2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List
The following list contains the projects available for the 2022 In-Person EUREKA! Program. Project details are available in the pages following this
list.
Academic Department Project Title
Agricultural Sciences Understanding Interstate Cattle Flows
Automotive Engineering Additive Manufacturing Synthesis of High Entropy Alloys
Biological Sciences Introduction to Bioinformatics and Genomics: Mitochondrial Genomics
Biological Sciences Development of Receptor-Mediated Anti-Cancer and Anti-Bacterial Therapies
Biological Sciences Facial Development and Variation in Fishes
Chemistry X-DES: Deep Eutectic Solvents Based on X-Bonding for Battery and Solar Cell Technology
Civil Engineering Characterization of Lunar Regolith Simulants in Support of In Situ Resource Utilization
Computing Perceptual Evaluation of Errors in Hand Motions for Virtual Characters
Computing Towards Trustworthy Alexa Voice Service
Computing Understand Objects' Motion Using Deep Learning
Economics Use of Technology in the Classroom
Electrical and Computer AI Security and Privacy
Engineering
Electrical and Computer Radio Frequency Detection and Control of Biological Cells
Engineering
Engineering and Science An Asset-Based Investigation into International Student Success in Undergraduate STEM Courses Through Graduate
Education Student Reflections
Forestry and Environmental Establishing a Framework of Payments for Ecosystem Services in the Edisto Basin: Developing Landowners' Ecological
Conservation Business Plan for Environmental Markets
(continued on next page)
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Genetics and Biochemistry Using Molecular Approaches to Understand the Functions of Rapid Alkalinization Factor (RALF) Gene Family in Poplar
Genetics and Biochemistry DNA Repair and Genome Stability
Genetics and Biochemistry Role of Metabolism in the Pathogenesis of the Fungus Cryptococcus neoformans
Genetics and Biochemistry Investigation of Metabolism and Encystation in the Intestinal Parasite Entamoeba histolytica
Genetics and Biochemistry AI in Biomedicine: Prediction of Novel Human Disease Genes by Genomic Data Mining
Industrial Engineering Using Assistive Devices to Improve Human Movement
Materials Science and Regulating Shape in Biopolymer Assemblies Using DNA Nanostructures
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering Electro-elastic Focusing of Nanoparticles for Nano Flow Cytometry
Mechanical Engineering / Computational Cardiovascular Research
Bioengineering
Nursing Clinician Well-Being and Resilience During COVID-19
Nursing The Effects of Mediterranean Herb Extracts on a Variety of Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Physics and Astronomy Design and Fabrication of Cryogenic Testbeds for Superconducting Quantum Devices
Physics and Astronomy Spectroscopy from Interactions of Ions and Neutrals
Plant and Environmental Climate Resilient Crops for Food Security
Sciences
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Understanding Interstate Cattle Flows
Mentor: Anastasia Thayer, Assistant Professor
Department: Agricultural Sciences
Project Description:
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the cattle supply chain, there was a need for a large national-level model to show how
policy, disease, and farmer decisions could impact the national supply of beef. In this project, students will assist faculty in preparing basic
data for this larger research project. Students will learn about the beef supply chain and begin to understand the complexity of this market
in the US. Depending on the student's interest and background, faculty will guide students to answer their own research question based on
the assigned data. Possible research questions could include:
1) Where do calves raised in South Carolina get transported for feeding?
2) What is the geographic distribution of cow-calf operators in South Carolina or the southeast?
3) How have changes to production costs changed in the last 5 and 10 years for South Carolina cow-calf producers?
Student Involvement:
Most of the student's work for this internship will involve data gathering, input, and cleaning. Summary statistics as well as data
visualization will be a large component of the final output of the internship. Students will use Excel or Stata as applicable. Some literature
review and summary will be required. A large component of the internship will be following faculty instructions to find, clean, and prepare
data to answer broader research questions related to volume, costs, and interstate transit of cattle from cow-calf operations, stockers, and
finally feedlots. Each student will be responsible for preparing a set of data and then will work with faculty to use the data to answer a
smaller, south-east specific research question.
Expected Outcome:
At the end of the internship, students will have a comprehensive knowledge of the beef supply chain and cattle industry, particularly as it
applies to the southeast. In terms of technical skills, students will learn or learn new skills in Excel or another computer program to clean
and summarize data. Students will also be involved with technical and non-technical reporting of results. To demonstrate this knowledge,
interns are expected to participate in the abstract, poster, and site as required by the EUREKA! Program.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Opportunities:
Students will also be encouraged to continue their work and submit to the Clemson undergraduate student research forum. As appropriate,
students can participate in presentations to the larger project research team. For successful students, there is an opportunity to continue
this work into the semester.
Required Skills:
Interns are not required to have previous experience or understanding of the statistical software or methods. Although not required, the
preferred applicant will have a basic knowledge of statistics and some exposure to Excel. Although this internship is primarily focused on
data and statistical methods, students will be expected to clearly communicate and summarize their results for a variety of technical and
non-technical audiences.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Additive Manufacturing Synthesis of High Entropy Alloys
Mentor: Shunyu Liu, Assistant Professor
Department: Automotive Engineering
Project Description:
The emerging high entropy alloys (HEAs) are multi-component alloys that generally consist of four or more principal elements with the
concentration of each element being between 5 at.% and 35 at.%. Unlike traditional alloys that contain only one principal element, the
multi-principal elements in HEAs provide a high potential for achieving outstanding structural and functional properties. In this project,
metal additive manufacturing (AM) will be used to synthesize HEAs directly from elemental powders. Due to the unparalleled freedom in
composition control, metal AM favors high-throughput and scale-up development of HEAs over a large range of compositions. The goal of
this research is to help students gain research experience in the development of advanced materials via metal additive manufacturing
technologies.
