Student Profiles

Leslie Yellow Hammer

BS in Biology 2016
Dr. Simmons,US MASTER advisor

Leslie Yellow Hammer has been working with Dr. Yurkonis examining prairie ecosystems and their restoration ecology and recently focusing the study on impacts of plant community on pollinator abundance and richness.

Yellow Hammer enrolled in the MS Program in the Dept. of Biology, University of North Dakota, she has recently received a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

“I am excited to work with a new question on important pollinator diversity questions since pollinators play an important role," Yellow Hammer said. "The US MASTER program has also helped me by assisting in undergraduate research and applying for the McNair program.”

Taylor Schlenk

BS in Mathematics 2015
Dr. Zerr, US MASTER advisor

Taylor Schlenk was awarded US MASTER scholarship first in her freshman year in Mathematics. Today she is pursuing graduate studies.

Her summer REU experience under lead of Dr. Dhagash Mehta contributed to peer-reviewed publication http://arxiv.org/abs/1412.1717. She has was also recognized for outstanding presentation of a poster, “Counting The Number of Real Roots of Random Polynomials”, at the Joint Mathematics Meeting, San Antonio, January 10-13 2015.

“Because of US MASTER, I was able to work closely with my advisors," Schlenk said. "They helped me to discover the research opportunities for both of my undergraduate and graduate careers.”

Tiffany Huwe

Dr. Simmons, US MASTER advisor

Tiffany Huwe was able to receive an AURA (Advanced Undergraduate Research Award) scholarship to pursue research in Dr. Yurkonis lab. Her UND research experience has led to two more research opportunities with the Mayo Clinic and currently in Dr. Ghribi’s lab in the UND’s Neuroscience department, giving her motivation to pursue a career in medical research.

Huwe has been a finalist for the Goldwater Award and was recently selected for a summer research program at University of Washington for 2016.

“The US MASTER scholarship program opened the door to several research opportunities," Huwe said. "These opportunities gave me confidence to pursue my career goals.”

Kaitlynn Meis

BS in Biology 2016.

Kaitlynn Meis was awarded an AURA fellowship from ND EPSCoR to support research from 2014-15. Meis worked with Dr. Ji, chemical engineering, to investigate lignin degradation via bacteria and fungi.

Later on, she has received ND Space Grant Consortium Research fellowship to obtain research experience in the systems biology. Recently she has received Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership fellowships to pursue PhD studies at Notre Dame in Integrated Biomedical Sciences - Computational Biology & Bioinformatics.

“I was looking for a chance to get research experience as an undergrad and this project sounded interesting to me," Meis said. "I wanted a project that would integrate both biology and math, so a project in the chemical engineering department seemed perfect.“

Sami Swartz

Drs. Simmons and Vandeberg, US MASTER advisors

Sami Swartz explored various opportunities in research in summer 2014. Swartz participated in a research trip with Drs. Vandeberg and VanLooy August 2014 to Continental Glacier in Wyoming. She contributed to Dr. Yurkonis' lab in 2015-16 with field work at Oakville Prairie and worked on identifying insects in the lab. At that time, she was also working with Dr. Mia Park looking at pollinator (specifically bees) diversity in our region.

Currently, she is working in the Geography Department using GIS to look at the correlation between radon gas and CLL (Chronic Lymphocitic Leukemia).

“The US MASTER program promoted and encouraged research," Swartz said, "and gave opportunities to apply for many different research experiences.”

Kayla Michelson

BS in Biology 2016

Kayla Michelson began working in Dr. Diane Darland’s laboratory in spring 2014, and was accepted as a research student during the summer.

Michelson’s research contributes to the study involving early brain development, the cortical region in particular, and how it develops due to its importance in higher ordering functioning. Her work was presented several conferences including National Biomedical Engineering Society Conference, Florida 2015. She is currently pursuing M.S. degree in Biology at UND.

Ayla Morehouse

Dr. Simmons, US MASTER advisor

Ayla Morehouse is currently pursuing degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology. The US MASTER experience lead to her obtaining an intern position at the Henry Doorley Zoo in Omaha, NE summer 2017.

“My second semester US MASTER increased my scholarship to cover what I couldn't cover with my other financial resources," Morehouse said. "In return, I quit my job to reduce my stress further so that I can fully focus on my studies. If I didn't have the support and knowledge that the US MASTER committee provided, I wouldn't have been able to live up to my potential as a student, getting the high grades I know I can.”

Tyson Berg

Dr. Kubatova, US MASTER advisor

Tyson Berg joined US MASTER program in pursuing double major in Chemistry and UAS. As results of his interest in two majors he had applied and participate in summer research experience at UND. He currently pursues research with Dr. Kubatova studying fate of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their contribution to air pollution.

"The US MASTER program has been very helpful in not only expanding my knowledge of chemistry, but also relieving the some of the financial stress that comes with pursuing an education in aviation," Berg said. "Most of all, the program has helped me to become more involved in chemistry work outside of the classroom. Without it, I would have never gained the research experiences that I have today."