On April 7-8, 2026, the Office of Graduate Studies, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, as well as the Office of Research and Economic Development held the 2026 Student Research Days Poster Sessions and Creative Exhibitions.
More than 120 graduate students participated in these sessions in addition to a week-long celebration of student research and creative activity. Graduate students who were awarded competitive prizes for their scholarship and presentation skills received $400.00 toward travel grants to present their research regionally or nationally as well as support other research costs.
Over 40 faculty, staff and postdoc volunteer judges met with students during sessions and evaluated their presentations. Congratulations to all our winners and
Graduate Student Awards
Syeda Binta Tasneem Haider (Bangladesh; studying Natural Resources) “Impacts of Irrigation-induced Soil Moisture Perturbations on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Precipitation in Nebraska: A WRF Model-based Assessment”, adviser: Rezaul Mahmood
Kendall Hartley (Lincoln, Nebraska; studying Architecture) “The Tribune Tower - A case for office-to-residential adaptive reuse viability.”, adviser: Jeremy Reding
Chang Li (China; studying Geography) “A Machine Learning-Enhanced Optical Trapezoid Model (OPTRAM-2) Framework for Mapping Active Inundation and Receded Flood Areas from Soil Moisture Proxies”, adviser: Zhenghong Tang
Parvez Amin Khan (studying Mechanical and Materials Engineering) “Metal Carbide, CrTiCT MXene, as a High-Stability Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) Electrocatalyst: A Comprehensive Investigation of Activity, Charge-Transfer Kinetics, and Post-Electrolysis Structural Evolution.”, adviser: Siamak Nejati
Daniel Reardon (New Brunswick, NJ; studying Child Youth and Family Studies) “The Lasting Effects of Athletic Participation: Positive and Maladaptive Coping Pathways Across Gender” adviser: Michael Merten
Maksuda Aktar Toma (Bangladesh; studying Statistics) “Feeding Behavior-Based Detection of Health Status in Pigs Using Machine Learning Modeling”, advisers: Sruti Das Choudhury, Reka Howard
Two People’s Choice Awards of $100 were awarded to based on audience vote:
Gabriella Rizzo (Nutley, NJ; studying Biological Sciences) “Metabolic Interactions Sustaining Carbonate Dissolution in a Hydrogenotrophic Methanogenic Enrichment”, Adviser: Karrie Weber
Sabyasachi Mohanty (Faridabad, India; studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) “Polyform:Cancer drug discovery”, Adviser: Mona Bavarian