Student Involvement:
The students will have regular weekly meetings (in-person or online) with Dr. Liu and prepare individual weekly reports. Additionally,
students will also work with Ph.D. students or Dr. Liu to gain hands-on research experience. Eventually, students will present achievements
in the form of a presentation as a team. The project funding will be used to purchase experimental materials, consumables, and PPEs to
support this research project.
Expected Outcome:
- Students will learn working principles and features of metal additive manufacturing.
- Students will learn fundamental knowledge of high entropy alloys.
- Students will enhance their critical thinking and analysis abilities.
- Students will practice their writing and presenting skills.
- Students may potentially publish their research results (An undergraduate working with the team last summer has co-authored a review
manuscript).
Opportunities:
Students are welcome to continue their research in the research group after this project.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
- Some materials science background; or,
- Basic knowledge or skills in additive manufacturing.
Additional Notes:
This research will be conducted at CU-ICAR in Greenville, South Carolina. Transportation will be provided.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Introduction to Bioinformatics and Genomics: Mitochondrial Genomics
Mentor: Juan Antonio Baeza, Associate Professor
Department: Biological Sciences
Project Description:
In short, in this project, we will learn about mitochondrial genomes; assembly, annotation, detailed analyses of all its features (protein
coding, ribosomal, transfer RNA genes, etc.). Mitochondria are organelles of utmost importance in 99.999% of unicellular and multi-cellular
organisms. Perhaps more importantly, I will expose you to the scientific method and you will learn to think critically. We will be using
various mitochondrial genomes as examples to improve your critical thinking skills. You will also improve your information literacy skills.
Student Involvement:
This project has three general topics: (1) Structure. What is the length and main structural characteristics of animal mitochondria? How
many genes and other elements the mitochondrion genomes code for? What genes are there?
(2) Function. What is the identity and function of all genes encoded by the mitogenome? (3) Evolution, including the exploration of selective
pressures in protein coding genes present in animal mitochondrial genomes. In this project, we will explore the structure, function, and
evolution of the mitochondrial genome using a set of 'friendly' bioinformatics tools.
This project is part of the Clemson Thinks2 (CT2) critical thinking experiment, a program aimed at improving student critical thinking skills.
Simple memorization of facts and repetition of definitions are not a sufficient skill set to address the complex problems our world faces
today! As a Clemson undergraduate, we expect you to develop the ability to think critically and to evaluate how knowledge is constructed
and the assumptions underlying such knowledge.
Expected Outcome:
Student learning outcomes:
* Understand and analyze the structure of animal mitochondrial genomes.
* Understand structural and functional annotation of mitochondrial features.
* Visualize protein coding genes, tRNAs, and rDNA.
* Explore and learn online genomic tools.
* Understand and estimate selective pressures in protein coding genes.
* Infer systematic relationships using protein coding genes present in mt genomes.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022* Interpret quantitative relationships in manuscript graphs and tables.
* Explain the limitations of correlational data published in scientific papers.
Opportunities:
Students will be able to attend scientific meetings and presentations. Students will also create a poster at the end of the program and have
the potential for publications, depending upon student's interest and time.
Required Skills:
High school biology or basic understanding of genetics is required.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Development of Receptor-Mediated Anti-Cancer and Anti-Bacterial Therapies
Mentor: Tzuen-Rong Tzeng, Associate Professor
Department: Biological Sciences
Project Description:
Cells often interact with their environment via receptor-ligand interaction. In one application, we have developed receptor-mediated anti-
cancer therapies utilizing functionalized nanoparticles targeting specific cancer, e.g., breast cancer, cells for their inactivation. In a second
application, we have engineered a Listeria monocytogenes vector capable of targeting specific cancer, e.g., breast cancer, cells and inducing
programmed cell death in these cancer cells. In a third application, we have developed anti-bacterial therapies for the inactivation of drug-
resistant pathogens utilizing functionalized nanoparticles via magnetically-mediated energy delivery (MagMED).
Student Involvement:
Individual interns will be paired with one Ph.D. student in the three specified applications when carrying out daily research tasks. The
interns and the Ph.D. mentors will have weekly research meetings with the research advisor to discuss the progress of the projects.
Individual interns will prepare a bi-weekly progress report and present it to the team.
Expected Outcome:
The interns will obtain laboratory skill sets such as the aseptic technique, cultivation of mammalian cells, cultivation of bacterial cells,
various biological assays, etc. The interns will also gain experience to strengthen their critical thinking and effective verbal and written
communication skills.
