Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
The Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award is granted twice a year to a student whose work has been presented at the Student Academic Conference. The award recognizes the best independent student work over the course of a term. The nomination is to be submitted by the mentor of a student who is completing a for-credit independent study (i.e. directed readings/studies) who also presented at the Student Academic Conference. A committee consisting of two to four faculty members (drawn from the Research and Learning Environment committees), and a student member from one of the committees will adjudicate the award.
The committee grants the award based on submitted student work. Regardless of the type of work undertaken by the student, something must be submitted for the committee to evaluate. The committee is very flexible about type of material that is submitted.
Nomination Form
Deadline: Last day of the final exam period, 4 p.m.
Please submit nominations to the executive assistant to the associate deans augdean@ualberta.ca.
Criteria
The following criteria are used by the committee to assess nominees for this award:
Difficulty
The breadth and/or depth of the challenge undertaken by the student.
Industry
Intellectual effort and its independence, the degree of preparation, and the amount of time dedicated to research or fieldwork.
Mastery of topic
The nature of the critical analysis made by the student. Were they creative in their approach? Did they move beyond the information given to them to develop a broader or deeper understanding of the subject matter?
Presentation
The effectiveness of the oral/written/creative work presented at the student conference. Was it constructed independently? Was it creative and original in approach?
Reflection
The depth of reflection captured in the entry. Evidence of how the project contributed to developing the student as a Thinker, Researcher, and Communicator; How it contributed to personal and professional educational experience and development; Shared what was exciting? What was fun? What was scary? What was difficult? Why does the project matter?
For more information, contact the associate dean teaching, Anne McIntosh, at amcintos@ualberta.ca.
Award Winners
Winter 2024
Anjola Aina
Parallelizing the Needleman-Wunsch Algorithm using OpenMP and OpenACC
Supervisor: Mohammed Qasem
Fall 2023
Lucille Wang
The Comparison of Community-Weighted Mean Specific Leaf Area between Reclaimed Well Pads and Reference Forests
Supervisor: Anne McIntosh
Winter 2023
Jenessa Doctor
Seizure Activity after Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Female Rats: The Impact of the Estrous Cycle
Supervisor: Ana Klahr
Fall 2022
Shelby Paulgaard
Reporting Rape Culture: Social Media, Sexual Assault, and the News
Supervisor: Roxanne Harde
Winter 2022
Lauren Perras
The Effects of Drought on Urban Tree Species in Edmonton, AB
Supervisor: Greg King
Fall 2021
Amelia Murray
Comparison of the Effects of Aeration, Chemical, and Biological Treatments on the Removal of Coliforms in a Cattle Pond.
Supervisor: Glynnis Hood
Winter 2021
Kristin Bergman
Autism as Altered Neural Connectivity: How Cholesterol May Impact the Brain's Wiring
Supervisor: Neil Haave
Emmarie Brown
Conversing Refugees: Recognizing Refugee Knowledge in Warsan Shire's "Conversations About Home (At A Deportation Centre)”
Supervisor: Stephanie Oliver
Fall 2020
Kate Corrigan
Impacts of COVID-19 on Interpretive Programming in Alberta's Provincial Parks
Supervisor: Glen Hvenegaard
Winter 2019
Carmen Tessier
It's Time to Have a Tick Talk: A Study Exploring the Quality of Life and Diagnosis Process of Lyme Disease
Supervisor: Rebecca Purc-Stephenson, AUPSY 499
Fall 2019
Jessica Logan
Butterflies and Moths as a New and Nearly Ideal Model System for Research in Aesthetics
Supervisor: Tomislav Terzin
Fall 2018
Ben Schmidt
Somatostatin Receptor Analogues: Synthesis, Application, and Considerations for Cancer Imaging and Treatment.
Supervisor: Brian Rempel, AUCHE 497
Winter 2018
Day Bulger
Saints and Animals: Challenging Anthropocentric Hierarchies in Medieval Hagiography
Supervisor: Dr. Brandon Alakas, AUENG 401
Honorable Mention:
Sara Jobson
Phyllostomidae Species Richness Across Habitat Types at the Piro and Greg Gund Biological Stations, Osa Conservation, Costa Rica
Supervisor: Dr. Doris Audet, AUBIO 419
Fall 2017
Kelly Keus
Portrayals of PTSD in Adolescent Fantasy Fiction
Supervisor Roxanne Harde, AUENG 401
Winter 2017
Allyson Wrubleski
Examination of the Factors that Contribute to Rural Adolescent Girls' Participation in Physical Activity
Supervisor: Yvonne Becker, AUIDS 391
Winter 2016
Linda Ervin
Read My Hips Part II - The Myth of the Global Sisterhood: Examining Cultural Appropriation and Racial Marginalization in "Belly Dance"
Supervisor: Yvonne Becker, AUPED 490
Fall 2015
Alexandra Malley
The Melanoma Cell Adhesion Molecule: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Multiple Sclerosis
Supervisor: Neil Haave, AUBIO 318
Winter 2015
Erin Specht
Using Beavers as a Watershed Management Tool: Articulating Alberta's Regulatory Context
Supervisor: Glynnis Hood, AUENV 401
Fall 2014
Spencer Kryzanowski
Queering the Kiss: Rodney Sharman's "The Garden"
Supervisor: Milton Schlosser, AUMUS 447
Honorable Mention:
Brittany Johnson
Aboriginal Women, Sexuality, and the Spiritual in Louise Erdich's "The Painted Drum" and Susan Power's "The Grass Dancer"
Supervisor: Roxanne Harde, AUENG 402
Winter 2014
Samantha Matters
An Analysis of the History of Aboriginal Peoples in the Beaver Hills
Supervisor: Glynnis Hood, AUENV 401
Honorable Mention:
Jessica Stambaugh
Gaining Control: Self Harm to Combat Societal Harm
Supervisor: Roxanne Harde, AUENG 401
Fall 2013
Emily Ervin
Effect of Extraction Methods and Growing Conditions on Antioxidant Amounts of Produce Samples Measured by Differential Pulse Voltammetry
Supervisor: James Kariuki, AUCHE 497
Honorable Mention:
Kolby Peterson
Post-Release Survival of Bitumen-Contaminated American Beaver (castor canadensis) following Rehabilitation
Supervisor: Glynnis Hood, AUENV 301
Winter 2013
Robert Manley
"Personal Identity: the 'Situation' of Doctor Who"
Supervisor: Melaina Weiss, AUPHI 495
Fall 2012
Allyson Cornelis
Vitamins, cells, patience, and time: A recipe for research.
Supervisor: Sheryl Gares, AUBIO 419.
Annelise Welde
The impact of maternal breast cancer on children: A meta-ethnography.
Supervisor: Rebecca Purc-Stephenson, AUPSY 497.
Winter 2012
Alanna Lindsay
"Senior Undergraduate Students' Experience of Cynicism and Helplessness in Civic and Policital Engagement"
Supervisor: Jason Goertzen, AUPSY 499 - Individual Study II
Published in Metamorphosis
Honourable Mention
Greg Arnup
"Numerical imulation of Turing's Reaction Diffusion Model for Morphogenesi"
Supervisor: Bill Hackborn, AUCSC495 - Directed Study II
Fall 2011
Samantha Christensen
"Little Cooks: Gender, Class, and Food in Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature"
Supervisor: Dr. Roxanne Harde, AUENG 401 - Directed Reading I
Honourable Mention
Kristi Abramoff
"Working Girls, Hookers, Courtesans, and Fallen Women: Depictions of the Sex Trade and those Who Work in it in Twentieth Century Canadian Fiction."
Supervisor: Dr. Harry Prest, AUENG 401 - Directed Reading I
Winter 2011
Holly Lassesen
Louise Erdrich, Orality & Community. Upholding Traditional Native Communities in the Face of Colonial Dominance & Neglect.
Mentor: Dr. Roxanne Harde, AUENG 402 - Directed Study II
Honourable Mention
Stephen Olson
A comparison of the seasonal diet of coyotes in Miquelon Lake Provincial Park and agricultural lands.
Mentor: Dr. Glynnis Hood, AUENV 401
Fall 2010
Kathryn Stone
LCAT Deficiency: when good cholesterol becomes irrelevant.
Mentor: Dr. Neil Haave, AUBIO 318 - Directed Reading
Honourable mention:
Erin Peters
Messages from beyond: Class & Gender in Spiritualist fiction.
Mentor: Dr. Roxanne Harde, AUENG 401 - Directed Reading I
Published in Metamophosis »
Winter 2010
Jody Rintoul
Who turned down the heat? How temperature modifies Mongolian gerbils activity patterns.
Mentor: Dr. Doris Audet, AUBIO 419 - Directed Studies
Published in Metamorphosis »
Curtis Stratmoen
Using GIS and Traditional Models to Assess Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors) Habitat Suitability in Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, AB
Mentor: Dr. Glynnis Hood, AUENV 401 - Directed Studies
Fall 2009
Kate Whittleton
Gender and Democracy in Alberta: Where are the Women?
Supervisor: Shauna Wilton, AUPOL 401 - Directed Reading I
Winter 2009
Jeff Behrens
The National Question: Scottish Nationalism and the New Europe
Supervisor: Shauna Wilton, AUPOL 401 - Directed Reading I
David Birkigt
The Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Tropical Ecology
Supervisor: Glynnis Hood, AUENV301 - Directed Studies
Fall 2008
Lindsay Yakimyshyn
jointly for:
'Women were made to love and not to kill': Female agency and patriarchal authority in Wroth's Urania
Supervisor: Dr. Paul Harland, AUENG 401 - Directed Reading I;
'Her last bequest, to the World': Pastoral power and colonial American children's legacy texts
Supervisor: Dr. Roxanne Harde, AUENG 402 - Directed Reading II
Winter 2008
Jesse Watkins
Effects of food type and distance from protective cover on the foraging behaviour of wintering Black-capped chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches
Supervisor: Dr. Doris Audet, AUBIO 419 - Directed Studies
Fall 2007
Lane Olson
Adventures in Experimental Mathematics
Supervisor: Dr. Ian Blokland, AUMAT 495 - Directed Study