Nominated Students

« Annette Bodenheimer (Biochemistry) Annette Bodenheimer is a PhD candidate in the Biochemistry department under Dr. Flora Meilleur. Her current research focuses on structual analysis of cytochrome p450. Her undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry were obtained from North Carolina State University. She is originally from Fairfax Station, VA. In her spare time, she enjoys doing CrossFit workouts and baking.

Christine Bradish (Horticultural Science) » Christine Bradish is a PhD student studying Horticultural Science.  She grew up in Smithfield, VA, and has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.  She moved slightly South to work on her M.S. here at NCSU, and decided to stay for the next degree.  Her research focuses on black raspberry breeding for improved health benefits and disease resistance, and potential identification of heat stress or tolerance genes that can  be mapped between red and black raspberry.  Non-work related activities that she indulges in are spending time outside with her dog, gardening, and staying active in the church.

« Kathleen Burchhardt (Plant Pathology) Kathleen Burchhardt is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant Pathology. She was raised in Syracuse, NY. Kathleen received her BS in Biotechnology and MS in Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her doctoral research is focused on understanding the population biology of the fungus that causes mummy berry disease on blueberry. Outside of the lab Kathleen is a skater and the charity director of the Carolina Rollergirls.

Sushila Chaudhari (Horticultural Science) » Sushila Chaudhari is currently working on her PhD under the guidance of Drs. Katie Jennings and David Monks in the Department of Horticulture concentrating in Weed Science. Her research goal is to determine the critical weed free period for grafted tomato and evaluate the differential sensitivity of grafted tomato to herbicides. Sushila is from Rajasthan, India. She received her B.S. degree (Agronomy major) from the Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, Punjab.  She obtained her Master’s degree in Weed Science from University of Florida. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, running, watching movies and spending time with friends.

« Barbara Chen (Economics) Xiaomei  (Barbara) Chen is a PhD candidate in Economics at North Carolina State University (NCSU) with field concentrations in Resource Economics and Financial Economics. She is currently working on her dissertation where she uses price trends of exhaustible energy resources to test economic models such as Hotelling Rule and CAPM and study the policy implications of such on public discount rates used in evaluating costs and benefits of projects especially those which spread over long time horizons such as energy conservation, and renewable energy investments. She is a Chinese citizen and worked in many industries such as tourism, translation/interpretation and marketing research in China before pursuing her doctoral degree in the U.S.

Natalie Cooke (Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences) » Natalie Cooke is a doctoral student in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences.  She is a native of Raleigh, NC, and she received undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Nutrition Sciences and a minor in Genetics from NCSU in 2010.  Her doctoral research focuses on healthcare providers’ views of childhood obesity.  She is also the head community liaison for A PACKed Kitchen, a satellite partnership of the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters nutrition education program.  In her spare time she enjoys running, cooking, spending time with family, and singing in her church choir.

« Jason Davis (Agricultural and Extension Education) Jason Davis is a doctoral student in the department of Agricultural and Extension Education.  Jason is a native of Clinton, North Carolina. He obtained his B.S. in Agricultural Education at NCSU and his masters in Agricultural Education from NCSU. He currently works for NCSU as the State FFA Coordinator within the department of Agricultural Education & Extension where he serves the agricultural teachers and students of the state of North Carolina. Jason is also a watermelon farmer in his spare time.

Randall Etheridge (Biological and Agricultural Engineering) » Randall Etheridge is currently a doctoral student in Biological and Agricultural Engineering.  His research focuses on quantifying the water quality benefits of salt marsh restoration downstream of row crop production.  He grew up on a small farm near Washington, NC and received a B.S. in Biological Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2008.  Randall enjoys fishing, hunting, watching NCSU sports, and spending time with his wife, Jennifer.

« Stacie Flood (Plant Biology) Stacie Flood is a doctoral candidate in the NCSU Plant Biology department dual minoring in Toxicology and Geographic Information Sciences. Stacie received her B.Sc. in Zoology with a minor in Chemistry from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL., where her undergraduate thesis involved examining macroinvertebrate communities in a small pond before and after remediation efforts, and where she worked as a research assistant with Dr. Brooks Burr georeferencing the University’s fish collection into a GIS database for a project designed to identify potential indicators of habitat quality. These experiences lead her to a deep appreciation for using interdisciplinary approaches to solve broad ecological questions, and today she is working with Dr. JoAnn Burkholder at the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology looking at the impacts of agricultural chemicals and fertilizer runoff on estuarine phytoplankton assemblages. When she’s not in the lab, Stacie enjoys hiking, kayaking, gardening, photography and playing with her dogs.