Opportunities:
The interns will have the opportunity to continue to participate in the research project and receive course credits via the MICR 4910
Undergraduate Research or the MICR 4940 Creative Inquiry courses.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
Interns will receive training on the specific skillsets needed for the project in the advisor's lab throughout the program. To facilitate the
initiation of the project, the interns should have completed the following training models if possible:
1. Biomedical Responsible Conduct of Research (https://www.clemson.edu/research/compliance/rcr/training.html - about 1 hour online
module to be completed before research orientation)
2. Bloodborne Pathogen (to be scheduled by faculty)
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Facial Development and Variation in Fishes
Mentor: Kara Powder, Assistant Professor
Department: Biological Sciences
Project Description:
If you picture an animal face, you might think of a pelican bill specialized to scoop, an elephant with their unique trunk, or even high
cheekbones that might be common in a human family. This variation in facial structures is produced by changes during developmental
processes that can both produce disease in humans, as well as the incredible variation in morphology found in nature. Work in the Powder
lab aims to understand the genes and molecules that produce facial diversity. To do this we work at the intersection of developmental
biology, genetics, and evolutionary biology and use two different fish systems. First are zebrafish, a common model for vertebrate
development. Second are cichlid fishes of the East African Rift Lakes, which have evolved an unparalleled range of craniofacial shapes,
which correlates with their feeding mechanism (e.g. algae scraping or suction feeding). EUREKA! researchers will examine how molecular
changes during early facial development produce variation in structure of the facial skeleton. One potential project is how sex and
hormones associate development of bones and cartilage of the face. A second potential project assesses how epigenetics--changes to DNA
packaging, but not DNA sequence--can generate changes the shape of facial structures. Given the molecular conservation of development
from fish to humans, the goal of this work is advance our understanding of how genetic variation can produce both natural and disease-
related variation.
Student Involvement:
Research interns will conduct an independent project under the guidance of a graduate student and with the assistance of the PI and other
undergraduates in the lab. Interns will work on the project from design to execution and interpretation of experiments. For example, one
researcher may examine the effects of progesterone signaling in facial development, including adding these hormones to fish embryos,
visualizing the craniofacial skeleton later in development, and quantifying and statistically analyzing the resultant changes to skeletal shape.
Expected Outcome:
Researchers will hone skills in scientific collaboration, experimental design, data interpretation, and scientific inquiry. Techniques gained
likely include zebrafish mating, embryology, microscopy, developmental manipulations through chemicals, histological analysis of bone,
geometric morphometric shape analysis, and statistical analysis using R.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Opportunities:
Successful researchers will have an opportunity to join the Powder lab through graduation, including funded summer research.
Undergraduate researchers in the lab are included as authors on journal articles, and present at regional and national meetings of scientific
societies such as the Society for Developmental Biology.
Required Skills:
To participate in this project, a researcher needs general background knowledge in biology (e.g. the relationship between DNA and
phenotypes), the ability to work cooperatively in a team, an eagerness to learn, and a willingness to work with vertebrate animal
development.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: X-DES: Deep Eutectic Solvents Based on X-Bonding for Battery and Solar Cell Technology
Mentor: William Pennington, Alumni Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department: Chemistry
Project Description:
The proposed project seeks to explore the utility of halogen bonding intermolecular interactions in the design and understanding of new
materials. The project brings together several aspects of solid-state and materials chemistry to study how halogen bonding contributes to
the formation of new materials, and how the properties of those materials can be tuned toward specific applications. In some ways akin to
hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding utilizes the anisotropic distribution of electron density about halogen atoms and ions to form
meaningful intermolecular interactions between neighboring molecules or ions. These interactions typically involve halogen atoms acting as
halogen bond donors (electron pair acceptors) interacting with halogen bond acceptors (electron pair donors) of a neighboring molecule or
ion that can include other halogens/halides/polyhalides, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and selenium. For some time, we have
explored halogen bonding as a driving force in structural chemistry and crystal engineering, where we have begun to recognize and
reproduce reliable patterns of such interactions in a number of those systems. Our proposed work extends this foundation to correlate
structure-property relationships in new materials to control key materials properties toward useful applications and to understand complex
structural contributions to a material's state of matter.
Student Involvement:
Participants in this project will be involved in all aspects of the preparation, characterization and testing of possible deep eutectic solvents.
A general system of interest is composed of an ionic salt combined with an organoiodine compound. Both of the components are solids, but
when ground together in a mortar and pestle may form a liquid, I.e. a eutectic solvent (good result). If a liquid isn't formed, it is also possible
that a new compound is formed (also a good result). For a liquid, we will study it's thermal behavior to determine freezing point, stability
and other properties, as well as have its liquid structure determined through a collaboration with Chris Pollock (a member of the very first
EUREKA! class!). For a solid we'll determine its crystal structure using X-ray diffraction.
Expected Outcome:
Students will learn how to perform X-ray diffraction experiments on single-crystal, powder and possibly liquid samples, and will be involved
in thermal and spectroscopic measurements.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Opportunities:
If interested, students will be welcome to continue working on this project for as long as they like. In addition to coauthorship, we hope that
students will be interested in attending conferences to present the results of their work,
Required Skills:
None except curiosity and enthusiasm for new science!
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Characterization of Lunar Regolith Simulants in Support of In Situ Resource Utilization
Mentor: Qiushi Chen, Associate Professor
Department: Civil Engineering
Project Description:
NASA's Artemis program aims to land the first woman and next men on the Moon while simultaneously working toward sustainable lunar
exploration in the late 2020s. A key component of NASA's Lunar program is the efficient utilization of in situ resources. This EUREKA! project
aims to understand and characterize Lunar regolith simulants in support of in situ resource utilization and characterization.
