All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Marshall University Research Corporation announces research awards for faculty, students

The Marshall University Research Corporation has announced the winners of various awards:

  • Spring 2025 Undergraduate Creative Discovery & Research Awards
  • Spring 2025 Graduate Creative Discovery & Research Awards
  • Summer 2025 John Marshall Scholars Awards
  • Fall 2025 John Marshall Scholars Awards

The undergraduate and graduate award programs are open to qualifying students from several colleges, including the College of Science, Lewis College of Business, and the College of Liberal Arts. The graduate award program is part of a new initiative started by the President’s Office, supporting graduate student research.

Dr. Suzanne Strait, associate vice president for research development, expressed gratitude to the Office of the President for their support. “We are deeply grateful to the Office of the President for supporting graduate-level research at Marshall University,” Strait said. “Thanks to their commitment, MURC was thrilled to receive such a strong pool of applicants and award five grants for Spring 2025.”

The John Marshall Scholar program has long supported faculty creative discovery and research in various fields.

Spring 2025 undergraduate awardees are:

  • Asha Bora (College of Science) — Does Oral Silver Nanoparticle Exposure Disrupt Synapse Morphology in the Rat Brain?
  • Amelia Bowen (College of Science) — The Impact of Heavy Metals on Growth and Development of African ecotypes of Arabidopsis with distinct telomere lengths
  • Sophia Childers (College of Liberal Arts) — Unveiling the Past: Emma of Normandy, Manuscript Artwork, and Textile Recreation
  • Skylar Elliott (College of Liberal Arts) — Exploring the Role of Self-Reliance, Stigma, and Cultural Factors in Mental Health Service Utilization in Southern Appalachia
  • Grace Ghiz (College of Liberal Arts) — Carving Culture: Butchery Practices and Funnel Insights from the Clover Site
  • Maggie Gibbs (College of Liberal Arts) — Blessed Be the Daughters of Cain”: Faith, Dominance, and Silencing in Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter
  • Aaron Grimmett (College of Science) — Alternative Metabolic Inhibition Techniques for Tardigrades
  • Hannah Hanlon (College of Science) — Design and 3D Fabrication of Bone Scaffolds with Complex, Structured Porosity
  • Lizana Imran (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Design and 3D Fabrication of Bone Scaffolds with Complex, Structured Porosity
  • Eugene Kim (College of Science) — Evaluating the Effects of Mineral Substitution on Magnesium Regulation in the Circadian Clock
  • Connor Stonestreet (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Automated Detection of Track Gauge Deviations Using Video and Depth Cameras with Machine Learning
  • Samuel Sutphin (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Multi-Camera Gesture Recognition
  • Brandi Taylor (College of Liberal Arts) — LLMs and Literature: Novel Approaches to Literary Engagement with Artificial Intelligence
  • Leah Teasdale (College of Arts and Media) — Liminal Spaces

Spring 2025 graduate awardees are:

  • Jessica Bailey (College of Education and Professional Development) — Going Viral: Analyzing Social Media and its Usefulness in Classroom Instruction
  • Evan Heuermann (College of Arts and Media) — By Trumpets for Trumpets, a Lecture Recital
  • Sara Slack (College of Science) — Subsistence and Ecological Variance: Faunal Insights and Climate Comparisons from the Clover Site
  • Anastasiia Sukhanova (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Exploration of Vision Language Models (VLM) and Large Language Models (LLM) for Colorectal Cancer Segmentation
  • David Warner (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Optimizing Sand Battery Technology for Thermal Energy Storage

Summer 2025 John Marshall Scholar awardees are:

  • Ida Day (College of Liberal Arts) — Francisco Goya’s Apocalyptic Vision of the World
  • Patricia Hunt (College of Health Professions) — Empowering Future Clinicians: A Community-Based Approach to Teaching Research in Communication Disorders
  • Tracie Jones (College of Arts and Media) — Gossamer Bodies
  • Derrick Kolling (College of Science) — Identification of Reactive-Oxygen Species Production Sites in Tardigrades
  • Mehmet Kosa (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — Understanding Healthy Escapism in Video Games
  • Kacy Lovelace (Libraries) — Art in the Libraries: Expanding MU Libraries’ Art Exhibition and Performing Arts Performance Capabilities and Spaces
  • George Lu (College of Business) — The Effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Community Banking
  • Jill Minor (College of Education and Professional Development) — Read to Lead: Professional Development Book Club for School Counselors
  • Liang Wang (College of Health Professions) — Associations of Health Literacy with the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases and their risk factors in West Virginia

Fall 2025 John Marshall Scholar awardees are:

  • Haroon Malik (College of Engineering and Computer Sciences) — AI-Sniffer: A College-Led Initiative for Reliable Detection of Machine-Generated Content
  • Sarah McDermott (College of Arts and Media) — A Printmaking Exploration of Coal Capitalism: Mercer County Boom Times

For more information about the research awards or upcoming proposals, visit www.marshall.edu/murc.

Share this story:

Local Businesses

RECENT Stories

Upshur County Sports Calendar

This week’s Upshur County sports calendar lists local middle, high school and college basketball, wrestling and swimming games and tournaments scheduled Jan. 5–11.

Basketball ‘Cats drop 78-72 home verdict to Wheeling

Wheeling held off a West Virginia Wesleyan rally to win 78–72 at the Rockefeller Center after the Bobcats erased a 23-point deficit but fell short in the final minutes.

Wesleyan women improve to 6-2 after 72-67 home win over Wheeling

West Virginia Wesleyan improved to 6-2 after outscoring Wheeling in the fourth and dominating the boards, winning 72-67 behind Emma Witt’s 20 points and 16 rebounds.

Help wanted: Buckhannon Waste Collection Department is hiring a full-time garbage truck collection helper

The City of Buckhannon Waste Collection Department is accepting applications through Jan. 23, 2026, for a full-time garbage truck collection helper.

Buckhannon City Council sends proposed vape shop ordinance to planning commission for analysis

The ordinance proposed by the Tobacco Prevention Coalition would bar new vape and smoke shops within 1,500 feet of schools, parks, churches, libraries and other protected areas. City council voted unanimously to send the measure to the planning commission for review.
walking healthy

Local groups announce that a new Mountaineer Mile wellness trail is coming to the Buckhannon Riverwalk

Officials say the new wellness trail in Buckhannon will expand local opportunities for health‑focused outdoor recreation. A ribbon-cutting for is set for noon Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, at the Buckhannon Walk Trail, near the baseball field.

Upshur County Board of Education Agenda: January 6, 2026

The Upshur County Board of Education will hold a meeting on January 6, 2026, and this notice summarizes the agenda items to be discussed.

Buckhannon Colonial Arts Center Board Agenda: January 6, 2026

The Buckhannon Colonial Arts Center Board will hold a meeting on January 6, 2026, with the published agenda outlining items to be considered by the board.
Buckhannon River

Buckhannon River Watershed Association among recipients of state infrastructure grants

The Buckhannon River Watershed Association will receive a $5,000 Stream Partners Program grant as part of more than $15.4 million announced for water, sewer and conservation projects statewide. The funding supports river and watershed protection work.