Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Congratulations to the winners of the Fall 2020 URCA Assistant Program Awards!

 Vaughn Vandegrift URCA Assistant Research Mentor of the Semester Award

Dr. Myron Jones, Department of Chemistry

Nominated by: Jochabay McGeeBey

Student nominator Jochabay McGeeBey wrote in appreciation of Jones’ mentorship, noting the professor’s caring and encouraging nature while they attended an academic conference together.

“Dr. Jones has exemplified what a mentor truly is: an understanding, caring and encouraging person who influences their mentees to be the same,” wrote McGeeBey. “Dr. Jones, along with Dr. (Michael) Hankins, are the only Black professors in the Department of Chemistry. I am grateful that they are here, because they encourage me, as well as the other few Black chemistry majors, that we can be successful in a field that is predominantly white. I am truly grateful and appreciative of all Dr. Jones has taught me.”

URCA Creative Activities Mentor of the Semester Award

Kristin Best-Kinscherff, Department of Theater and Dance

Nominated by: Jamie Grawitch

URCA student Jamie Grawitch nominated Best-Kinscherff for safely bringing live dance back to the SIUE community after a nine-month hiatus as a result of COVID-19. In October, the Department of Theater and Dance presented Garden Flow, an outdoor, promenade-style dance performance created and directed by Best-Kinscherff.

“Professor Best-Kinscherff deserves to be recognized for her outstanding work on this semester’s show,” wrote Grawitch. “This show was an outlet for many artists in the SIUE dance community. With Garden Flow, we were able to welcome small audiences to view live theater again. It allowed both artists and audiences a sense of relief, if only for an hour.”

URCA Research Assistant of the Semester Award 

Blessing Udoh, Department of Biological Sciences

Nominated by: Dr. Brittany Peterson

Faculty mentor Brittany Peterson, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, describes Udoh as a model student researcher. Throughout her time at SIUE, Udoh has participated in many research projects and patiently assisted fellow lab mates.

“As a third-year student researcher, Blessing is a pillar in my lab,” Peterson said. “Blessing has become such a staple source of knowledge that she frequently trains her lab mates in the techniques she has mastered, including seniors and graduate students. There’s never a technique she can’t master, a detail she overlooks or a challenge she’s not up for. I’m grateful to URCA for the opportunity to recruit someone so motivated and brilliant to my lab.”

URCA Creative Activities Assistant of the Semester Award 

 Kenzie Holzinger, Department of Art and Design

Nominated by: Dr. Brigham Dimick

Holzinger first entered the Department as a visiting student from Thomas Edison University in New Jersey. Impressed by her talent, Dimick recruited her to apply for a bachelor’s at SIUE. Now, Holzinger works as Dimick’s assistant, helping bring complex ideas to life through drawing and painting.

“Kenzie has been an invaluable assistant for me, working directly on my paintings and drawings, and doing so with an impressive skill set and work ethic,” said Dimick. “Because Kenzie is able to analyze the gaps between my complex goals and her understanding, she demonstrates the capacity to frame the perfect question and apply my responses into practice with efficiency and clarity. I couldn’t ask for a better assistant.”