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Graduate Student Awards and Honors

Montgomery Owsiany received the 2024 Don Hake Outstanding Graduate Career Award.

Connor Lambert (Behavior Analysis) received a Carl del Signore Foundation Graduate Scholarship.

Jamey Brumbaugh (Clinical) won a Mamie Phipps Clark Diversity Research Grant in 2023.

Firdavs Khaydarov (Behavior Analysis) received a Comer Teaching Award in October 2023.

Kaley Potter (Clinical) received a Comer Teaching Award in October 2023.

Ashley Douglas (Behavioral Neuroscience) was awarded the best poster at the T32 Training Program Symposium on May 17, 2023

Jennifer Kelleher
(Clinical Child) received the Don Hake Award for an Outstanding Graduate Career in April 2023

Olivia Harvey (Behavior Analysis) was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant in Psychology by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences (April 2023)

Two Students were 2023 recipients of the Graduate Student Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Marisela Aguilar (Behavior Analysis)  and Firdavs Khaydarov (Behavior Analysis) (April 2023)

The 2023 recipients of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award were  Ashley Douglas (Behavioral Neuroscience) and Kelly Smith (Life Span Developmental Psychology)

The Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service in 2023 was given to Erika Fenstermacher (Clinical Psychology)

A Carl del Signore Foundation Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Lillian Skiba-Thayer, a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program area (November 2021)

Olivia Harvey (Behavior Analysis) received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (November 2022)

Rebecca Caughron Chalme (Behavior Analysis) received an Innovative Student Dissertation Grant from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (June 2022)

Kelly Smith (Life Span Developmental Psychology) was recognized as the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (April 2022).

Michelle Frankot (Behavioral Neuroscience), Robin Han (Clinical Child), and Gabby Ponzini (Clinical) are the 2022 recipients of Don Hake Awards for Outstanding Graduate Careers (April, 2022)

The 2022 recipient of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award is Robin Han (Clinical Child) 

The Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service in 2022 was given to Amanda Chappell (Life Span Developmental Psychology)

Cecelia Nelson (Clinical Child) was the runner-up winner of the Routh Student Research Grant from the Society of Pediatric Psychology to support her project entitled “Associations Among Psychosocial Factors, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Adherence in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.” (December 2021)

Carl del Signore Foundation Graduate Scholarship was awarded to Montgomery Owsiany, a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program area (November 2021)

Haleh Amanieh (Behavior Analysis), Amanda Chappell (Life Span Developmental Psychology), and Kelly Smith (Life Span Developmental Psychology) received Philip E. Comer Awards for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (November 2021).

Alexa Ebert (Clinical) was awarded a Diversity in Research and Education Scholarship from the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Program at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center (August 2021).

Rebecca Chalmé, M.S., was selected as student member of the Communications Committee of APA's Division 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) (August 2021)

Recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s 2021 Violet and Cyril Franks Scholarship is Gabriella Ponzini (Clinical).

Paige Currie (Behavior Analysis) and Jennifer Kelleher (Clinical Child) received James Stevenson Scholarships in support of their research from WVU's Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Training Program (May 2021)

The Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis (SABA) selected Paige Currie as recipient of an Innovative Student Research, Master's Grant

The 2021 Velma Miller/West Virginia Alliance for Women’s and Gender Studies Award went to Alexa Ebert, a student in the Clinical Training Area of Emphasis (May 2021)

Kelsey Evey (Clinical), Katya Nolder (Behavior Analysis), and Catherine Williams (Behavior Analysis) received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (March 2021).

Gabriella Ponzini, a Clinical psychology doctoral student, was this year's recipient of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award (March 2021).

Three Students were this year's recipients for the Diversity Award: Corrine Ahrabi-Nejad (Clinical Child), Alexandria Ebert (Clinical) and Christopher Owen (Clinical Child) (March 2021).

Three graduate students received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Career in April 2021, including: Stephanie Jones  (Behavior Analysis) , Brian Katz (Behavior Analysis), and Mira Snider (Clinical Child) (March 2021).

Alaina Tiani  (Clinical) received the WVU Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship. OGEL provides these awards to help these highly qualified students defray the costs of their education and promote the dissemination of their research to a broader audience (February 2021).

Rebecca Caughron Chalmé   (Behavior Analysis) received the Carl Del Signore Foundation Scholarship.   OGEL provides these awards to help these highly qualified students defray the costs of their education and promote the dissemination of their research to a broader audience (February 2021).

Casey Wright (Clinical) received a F99/K00 award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (November 2020). The award provides funding to complete his doctoral training and provide postdoctoral support to launch his research career.

Rachael Spalding  (Clinical) received the Student Research Award from the Society of Clinical Geropsychology (May 2020).

Kristine Durkin
(Clinical Child) was awarded an F31 fellowship by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She will lead a two-year study that will recruit adolescents from cystic fibrosis clinics at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, as well as four additional out-of-state hospitals (Apriil 2020) .

