2007 Griffith Undergraduate Research Awards
AgBio Communications
Eight College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences students have been granted Griffith Research Awards by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. The Griffin Research Award was established for College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional potential in their chosen major. It provides funds for the student to conduct a research trial under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
After being established in 1980 Griffith Research Awards were presented for the first time in 2003 to undergraduates. They are made possible by funds from the William Griffith and Bryne Griffith Endowment in Agriculture and the Arts, which has supported agricultural research at SDSU for more than 20 years.
Receiving the 2007 awards are: Matthew Clarke, Sioux Falls; Sherif Halaweish, Brookings; Jessica Thurman, Mitchell; Thomas Sando, Helena, Mont.; Krunal Choksi, Buies Creek, N.C.; Anna Taylor, Mandan, N.D.; Amanda Schiefelbein, Kimball, Minn.; and Reid Formo, Granite Falls, Minn.
Clarke, a senior pre-dentistry major, is studying a recently rediscovered species of bat: Sturnia. His faculty mentor is Department of Biology/Microbiology associate professor Scott Pedersen.
Halaweish, a senior biology-chemistry major, is exploring expression of BVDV-nonstructural proteins to study the humoral immune response against BVDV in cattle. His faculty mentor is Department of Veterinary Science professor Chris Chase.
Thurman is a junior biology major. Her project involves determining the effect on the inflammatory response in lactating cattle fed different levels of dried distiller’s grains (DDGS). Her faculty mentor is Department of Veterinary Science professor Chris Chase.
Sando, a senior geography major, is evaluating synthetic aperture radar imagery for the detection and characterization of devegetation by hail. His faculty mentor is Global Information Science Center of Excellence professor Geoffrey Henebry.
Choksi, a sophomore biology and pre-pharmacy major, is looking at the lycopene and phenolic content and antioxident potential of Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea). His faculty entor is Department of Biology/Microbiology professor R. Neil Reese.
Taylor’s project explored serum and anterior pituitary concentrations of IGF-1 and relative amounts of AP IGF binding proteins throughout the estrus cycle of gilts. Her faculty mentor was Department of Animal and Range Sciences associate professor Jeffrey Clapper, with whom she is now a graduate student.
Schiefelbein, a junior majoring in animal science, is looking at the reproductive physiology of cattle. Her faculty mentor is Department of Animal and Range Sciences assistant professor George Perry.
Formo is a senior agricultural and biosystems engineering major. He is exploring clean fractionation for breaking the cellulosic matrix of prairie cordgrass. His faculty mentor is Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering professor James Julson.