Awarded Grants For Graduate Students

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The Center for Applied Data Analytics (CADA) is proud to support graduate students in their pursuit of advanced research. Through partnerships with faculty and external funding agencies, our graduate students have been awarded significant grants, providing them with hands-on experience and opportunities to contribute to impactful studies. As of October 2024, The total number of grants that benefited graduate students is 7, with a combined total funding amount of $54,000.

Below is a list of awarded grants and the graduate students involved:

2022 – 2023: Maria Wells

• Grant Title:The Impact of AmeriCorps Members in Invasive Species and Wildfire Fuels Mitigation
• Funding Amount:  $6,000 Graduate Assistantship (from external grant)
• Project Overview: This project assessed the impact of AmeriCorps members on managing invasive species and reducing wildfire fuels. Even after Maria's graduation in May 2023, our collaboration continued, resulting in the publication of her first Q1 journal article with a high impact factor and ranking.

• Publication: Zhuhadar L, McCreary A, Lytras MD, Wells M. The influence of AmeriCorps members on ecosystem management. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2023:138309. Read more

2014 – 2021: Scarlett Marklin

• Grant Title:The Role States Play in Population Health
• Funding Amount: Graduate Assistantship ($18,000 research grant)
• Project Overview: Despite graduating in 2017, Dr. Zhuhadar continued to mentor Scarlett remotely. This collaboration resulted in three co-authored journal articles and eventually Scarlett's dissertation, which led to her doctoral degree from Florida State University in 2021.
• Publications:
  1. Zhuhadar L, Daday J, Marklin S, et al. Using survival analysis to discover pathways to success in mathematics. Computers in Human Behavior. 2019;92:487-495. Read more
  2. Zhuhadar L, Thrasher E, Marklin S, de Pablos PO. The next wave of innovation—Review of smart cities intelligent operation systems. Computers in Human Behavior. 2017;66:273-281. Read more
  3. Zhuhadar L, Marklin S, Thrasher E, Lytras MD. Is there a gender difference in interacting with intelligent tutoring systems? Can Bayesian Knowledge Tracing and Learning Curve Analysis Models answer this question? Computers in Human Behavior. 2016;61:198-204. Read more

2016 – 2018: Ryan Boone

• Grant Title:Improving Ecosystem Quality Through Data Mining
• Funding Amount:$6,000 Graduate Assistantship (WKU Office of Sponsored Programs)

2016 – 2017: Tuyen Pham

• Grant Title:Using Survival Analysis to Discover Pathways to Success in Biology
• Funding Amount:$6,000 Graduate Assistantship (RCAP grant)

2015 – 2016: Khoa Nguyen

• Grant Title:Using Survival Analysis to Discover Pathways to Success in Mathematics
• Funding Amount:$6,000 Graduate Assistantship (RCAP grant)

2014 – 2015: Chase Bolton

• Grant Title:Using Survival Analysis to Discover Pathways to Success in Business
• Funding Amount:$6,000 Graduate Assistantship (RCAP grant)

2013 – 2014: Stephen Guffey

• Grant Title:Designing a Predictive Model for WKU Students in Mathematics
• Funding Amount:$6,000 Graduate Assistantship (RCAP grant)

CADA remains committed to supporting and mentoring graduate students through these invaluable research experiences, helping them achieve academic excellence and preparing them for future professional success.