Graduate Research Symposium awards recognize top presentations

graduate research symposium posters

Dozens of graduate students presented their research at the Graduate Research Symposium. Photo by Carolyn Lagattuta.

mark norris and tyrus miller

Tyrus Miller, vice provost and dean of graduate studies, congratulates Mark Norris (left), winner of the Graduate Dean's Award. Photo by Judy Glass.

UCSC graduate students from all divisions shared their research with faculty, staff, friends, colleagues, and the local community at the 9th Annual Graduate Research Symposium on Friday, May 10. The symposium, held this year at McHenry Library, featured live oral presentations, multimedia presentations, and poster presentations.

An Awards Reception was held immediately after the symposium. The deans of each academic division awarded a $100 gift certificate for the UCSC bookstore for the best presentation in the division. The UCSC Alumni Association-sponsored prizes, a $150 gift certificate for the UCSC bookstore, also honored presentations in each academic division. Two awards recognizing outstanding presentations in any discipline were awarded: a $250 cash Graduate Dean's award and a $500 cash award for the Chancellor's Graduate Research Prize. The award winners of the 9th Annual Graduate Research Symposium are listed below.

Chancellor's Award: Sadia Halima, Social Documentation, for the media presentation "A documentary film on elected women leaders' participation in grassroots politics in rural India."

Graduate Dean's Award: Mark Norris, Linguistics, for the poster presentation "Case concord at the syntax-phonology interface."

Alumni Association Awards:

Arts Division: Gene Felice, Digital Arts & New Media, for the poster presentation "Oceanic scales balance through biomimicry."

Jack Baskin School of Engineering: Amie Radenbaugh, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, for the poster presentation "Identifying somatic mutations in cancer using high-throughput sequencing data from DNA and RNA."

Humanities Division: Allan Jay Schwade, Linguistics, for the oral presentation "The role of gender in word recognition."

Physical & Biological Sciences Division: Meghan Powers, Ocean Sciences, for the oral presentation "Bioluminescence in the deep-sea ctenophore Bathocyroe fosteri."

Social Sciences Division: Veronica Yovovich, Environmental Studies, for the poster presentation "Trophic cascades: Pumas, deer and oaks in the Santa Cruz Mountains."

Dean's Awards:

Arts Division: Dana Forsberg, Social Documentation, for the media presentation "Growing people: A documentary film."

Jack Baskin School of Engineering: Vladislav Uzunangelov, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics, for the poster presentation "A pathway-centric analysis of TCGA mutation data."

Humanities Division: Ariane Helou, Literature, for the oral presentation "The Sybil's voice: Prophecy and performance in early modern Italy."

Physical & Biological Sciences Division: Rachel Doran, Molecular, Cell, & Developmental Biology, for the poster presentation "From armor to Achilles heel: Targeting the glycan shield of HIV in novel vaccine strategies."

Social Sciences Division: Joanna Weill, Psychology, for the poster presentation "Social histories of capital defendants."