UR Ambassadors

Daniel Howell

Daniel is a junior majoring in Chemistry and Horticulture with a minor in Spanish. During the spring of his freshman year, he began undergraduate research with Dr. Wenyu Huang’s group in the Chemistry department, where he worked with inorganic catalysts for industrially important gas-phase reactions. He then had a summer R&D internship with Kemin Industries, in which he worked with antioxidants for pet food. He has since been involved in research with the Huang group during the school year where he is part of a Plastic Upcycling project associated with the Department of Energy. During the summer of 2022, as part of a study abroad experience, he worked in a plant biology laboratory under Dr. Roc Ros at the University of Valencia in Valencia, Spain. Daniel plans to attend graduate school, earn a PhD in either Chemistry or Biochemistry, and have a career in research.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Chemistry? Ask Daniel!

Victoria Kyveryga

Victoria is a fourth-year chemical engineering and chemistry student. She is currently involved in Dr. Kirill Kovnir’s group (Department of Chemistry and Ames Laboratory), where she develops structure-property relationships in inorganic materials for energy applications. Victoria has held various materials science research stints across academia, government, and industry, spanning the fundamental exploration of materials like bulk metal alloys, liquid crystals, and nanoparticles. Victoria’s plan after graduation is to pursue a materials science PhD and maintain a research emphasis on inorganic semiconductors.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry?

Ask Victoria!

Henry Thomas

Henry is a senior majoring in Chemistry and Physics. He began his research with the first-year honors mentor program under Dr. Wenyu Huang and has been working in the Huang lab since then for six semesters. He does research on the synthesis of novel nanomaterials such as covalent organic frameworks and intermetallic compounds. He plans on attending graduate school, eventually earning a PhD in chemistry, and going into a career in research. He has done a summer research program through the department of chemistry at ISU during the summer of 2022. He has also participated in the chemistry REU program at Michigan State University.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Chemistry or Physics? Ask Henry!

Michael Miller

Michael is a junior in Aerospace Engineering and minoring in Psychology and Computer Science at Iowa State University. He began research during his freshman year through the First-Year Honors Mentor Program (FHMP). Here he worked under the mentorship of Dr. Hui Hu in the Aircraft Icing Laboratory. This research focuses on studying aircraft icing phenomena and mitigation strategies through field-testing as well as Icing Research Tunnel experiments. Currently, Michael is working on the AABL Balance Project, which entails designing, manufacturing, and implementing a new and improved stability balance for the senior design wind tunnel at Iowa State. Michael has also participated in an REU in Consumer Networking through the University of Missouri, where he built a custom network framework tailored for emergency routing services. Michael is currently deciding between attending graduate school after he obtains his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering or going directly into industry after graduation.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Aerospace Engineering?

Ask Michael!

Zoë Dekruif

Zoë is a junior majoring in Linguistics with minors in Anthropology and Classical Studies. She is currently working under Dr. Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen as an undergraduate research assistant, and aids in the study of process-focused advice to improve college students’ writing. Additionally, she has done past research in the reconstruction of dead languages, in second language acquisition, and in linguistic corpus analysis (see: https://youngscholarsinwriting.org/index.php/ysiw/article/view/355/371). Zoë plans to continue her involvement with this research and attend graduate school to further explore the field of applied linguistics.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Linguistics? Ask Zoë!

Benjamin Pellizzari

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Benjamin Pellizzari is a Sophomore at the Ivy College of Business, majoring in Business Analytics with an emphasis in mass-marketing and entrepreneurship. Besides representing the undergraduate research program, Ben serves as President for Iowa State and Historian for the state of Iowa as a member of Future Business Leaders of America, an organization which focusses on competing in academic business and technical-career competitions on both a state and national level, participating in community philanthropy, practicing parliamentary procedure, and leadership development. Following graduation at Iowa State, Ben hopes to obtain his MBA and join the corporate financial world as a market analyst while maintaining his own creative passions in entrepreneurship.”

Have a question about undergraduate research in Business?

Ask Benjamin!

Morgan Simms

Morgan Simms is a sophomore in Interior Design with a minor in Sustainability. She has been doing research with Dr. Rachel Eike since her freshmen year through the First Year Honors Mentor Program. Morgan presented at the symposium in the spring of 2022 and plans to keep presenting her work through its completion. Her research follows her sustainability minor and consists of collecting recycled textiles and breaking them down to create new materials for further use. After completing her Undergraduate, Morgan plans on joining a commercial design firm where she will implement sustainable practices learned in her research.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Sustainability? Ask Morgan!