Corey Lieneman (Clinical Child) Won both 1st place AND People's Choice Award in the 2020 WVU 3MT Competition for her project entitled "Emotion Regulation in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). (April 2020)

Ilana Haliwa and Ashley Douglas (Behavioral Neuroscience) have received James Stevenson Scholarships in support of their research from WVU's Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Training Program! (April 2020)

Four graduate students received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Career in April 2020, including: Kristine Durkin (Clinical Child), Corey Lieneman (Clinical Child), Natalie Shuler (Behavior Analysis), and Casey Wright (Clinical). (March 2020).

Victoria DiSciullo,  
a Clinical Child psychology doctoral student, was this year's recipient of the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service (March 2020).

Rachael Spalding, a Clinical psychology doctoral student, and Catherine Williams, a Behavior Analysis psychology doctoral Student, were this year's recipients of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award (March 2020).

Amanda Chappell,   a Life-Span Developmental doctoral student, was selected to attend the 2020 Summer School in Social Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics at Duke University (January 2020).  

Devin Galdieri & Cory Whirtley received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (November 2019). 

Cory Whirtley received the 2019  Eberly College Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award (November 2019). 

Recipient of an American Psychological Foundation 2019 Ungerleider/Zimbardo Travel Scholarship, Rachel Spalding will attend the APA Convention in Chicago to present her thesis research in August.

Katelyn Romm won third place in the 2019 Three-Minute Thesis Competition at WVU (April 2019).

Five graduate students received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Career in March 2019, including: Matthew Eckard  (Behavior Analysis), Anthony Oliver (Behavior Analysis), Katelyn Romm, (Life-Span Developmental Psychology), Kristen Trexler, (Behavioral Neuroscience), and Desiree Williford (Clinical Child).

Natalie Shuler, 
a Behavior Analysis psychology doctoral student, was this year's recipient of the Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service (March 2019).

Natalie Shuler, a Behavior Analysis psychology doctoral student, and Katelyn Romm, a Life-Span Psychology doctoral Student, were this year's recipients of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award (March 2019).

Psi Chi and the Eastern Psychological Association awarded a Regional Research Award to Jerin Lee (January 2019).

Katelyn Romm
received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (January 2019).

A Student Travel Award from the Society of Pediatric Psychology was received by Jarred Gallegos to present his work (January 2019).

Carl del Signore Foundation Graduate Scholarships were awarded to Alaina Tiani, a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program area, Ilana Haliwa, a graduate student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program area, and Michaela Reardon, a graduate student in the Life Span Developmental Psychology program area (December 2018).

Katelyn Romm, a graduate student in the Life-Span Developmental Psychology program area, and Matthew Arias, a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology program area, received WVU Foundation Distinguished Doctoral Scholarships (December 2018).

Casey Wright, a graduate student in the Clinical program area, received an F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health (August 2018).

Kristine Durkin, with her faculty mentor, Christina Duncan, received a grant from the Research and Innovation Services Connect+ funding program of the University of Stirling in Scotland.  The grant supported their trip to Scotland to learn more about their healthcare system and how best to translate research to support future grant proposals (August 2018).

Two Clinical Child students received honors from Divisions of the American Psychological Association in June 2018. Carrie Jackson received a Student Achievement Award from the Society for Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology (Division 53) and Desiree Williford was appointed to the Student Advisory Board Membership Committee of the Society of Pediatric Psychology (Division 54)!

Cory Whirtley and Catherine Stephens, Behavior Analysis students, won Innovative Student Research Awards from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis in May 2018.

First place honors for a poster submission went to Jonathan Stoltman and his colleagues during the 2018 Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

The National Registrar of Health Service Psychologists awarded both Lauren Quetsch and Julie Lutz National Psychologist Trainee Register Credentialing Scholarships in April of 2018.

Holly Fitzgerald received an Honorable Mention for her application to the Graduate Research Fellowship Program of the National Science Foundation (March 2018).

Katy Delong, Anthony Oliver, and Forrest Toegel, received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (March 2018).

Jenny Ozga, a Behavior Analysis doctoral student , received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Study in (March 2018).

Jonathan Stoltman, a Life-Span Developmental doctoral student, was selected to attend the 2018 DART Summer Research Fellowship program at Medical University of South Carolina (March 2018).  

Ellen Manegold, a Clinical Child doctoral student, and Katelyn Romm , a Life-Span Developmental doctoral student, received the Department of Psychology’s Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service (March 2018).

Jenny Ozga, a Behavior Analysis doctoral student, was this year's recipient of the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award (March 2018).

Christopher O'Hearn  r eceived a Southern Regional Education Board fellow ship. The fellowship will support him through 5 years of his doctoral education (October 2017).

Cameron Randall received the Mitchell Max Award for Research Excellence at the Pain Consortium Symposium of the National Institutes of Health (May 2017).

Matt Eckard and Kristen Trexler were recipients of Stevenson Scholarships for their research in fields relating to behavioral and biomedical sciences at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center.