Student Involvement:
The research interns will work as a team and work closely with the faculty mentor and graduate student. The interns will (1) gain an in-
depth understanding of and be able to explain the scientific challenges facing NASA Moon exploration missions, as related to the in situ
characterization of lunar regolith; (2) survey the state-of-the-art Lunar regolith simulants and understand their fundamentals; (3) learn and
use basic experimental characterization of selected lunar regolith simulants; (4) process and analyze characterization data; and (5) improve
technical reading, oral, and written skills through literature survey, project presentation and report.
Expected Outcome:
The expected outcomes include (1) summary of current challenges and state-of-the-art related to Lunar regolith simulants; (2) a poster
presentation of research experience and findings; and (3) (optional) digital communication of research findings (e.g., through short
animation or educational videos).
Opportunities:
There are two ways for students to gain continuous involvement in this research: (1) through the faculty mentor's creative inquiry project
(#1016 Martian and Lunar Soil Simulants - Characterizations and Feasibility as Building Blocks) and (2) through the fellowship and paid
internship opportunities offered annually by NASA SC Space consortium (https://scspacegrant.cofc.edu/scholarships-and-fellowships).
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
Students must be familiar with Microsoft Office Suites, which will be used for research report and presentation, data processing, and
visualization. Students should also be able to learn experimental procedures.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Perceptual Evaluation of Errors in Hand Motions for Virtual Characters
Mentor: Sophie Joerg, Associate Professor
Department: Computing
Project Description:
In recent years, character animation has taken tremendous strides towards realistic virtual agents and avatars. The need to create plausible
hand and finger motions has become important because these play a crucial role in communicating information while also allowing us to
conduct basic tasks and to handle complex tools. But the size and complexity of hand motions compared to body motions make it difficult
to capture them accurately.
The goal of this project is to investigate the question: How important are detailed hand motions in communication? We will simulate errors
in the hand motions of virtual characters in the game engine Unity and run a perceptual experiment evaluating those errors either in virtual
reality or using videos. The project will provide insights to the role of finger and hand movement as well as a better understanding of how
we communicate.
Student Involvement:
The research interns will read literature, form hypotheses, and design the details of the experiment. They will need to learn how to change
animations, how to render videos, and how to create questionnaires. Finally, the plan is to run a perceptual experiment and to evaluate its
results.
Expected Outcome:
At the end of the program, interns will be able to change and render animations. They will furthermore get insights into a typical research
process: find a problem, design an experiment, run participants, evaluate and discuss the results. Publishing and presenting the results will
be encouraged, but depends on the team and progress.
Opportunities:
Students are welcome to continue their projects in the Fall semester.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
Students need to be interested in technology and programming. They need good problem-solving and debugging skills. They need to be
able to communicate and follow a research protocol.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Towards Trustworthy Alexa Voice Service
Mentor: Long Cheng, Assistant Professor
Department: Computing
Project Description:
Amazon Alexa is one of the leading Voice Personal Assistant (VPA) platforms that allow third-party developers to build new skills (i.e., voice
apps) and publish them to the skill store. This gives unscrupulous skill developers an opportunity to publish dangerous skills in the store,
placing end users in a vulnerable position. In an effort to thwart malicious developers, the Amazon Alexa platform has implemented a set of
policy requirements to be adhered to by third-party skill developers. However, little effort has been made to comprehensively evaluate the
policy compliance of third-party skills. The goal of this project is to develop a machine learning-based system that can automatically detect
policy-violating and problematic skills to achieve a trustworthy Alexa Voice Service (AVS).
Student Involvement:
We plan to develop a tool which automatically identifies problematic skills and user concerns by mining user reviews in the skill store.
Students will be involved in the design of this analysis tool.
Expected Outcome:
The research outcome of this project includes a tool, and a list of potential policy violating/problematic skills.
The intern(s) will learn state-of-art user review analysis techniques.
Opportunities:
Students may continue on the project after EUREKA!, co-author papers, and may receive National Science Foundation (NSF) Research
Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) support, if available.
Required Skills:
Students must have basic Python programming skills.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Understand Objects' Motion Using Deep Learning
Mentor: Nianyi Li, Assistant Professor
Department: Computing
Project Description:
Motion field is defined as the projection of image velocity of 3D surface points onto the imaging plane of a visual sensor. Understanding and
computation of the motion field of natural scenes is a fundamental problem of numerous vision-based technology, which includes video
compression, image interpolation, image-based 3D reconstruction, robotics navigation, object segmentation and tracking etc. In this
project, I plan to teach involved students how to use machine learning methods to build computational motion field models.
Student Involvement:
Research interns will work as a team to construct the deep learning models to predict object's moving track by taking a video as input. Each
member will work on both algorithm development and data collection.
Expected Outcome:
1) Students will learn Python programing language.
2) Students are able to understand the basic idea of machine learning and deep learning algorithms.
3) Students can use deep learning methods to predict motion field of moving object.
Opportunities:
Research interns with good performance are able to continue working in my lab as paid undergraduate research members.
Required Skills:
Students must have a good background in algebra and calculus as well as know at least on kind of high-level programming language such as
JAVA, C++, and C#.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Use of Technology in the Classroom
Mentor: Miren Ivankovic, Visiting Professor of Economics
Department: Economics
Project Description:
A study was conducted concerning two course sections of the same class. One class was allowed to use any technology they wanted during
the class time, while the other class was allowed only a notebook and a pen. Student outcomes (grades) were observed.
Student Involvement:
The data has been collected and analyzed. The student(s) will work to create a literature review and combine all findings.
Expected Outcome:
This project should produce a written paper.
Opportunities:
We expect this paper to be able to be submitted and potentially published in a mid-tier journal.
Required Skills:
Students must possess good communication skills, an understanding of Excel, some basic statistics, good literature review skills, and good
writing skills.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: AI Security and Privacy
Mentor: Yingjie Lao, Assistant Professor
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description:
This group will conduct research on the vulnerability of artificial intelligence (AI) especially deep neural networks (DNNs). Possible topics
include weight perturbation for degrading adversarial robustness, backdoor attacks, watermarking, fault attacks, etc.
Student Involvement:
The students will be conducting research on AI security related topics. They will read papers, program in Python, and prepare a
poster/paper. They will work with graduate students on these tasks.
Expected Outcome:
This project presents the opportunities for both publications and presentations.
Opportunities:
Students wishing to continue with the project during the academic year will be able to enroll in a Creative Inquiry course for class credit.
There are also research assistantship opportunities available for this project.
Required Skills:
Basic programming skills are required. Understandings of machine learning, security, and knowledge of machine learning frameworks such
as TensorFlow and Pytorch will be a plus.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Radio Frequency Detection and Control of Biological Cells
Mentor: Pingshan Wang, Professor
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Description:
Radio frequency (RF) technology and RF radiation is everywhere, from cellular phones to computers, self-driving cars, drones, home security
systems, football tracking sensors, disease diagnosis instruments, and bioelectronic medicine. We develop cutting edge RF techniques to
sense and analyze single biological cells to identify cell species and physiological states. We also investigate noninvasive approaches to
control cell growth with RF fields. Microfluidic techniques are also developed to transport cells for RF examination or manipulation while
machine learning techniques are developed to extract cell RF features.
Student Involvement:
The research interns will follow graduate students in the first 1-2 weeks to gain better understanding of the projects and familiarize
themselves with some basic procedures or instruments. In weeks 2-3, a specific research project for each intern will be determined with
significant inputs from the interns. Guided by their mentors, the interns are expected to independently accomplish the identified specific
research.
Expected Outcome:
The interns are expected to (1) learn and understand the basic research flow and (2) acquire new knowledge that is related to the chosen
specific topic (through reading research papers and independent experiments).
It's likely the interns' research results will contribute to near future publications.
Opportunities:
The students will have the opportunity to continue on the project after EUREKA!, for instance, through Creative Inquiry or an undergraduate
research assistantship.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
The anticipated research will involve a significant amount of experiments, in which one or more advanced electrical, biological, and
chemical instruments will be used. The interns are expected to have taken some AP or college level science courses, such as AP biology,
Physics, and chemistry. Basic computer science knowledge and programming experience will also help the interns' research.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: An Asset-Based Investigation into International Student Success in Undergraduate STEM Courses
Through Graduate Student Reflections
Mentor: Matthew Voigt, Assistant Professor
Department: Engineering and Science Education
Project Description:
In order to better support the rising number of International students in the United States undergraduate college system, researchers must
consider what these students find the most helpful for their learning. In particular we are searching to understand how International
students perceive learning in their mathematics courses as these courses are often seen as barriers to continuing a STEM (Science,
Technology. Engineering, Mathematics) degree. Through interviews and the use of guided reflections we hope to learn about the
instructional practices International graduate students perceived as helpful during undergrad. By interviewing graduate students we hope
to illuminate the assets they brought into their undergraduate classes as well as methods they used to persist and persevere through
undergraduate STEM courses. The findings could help inform decisions regarding mathematics course design and promote practices for a
more inclusive classroom.
Student Involvement:
This research project will draw on STEM educational research methods to study International graduate students at Clemson who have taken
undergraduate mathematics courses at a US college. The intent of the research is to learn about what the International students found
most helpful to them in their undergraduate mathematics courses in terms of course design and instructional practices.
To collect the data, we will use semi-structured interviews and analyze the transcriptions using qualitative coding methods. Interns will
assist us in nearly all steps of the research process from developing protocols, conducting interviews, transcribing the interviews, and doing
some qualitative coding to identify themes in responses. The research will be completed as a collaborative team project, where interns are
actively involved in each stage of the study. Meetings will be used to check in on progress, discuss codes and analysis, as well as decide on
future directions and steps for the following weeks.
Expected Outcome:
Results from this study will be submitted to a peer reviewed conference proposal. Interns will be included as co-authors on the submitted
proposal. In addition, interns will gain skills in conducting STEM education research.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Opportunities:
There are opportunities to continue involvement with the research project beyond the summer, and through the publication and
dissemination of results.
