Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award Winners

2018 Winners

Individual Freshman Category: Ayana Belk (landscape architecture)

"Reviving Troost: Using Phytotechnology to Decontaminate Troost Avenue's Vacant Lots."
Topics/Developing Scholars Seminar
Course instructor: Anne Beamish, associate professor of landscape architecture and regional and community planning

Abstract: Kansas City is a divided city, split by Troost Avenue. Most African-American residents live on the east side and white, upper-middle class residents on the west. Troost Avenue, once a thriving business district, is now vacant lots and buildings. I aim to unify the city aesthetically and culturally through design interventions and phytotechnology: a design tool that uses vegetation to control the movement of contaminants in soils, sediments and groundwater. My proposal features a demonstration neighborhood park at the corner of Troost and Linwood to show how the existing vacant lots could be improved to meet community expectations.

Individual Non-Freshman Category: Scott Heise (communications studies)

"Follower Behavior and Followership Identity: A Follower's Perspective"
COMM 550: Senior Colloquium
Course instructor: Natalie Pennington, assistant professor of communications studies

Abstract: This research evaluates how people acting as followers understand their role and how their followership attitude shapes their behavior. Interviewed followers viewed their roles as ranging from “humble compliance” to “shared responsibility for organizational outcomes.” Most participants were unfamiliar with followership and unaware that their identities as followers could be developed like leadership to improve relationships and role expression. Qualitative methods captured language and behavioral expressions, while open coding was employed to examine, categorize, compare and conceptualize themes that inform future research populations and variable selection.

Group Category: Maxwell Burden, Quanqing Guo, Laura Krueger and Nicholas Young, Topeka, all juniors in biological and agricultural engineering

"Pond Eutrophication"
BAE 231: Biological Systems Engineering Project II
Course instructor: Lisa Wilken, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering

Abstract: Two landowners requested a design to address eutrophication issues causing blue-green algae blooms within their pond. Their temporary solution requires chemicals to harden the water and remove the algae. Our proposal options included vegetative buffer strips and a floating garden. Vegetative buffer strips would filter nutrients and sediment from runoff to reduce the blue-green algae growth. A floating garden could reduce excess nutrients, but requires more maintenance and recurring costs. The final proposal uses both designs in tandem. Water inflow rerouted through the vegetative filter through present vegetation reduces the amount of nonpoint source pollutants entering the pond, and the floating garden reduces excess nutrients within the pond.

Honorable Mentions

Eunice Lalunio, sophomore in anthropology, honorable mention in the individual non-freshman category for "Dmanisi: A Study of Species Hypotheses and Hominid Variability."

Jael Whitney, senior in marketing, honorable mention in the individual non-freshman research category for "Big Food, Big Problems: The Ethical Implications of Nestlé's Impact on Public Health in Brazil."

Zachary St. Clair, sophomore in English, honorable mention in the individual freshman research category for "Policing in America: Abolish or Ameliorate."