UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Thirty-one students earned Discovery Grants to help fund their summer research and projects, gaining the opportunity for valuable experience in the field, in the lab and abroad.
Discovery Grant applications are open to all current undergraduate Penn State students at all campuses, regardless of major. Applications typically open in December and close in February. For 2026, grant recipients were awarded up to $5,000 each.
The following is a list of students who earned 2026 Discovery Grants and their projects titles:
- Reilley Barish, music education, College of Arts and Architecture — “Do Perfectionist Tendencies Affect How Student Musicians Perform?”
- Kate Bukowski, criminal justice, Penn State Harrisburg — “Perceptions of Safety: Increased Police on Washington, D.C. Metro”
- Justin Cheetham, biology, Penn State York — “Evolutionary Origins of Circadian Genes”
- Ava Ciabattoni, pharmacology and toxicology, College of Agricultural Sciences — “Evaluating the Toxicological Relevance of PFAS Mixtures Beyond Targeted Chemical Analysis”
- Sofia Costa Miranda, telecommunications and criminology, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications — “From Regulation to Representation: LGBT Politics in United States Sports Since 1960s Examined Through Administrative, Media and Athlete Perspectives”
- Amanda Easley, kinesiology, College of Health and Human Development — “Improving the Prediction of the Final Menstrual Period in Women During the Late Menopause Transition”
- Sean Golder, mathematics and physics, Eberly College of Science — “Classical and Quantum Dynamics in an Information Theoretic Space”
- Fabian Gonzalez Gomez, aerospace engineering, College of Engineering — “Optimization of Vertical-Axis Wind Turbines Through Active Flow Control Using the Venturi Principle”
- Daniel Huang, biomedical engineering, Penn State Berks — “Hydrogel-in-Hydrogel Approach to Enhance Mechanical Properties and Drug Retention of Macroporous Hydrogels”
- Ali Iranmanesh, computer science, Penn State Behrend — “Evolving Efficiency: A Systematic Ablation Study on the Necessity of Engineering Enhancements in Modern LLM-Based Test Generation”
- Jaabili Kuruvella, biology, Penn State Altoona — “Investigating the Long-Term Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Anxiety, Learning, and Memory in Aged Zebrafish”
- Penelope Leming, chemical engineering, College of Engineering — “Navigating Enzyme-Coated Microparticles in Multiple Chemical Gradients”
- Burke McCabe, math education, College of Education — “Theatre Improv and Math Education Connections”
- Kayla McCafferty, biology and psychology, Penn State Beaver — “Determining the Genetic Diversity of the Western PA Equine Population”
- Lydia Meressi, biobehavioral health, College of Health and Human Development — “Effects of asthma during development on brain gene expression”
- Madison Millin, geosciences, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences — “Discordance and Destruction: A Look into the Applications of Discordance Dating for Bolide Impacts”
- Jonathan Mwangi, biomedical engineering, College of Engineering — “An Investigation into Aquaculture Extension Services and Education Systems within Kenya”
- Jacqueline Negron, engineering science and mechanics, College of Engineering — “Investigation of Ethylene-Forming Enzyme Homologs for Applications in Sustainable 3-Hydroxypropionate Production”
- Om Patil, biology, Eberly College of Science — “Racial Identity and Social Determinants of Health as Predictors of Sport-Related Concussion Risk in Division I Athletes”
- Briana Pearsall, forest ecosystem management, College of Agricultural Sciences — “Investigating the Pollinators and Seed Dispersers of Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) in Pennsylvania”
- Shalini Prasath, graphic design, College of Arts and Architecture — “Reclaiming Tamil Typography: Evaluating Indian Design Methods to Revise Tamil Type Design Practices”
- Abbie Preston, biomedical engineering, College of Engineering — “Strengthening Detection of Female Genital Schistosomiasis in Kenya”
- Barbara Price, history and political science, College of the Liberal Arts — “The Grange be Apolitical: Agrarian Political Identity in 19th Century Newspapers”
- Jeniann Rodriguez Rosa, integrative science, Penn State York — “Tracing the Developmental Onset of Spider Silk Gene Expression in Parasteatoda tepidariorum”
- Alli Satterfield, digital and print journalism, Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications — “Subtle Objects (and Acts) of Resistance Across Northern Ireland and Ireland”
- Cara Schmitt, biochemistry and molecular biology, Eberly College of Science — “Analyzing the Effects of Preventing Sexual Maturity on Circadian Learning and Memory”
- Tatiana Seremula, chemistry, Eberly College of Science — “Design and study of color-tunable boron–nitrogen heterocycle fluorophores”
- Conrad Street, engineering science, College of Engineering — “Effect of patient-derived mutations on the motor properties of the neuronal kinesin KIF1C”
- Quinn Sullivan, astronomy and astrophysics and physics, Eberly College of Science — “Using Machine Learning to Select Active Galactic Nuclei in the Rubin LSST Deep-Drilling Fields”
- Skyler Tan, pre-medicine, Eberly College of Science — “Identifying Early Sexual-stage Markers in Plasmodium falciparum Using Single-Cell Transcriptomics”
- Calvin Yoder, mechanical engineering, College of Engineering — “Engineering a Transwell Insert Using Melt Electrowritten Polycaprolactone membrane for Air-Liquid Culture”
The Discovery Grant Program is administered by Penn State Undergraduate Education and Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring.