Nutritional Sciences
Genetic Regulation of Cellular Defenses
Project: We are using cutting-edge approaches in mouse and human genetics to understand how genetic variation influences disease susceptibility, cellular stress resistance and aging. These efforts will inform future clinical interventions.
Faculty Name: Rob Pazdro
Minimum Qualifications: Please schedule an appointment with Dr. Pazdro if interested.
Semester: Fall, Spring
Location: 302 Dawson Hall
Using Mobile Food Markets to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Young Children and Their Parents
Project: We are studying the effectiveness of using a mobile produce market to deliver fresh produce to child care centers in Georgia to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among preschool aged children and their parents. We are also working on a project, Freggie’s Green Machine, that uses entertainment education to promote fruit and vegetable consumption to preschool children. Students are needed to assist with program implementation and data collection.
Minimum Qualifications: Junior or Senior; GPA=3.0; Interest or experience in childhood obesity prevention and/or community nutrition; completion research methods course preferred.
Faculty Name: Caree Cotwright
Semester: Fall, Spring
Location: Barrow Hall 100B
The Role of Body Composition and Biological Traits on Bone Strength
Project: We are studying a cohort of adolescents, and tracking their body composition and other biological traits that might have an impact on bone strength. Students will be needed to assist us with data collection from participants as well as data entry.
Minimum Qualifications: Completion of IRB CITI training
Faculty Name: Richard Lewis
Semester: Fall
Location: Bone and Body Composition Laboratory, 279 Dawson Hall
The Effect of Dietary Intake on Inflammation and Bone Health
Project: We are studying the effect of dietary intake (particularly protein consumption) on inflammation and bone health in a group of adolescents who formerly participated in one of our research projects. Students will be needed to assist us with entry of diet records into the Food Processor dietary assessment program.
Minimum Qualifications: Completion of IRB CITI training
Faculty Name: Richard Lewis
Semester: Fall
Location: Bone and Body Composition Laboratory, 279 Dawson Hall
Human Development and Family Science
Development of Risk & Resilience Among Rural Youth (DORRY)
Project: This 5-year NIDA-funded study explores the neurobiological mechanisms between early adversity and substance use among rural adolescents. Our team is employing multi-level methods of data collection, including structural and functional MRI, self- and parent-report questionnaires on past experiences and behavior, videotaped and coded parent-child interactions, and stress physiology. The study is currently in its first wave of data collection and will continue for the next 5 years, collecting another 2 waves of data.
Minimum Qualifications: 3.5 GPA and an interest in youth resilience
Faculty Name: Assaf Oshri
Semester: Until Summer 2023
Location: Pound Hall at the Health Science Campus, 105 Foster Rd Athens, GA
Youth Development Institute: https://www.ydiatuga.com/
Coordinator: Linhao Zhang (Linhao.Zhang@uga.edu)
CARE Lab Research on Couple and Marital Relationships
Project: The CARE laboratory team is seeking motivated and dedicated students to assist with our various applied research projects. Our research focuses on understanding healthy couple relationship development among adolescents and adults as well as the impact of relationship and marriage education programming on enhancing relationship quality and stability. Learn more about our projects and ways you can be involved at the CARE Lab website.
Minimum Qualifications: Junior standing, 3.25 GPA, HDFS or related coursework
Faculty Name: Ted G. Futris
Semester: Fall, Spring, Summer
Location: CARE Lab, 227 Hoke Smith Annex
Family Diversity and Children’s Development Lab
Project: The FDCD lab studies how families living in diverse circumstances support the healthy development of children. We currently have two research projects, both funded by NICHD. The Dallas Preschool Readiness Project (DPReP) is a longitudinal study of approximately 400 African American and Latino children from low-income families studying the development of self-regulation, parenting, and academic achievement. In the follow-up, we will begin the next phase of this study that will involve following the children and their families from 4th grade through 7th grade. Research assistants at UGA are needed to help prepare study materials, conduct telephone follow-up interviews, and code and enter data. The language development study focuses on the Mexican-American children and mothers in the DPReP sample and is studying how the mother-child relationship supports early language development in these children. Research assistants are needed to help transcribe video recordings and to manage data.
Minimum Qualifications: 3.25 GPA or higher; HDFS or related coursework. Students who speak Spanish are strongly encouraged to apply.
Faculty: Margaret Caughy
Semesters: Fall 2017 and Spring 2018
Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors
Functional Nanostructured Materials
Project: We are developing new functional nanostructured materials and methods of their fabrication, including fibers, fabrics, biointerfaces, drug-delivery systems and smart materials. We invite students to explore various opportunities to contribute with interdisciplinary experimental research and new ideas by working together with graduate students and postdoctoral associates of our Nanosturctured Materials Lab.
