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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
grad.msstate.edu
UPCOMING EVENTS IMAGE OF RESEARCH RECEPTION
March 22, 2022 | 3:00 PM Union, 2nd Floor Art Gallery
GRAD STUDENT APPRECIATION WEEK April 10-15
GRAD AWARDS BANQUET April 13 | 6:00 PM Event will be live-streamed
DOCTORAL GRADUATION CEREMONY May 11 Bettersworth Auditorium
TABLE OF CONTENTS S AY H E L L O !
S TUDENT SPOTLIGHT
PROFESSION AL DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
AWARDS
A NOTE FROM THE DEAN Dear Colleagues and Friends of the Graduate School, Welcome back to campus, we hope that you had an enjoyable and relaxing spring break and are now ready for the final push to complete the academic year, and for many, your final semester and graduation in May. March 21 marked the official start of spring which heralds the start of a new season of growth and renewal. It is my favorite time of year as it exudes with optimism and the wonderful summer months that lay ahead. It’s also one of the busiest times of the academic year as many graduate students are completing defense exams of their theses or dissertations or taking comprehensive or final exams. Whatever stage you are at in your program I join with my colleagues in the Graduate School to wish you every success as you complete course work, research and prepare for the final exams of the semester. For many of you, as of this newsletter, some 593 graduate students (MS/MA = 508, EdS = 11 and PhD 74) have registered to graduate the end of spring semester. This is the most exciting time of the academic year where we see so many of our graduates enter new careers or continue in advanced graduate studies. It is a time to, not only celebrate the accomplishments of these students, but also to thank the many major professors and academic advisors that helped the students navigate the challenges of their respective graduate programs. Without the dedication of the faculty and staff that support the graduate education and research enterprise at Mississippi State University, this opportunity to embark on a new career trajectory for many of the soon to be graduates would not be possible. So today, we salute all the graduate faculty and support staff, especially the major professors, academic advisors and the graduate program coordinators who make these educational experiences possible for our graduate students. We wish you all a very successful conclusion to the semester and the academic year of 2021-2022. Please note that this Spring, the Doctoral students will have their own hooding and graduation ceremony to be held in Bettersworth Auditorium on May 11. Stay well, stay safe and we look forward to seeing the graduates at the various Commencement exercises. Respectfully,
Dr. Peter Ryan Executive Vice Provost and Dean The Graduate School
SAY HELLO! Staf f Spotlight
Meet Forest, Forest is our Data Management Coordinator. She provides coordination of efforts to support the planning, implementation, and ongoing administration of electronic processes related to graduate admissions and gathering data, analysis, and reporting for graduate enrollment management. She is a whiz at handling technical changes to Slate admissions and query creation.
I love the interaction with applicants/ students and faculty and staff when finding solutions and fixing issues they are having with our electronic processes. - Forest Sparks, Data Management Coordinator, The Graduate School at MSU
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
That is what Birmingham, AL native, and graduate student Mary Catherine “Catie” Mann, in Mississippi State University’s Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures (AMEC), will spend this summer doing. Mann will be joining the Association for Research into Crimes against Art (ARCA) and will be in Italy studying art crime and cultural heritage protection. She will have the opportunity to learn about
JOURNEY. EXPLORE. DISCOVER. REPEAT. criminal justice, security, museum studies, art history, archaeology, and cultural resource management. “These courses allow us to have a fast-paced and intense look at this world while also developing our scholarly interests in junction with what we are learning,” Mann said. Mann received her undergraduate degree in International Studies from Belhaven University in 2020. She will graduate from MSU in
2023 with a Master of Arts in Applied Cultural Anthropology and plans to work in a field that connects artifacts, art, and people. The Professor and Department Head of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, Hsain Ilahiane, described Mann as a wonderful selection for the program because of her current thesis focusing on the Native American Graveside Protection and Repatriation Act.
This program allows Catie to explore the complexities of art crime and cultural heritage properties and will also expose her to various cross-cultural and international policies, standards, laws on art crimes and the protection of artifacts,” Ilahiane said. “This will also give her a competitive edge in the job market.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2022 IMAGE OF RESEARCH GALLERY RECEPTION The Image of Research competition allows graduate students to engage creatively with their research, share behind-the-scenes
views
of
their
research processes, or portray their academic study in visual form. The images of the 15 finalists will be on display in the 2nd Floor Art Gallery of the Union from March 21 until April 1. We invite you to the Gallery Reception on March 22 at 3 PM to enjoy some refreshments and vote for your People’s Choice winner. We will announce winners on March 30. The G.O.A.T. JACINDA LEOPARD
Master’s Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MORE PIECES FROM IMAGE OF RESEARCH
Role of Mycolactone in the Ecological Persistence of Mycobacterium Ulcerans MAGDALENE DOGBE PhD, Bilogical Sciences
Radio-Collared Mississippi Bobwhite OLIVIA LAPPIN
PhD, Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture
Frozen in Time; A Snapshot of an Environmental Moment MACY GOSSELAAR Master’s, Forestry
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
GRADUATE STUDENT APPRECIATION WEEK APRIL 9-14 Join us for free coffee, ice cream, headshots and student mixer! Follow the GSA on Cowbell Connect or on social media! For more information, click here
GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH SPEED COLLABORATION A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 2 2 | 1 : 3 0 P M TO 3 : 3 0 P M The ultimate networking event for graduate students to discuss research collaboration interests with their peers in a fun and fast-paced way. Refreshments provided. RSVP not mandatory, but encouraged. For more information, click here
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FINAL GSA GENERAL BODY MEETING OF THE 2021/2022 ACADEMIC YEAR April 21, 2022 at 6PM – In Person and Virtually. Free food will be provided for in person attendees. More information is forthcoming.
