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IU Northwest selects students for faculty research opportunities

Students from underrepresented backgrounds awarded opportunities in a multitude of disciplines.

Indiana University Northwest recently awarded seven faculty-led research opportunities to students through the Minority Opportunity for Research Experience (MORE) program and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSMAP) program.

Both MORE and LSAMP programs provide students with opportunities to engage in faculty research projects empowering students, especially minority students from underrepresented and lower-income populations, to participate in research as early as possible.

As a campus-wide research initiative, the MORE program supports students from all disciplines who are interested in working with faculty members as a research assistant. The 2012 MORE research recipients are:

Christopher Gordon

Research Discipline: Mathematics

Working alongside Axel Schulze-Halberg, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Gordon will research and further examine a newly developed way of solving mathematical problems.

Elise Ozier 

Research Discipline: Psychology

Ozier will work with Frances Daniel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, to research stereotype threats in African-Americans. She is specifically researching whether stereotype threats exist in a virtual context.

Stephanie Vargas

Research Discipline: Sociology

Research with Stephanie Shanks-Meile, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, will focus on the decision-making process of students and young adults from East Chicago with regard to their future educational and career aspirations. The researchers intend to explore the Latin American culture’s impact on life choices that may lead young people to choose short-term goals that may not offer the opportunities for upward mobility that exists in occupations and professions that require education beyond a high school diploma.

Dwight Williams

Research Discipline: Business Administration

Working alongside Stela Pudar-Hozo, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer of Mathematics, Williams will research academic testing of students taking IU Northwest entrance exams and their success rate of passing the mathematical portion of these tests.

Research rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines is the focus of the LSAMP research opportunities. The 2012 LSAMP research recipients are:

Miracle Anokwute
Research Discipline: Biology

Anokwute will work alongside Carl Marfurt, Ph.D. Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, to research the corneal epithelium and the use of therapeutic agents such as lacritin and nerve growth factor to increase the corneal nerve growth and density that occurs with normal aging.

Ifeoluwa Awosika

Research Discipline: Biology

Research with Harold Olivey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, will lead Awosika to investigate the role of FOG-2 during heart development and in adult-onset cardiac arrhythmia.

Jennifer Campbell

Research Discipline: Geology

Working alongside Erin Argyilan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geosciences, Campbell will collect data to produce an accurate and up-to-date image of Lake Michigan, including history, current population, and prominent geologic landforms to make geologic data socially relevant to people who live and work in the Lake Michigan watershed.

Students were awarded research stipends that ranged from $1,000 to $1,500. These research opportunities provide IU Northwest students the chance to earn money while gaining valuable research experience in the core areas that interest them.

For more information about the research awards available through the MORE program, contact James Wallace, Office of Diversity Programming, at (219) 980-6596.

Details regarding the LSAMP program should be directed to Cathy Hall, Office of Student Retention Programs, at (219) 980-6531.