WKU News

Nine WKU and Gatton Academy students were honored for their research presentations at the Kentucky Academy of Science virtual meeting Nov. 5-6.

More than 400 scientists and students registered for the 2021 annual meeting, and more than 130 students from Kentucky colleges and universities participated in the research competitions. 

Student award winners and project titles included the following:

Computer & Information Sciences

• 1st place: Gatton Academy seniors Bella Norman of Alvaton and Sarisha Lohano of Louisville, Predicting Mycobacteriophage Gene Start Sites Using Artificial Intelligence

Geography

• 1st place: WKU senior Kayla Krohman, a Meteorology major from Walton, Mitigating Flood Impacts in Kenya Using Soil Moil Moisture and Streamflow

Mathematics

• 1st place: Gatton Academy senior Logan Stewart of LaGrange and WKU senior Matthew Poynter, a Mathematics major from Louisville, Wolfram Demonstration Projects to Simulate the Control of Vibrations on a String
• 2nd place: WKU senior Lily Donahue, a Mathematics major from New Haven, Competitive 20 Questions

Physics & Astronomy

• 2nd place: WKU senior Lars Hebenstiel, a Physics and Mathematics major from Union, Experimental Observation of Stochastic Resonance in a Magnetically Driven Mechanical Duffing Oscillator
• 3rd place: WKU senior Alexandra Driehaus, a Physics and Mathematics major from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Development of a Scent Categorization Algorithm Using Machine Learning to Analyze Gas Chromatography (GC) Signals

Environmental Sciences

• 3rd place:  WKU senior Britton Davis, a Geography/Environmental Studies major from Park City, Karst Hydrogeologic Investigation of Cave Inputs Related to the Lost River Cave Gasoline Leak

A listing of winners in all categories is available at https://www.kyscience.org/student_competition_winners.php

Presentations are available in the Online Program at https://kyscience.org/

Recordings of the KAS keynote speakers -- Dr. Burton Webb, COVID, Vaccinations, and the End of the Pandemic; and Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred – are available at https://kyscience.org/  

The Kentucky Academy of Science is a non-profit organization, founded in 1914, whose mission is to foster scientific discovery and understanding in Kentucky. WKU faculty, staff and students may become members of the Kentucky Academy of Science at www.kyscience.org. 

Contact: Amanda Fuller, Kentucky Academy of Science, (859)-227-2837 or executivedirector@kyscience.org

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.