LIFE OF THE MARDI
The Graduate School Hosted its 3rd annual Mardi Grad Open House
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE SPRING 2022 DOCTORAL GRADUATION CEREMONY. The event will occur on May 11, 2022, in Bettersworth Auditorium and will be followed by a catered reception in the Colvard Student Union Ballroom. Doctoral candidates will receive invitations following Spring Break. The university community will receive invitations once we have secured seating for the doctoral candidates, their families, and major professors. Please direct any questions to Mr. Brad Moreland or Dr. Nathan Drake.
NEWS
MSU NAMES SPRING 2022
ACCESS, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION FACULTY FELLOWS Mississippi State is recognizing the university’s inaugural Access, Diversity, and Inclusion Faculty Fellows cohort
QIANA CUTTS
CAROLINE KOBIA
Five individuals from MSU make up the spring 2022 class of ADI Fellows and are assisting the Division of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion in key initiatives. ADI Fellows are working with efforts to increase diversity among faculty and staff, provide additional support to first-generation, limited-income students, and enhance international student experiences. “ We are incredibly excited to launch the ADI Fellows program with a tremendous inaugural cohort of faculty and staff leaders,” said MSU Vice President for Access, Diversity, and Inclusion Ra’Sheda Forbes. “This program will be a great benefit to our division and the entire university as these fellows’ projects will inform and enhance our work and practices.”
T H E S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 A D I F E L LO W S I N C L U D E : BINDU NANDURI
LAUREN PRIDDY
LINDSEY STOREY SHELTON
QIANA CUTTS, assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Foundations in the College of Education; CAROLINE KOBIA, assistant professor of fashion design and merchandising in the School of Human Sciences and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; BINDU NANDURI, professor in the Department of Comparative Biomedical
Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine; LAUREN PRIDDY, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering in the Bagley College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; LINDSEY STOREY SHELTON, director of graduate admissions and enrollment management in the Graduate School.
For more on MSU’s diversity and inclusion programs, visit www.oidi.msstate.edu/diversity-msstate.
ADI Fellows are selected following an application and interview process and work at least 20 hours per month in support of the program. Benefits for the participants include the valuable coaching, career guidance and shadowing experiences, collaboration and networking opportunities with executive leaders, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on transformative access, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.
AWARDS
SPRING 2022 GRADUATE RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM WINNERS ORAL PRESENTATION Agriculture and Life Sciences
Forest Resources and Veterinary Medicine Master’s
Education, Arts and Sciences, and Business Master’s
Master’s
1st Place - Elizabeth Baach
1st Place - Abby Miles
1st Place - Afsoon Sabet
2nd Place - Brandon Gerhart
2nd Place - Elise J. Adams
2nd Place - Mckenzie Carvalho
3rd Place - Abby Vaughn
PhD
3rd Place - Erin Saylor
PhD
PhD
1st Place - Casey Iwamoto
1st Place - Angelica Abdallah-Ruiz
2nd Place - Vandana Dharan
2nd Place - Ira Parsons
3rd Place - Seto Ogunleye
3rd Place - Josiane Argenta
Education, Arts and Sciences, and Business Master’s
POSTER PRESENTATION Agriculture and Life Sciences
1st Place - Jacob Hockensmith
Master’s
2nd Place - Jordan Wesley
1st Place - Ranadheer Reddy
PhD
Vennam
1st Place - Ernesto Isaac Borrego
2nd Place - Jacinda Leopard
2nd Place - Dineo Tshosa
3rd Place - Ramandeep Kumar
3rd Place - Ryan Reynolds
Sharma
Engineering
PhD 1st Place - Timothy Sellers
PhD
2nd Place - Varsha Singh
1st Place - Abdur Rahman
3rd Place - Amandeep Kaur
2nd Place - Genwei Chen 3rd Place - Akansha Jain
1st Place Tie - Gabriela Sanchez Lecuona 1st Place Tie - S M Asger Ali 2nd Place - Tashina VanderWoude
Engineering Master’s 1st Place - Adam Parsons 2nd Place - Shawn Hatcher
PhD 1st Place - Tingjun Lei 2nd Place - Chiranjibi Shah 3rd Place - Sanju Maharjan
Forest Resources and Veterinary Medicine Master’s 1st Place - Riley Porter 2nd Place Tie - Jonathan Smith 2nd Place Tie - Maxwell Schrimpf
PhD 1st Place - Edward Entsminger 2nd Place - Natasha Murphy 3rd Place - Rebecca Bracken
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
grad.msstate.edu