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Eberly College of Science

Undergraduate Research

Finding Research Opportunities

To find information about research opportunities at Penn State, go to the Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring (URFM) website at https://urfm.psu.edu/. URFM has information about how to find research projects and opportunities, funding for research, exhibiting research, and other research and fellowship information.

Many of our students conduct research with faculty and labs outside of the forensic science program (through URFM or by asking a professor with whom they have taken a class), but you are welcome to speak with any of our faculty members about research opportunities that they may have in their lab groups if you are interested specifically in forensic science research. However, remember there are limited forensic faculty and undergraduate research opportunities in the program due to time, funding, and space. 
 

Undergraduate Research Projects and Topics*

Year Research Project Name or Topic PI(s)
2024 Ancient DNA and genomics  Dr. Mark Shriver
2024 Blood spatter; prototype device to launch a single drop of blood at a surface at high velocity Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2024 Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2024 Developing Drugs from starfish DNA to help treat Alzheimer's Dr. Todd Eckroat 
2024 DNA quantification of human and bacterial DNA Dr. Mitch Holland
2024 Efficacy of luminol on vertical surfaces Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2024 Legitimacy of the CSI Effect Mr. Mike Kusluski
2024 Striation marks on window screens evaluated with SLM and comparison microscopy Mr. Stewart Hung
2024 Underlying health risk behaviors across the lifespan (neuroscience) Dr. Nina Lauharatanahirun
2024 Variation in Cortical Bone Structure of the Human Upper and Lower Limb Dr. Timothy Ryan and Dr. Sharon Kuo
2024 Visual cognition/attentional psychology Dr. Brad Wyble and Dr. Kenneth Levy
2023 Comparing microbial DNA transfer and persistence to that of human DNA Dr. Mitch Holland
2023 Evolution of hair variation Dr. Mark Shriver
2023 Examination of Luminol on various substrates to determine which cause the least effect to bloodstain patterns Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2023 Luminol Analysis Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2023 Movement of enzymes of phospholipid bilayers Dr. Ayusman Sen
2023 NUMTs Dr. Jen McElhoe and Dr. Mitch Holland
2023 Plant Village: virtual work helping AI system used for African farmers to get disease reports on crops Dr. David Hughes
2023 Stationary phase types to determine the best for separation of nitrobenzene and components of explosive mixtures Dr. Dan Sykes
2023 Structural biology of chromatin Dr. Song Tan
2023 The effect of temperature on the recovery of touch DNA from firearm components  Dr. Mitch Holland
2023 Theoretical and computational chemistry Dr. Julio Palma
2023 Theoretical Applied Ecology Dr. Katriona Shae
2022 Ancient DNA Methods/Oral Microbiome Dr. Laura Weyrich 
2022 Bloodstain pattern analysis  Mr. Mike Kusluski
2022 Forensic Photography Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2022 Forensic toolmark examination Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt and Mr. Stewart Hung
2022 Polymer studies and synthesis Dr. Robert Hickey
2022 The upper and lower limits of detection of modified Greiss reagent Mr. Mike Kusluski
2022 Visual cognition/attentional psychology Dr. Brad Wyble
2022 Volatile Organic Compounds Associated with Diseased Human Blood Dr. Dan Sykes
2021 Isolation and use of bacteriophage from clams for various purposes Dr. Gregory Broussard
2021 Quadruple bonds of transition metals Dr. William Van Der Sluys
2021 Toxicological analysis of benzodiazepines Mr. Stewart Hung
2021 Understanding the basis of plant adaptation to drought and low soil fertility.  Dr. Jonathan Lynch
2021 Visualizing GSR residue on mammalian hair using ImageJ Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2020 Analysis if facial features with genetic context and hair analysis Dr. Mark Shriver
2020 Assessing he efficiency of a custom mtqPCR assay Dr. Mitch Holland
2020 Assessing the Promega Whole Mitochondrial Genome Kit Dr. Mitch Holland
2020 Effect of salt solutions on the stability of protein model systems. Dr. Paul Cremer
2020 GSR residue on mammalian hair Mr. Ralph Ristenbatt
2020 Human Identity From the Mosquito Midgut Using GlobalFiler™ Express Dr. Reena Roy
2020 Increasing accessibility for the visually impaired Dr. Gabriela Richard
2020 Insect and plant chemical ecology Dr. Jared Ali
2020 Investigation of methylation rates for age determination Assessing qPCR efficiency error Dr. Mitch Holland
2020 Quantitation of DNA Collected on microFLOQ™ Direct Collection Device Dr. Reena Roy

*Project names or topics listed are as self-reported by students on the Forensic Science Program Exit Survey. Year indicates the year the information was received by the program on the Exit Survey. PI stands for Principle Investigator, and indicates the person in charge of the project. Note that projects who employed multiple students are only listed one time.