A paper published in the Journal of Dental Research in October by Cameron Randall received the Giddon Award for Distinguished Research in the Behavioral Sciences from the International Association for Dental Research (March 2017).

Julie Lutz, a Clinical doctoral student , received the Barry Edelstein Student Research Award for her master’s thesis, "Perceived Burdensomeness in Older and Younger Adults: Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire" (March 2017).

Amy Knepple Carney, a Life-Span Developmental doctoral student, received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (March 2017).

Abigail Nehrkorn, a Life-Span Developmental doctoral student, received the Department of Psychology’s Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service (March 2017).

Sarah Addicks, a Clinical Psychology doctoral student, received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Study in March 2017.

Tyia Wilson was selected for the 2017 Frances Degen Horowitz Millennium Scholars Program of the Society of Research in Child Development (January 2017).

Emma Katz , a graduate student in Clinical program area, was selected as Co-Chair of the Student Leadership Task Force for Psychologists in Long Term Care (PLTC) in December 2016. PLTC is a national organization dedicated to the enhancement of mental health and quality of life for those in long-term care through practice, research and advocacy.

Carrie Jackson was selected as Student Communications Officer of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) in November 2016.

The Division 18 Psychologists in Public Service Student Award was awarded to  Christina Patton at the APA Convention in Denver (August 2016).

Molly Crowe received the ICRS Scientific Achievement Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society for her paper “MAGL inhibition synergistically potentiates the antiallodynic effects of gabapentin and diclofenac” which was judged as outstanding at the ICRS2016 meeting in Bukovina, Poland. (June 2016).

Nicholas Felicione, a graduate student in the Behavioral Neuroscience area, received for the second straight year a STEM Mountains of Excellence Scholarship for his research addressing health disparities in Appalachia (May 2016).

Patricia Hopkins, a Clinical doctoral student, received the 2016 APS Rise Awards for her poster entitled “Ethnic Identity as a Protective factor against negative psychological outcomes in African Americans” (April 2016).

Rebecca Delaney and  Nancy Wallace received the Department of Psychology’s Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Service (March 2016).

Christina Patton received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Study in March 2016.

The 3rd-place finish in the Eberly College Three-MinuteThesis (3MT) competition went to Christina Patton for her presentation entitled “The Influence of Police Profanity on Public Perception of Excessive Force.”

Rebecca Delaney received the Barry Edelstein Student Research Award for her master’s thesis, “Variations in decision-making profiles by age and gender: A cluster analytic approach,” published in Personality and Individual Differences (March 2016).

Rebecca Delaney received a WVU Foundation Doctoral Scholarship to support her research and scholarship (February, 2016).

Rebecca Delaney and  Tyler Nighbor, received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching (February 2016).

Tyler Nighbor was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award by the Eberly College of Arts and Science (February 2106).

Derrick Ward, a graduate student in the clinical doctoral program, was awarded a Mamie Phipps Clark research grant for his research focusing on diversity issues from the Diversity Committee of the Psi Chi: The International Honor Society in Psychology (December. 2015).

Derrick Ward, a second year graduate student in the Clinical Doctoral program, won Mountaineer Idol (November 2015).

Amy Knepple Carney, a graduate student in the life-span developmental doctoral program, has been elected to serve a two year term (2015-2017) as the ESPO representative to the membership committee of the Gerontological Society of America (August, 2015).

Rebecca Delaney, a graduate student in life-span developmental, has been elected to serve on the Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ) Student Advisory Board (SAB) (June 2015).

Rebecca Delaney, a graduate student in the life-span developmental area, has received a grant from the American Psychological Association to support her travel to present a paper at the APA Convention in August (May, 2015).

Nicholas Felicione, a graduate student in the Behavioral Neuroscience area, received a STEM Mountains of Excellence Scholarship for his research addressing health disparities in Appalachia (April 2015).

Meagan Ramsey and  Margo Szabo received the Don Hake Award for Outstanding Graduate Study in April 2015.

Elizabeth Yale Babskie was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award by the Eberly College of Arts and Science in April 2015.

Meagan Ramsey,  Elizabeth Yale Babskie, Rachel Stoiko and  Nipat Pichayayothin Bock received the Philip E. Comer Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching in April 2015.

Molly Crowe, a graduate student in the behavioral neuroscience area, received the Barry Edelstein Graduate Student Research Award for her master’s thesis, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology (March 2015).

Apral Foreman, a student in the Behavioral Analysis program area, was a grant recipient from the Association for Behavior Analysis International.

Marissa Turturici, a student in the Behavioral Analysis program area, was a grant recipient from the Association for Behavior Analysis International.

Holly Hunsberger, a graduate student in the Behavioral Neuroscience program area, received an Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) Young Investigator Scholarship. Holly has won this Scholarship for the last two years, 2014 and 2015.

Cameron Randall, a graduate student in the Clinical program area, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Cameron Randall, a graduate student in the Clinical program Area received the WVU Foundation Distinguished Doctoral Scholarship in December 2014.