In the 2024-25 academic year, the College of Arts & Sciences Office of Research supported 25 UNCG students with nearly $25,000 in grants from the Dorothy Levis Munroe Research Fund. The fund was endowed by alumna Dorothy Levis Munroe ‘44 to support student research in the “natural and mathematical sciences.”
Dorothy Levis Munroe graduated as a chemistry major from UNCG in 1944, along with her twin sister Katheryne Levis McCormick. Munroe went on to earn a master’s in chemistry, teach high school mathematics for many years, and become the first woman to serve on the board of education in Newark, Delaware.
All 25 students conducted research in STEM departments: 17 in Biology, 5 in Chemistry & Biochemistry, 2 in Mathematics & Statistics, and 1 in Physics & Astronomy. Students won support by submitting a research proposal and project budget up to $1000, depending on their project needs. Eight (8) recipients were undergraduates, and 17 were graduate students.
The list of items purchased with Munroe funds illustrates the diversity of research undertaken by these student scientists. Examples include:
- Flow cells for sequencing the mitogenomes of fleas
- Polystyrene microplastics and plasmid DNA
- Long leaf needle chamber to measure photosynthetic capability of pine needles
- Chemical reagents and a bottle top dispenser for safely handling them
- Microcentrifuge tubes, petri dishes, and media
Munroe grants also supported travel by students to conduct research and attend conferences and scientific meetings. Their work took them to places near and far, including:
- Regional and national meetings of the American Chemical Society
- American Astronomical Society conference in National Harbor, MD
- Savanna Science Networking Meeting in Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation for a 10-day workshop on “Bioinformatics Analysis for Conservation Genomics”
- Lucknow, India to perform carbon and isotope analysis on ancient teeth at the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleo Sciences
SPOTLIGHT: Ethan Issac (PhD student, Biology) used his Munroe funds to purchase supplies like waders, nocturnal lighting, snake traps, and field guides for his surveys of NC aquatic snakes, as well as pH testing kits to evaluate water quality at collection sites. As part of the Terui lab, he also led a team of eight undergraduates who assisted with the research. At left, Issac and his team conduct fieldwork in the Catawba College Nature Preserve.
“Through the generous assistance provided by the Munroe Grant, I was able to successfully further my research on the impact of wetland construction and restoration activities on top predator species. … I am truly appreciative of this support, which also permitted meaningful field experiences for undergraduate colleagues.” ~Ethan Issac
Many of the students also participated in UNC Greensboro’s Graduate Research & Creativity Showcase of Scholarship or in the Thomas Undergraduate Research & Creativity Expo, where they presented posters or gave oral presentations. Two undergraduates who presented at the Expo, Fatima Elhorry and Christopher Pilgrim, were featured in previous Office of Research posts.
In their final reports, students expressed gratitude for the Munroe grant and the impact it made on their scholarship.
“The support from the Munroe award has been instrumental in enabling the purchase of critical materials necessary for this research. The experiments conducted with these resources have generated pivotal insights that are significantly informing the future directions for my project, for which I am thankful.”
~ Cynthia Porter, MS student, Biology
“My PhD dissertation focuses on the safe use of Carbon Nanodots (CNDs) during long periods of time and an investigation of their potential proinflammatory roles leading to Atherosclerosis in in-vivo models. Utilizing the funds, we successfully studied the safety use of CNDs during 8 and 16 weeks of exposure in mice models. This research will become part of my Ph.D. dissertation and the article we’ll be writing.” ~ Esther Cardenas, PhD student, Biology
“I am incredibly grateful for this grant, which not only helped me gain hands-on experience with quantitative assays but also taught me the value of unexpected data in shaping scientific inquiry. It has enhanced both my technical skills and my critical thinking as a biomedical researcher. Thank you for supporting my growth as an emerging scientist and for making this research possible.” ~ Fatima Elhorry, undergrad, Biology
“I am deeply grateful for the support provided by the Munroe Research Award, which significantly advanced both my research and professional development during the final phase of my doctoral studies in Computational Mathematics. The award came at a pivotal time, as I was preparing for the job market, completing key research manuscripts, and transitioning into the final stages of dissertation writing.”
~ Xiaohuan Xue, PhD student, Mathematics and Statistics
“The Dorothy Levis Munroe Student Research award… supported part of my travel funds (lodging, meals) to attend the 2024 Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (SERMACS) in Atlanta, Georgia. I presented my first-ever research poster. I also had the opportunity to network with other undergraduates nationwide and familiarize myself with graduate programs I plan to apply to later this year.”