Chloe Smith

Chloe is a second-year biochemistry and nutritional science student. She began research in her second semester at Iowa State through the First-Year Honors Mentor Program. Chloe is currently doing research in the department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. She has been a part of Dr. Melha Mellata’s lab for three semesters where she studies the effects of dietary zinc in inhibiting bacterial plasmid transfer. Chloe is also a part of Dr. Matthew Rowling’s lab and studies the effects of resistant starch in preventing renal abnormalities in diabetes. After graduation, Chloe plans on attending medical school to pursue a career in endocrinology.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Food Science or Human Nutrition?

Ask Chloe!

Monet Butler

Monet Butler is a sophomore studying Political Science with a minor in Insect Science. Monet started research via the First-Year Mentor Program, studying photosynthetic active radiation mapping under Dr. Hornbuckle within the Agronomy department. After switching her major, Monet pivoted to working with Dr. Hassid in the Political Science department, helping him edit a manuscript about the state’s control of space and time. Currently, Monet is a Pohlman Fellow through the University Museums and is conducting a chronology of Zenobia Ness. Monet is also doing an independent research project through Dr. Popillion in the Human Development and Family Studies department about targeted advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. After graduation, Monet plans to obtain a PhD in Political Theory.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Political Science? Ask Monet!

Alex Kurtt

Alex is a senior majoring in both biology and environmental science with a minor in animal ecology. In the Spring of 2022, he began working with social insects through the Toth Laboratory; studying animal behavior in paper wasps, and thermal physiology in bumble bees. Alex has been involved with Science with Practice for 3 consecutive semesters to help pursue his research areas of interest. After graduation, he plans on pursuing his doctorate in entomology and continuing research.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Biology or Environmental Science?

Ask Alex!

Austin Petfalski

Austin is a sophomore in Biochemistry with a secondary major in Spanish. During the spring of his freshman year, he began working under Dr. Eric Underbakke in studying two membrane proteins as part of the First-Year Honors Mentor Program. Then, for a summer REU, he transferred to Dr. Julien Roche’s lab to study transcription factors that are integral in human cellular stress response and has been working there ever since. Specifically, he studies the primary signaling sites of Activation transcription Factor 4 in order to see how its function is affected in different scenarios. Ever since, he has been involved in research during the school year, and his goal is to attend medical school after graduation from Iowa State.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Biochemistry? Ask Austin!

Gabriel Winandar

Gabriel is a freshman majoring in Aerospace Engineering. He has been participating in undergraduate research since Summer of 2023. He joined research through the APEX-E program and did research under Dr. Carmen Gomes, where he studied the fabrication of Laser Induced Graphene Sensors and Supercapacitors and their applications in selective ion detection and electrical cycles. He has continued in that lab, where he is working on the same project under Dr. Gomes and is helping lead another project involving the fabrication of Carbon Dots and their use in selective ion detection with Dr Gomes’s Graduate Researchers. He continues to study the applications and efficiency of these sensors and supercapacitors as an alternate method and device to industry applications. After completing his bachelor program, Gabriel plans to obtain his Masters in Aerospace and join industry research in the Aerodynamics and Propulsion field.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Aerospace Engineering?

Ask Gabriel!

Robert Kaas III

Robert is a sophomore majoring in Biology. He began research his freshman year by volunteering in Dr. Ravindra and Dr. Natalia Singh’s lab in the Biomedical Sciences department and has since been involved. The Singh lab’s research involves RNA processing and alternative splicing of the SMN2 gene. Robert plans to continue his passion for biological and health sciences by attending medical or graduate school to pursue a career in health-related research.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Biology? Ask Robert!

Emma Alstott

Emma is a second-year student majoring in Horticulture and Global Resource Systems with minors in Agronomy and Spanish. She began undergraduate research during her first semester at Iowa State, in Dr. Daren Mueller’s Lab in the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology, and Microbiology. Her research focused on evaluating fungicide efficacy and developing management techniques for fungal pathogens in soybeans. Currently, she works under Dr. Suzanne Slack in the Department of Horticulture. She is conducting research on Erwinia amylovora isolates from Iowa orchards. Her work consists of evaluating for streptomycin resistance and characterizing isolates. Emma plans to attend graduate school and earn a PhD in plant pathology, to prepare for a career in research and extension.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Horticulture and Global Resource Systems?