Required Skills:
No specialized expertise is required of the interns to participate in the project. Students will be given training on the necessary software.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Establishing a Framework of Payments for Ecosystem Services in the Edisto Basin: Developing
Landowners' Ecological Business Plan for Environmental Markets
Mentor: Marzieh Motallebi, Assistant Professor
Department: Forestry and Environmental Conservation
Project Description:
The generally rising demand for goods and services from society adds pressure in utilizing the land. Studies show that the growing
urbanization and industrial agriculture to meet the demand for goods and services threatens different natural ecosystems. This is also
exacerbated by rapidly intensifying climate change impacts. Hence, climate-smart practices are explored and promoted to provide
sustainable alternatives for many farmers and landowners. However, these practices entail tradeoffs for farmers and landowners, making
them difficult to adopt. One of the main reasons landowners are reluctant to adopt is the cost of executing and the financial sustainability
of these practices. This project explores the idea that landowners can develop Ecological Business Portfolio (EBP). The portfolio showcases
their intended sustainable approach, quantify the ecosystem services of their land before and after the practices, and estimate the cost of
executing these practices, which can be used for finding grants and investor to support these practices.
Student Involvement:
As a team, we will engage with landowners to document their Ecological Business Portfolio (EBP). We will interview landowners and work
with them to prepare their EBP. We will use geospatial technologies and economic principles to quantify the ecosystem services of their
land and estimate the overall cost for executing their plan.
The intern(s) will: 1) document the planning process as we work with the landowners; 2) assist in geospatial analyses by creating maps using
ArcGIS and quantifying ecosystem services using InVEST and other ES-based models; and 3) assist in developing cost-accounting of
sustainable practices that would be used in the EBP as the investment required for sustainable financing.
Expected Outcome:
- know the critical interconnectedness of the environment and the economy,
- have exposure to stakeholder engagement and participatory approaches in research,
- have a more comprehensive understanding of Microsoft Excel and GIS software such as ArcGIS,
- be able to create a portfolio that will be usable to landowners' transition to sustainable practice,
- be able to present the EBP process to academic colleagues.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Opportunities:
After EUREKA!, the intern(s) will have the opportunity to continue research within the group and explore more about this topic as Thesis.
Required Skills:
Students should have at least a familiarity with working in Microsoft Excel, should have the ability to follow directions, and should be willing
to learn about ecology, economics, climate change, and climate-smart practices.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Using Molecular Approaches to Understand the Functions of Rapid Alkalinization Factor (RALF)
Gene Family in Poplar
Mentor: Haiying Liang, Associate Professor
Department: Genetics and Biochemistry
Project Description:
Rapid Alkalinization Factors (RALF) gene family encodes for ubiquitous small secreted proteins that are cysteine-rich and typically have a full
length of 80-120 amino acids. They were initially discovered through their ability to rapidly alkalinize tobacco cell cultures. Subsequent
studies have shown that RALFs are involved in various aspects of plant development and growth (e.g. cell expansion, lateral root
development, and pollen tube elongation) and stress (e.g. drought and diseases) (Review in Blackburn et al. 2020). RALF gene family is large,
with 39 copies in Arabidopsis, 43 in rice, 34 in maize, and 18 in soybean. By analyzing 765 RALF proteins from 51 plant species, Campbell
and Turner (2017) identified four clades, with Clades I, II, and III containing an RRXL cleavage site and a YISY motif required for receptor
binding and Clade IV lacking the conserved motifs. Therefore, the Clade IV peptides are described as RALF-Like or RALF-related. Only a few
genes in the RALF family have been characterized to date. The project aims to characterize the RALF gene family in poplar, an important
plant with economic and ecological significance.
Student Involvement:
The student will conduct cloning (PCR, restriction enzyme digest, gel electrophoresis, E.coli transformation, plasmid DNA isolation, etc.) and
plant transformation (tissue culture, agrobacterium cultivation).
Expected Outcome:
Expected outcomes include binary vectors that will be used for future plant transformation and transgenic plants for function
characterization. Students will learn common molecular techniques such as PCR, restriction enzyme digest, gel electrophoresis, bacterial
and plant transformation, plasmid DNA isolation, and tissue culture. Students will learn about how genetics and genomics can be applied to
improve important crops.
Opportunities:
Students are encouraged to continue the project in the Fall through the Creative Inquiry.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
No specific skills are required.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: DNA Repair and Genome Stability
Mentor: Michael Sehorn, Associate Professor
Department: Genetics and Biochemistry
Project Description:
The research in the lab involves the biochemical characterization of a number of DNA repair proteins. To do this, we introduce mutations
into the genes for these DNA repair proteins. We purify the variant proteins expressed from these mutated genes and subject them to a
number of biochemical experiments. These experiments are designed to monitor the ability of these variant proteins to bind DNA or other
DNA repair proteins.
Student Involvement:
We have a progression of techniques the intern will learn. We start out with the intern learning the more basic techniques progressing to
more challenging ones. This helps build the confidence of the intern. We first have the intern learn to use a pipette. Then we have the
intern perform a basic PCR reaction. The student learns and performs agarose gel electrophoresis to visualize the PCR product. We then
move to the next progression which is a slightly more challenging PCR. The goal with this PCR is introduce a mutation in a particular DNA
repair gene and then use a special cloning technique called Gibson Assembly to make a plasmid that can be used to express the mutated
DNA repair gene in bacteria. The intern will optimize the expression of the mutated DNA repair gene. Once this has been accomplished,
the intern will purify the variant protein and begin to biochemically characterize the variant DNA repair protein they purified.
