ND EPSCoR announces UND AURA winners The North Dakota Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ND EPSCoR) announces the 2009 Advanced Undergraduate Research Award (AURA) winners at the University of North Dakota. The goal of AURA is to encourage undergraduate students to consider a career that involves research in science, engineering, or mathematics. AURA provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to participate in faculty-mentored research projects at the state’s two research Universities. AURA participants are awarded up to $6,500 for full-time research activities during the summer session and for part-time research activities during the fall semester. Awardees are expected to apply for a nationally competitive undergraduate scholarship during their AURA experience. The seven students participating in the AURA program at UND were competitively selected from a pool of 19 applicants. ND EPSCoR is a program supported by the National Science Foundation and the State of North Dakota at both the UND and North Dakota State University. UND AURA winners, their home towns, their faculty mentors, and the research projects in which they will participate are: • Mary Brooke, Dickinson, N.D., William Sheridan, Department of Biology, “Chromosome Segmental dosage Analysis of Maize Plant Morphogenesis.” • Mary Butler, Mandan, N.D., F. Richard Ferraro, Department of Psychology, “Risk, Decision Making, and Information Processing: Application to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).” • Alicia Grant, Elgin, Ill., Steven Ralph, Department of Biology, “Identification of Insect Resistance Genes in Poplar Trees Using Forward Genetics.” • Stephen Greiman, Barrington, Ill., Jeffrey Vaughan, Vasyl Tkach, and Katherine Mehl, Department of Biology, “Birds, Mosquitoes and Parasites: the Impact of Parasitism on Birds of the Northern Great Plains.” • Serena Lackman, Center, N.D., Eric Murphy, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics, “Roles of Alpha-Synuclein in Astrocyte Cholesterol Metabolism.” • Mariaha Lyons, Horace, N.D., Van Doze, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics, “Adrenergic Regulation of Neurogenesis and Cognition.” • Eric Timian, Langdon, N.D., Ryan Zerr, Department of Mathematics, “Generalized Ducci Sequences.” For additional information concerning ND EPSCoR or the AURA program, please contact Mark R. Hoffmann, assistant vice president for research and ND EPSCoR co-project director, 415 Twamley Hall, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58201-7093, 701-777-2492. -- Mark R. Hoffmann, Assistant Vice President for Research and Co-Project Director, ND EPSCoR, markrhoffmann@mail.und.nodak.edu, 701-777-2492