Minimum Qualifications: NA
Faculty Name: Sergiy Minko
Website: Nanostructured Materials Lab
Semester: Fall, Spring
Location: 101 Riverbend North Research Labs
Sustainable Dyeing Process
Project: We are developing a sustainable dyeing process using hydrogels (ie. nanocellulose). Our dyeing process aims to reduce energy and water consumption involved in industrial dyeing; it reduces dye and chemical waste while still giving the same shade or depth of color as current dyeing processes. Synthetic dyes (ie. reactive dye) and natural dyes (ie. indigo) are being investigated for our novel dyeing process. We are also expanding our investigation to solve problems associated with dyeing recycled PET. Our dyeing system could improve the color consistency of dyed recycled PET since the base color of recycled PET is often inconsistent, ranging from white to yellow.
Minimum Qualifications: Junior
Faculty Name: Suraj Sharma
Semester: Fall, Spring
Location: 360 Dawson Hall
Innovative Polymers and Materials
Project: Students are invited to participate in the development of innovative polymers and materials. Our lab is investigating the biosynthesis of biodegradable and biocompatible polyhydroxybutyrate from algae and the properties of epoxidized camelina oil cured with green curing agents (ie. citric acid). The project will involve experimentation and data analysis. Students may make (ie. grow algae and isolate polyhydrobutyrate or cure epoxidized oil) and characterize polymers for their tensile or thermal properties. Click here for more information.
Minimum Qualifications: Junior
Faculty: Suraj Sharma
A History of Subcultural Retail in the United States
Project: This project seeks to discover the history of how subculture in the United States was integrated into the retail industry of the late 20th c to the present. The goal is to discover the initial subculture stores in the United States and the stories of the development of those industries, including the style leaders, consumers, and how specialty boutiques eventually reached the mainstream through chain stores and evolved through the Internet era.
Faculty Name: Monica Sklar
Subculture and the Fashion Cycle
Project: The objective of this project is to examine the relationship of subcultural clothing to the concept of fashion cycles. The main objective is discovering if subculture is at the forefront of the larger mass society fashion cycle, as innovators and early adopters, or, if subculture's stylistic elements are community-oriented and exclusive, existing outside of mainstream trends. Furthermore, we will look subculture’s internal aesthetic cycles.
Faculty Name: Monica Sklar
Motown: The art of authenticity and aspiration
Project: This is a project of interviews and reviewing costume pieces in national collections comparing with social theories to determine motivations and outcomes of the elaborate costumes and the internal etiquette school run by Motown for its performers of the 1960s & 70s.
Faculty Name: Monica Sklar
Quail Hunting Apparel Design
Project: The proposed project examines the links between leisure pursuits and dress, specifically, the socioeconomic and gendered sartorial aspects of quail hunting in South Georgia. Particular attention will be paid to the seemingly disparate gear used for quail hunts which combines English inspired hunting clothes with Western style boots that protect against snake bites and brightly colored apparel, instead of camouflage, to avoid being mistakenly shot at. A research paper is planned to be co-authored with an undergraduate student who has been participating in quail hunts and is familiar with local outfitters and people who organize and participate in quail hunts. The involvement of a student who knows the local context will allow insider access to this close knit community and this highly tradition bound social practice. The final draft of the paper is intended for the special Dress Issue of the journal of Annals of Leisure Research or other scholarly publication.
Minimum Qualifications: Junior standing, minimum GPA of 3.00, knowledge of dress history, knowledge of the area and local social context, excellent communication and interview skills, and the ability to conduct scholarly research. Preferred qualifications include: background in psychology.
Faculty name: Katalin Medvedev
Semester: Fall (field research conducted) and Spring (additional library research and paper writing.)
Location: Thomasville GA Research site
Diversity and the Fashion Industry
Project: The proposed project examines issues of diversity and inclusion through a critical take on the fashion industry. Issues of interest include racial and ethnic diversity amongst runway models, the lack of gender diversity amongst fashion designers, and the fashion industry’s tendency towards cultural appropriation. The undergraduate student is expected to provide thoughtful critique of these issues, as well as research on how similar fashion programs address the lack of diversity in the fashion industry.
Minimum Qualifications: Sophomore or Junior standing, minimum GPA of 3.00, knowledge of fashion in popular culture, an interest in diversity related to: ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality, excellent communication and the ability to conduct scholarly research.
Faculty Name: Katalin Medvedev
Semester: Fall
Location: Athens, GA