Expected Outcome:
The interns will learn how to clone a gene, introduce mutations into the gene and express the gene for protein production. If the project
goes smoothly, the intern may be able to purify the protein and begin to characterize it using biochemical experiments that monitor DNA
binding and protein-protein interactions. These results will be used in the interns poster presentation. Ultimately, the goal is to publish
the research in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Opportunities:
If the interns like the research and wishes to continue in the lab, they would be able to stay in the lab for the duration of their time at
Clemson until they graduate. This would potentially provide the interns 4 years of research experience, which is a strong addition to a
resume for any post graduate school including graduate school and medical school.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Required Skills:
The intern does not need any specific skills or knowledge prior to joining the project. We will teach the intern everything they need to know
to be successful.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Role of Metabolism in the Pathogenesis of the Fungus Cryptococcus neoformans
Mentor: Kerry Smith, Professor
Department: Genetics and Biochemistry
Project Description:
Invasive fungal infections cause nearly one and a half million deaths annually, accounting for nearly 50% of all AIDS-related deaths.
Cryptococcus neoformans, an invasive opportunistic pathogen of the central nervous system, is the most frequent cause of fungal
meningitis. The CDC estimates the yearly burden of cryptococcal meningitis to be nearly one million cases with greater than 190,000 deaths.
AIDS is a major risk factor and mortality rates in AIDS patients range from 55-70% in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Exposure to
Cryptococcus is common, as it is an environmental fungus found in the soil that can enter the lungs through inhalation and disseminate to
the central nervous system in susceptible individuals. An increased rate of infection occurs in individuals with impaired immunity,
particularly those with AIDS and recipients of immunosuppressive therapy. The widespread availability of antiretroviral therapy in
developed countries has helped improve the immune systems of many HIV patients to decrease their susceptibility to infection. However,
cryptococcal meningitis is still a major problem in resource-limited regions of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa where HIV prevalence is
high and access to healthcare is limited. Despite the global significance of cryptococcal meningitis, current treatments are inadequate as the
gold standard therapy is based on half century old drugs that have a wide range of liabilities and shortcomings.
Metabolic adaptability and flexibility are important attributes for fungal pathogens to successfully infect and cause disease. Although
carbon metabolism is critical for virulence in Cryptococcus very little is known about which carbon sources are utilized during infection. Our
long-term goal is to provide a better understanding of how Cryptococcus can adapt its metabolism to survive in the changing environments
encountered during infection.
Macrophages, which present a first line of host defense against Cryptococcus infection, provide a glucose- and amino acid-poor
environment, and nonpreferred carbon sources such as lactate and acetate are likely important early in establishment of a pulmonary
infection. Thus, genes whose products are necessary for the utilization of acetate or lactate may an important role for Cryptococcus
infection. We are using genetic, biochemical, and computational approaches to identify and characterize genes required for the utilization
of acetate.
Student Involvement:
If online, the student intern will utilize computational approaches to analyze data from genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and
metabolomics experiments to make new discoveries in Cryptococcus biology and carbon metabolism. Possible projects could include
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022computational approaches in: (1) the identification of novel virulence factors, (2) the characterization of the interplay between metabolic
pathways during virulence, (3) the identification and characterization of genes necessary for acetate utilization, (4) the identification of
important protein modifications, etc.
If in person in the lab, the student intern will begin characterization of a gene that plays a role in Cryptococcus biology and acetate
metabolism. Possible projects could include: (1) characterization of a deletion mutant that is defective in acetate or lactate metabolism, (2)
creation of a deletion mutant of a gene that may be involved in carbon metabolism utilizing CRISPR-Cas, (3) characterization of a gene
product involved in acetate or lactate metabolism using molecular DNA tools, etc.
At the beginning of the project, the mentor will discuss possible projects and the student intern will have the opportunity to choose their
favorite. Throughout the internship, the intern will be able to not only interact directly with the mentor but also work with PhD students
who may have a related dissertation project.
Expected Outcome:
The goal of the EUREKA! internship in the Smith laboratory is to result in an increased interest for research. The expected outcome is that
the intern will present their research to the scientific community. First, the intern will have the opportunity to present (talk or poster) their
research at national scientific conferences such as the annual Cellular Biology of Eukaryotic Pathogens held at Clemson in October. Second,
the expectation is that the intern's research will be published on its own or as part of a greater study. These opportunities will help the
student as s/he pursues a career in research and/or medicine. Finally, the student's research will also assist my laboratory in gaining and/or
sustaining federal research funds.
Opportunities:
Following the EUREKA! internship, the student will have the opportunity to continue research in the lab. This wet lab opportunity would
provide the student with experience in a variety of genetic, biochemical, and molecular and cellular techniques that can be utilized to study
the discoveries that were made during the EUREKA! internship. Hopefully, the student will enjoy their summer experience and will want to
perform their Departmental Honors Research in the lab.
Required Skills:
Students should have enthusiasm for research, basic biology and chemistry knowledge, and general computer knowledge.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: Investigation of Metabolism and Encystation in the Intestinal Parasite Entamoeba histolytica
Mentor: Cheryl Ingram-Smith, Associate Professor
Department: Genetics and Biochemistry
Project Description:
Entamoeba histolytica is an intestinal parasite that infects 500 million to 1 billion people each year, of which ~10% develop amoebic
dysentery characterized by severe bloody diarrhea lasting several weeks. Little is known about why some infections lead to illness but
others remain asymptomatic. E. histolytica assumes two forms, trophozoites and cysts. Trophozoites are the form that lives in the human
body and causes illness, and cysts are a dormant form surrounded by a protective shell that is found in the environment. Infection occurs by
consuming food and water contaminated with these cysts. The cysts pass through the stomach and revert to the trophozoite form in the
small intestine, and then pass to the large intestine where they remain to continue growing and dividing. A subpopulation of trophozoites in
the large intestine will convert to the cyst form to be passed to the environment and continue the infection cycle.