Colin Funaro (Entomology) » Colin Funaro is a PhD student studying Entomology. He was born and raised in South Jersey and then received his BA in Biology at the University of Richmond in 2007. After graduating, he worked as a technician in an insect microbial ecology lab at Drexel University. He moved to North Carolina to pursue his PhD in 2010. Colin's research focuses on pheromonal communication and the maintenance of social hierarchies within termites and other social insects. In his free time Colin can be found drawing pictures with MSPaint, cooking with friends, or grudgingly running despite his deep hatred for the activity.

« Kristen Gaddis (Animal Science) Kristen is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Animal Science focusing on quantitative genetics at North Carolina State University.  She is originally from Seneca Falls, New York and received her B.S. from North Carolina State University.  Her current research focuses on health traits in dairy cattle.  In her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her family and pets.

Elizabeth Hassell (Biology) » Elizabeth is interested in contemporary evolution and urban ecology,  and currently studies the effects of land use and stream flow on fish morphology. She uses locomotor analysis and geometric morphometrics to measure performance and shape divergence in common North American minnows. Her other research interests include predation, ecological speciation, pragmatics, and behavior. In her spare time she enjoys telling people that goldfish are members of the minnow family.

« Rushyannah Killen (Microbiology) Rushyannah Killens is a doctoral candidate in the department of Microbiology at North Carolina State University. The North Carolina native received her BA in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MS degree in Chemistry from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her current research focuses on finding ways to exploit the metabolic capabilities and unique enzyme systems found in extremophilic microorganisms. In her spare time, Rushyannah enjoys reading, crafting, and spending quality time with her family and friends.

Samanthi Kottegoda (Microbiology) » Samanthi  Kottegoda is a doctoral student in the department of Microbiology at North Carolina State University. She was born and raised in Sri Lanka and obtained her BS degree in Microbiology from University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. She received her MS degree in Chemistry from University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current research focuses on the characterization of microbial bioremediation of environmental pollutants, specifically simple branched- hydrocarbons. She lives in Cary, NC with her husband and two kids. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies and spending quality time with her family.

« Meng Li (Statistics) Meng is a third year doctoral student in the Department of Statistics. He has already been at NC State for two years, and received a Master degree in May, 2012. He is born and grew up in Shandong Province of China. He received his B.S in statistics from Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). He enjoys the wonderful life and weather at Raleigh, and like events involving students from different departments and various backgrounds.

Kristin Linn (Statistics) » Kristin is a 4th year Ph.D. student in the Department of Statistics. Her research is focused on personalized medicine and developing new statistical methods for estimating optimal sequences of treatment decisions.  Kristin is a Raleigh native and grew up in nearby Cary, NC.  She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in music performance (euphonium) from the University of Michigan.  In her free time she enjoys running, swimming, playing music, and watching Michigan football. Go Blue!

« Xun Lu (Biochemistry) Xun Lu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry.  Before she started the PHD program, she has completed her Master of Nutrtion in the Department of Food Science.  Xun comes from Hangzhou, China, where she received her B.S. in Applied Biology.  Her current doctorate research is to study the regulation of the insulin gene transcription by X-ray protein crystallography.  When she is not in the lab, she enjoys hanging out with friends and doing some communty service.

Renee Marchin (Plant Biology) » Renée Marchin is a PhD candidate in Plant Biology and is interested in understanding how global climate change will influence carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems. She received her B.S. in Environmental Science from Texas Christian University and her M.A. in Botany from the University of Kansas. In 2006, Renée worked on aspen restoration projects for the Bureau of Land Management in California. She loves relaxing with friends on the weekend.

