SIUE Graduate School Presents Research Grants to Outstanding Students

The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Graduate School will announce the spring 2024 Research Grants for Graduate Students (RGGS) in mid-April. In anticipation of this announcement, SIUE is putting the spotlight on the outstanding students from the fall 2023 cohort.

The awards, valued at up to $500 each, support the research and creative activities of 20 graduate students studying in the College of Arts and Sciences and Schools of Business, Engineering and Education, Health and Human Behavior.

"By conducting original research and creative activities, graduate students at SIUE learn and demonstrate expertise in their field, "said Jerry Weinberg, PhD, associate provost for research and dean of the Graduate School. "Their projects can be impactful to their field of study as well as benefit communities throughout the region and beyond. The Research Grants for Graduate Students program recognizes the project's potential contribution and provides the students with necessary resources to conduct the work."

Faculty advisors oversee the students' individual research or creative activity. The primary purpose of the RGGS program is to support the graduate students' work, particularly as it relates to their thesis or final project.

The fall 2023 RGGS projects are listed on the research grants webpage. A sampling of projects are listed below.

• New Age Drug Use: How Hopelessness, Loneliness, and Pessimism Increase Substance Use in Generation Z (Paige Looney, Clinical Psychology)
• Carbon Emissions and Financial Stability: The Role of Governance (Sarah Anobil Okyere, Business Administration)
• The Social Construction of Substance Use Disorders (Corbin Johannpeter, Sociology)
• Red Light Driver Behavior (Garima Shrestha, Civil Engineering)
• Intimate Partner Violence and Depression Among Sexual and Gender Minorities in Nepal: The Mediating Role of Perceived Social Support (Sandhya Poudel, Public Health)
• Predictive Analytics Applied to Nutrient Concentrations and Chlorophyll in Otter Lake and Speciation of Algae Geneses Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization to Build a Mass Spectra Database (Cheyenne Copling, Chemistry)
• Disenfranchised Grief turned to Trauma, and the Effects of Art Therapy (Metalsmithing) within Community to Treat Mental Wellness, Specifically, Menstruating People (MoBella Russo, Art Therapy Counseling)
• Assessing Microclimate Variability in Cities: A Methods Comparison Between Local Weather Stations and Satellites (Enoh Martha Francis, Geography)

PHOTO: Engineering building at dusk