Our lab is studying the changes in metabolism that E. histolytica undergoes between the small and large intestines, which are very different
environments in terms of the nutrients available. We are also investigating what factors signal E. histolytica to convert from the trophozoite
form to the cyst form. This aspect is all the more interesting in that only a subset of the population converts. The rest of the population
continues growing and dividing in the large intestine even as cysts are expelled daily into the environment in feces.
In this project, we will focus on the changes in gene expression that occur during initiation of encystation. We will use E. histolytica
transcriptome data (which shows the expression level of all genes under a given condition) as well as data published in the scientific
literature to examine the transcriptional changes in E. histolytica gene expression at the beginning of encystation. We will also use data
from the related species Entamoeba invadens, a reptile pathogen that has been a model for studying cyst formation. The goal of the project
is to identify genes that play a role in sensing and responding to environmental signals in order to regulate encystation. These target genes
can then be investigated through generation of mutants to examine the effect on growth and encystation.
Student Involvement:
The interns will use computational/bioinformatics approaches to analyze experimental RNAseq data and identify target genes for study. We
expect to have RNAseq transcriptome data from E. histolytica from the early stages of encystation and there is also a body of transcriptome
data from E. invadens during encystation.
EUREKA! interns participating online will use this data to identify genes that may play a role in sensing and responding to environmental
signals for these changes. They will then delve into the scientific literature to determine what is known about the function of the genes they
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022have identified. Literature investigations performed by online students will extend beyond Entamoeba into Giardia and other parasites.
Published data regarding Giardia may be of particular interest due to similarities between it and Entamoeba.
EUREKA! interns participating in person will be able to grow and manipulate E. histolytica to verify the RNAseq transcriptome results for
specific genes of interest and begin to generate mutants silenced for specific genes in order to study the effect on growth and encystation.
Expected Outcome:
Online EUREKA! interns will gain experience using AmoebaDB (a database of amoeba informatics resources including genome and
transcriptome data), BLAST (gene/protein alignment software), and other bioinformatics software.
In person interns will also gain experience in molecular biology techniques such as PCR, gene cloning, plasmid and genomic DNA isolation, E.
coli transformation, and gel electrophoresis, and may also gain experience in manipulation and culturing of Entamoeba.
Opportunities:
EUREKA! interns in life science majors may be invited to continue their research in the lab. This would likely be in-person wet-lab research
and could begin immediately in the fall or at a later date depending on the student's schedule and space in the lab.
Required Skills:
A basic knowledge and interest in biology is the only requirement. All other skills needed will be taught as the project progresses.
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2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022Project Title: AI in Biomedicine: Prediction of Novel Human Disease Genes by Genomic Data Mining
Mentor: LiangJiang Wang, Associate Professor
Department: Genetics and Biochemistry
Project Description:
In the human genome, most genes actually do not encode proteins; they are non-coding RNA genes. The largest class of non-coding genes is
known as long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are transcripts greater in length than 200 nucleotides, but with no protein-coding
capacity. While some lncRNAs have been demonstrated to be key regulators of gene expression and 3D genome organization, most lncRNAs
are still uncharacterized. We have thus been developing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning approaches for the functional
annotation of human lncRNAs through mining the vast amount of genetic and genomic data ("biological big data"). Our recent studies
demonstrate that genomic data mining can give insights into RNA functions and provide valuable information for experimental studies of
candidate lncRNAs.
This research project will focus on the identification and functional analysis of novel candidate lncRNAs associated with human diseases,
including intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ID and ASD are clinically and genetically heterogeneous complex
disorders, affecting up to 3% and 1% of the human population, respectively. ID is characterized by diminished intellectual capacity and
adaptive reasoning, whereas ASD is recognized by impaired social communications and restrictive or repetitive behavior. Both disorders
originate in early childhood, and involve a large number of genes essential for normal brain development and function. However, in most
cases of ID or ASD, the specific genetic factors of the disorders are still unable to be determined. Until recently, only protein-coding genes
were studied for their involvement in ID and ASD. It is thus likely that many of these disease-causing genetic factors may reside in lncRNAs,
which are enriched in the brain. The research interns will learn how to build machine learning models for candidate disease gene prediction,
and then utilize publicly available genetic and genomic data to further characterize and prioritize the candidate lncRNAs. The high-priority
candidates identified in this project can not only provide new insight into the roles of lncRNAs in genetic brain disorders, but may also be
further developed as biomarkers.
Student Involvement:
Research interns will be directly involved in the project. Each student intern, under the supervision of a graduate student, will learn how to
build a machine learning model for candidate disease gene prediction and prioritization. They will also contribute to the further evaluation
and curation of novel candidate lncRNAs associated with genetic brain disorders.
2022 In-Person EUREKA! Project List – Updated 3/30/2022You can also read
