Department of Psychology, "Does Behavioral Activation Predict Treatment Outcome and Severity of Depression? A Pilot Study," faculty sponsor, Carolyn Pepper.

IOWA
SPENCER -- Dana Binder, Ph.D. student in the Department of Psychology, "The Effects of Expert Witness' Use of Courtroom Technology on Jury Perceptions," faculty sponsor, Marty Bourgeois.

NORTH CAROLINA
CHAPEL HILL -- Sarah Garlick, Ph.D. student in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, "The Structural History of an Oceanic Terrain: an On-land Investigation of Ocean Floor Geology," faculty sponsor, Arthur W. Snoke.

VIRGINIA
LYNCHBURG -- Michael Farnsworth, graduate student in the Department of Philosophy, "The Idealization of Laws of Nature," faculty sponsor, Franz-Peter Griesmaier.

Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2005