« Joy Marshall (Agricultural and Extension Education) Joy Marshall is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education.  A native of Oxford, North Carolina, she received her B.S. and Masters degree in Agricultural Education from NCSU.  After teaching agriculture classes for five years in Granville County, she returned to the university.  Her current research focuses on classroom technology usage and curriculum development. In her free time she enjoys gardening, playing softball, and spending time with family and friends.

Nape Mothapo (Soil Science) » Nape Mothapo is a doctoral student in the Department of Soil Science minoring in Biotechnology. Nape is originally from South Africa and she began her college career at the University of Limpopo, where she received her B.Sc. Agriculture in 2009. Upon receiving Fulbright Scholarship in 2009, she pursued a master degree in soil science at NCSU. Her current research focuses on identification and characterization of nitrous oxide producing fungi in agricultural soil using molecular techniques.

« Roslyn Noar (Plant Pathology) Roslyn Noar is a Plant Pathology PhD student minoring in Biotechnology. She received her BS in Biology at Cornell University in 2007, and then worked for two years at Boyce-Thompson Institute on symbiotic plant-fungal interactions. In 2010, she moved to North Carolina to pursue her PhD. She is researching an important fungal disease of banana plants, to better understand the disease process and how the fungus might be controlled.

Basheer Nusairat (Poultry Science) » Basheer Nusairat is a second year doctoral student in Poultry Science. He was born in Jordan and earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Animal Production at Jordan University of Science and Technology. He then worked in the poultry industry for 8 years, following which he joined Dr. John Brake's lab at NC State to pursue his PhD. His current research focuses on altering the nutrition of broilers to improve efficiency and environmental sustainability by using low phytate varieties of soybean meal and enzymes to improve nutrient digestibility. He is also seeking a certificate in feed milling to broaden his career opportunities as he is interested in returning to the poultry industry. During his free time he likes watching movies, running, traveling, gardening, and playing soccer.

« Yvette Pascua (Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences) Yvette is a second year doctoral student in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. Her research focuses on the relationship between food microstructure and sensory perception in protein-protein polymer semi-solid and soft-solid systems. Originally from St. Augustine, FL, Yvette graduated from Johnson & Wales University of Charleston, SC in 1999, with an Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts. She tenured at the Fearrington House Restaurant of Pittsboro, NC as the Executive Pastry Chef for two years then joined the Department of Food, Nutrition and Bioprocessing Sciences at North Carolina State University. After completing her Bachelor of Science degree she joined the USDA Agriculture Research Services unit as a Biological Science Technician, focusing on sweet potato research. During her time with the USDA, she completed her Master of Science degree program also in the Department of Food, Nutrition and Biological Science with research focusing on aseptic processing of foods in a continuous flow microwave system.

Irina Pritchett (Economics) » Irina Pritchett is a third year doctoral student in Economics at NCSU, were she also teaches undergraduate economics. Outside of the classroom, she freelances as an economics writer and editor for textbook publishing companies. Her field is labor economics, with research interests ranging from public sector pension plans in the United States to labor issues in transitioning economies. She grew up on a reptile farm in Alabama, received her undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and is now enjoying living in beautiful North Carolina.

« Yanbin Shen (Animal Science) Yanbin Shen is a doctoral student in the Animal Science and Nutrition at NC state university. He was born and raised in Hebei province of China, and received his B.S. and M.S. in Animal Science at China Agricultural University.  Before Yanbin came here from China on Jan. 2010, he worked for Diamond V Mills for half year.  Currently, he is working on how to improve young pigs’ health, welfare, and, growth by using functional amino acid. He focuses on the function of L-Tryptophan and Methinoine. Besides his devotion in science work, he also enjoys sport and travelling.

Diane Silcox (Entomology) » Diane Silcox is a PhD student in the department of Entomology concentrating in turfgrass entomology.  Her research is focused on the biology and ecology of the hunting billbug in warm-season turfgrass.  Diane is a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  She got her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Miami University in Oxford, OH and her Master’s degree in entomology from North Carolina State University.  When Diane is not at work she enjoys spending time with her friends, dogs, and horse.