Ask Emma!

Anthony David

Anthony is a Master of Science student in the Mechanical Engineering Department. In December 2023, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering from Iowa State University. During the Spring 2022 semester, he took a Research and Development (R&D) co-op at STERIS Endoscopy, working on developing new endoscopic surgical equipment. This piqued his interest in R&D, and so he joined the Kingston Research Group in the Summer of 2022 after returning from STERIS. Since then, he has been creating lab-grown biosensors to detect airborne biothreats. After obtaining his Master’s degree, Anthony plans to go back to working in the biomedical device industry.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Mechanical Engineering? Ask Anthony!

Emily Pedersen

Emily is a sophomore studying genetics and minoring in psychology and Spanish. She began research fall of her freshman year through the First Year Mentor Program with Dr. Qian Wang (FSHN). Through this opportunity, she has studied the impact of genes Klotho and Sirt1 on premature death and BMI through statistical analysis. Currently, her research focuses on the impacts that mutations of APOEe4 and TOMM40 have on mitochondrial health and Alzheimer’s Disease. Through edited HEK293 cells, Emily has been able to study the impact of these mutations as well as work with CRISPR-Cas9. She enjoys presenting her research and hearing about the research projects of her fellow students. After completing her Bachelor’s degree, Emily aspires to attend medical school and eventually complete a research fellowship.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Genetics?

Ask Emily!

Hamelynn Harzman

Hamelynn is a sophomore double-majoring in biology and Spanish. She has been participating in undergraduate research since the Spring of 2023. She started research with the First-Year Honors Mentor Program with mentor Dr. Jeffrey Essner studying the integration of red fluorescent protein (RFP) into the zebrafish ZO-1 tight junction protein using biotinylated homology arms. She has continued in that lab, completing a summer as a GDCB 2023 Summer Undergraduate Research Intern funded by the Dean's High Impact Award for Undergraduate Research. She continues to work with peer researchers to further understand ZO-1 RFP integration and explore an alternative method for homology arm cloning. She hopes to attend graduate school and obtain a Ph.D. to pursue a career in using biomedical research with community applications.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Biology or Spanish? Ask Hamelynn!

Bradyn Weaver

Bradyn is a second-year chemistry student. He is currently involved in materials chemistry and solid-state NMR research in Dr. Julia Zaikina and Dr. Aaron Rossini’s research groups, respectively (Department of Chemistry, Ames National Laboratory) and has had previous research experience in synthetic physical organic chemistry (Middle Tennessee State University). Bradyn’s plans after graduation include joining a Ph.D. program in materials chemistry/science with an emphasis on multi-disciplinary research utilizing current state-of-the-art computational techniques, and finding a career in academia that lets him teach and do research in these fields that he loves so deeply.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Chemistry?

Ask Bradyn!

Seth Entriken

Seth is a Senior majoring in Genetics at Iowa State University. He started working in a developmental research laboratory after taking a course with the professor freshman year. Ever since he has worked studying a family of gap junction proteins and their role in the development of the left right axis of zebrafish. Since then, Seth has taken part in research conferences and poster presentations at and beyond Iowa State presenting his research. During the summer of 2023, Seth did a SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) at the Mayo Clinic where he worked looking for biomarkers in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). He is currently planning on attending graduate school studying extra cellular matrix interactions.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Genetics? Ask Seth!

Patrick Whitehouse

Patrick is a junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, minoring in Cyber-Physical Systems. Patrick began his research with Dr. Fleming this summer in Offline Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Driving. This allowed him to present his findings at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. He is looking forward to competing in autonomous racing events this year. After graduation, Patrick plans on attending a mechanical or software engineering graduate program. He hopes to work on automating and optimizing control systems. He is looking forward to continuing this research and hopes to grow his skill set with the team.  

Have a question about undergraduate research in Mechanical Engineering? Ask Patrick!

Connor Davison

Connor is a senior majoring in Genetics. He began his research in the Fall of 2021 as a Sophomore. He started researching with Dr. Jeffrey Essner in the Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology, studying the phenotypic effects of a knockdown of msna in zebrafish. Connor has continued working with Dr. Essner and currently researching strategies to generate and fluorescent tag whole-gene deletions in several genes. In addition to research during the academic year, he has spent two summers researching with Dr. Essner at ISU. Connor plans on attending graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in Genetics and have a career researching disease genetics.

Have a question about undergraduate research in Genetics?

Ask Connor!