News and Information
2022 MAGS Distinguished Master's Thesis Award Nominees Announced
November 02, 2021
Two GVSU alumni have been nominated for the Midwest Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Distinguished Master’s Thesis Awards.
The MAGS Distinguished Master’s Thesis Awards recognizes and rewards notable scholarship and research at the master’s level. The GVSU Thesis Review Committee has selected Nicholas Preville and Julie Oosterink for their master’s theses.
Preville received his Master of Science in Biology degree in 2019. His thesis, Habitat Use and Tributary Occupancy of the Threatened River Redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum) in the Grand River, MI, USA, is the nominee for the Biological and Life Sciences category.
Oosterink received her Master of Arts in English degree in 2019. Her thesis, “Arriving at Your Own Door”: Transnational Identity Formation in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, is the nominee for the Humanities and Fine Arts category.
The review committee deemed both theses to be the strongest representation of GVSU's graduate student thesis work from the past two academic years. Dr. Eric Snyder, Professor of Biology and Graduate Program Director of the Master of Biology program at GVSU, wrote in support of Preville’s work, “He has presented the results of his research at multiple local, State, and National venues… He is an excellent public speaker and has a unique and effective way of connecting with his audience.”
Dr. Robert Rozema, Professor of English and thesis committee member, wrote in support of Oosterink’s work, “…she writes exceptionally clearly, with the intent to communicate. Though literary analysis sometimes privileges obfuscation and indirection, Julie’s prose is eminently readable and engaging, without sacrificing subtlety.”
The MAGS winners will be announced in early 2022. Congratulations to both Nicholas and Julie!