« Sally Taylor (Entomology) Sally Taylor is a PhD student in the Department of Entomology.  She is a North Carolina native and received her BA in Anthropology from North Carolina State University.  Sally is working on two research projects in her field.  The first is a study of how specific systemic insecticides may be affecting the role of parasitoids in our tobacco agroecosystem.  Her second project is assembling the first transcriptome for the tobacco thrips, F. fusca, and using this information to develop a gene target for possible RNAi control of this insect.  She is working on her minor in Biotechnology.  When not at work, Sally can usually be found at the gym, spending time with her family or curled up with a good book.  She is an avid marathon runner and enjoys teaching group fitness classes.

Rajani Thanissery (Poultry Science) » Rajani Thanissery is a Doctoral student in the Department of Poultry Science. She is from Pondicherry, India. Rajani earned her D.V.M degree from Pondicherry University, India. She obtained her Master’s degree in 2010 from Auburn University. Upon graduation, she joined Dr. Douglas Smith’s research lab at NCSU. Her current area of research is to study the effect of essential oil blends to control Salmonella and Campylobacter levels in raw broiler carcasses. Salmonella and Campylobacter are two leading causes of bacterial foodborne illness in the United States. Her work at Dr. Smith’s lab won her the travel award from World Poultry Science Association to travel to Scotland, where she presented at the 30^th Poultry Science Symposium, 2011. She also won the best scientific presentation award at the International Poultry Scientific Forum, Atlanta, 2012. She hopes to use her expertise to improve the safety and wholesomeness of poultry products. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and gardening.

« Steven Vensko (Genetics) Steven Vensko is a PhD candidate in the department of Genetics studying sex-biased gene expression in an experimental Drosophila melanogaster population. His research is focused on understanding how protein complexes contribute to the positional distribution on the X chromosome of genes more highly expressed in males. Steven is a native of Lexington, South Carolina. He received his BS in Genetics in 2009 from Clemson University. In his free time he enjoys playing raquetball and football.

M Scott Wells (Crop Science) » M. Scott Wells is a Ph D student in Crop Science at North Carolina State University.  Born in Asheville, N.C., he grew up as a 6th generation dairy farmer.  Scott received his degree in Mathematic from University of North Carolina at Asheville, afterwards continuing on to NCSU where he finished his Master in Crop Science 2011.  His current work involves improving current organic crop managment stratigites from both an applied and mechanistic view points.  In his "free"-time, he enjoys bird watching, fine Scotch, camping, fishing, and cycling.

« Tyson Wepprich (Biology) Tyson is a 3rd-year PhD student in Biology and researches insect responses to climate warming and conservation strategies resilient to global changes. He grew up in St. Charles, Missouri and came to North Carolina to go to Duke. After graduating, he taught science in Durham and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Tyson enjoys cooking, hiking, zymurgy and twangy music.

Randi Wheatley (Genetics) » Randi Wheatley is a doctoral student in the department of Genetics at North Carolina State University. She received her B.S degree in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2008. Her current doctorate research is related to the development and functions of neurons within the CNS in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and playing volleyball.

« Mathew Whitfield (Biological and Agricultural Engineering) Matthew Whitfield is a PhD candidate in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at NC State.  He is a native of Person County, North Carolina.  He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from NC State in 2001, and then his M.S. in Crop Science in 2002, studying the analysis and scaleable extraction of the leaf surface components of tobacco.  After spending some time as an analytical chemist, he decided to return to pursue his current line of research in the development of analytical techniques and processing methods for the production of carbohydrates from sweet sorghum.

Margaret Worthington (Crop Science) » Margaret Worthington is a Ph.D. student in Crop Science.   After graduating from Duke University, Margaret thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and spent a year researching appropriate technology as a Fulbright scholar in India.  She then completed dual masters degrees in International Agricultural Development and Horticulture and Agronomy at UC Davis before returning to North Carolina for her Ph.D.  Margaret’s doctoral research focuses on breeding wheat for disease resistance and improved competitive ability against weeds.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and running with her dog.

« Erin Yost (Environmental and Molecular Toxiclogy) Erin Yost is a doctoral candidate in Environmental Toxicology. She was born and raised in Lexington, KY, and has a BS in Biology from the University of Kentucky. After graduating in 2003, she worked as a laboratory and field biologist for several years, and was a Peace Corps agroforestry volunteer in Madagascar from 2006 to 2008. Her current research focuses on the fate and effects of natural estrogens on a large-scale swine farm in North Carolina.