A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Keough examined how experience with speech-related airflow affects whether we use it to discriminate between sounds. She showed that while adults can use airflow cues even in novel situations, the ability likely arises through developmental experience. Her work helps us understand how interactions with the world shape our perception of speech. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Soleymanian studied Usage-Based Auto Insurance in which drivers allow their private data to be monitored in return for potential lower premiums. He found that monitored motorists became safer and earned discounts, but more readily dropped out when their privacy concerns were raised, suggesting a complex link among privacy, price, and public policy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Marketing (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Heim studied the role of intonation in Canadian English for the negotiation of shared beliefs. He discovered that the shape of the sentence melody correlates with the interpretation of the speaker's confidence and their response expectation. This study sheds a new light on how speakers encode their attitudes and intentions in conversation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Song examined the newly created autonomy among female Catholic virgins of nineteenth-century Korea under the intensified control of French missionaries. This research invalidated the established conclusion in Korean history that Catholicism liberated Korean women and contributed to destroying the patriarchy in Choson Korea. | Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD) |
| 2019 | If automation is inevitable, one must either fear it or embrace it; Dr. Christy believes the latter. His research focuses on bringing automation to the pulp and paper industry. He developed a spectroscopic method to predict product quality based on in-process pulp, and deployed it in a pilot plant. His goal is a full-scale mill implementation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Chang studied vine copulas, a hierarchical graphic tool used in statistics and probability distributions. He found that vine copulas relax the restrictive assumptions in classical multivariate Gaussian elliptical dependence. This work can be applied to machine learning and used in real-world data sets such as stock indices and weather. | Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Half of our DNA is self-replicating, "jumping genes" called transposable elements (TEs), a fifth of which are genetic fossils of ancient retroviruses. Dr. Babaian explored how these normally repressed viral genes are resurrected in human cancers, and how this re-activation drives the evolution of novel cancer-promoting genes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Lardizabal developed a new prostate cancer mouse model that can effectively and efficiently test new drugs and therapies against prostate cancer. His contribution can potentially provide prostate cancer patients with more treatment options by getting proven effective drugs and therapies into clinical trials faster. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Khosravi developed high-speed imaging systems and algorithms to study combustion inside an engine. His work helps provide more insight into modern combustion strategies and to further optimize these strategies for cleaner and more efficient power delivery in combustion engines. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Maestre led the first human clinical study to provide evidence of respiratory and systemic adverse effects of phthalate inhalation in susceptible populations. Phthalates are chemicals linked to detrimental health effects, but their use remains unrestricted. This research can assist regulatory agencies and potentially influence policy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Suh examined chamber music which was loved by the upper-middle class audiences in eighteenth and nineteenth century Korea. She brought light to the chamber music scenes through the position of musicians, placing musical issues as a window through which to explore the multiple realities of the pre-modern Korean society. | Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Studies (PhD) |
| 2019 | Understanding rock structure in engineering is key to building safe structures. Dr. Karimi Sharif developed an approach to better understand the failure mechanisms with naturally fractured rock masses. Her work uses numerical models to simplify the integration of discrete fracture networks and will inform future structural design. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mining Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Skaien studied the relationship between natural selection and genetic variation through observing local deer and seablush, a flowering species native to western North America. Her results illustrate the effect of natural selection by browsing deer on this species' ability to persist in the face of natural and human-induced environmental change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2019 | A controlled CD4+ T cell response is essential for protective immunity against influenza. Dr. Fonseca showed that CD4+ T cells are modulated by the infection-induced cytokine IL-27 and dynamic histone modifications during infection. Her work provides insight into the mechanisms that balance effective immunity and immunopathology during disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology and Immunology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Basham studied practices of knowledge production and definitions of expertise in technical encyclopedias from seventeenth-century China. Using a military encyclopedia as a case study, she argued that Chinese readers in this period defined expertise as mastery of text-based knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to state policy. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Zhang studied how institutional investors, such as mutual funds, specialize in a different class of assets. Based on empirical evidence, he developed a model that relates an institution's investment horizon with the characteristics of its stock holdings. His work contributes to the understanding of the behavior of financial institutions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration in Finance (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Defrenne showed that tree species can adjust to climate through their fine roots and associated symbiotic fungi, called mycorrhizal fungi. Her research on Douglas-fir suggests that the success of Douglas-fir as climate changes and stress increases may be dependent on maintaining strong associations with local communities of mycorrhizal fungi. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. DeBoer examined whether, why, and how businesses approach environmental sustainability initiatives in the US pulp and paper industry. This research advances our understanding of the factors that influence the adoption and implementation of environmental initiatives, as well as compliance with environmental regulation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Wu researched on the theory of Poetic Inquiry and conducted a poetic inquiry of his own experience in language. Poetic Inquiry is seemingly about ourselves, but it extends to people around us and the world. Poetic inquirers write about themselves to explore the nature of being human. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Arman made several contributions to the area of compressed sensing. He proposed a new class of matrices, generalized a method of quantization, and showed the classical bounds on one of the main features of deterministic matrices in compressed sensing can be improved. Compressed sensing is used in signal processing, statistics and computer science. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Hetherington's research focused on improving performance and energy efficiency in datacenters. He proposed novel software and hardware systems, demonstrating the potential for a broader scope of important applications to benefit from efficient graphics processing units. His work can help reduce the environmental impacts of datacenters. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Zhao investigated the fertility processes of Chinese immigrants in Canada. Her Embodied Dynamic model explains institutional, relational, and situational dynamics that shape how people cope simultaneously with immigration and childbearing. She argued how immigrants are received and screened channel them into different reproduction paths. | Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Mineral carbonation is a carbon storage process that converts CO2 into harmless carbonates. Dr. Wang confirmed that it is possible to recover valuable metals released from silicate minerals during mineral carbonation. This research bridges the technology gap between mineral carbonation and metal recovery enhancement in mineral industries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Scribner demonstrated the effect of contamination on the mineralogy of the Rau pegmatite group. Her research provides strong evidence that contamination has a more prominent influence on the chemical signature of pegmatites than previously recognized. She also developed a validated assessment to measure learning gains in mineralogy courses. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geological Sciences (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Herculano developed a novel method for evaluating the enzymatic activity of Beta-secretase in living cells, making it easier to test new treatments for Alzheimer's Disease in laboratory settings. He also studied the effects of point mutations in familial cases of Multiple Sclerosis and how they can contribute to the onset of the disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |