A&S Student Award Winners from the 2026 USRA Poster Session
The Office of Research hosted its annual Undergraduate Summer Research Poster Session (USRA), where students showcased research conducted through the undergraduate research award program. The program provides students with opportunities to pursue summer research, deepen their intellectual inquiry and work closely with Cleveland State University faculty mentors.
Below, is the list of student awardees from the College of Arts and Sciences:
Category | Award | Student(s) | Faculty | Project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humanities | 1st | Elise Bednar | Phil Wanyerka | Archaeological & Geophysical Investigations at the Fort Hill Earthwork Complex 2026 |
| Humanities | 2nd | Zoe Guilonard | Katie Clonan-Roy | "I Can Do That Too:" Empowerment, Activism, and Skill Building Through Youth Participatory Action Research |
| Humanities | 2nd | Jonas Dawson | Sarah Rutherford | Late Nights and Deadlines: An Illustrated Case Study of Modern Classrooms |
| Humanities | 3rd | Kylie Cavasinni | Nicholas Morr | From Script to Screen – Visual Research in the Cinematic Arts |
| Humanities | 3rd | Mariah Eckliff | Vickie Gallagher | Refugee Community Center Wellbeing, Satisfaction, and Unmet Needs (Phase 2) |
| STEM | 1st | Elias Saab | Chandra Kothapalli | Inactivation of Salmonella During Poultry Scalding: Efficacy of pH and Temperature under Simulated Commercial Conditions |
| STEM | 1st | Yesha Thakkar | Kailash Gulshan | Evaluating PIP2 and PI-PLC inhibitors for Inflammasome Activation |
| STEM | 2nd | Ruebin Su | Aimin Zhou | The Role of RNase L in Insulin-Induced IRS-1/AKT Signaling in Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts |
| STEM | 2nd | Josh Hoeflich | Jessica Bickel | Analyzing Collaborative Annotation in the Introductory Physics Classroom |
| STEM | 2nd | Laith Nijem | Nithya Gnanapragasam | Investigating a novel barrier of differentiation in erythropoiesis |
Winners received a cash prize and an invitation to lunch with President Bloomberg, Provost Sridhar, and Associate Vice President for Research Roman Kondratov.
Contact Info
Mailing Address
Cleveland State University
College of Arts and Sciences
2121 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH 44115
Campus Location
Berkman Hall, 218
Science and Research, 353
Email
artsandsciences@csuohio.edu
Phone
216-687-5580