During the 2025–26 academic year, the College of Arts & Sciences Office of Research awarded nearly $18,000 in grants from the Dorothy Levis Munroe Research Fund to support the work of 18 UNCG students. Established through a gift from alumna Dorothy Levis Munroe ’44, the fund promotes student research in the natural and mathematical sciences.
Munroe earned her chemistry degree from UNCG in 1944 alongside her twin sister, Katheryne Levis McCormick. She later completed a master’s degree in chemistry, spent many years teaching high school mathematics, and became the first woman to serve on the Newark, Delaware, Board of Education. Through her generosity to UNCG, Munroe sought to inspire future generations to pursue scientific study and research.
All 18 grant recipients conducted research in STEM disciplines: 10 in Biology, 6 in Chemistry and Biochemistry, 1 in Mathematics and Statistics, and 1 in Computer Science. Students competed for funding by submitting a research proposal and project budget, with awards of up to $1,000 based on project needs. Of the recipients, five were undergraduate students and 13 were graduate students.
The list of items purchased with Munroe funds illustrates the diversity of research undertaken by these student scientists. Examples include:
- Cambridge Isotope Deuterated Solvents:
- Trifluoromethyl Styrene
- Transcribing services
- Bathophenanthroline disulfonic acid
- HEK293T Cells
- Platinum SuperFI II DNA polymerase
- RNA isolation kits
- DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kits
Munroe grants also supported travel by students to conduct research and attend conferences and scientific meetings, including:
- Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, Madison, WI
- IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC), Raleigh, NC
- Palmetto Number Theory Series XL, Clemson, SC
- Triangle Area Graduate Mathematics Conference, Raleigh, NC
- Annual meeting of the American Society of Mammalogist, Southeastern Bat Diversity Network, New Orleans, LA
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.
In their final reports, the students expressed their gratitude for the Munroe grant and the impact it made on their scholarship and career.
“The support from the Munroe Student Research Grant has allowed me to purchase necessary materials to perform a thorough investigation of a key aspect of naringenin as a potential treatment for obesity and diabetes, of which I am incredibly thankful for.”
-Romina Catiis Caragan, undergraduate student, Biology
“Receiving the Munroe Award in my first year of doctoral study was both timely and impactful. It provided essential support during an early stage of research and reinforced my commitment to this work. This experience clarified my long-term goal: to build AI systems that are not only technically robust but also transparent and accessible to real-world users.”
– Supriya Kottam, PhD student, Computer Science
“The Munroe Award has been an important part of my development as a researcher and has given me the opportunity to take part in meaningful, hands-on work in a real laboratory setting. This experience helped me build confidence in my ability to carry out experiments, think critically about data, and understand how research projects are designed and carried out over time.”
-Natalie Little, graduate student, Biology
CAS is also very grateful that Dorothy chose to help UNC Greensboro students pursue their love of science.
2025-26 Dorothy Levis Munroe Research Fund Award Recipients
Nour Abouzeid – Undergrad (Junior/Senior) (Mentor: Zhenquan Jia)
Rachel Brenneman – Grad, PhD Year 4 (Mentor: Kim Komatsu)
Romina Caragan – Undergrad (Junior) (Mentor: Yashomati Patel)
William Eichhorn – Grad, Masters Year 1 (Mentor: Nick Ader)
Renee Ejindu – Undergrad (Junior) (Mentor: Jonathan Chekan)
Kavion Foster – Undergrad (Sophomore) (Mentor: Daniel do Nascimento)
Hasna Kanan – Grad, Masters (Mentor: Norman Chiu)
Meghan Kelly – Grad, PhD Year 3 (Mentor: Maia Popova)
Supriya Kottam – Grad, PhD Year 2 (Mentor: Yingcheng Sun)
Shannon Lumpkin – Grad, Masters Year 1 (Mentor: Ayalew Osena)
Arnav Padney – Grad, PhD Year 1 (Mentor: Nick Ader)
Zachary Parker – Grad, PhD Year 3 (Mentor: Dan Yasaki)
Munkh-Orgil Sainzorigt – Grad, Masters Year 2 (Mentor: Bryan McLean)
Aubrey Shehan – Undergrad (Senior) (Mentor: Sally Koerner)
Jordan Winter – Grad, PhD Year 4 (Mentor: Jim Coleman)
Christopher Olawoyin – Grad, PhD Year 1 (Mentor: Catherine Denning-Jannace)
Tanner Lyons – Grad, Masters Year 1 (Mentor: Kevin Wilcox)
Natalie Little – Undergrad (Junior) (Mentor: Sarah McClymont)
Jonathan Dean – Grad, PhD Year 4 (Mentor: Kimberly Petersen)
