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.