Kennesaw State University

A Savannah native, Kennesaw State University student Olivia Harrell grew up marveling at the architectural beauty of her city's most historic buildings, including the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and SCAD's Ruskin Hall. When she ventured away from downtown to the area bordering Savannah's urban core, however, she often left disappointed in the lack of attention paid toward saving the history of its predominantly African American communities. Now a fifth-year architecture student in Kennesaw State's College of Architecture and Construction Management, Harrell is using her thesis to explore how Black history in Savannah can be preserved for years to come.

Kennesaw State University is being represented by nearly 100 students this week at the 2018 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Edmond, Oklahoma. More than 4,000 students from 400 colleges and universities are presenting their research April 4-7 at the prestigious annual conference. With 93 students attending, Kennesaw State's number of participants is second only to the host institution, the University of Central Oklahoma.

Eight Kennesaw State students were honored recently for their scholarship and research at the 2017 STEM Innovators Conference in Atlanta, hosted by the University. The 12th annual symposium and research conference recognized outstanding Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation (LSAMP) Scholars.

The College of Science and Mathematics officially recognized 10 new 2016 Birla Carbon Scholars at the Birla Carbon Symposium. Nearly 100 students, faculty, staff and Birla Carbon executives reviewed posters at the symposium in August 2016. Katerina Slavicinska's research project won the Top Poster Award at the symposium. This year's scholars are: Jonathon Ard, physics; David Axford, biology; Graeme Bettler, chemistry; Soprinye Dappa-Fombo, biology; Rebecca Hyche, biology; Elena Ninova, biology; Katerina Slavicinska, chemistry; Omar Ugarte Trejo, chemistry; Danielle Varljen, biology; and Courtney Willett, biology. The scholars program was developed in April 2014 with a $250,000 pledge from Birla Carbon for a five-year annual gift of $50,000 to support research opportunities for students in Kennesaw State's College of Science and Mathematics. The program has awarded 30 Kennesaw State students each a $4,000 stipend since 2014.

Kennesaw State University Masters in Integrative Biology student Brandy Riekert's passion for conservation biology translated into two major wins recently, which provide a combined $5,000 in grant and award monies. Both reward her research on the Harper's Dodder, a rare and endangered native plant vine known to grow only in Georgia and Alabama. Riekert was awarded a $4,500 Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship award from the Garden Club of America and Center for Plant Conservation, and the Jeane Reeves Research Grant from the Georgia Native Plant Societyfor $500, according to Professor of Biology Susan M. E. Smith, coordinator of the master's program in integrative biology. Full story here.