Outstanding Master's Thesis Award presented to former biology graduate student

The University of Illinois Springfield Research Board has awarded former biology graduate student Hillary Rikli with the UIS Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Rikli’s thesis was entitled “The Electrophysiological Effects of Poneratoxin (PoTx) and Two Novel, Structurally-Similar Analogs on the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.7.” Her thesis chair was Stephen Johnson, UIS assistant professor of chemistry.

Rikli grew up in Highland, IL and majored in chemistry as an undergraduate student at UIS. Following graduation in 2012, she continued her education as a graduate student in biology. She earned her master’s degree in 2015.

She now teaches at UIS as an adjunct professor of chemistry and is continuing her research with Professor Johnson. The two are currently working to acquire preliminary data for the submission of an NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award in the spring of 2016.

The following students received their departments’ Outstanding Thesis or Project Award for 2014-15 and were nominated for the UIS Outstanding Master’s Thesis/Project competition:

English 
Matthew Talken
“Building True Immersion: How Skyrim Creates a Reality for Players.”
Thesis Chair: Tena Helton

Environmental Studies 
April Simnor
“A Nationwide Evaluation of the Hacking Programs for Osprey Pandion Haliaetus.”
Thesis Chair: Tih-Fen Ting

History 
StaLynn Wanora Davis
“The Cross, the Way of Freedom.”
Thesis Chair: Holly Kent