~ Kymberlee Harbin, undergrad, Chemistry and Biochemistry
The College is also very grateful that Dorothy chose to help UNC Greensboro students pursue their love of science.
SPOTLIGHT: Changzhi Ma (PhD student, Mathematics & Statistics) used her Munroe funds to attend and present her research at the 2024 Women in Statistics and Data Science conference. Her research focuses on the estimation of the long-range dependence parameter with stationary increments, and it has practical implications for modeling and forecasting certain economic and financial indicators, like the Consumer Price Index.
“The support provided by the Munroe Research Award has been instrumental in advancing my dissertation research, enriching my professional knowledge, and expanding my academic network. Attending the WSDS 2024 Conference and continuing my work on long-range dependence modeling would not have been possible without this funding.” ~Changzhi Ma
SPOTLIGHT: Shanna Hilborn and Roshni Bhaskar, both PhD students in the Popova Lab (Chemistry & Biochemistry), used a portion of their Munroe funds to attend the national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Bhaskar’s research involves improving teaching tools and designing interventions to support students learning organic chemistry concepts. Hilborn focuses on investigating factors that shape teaching and learning of molecular symmetry in the undergraduate inorganic chemistry classroom.
“Thanks to the generous support of the Munroe Student Research Award, I have made significant progress toward completing my dissertation research and have begun to share key findings at the national level…. Preparing for (and delivering) my presentation for the Spring National ACS Meeting challenged me to distill complex ideas into a format that was accessible, engaging, and relevant.” ~Shanna Hilborn
SPOTLIGHT: Abreham Alemu (PhD student, Biology) is working to engineer drought-resistant traits in crops to enhance resilience to global warming and increase yields. His project seeks to identify and “mine” drought-responsive genes of the African grain tef (eragrostis tef), transform those genes into rice and cress plants and analyze results, and study loss of function of the selected genes in tef using CRISPR/Cas9 technique. Alemu used his Munroe funds to sequence gRNA carrying plasmids and to purchase a Takara infusion kit used in his experiments. In the photo, Alemu examines samples with help from his mentor, Dr. Ayalew Osena.
“We have effectively utilized the allocated budget to carry out some of our research experiments, and we express our sincere gratitude towards the Munroe research grant for their generous support.” ~ Abreham Alemu
2024-25 Dorothy Levis Munroe Research Fund Award Recipients
Joshua Ajowele, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Kevin Wilcox, mentor)
Abreham Alemu, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Ayalew Osena, mentor)
Roshni Bhaskar, PhD student, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Dr. Maia Popova, mentor)
Holly Buroughs, undergrad, Physics & Astronomy (Dr. Anatoly Miroshnichenko, mentor)
Wade Burris, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Bryan McLean, mentor)
Jessica Carsley, PhD student, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Dr. Kim Petersen, mentor)
Fatima Elhorry, undergrad, Biology (Dr. Yashomati Patel, mentor)
Elise Grabda, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Kim Komatsu, mentor)
Kymberlee Harbin, undergrad, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Dr. Shabnam Hematian, mentor)
Shanna Hilborn, PhD student, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Dr. Maia Popova, mentor)
Ethan Isaac, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Akira Terui, mentor)
Changzhi Ma, PhD student, Mathematics & Statistics (Dr. Haimeng Zhang, mentor)
Sangeeta Mahajan, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Gwen Robbins Schug, mentor)
Kalea Nippert, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Sally Koerner, mentor)
Muhammad Numan, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Ayalew Osena, mentor)
Kaela Pena, undergrad, Biology (Dr. Nick Ader, mentor)
Christopher Pilgrim, undergrad, Biology (Dr. Zhenquan Jia, mentor)
Cynthia Porter, master’s student, Biology (Dr. Yashomati Patel, mentor)
Reagan Reece, undergrad, Chemistry & Biochemistry (Dr. Kim Petersen, mentor)
Curtis Robinson, undergrad, Biology (Dr. Nick Ader, mentor)
Sophia Ronan, master’s student, Biology (Dr. Kevin Wilcox, mentor)
Liana Herrera-Sanchez, undergrad, Biology (Dr. Sally Koerner, mentor)
Delicia Esther Cardenas Vazquez, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Zhenquan Jia, mentor)
Amanda Weller, PhD student, Biology (Dr. Bryan McLean, mentor)
Xiaohuan Xue, PhD student, Mathematics & Statistics (Dr. Tom Lewis, mentor)
