NORTHERN TODAY 15 SPRING 2015 THAT DEXTERITY comes in handy for identifying the cast skins of mosquito-like aquatic flies called Chironomidae by mounting them on microscope slides. This painstaking step is part of a research project for Northern State University’s Dr. Alyssa Ander- son. Anderson won NSU’s 2014 Nora Staael Evert Research Award for her efforts with this project, titled “Analysis of Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) Diversity and Community Composition in Brown County, S.D.” Anderson, assistant professor of biology, and NSU environmental studies student Nathan Roberts, recipient of an NSU Undergraduate Research Award, are collecting Chironomidae from six sites along the Elm and James rivers in Brown County. Chironomidae, also called non-biting midges, are a good indicator of water quality, and the project seeks to determine the qual- ity of those waterways. Rather than collecting the entire fly, they collect the skins (called exuviae) that are left behind floating on the water’s surface as the fly transitions from the pupal to adult life-stage. Anderson and Nathan Roberts are still in the process of identifying samples. Once they collect them, they have to sort them and divide them into morphological groups. Then comes the slide mounting of the skins, which is key to identifi- cation. They presented preliminary findings at the 2015 annual meeting of the Society for Freshwater Sci- ence in late May. Anderson joined Northern’s faculty in December 2012. A native of Lake Crystal, Minn., she received her bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in entomology, with a graduate minor in conservation biology, from the University of Minnesota. She currently serves as co-editor of the CHIRONOMUS Journal of Chironomi- dae Research. Separately, Anderson is also working on a methods paper with a video component on collecting Chi- ronomidae skins. She also recently had a paper published in Aquatic Insects on the longevity of the winter-emerging species, Diamesa mendotae Muttkowski. And she is collaborating with colleagues at the University of Minnesota on research regarding the winter diet of trouts. The Nora Staael Evert Research Award, funded through a Northern State University Foundation grant, provides a summer stipend to support faculty engaged in scholarly research projects. The 2015 winner was recently selected: Dr. Abdullah Albizri, assistant professor of man- agement information systems in the NSU School of Business, received the award for his project, titled “Using Large-scale Feature Construction and Selection for Financial Fraud Detection.” Albizri’s project will extend research on financial fraud detec- tion by identifying research gaps and focusing on answering salient research questions, according to in- formation he provided for the award application. The project aims to suggest design guidelines to improve financial fraud detection systems, which will benefit stakeholders such as investors, board directors and auditors. After collecting data and analyzing results, Albizri ultimately plans to submit a paper to a journal. STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Anderson collecting Chironomidae as part of research award project Ecological research requires a particular set of skills – in some cases, the precision of a neurosurgeon. THE COMMON MISCONCEPTION is that local businesses with local customers don’t need to do online marketing. But that has changed, and customers search for local businesses online, even if they intend to visit them, explained Kinyanjui. If they don’t find your information online, they’ll likely look for another business. “People don’t do window shopping anymore,” she said. Kinyanjui won an NSU undergraduate competitive research grant to dive further into this topic. Her project, “Using Big Data and Business Intelligence to Optimize Digital Marketing for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs),” also won her the runnerup spot in the university’s recent undergraduate research competition. Her mentor is NSU business faculty member Scott Peterson. Kinyanjui’s research aims to determine the best digital marketing practices, competitive strategies and advertising platforms for small to medium-sized businesses that have a local customer base. She’s using data mining to compare social media marketing, search engine advertising, online business directories and private business websites and applications. Kinyanjui will compile her data and develop a model that she will have a few businesses apply, and she’ll follow up to see what’s working and what’s not. She’ll present her findings on campus before ultimately presenting them at the International Business Conference this fall. Kinyanjui will graduate from NSU in December 2015 with a management information systems degree and a minor in computer science. She plans to go to graduate school and pursue a career in technology. Ruth Kinyanjui “People don’t do window shopping anymore.” Assistant professor of biology and environmental studies Assistant professor of management information systems in the School of Business Dr. Alyssa Anderson Dr. Abdullah Albizri NSU STUDENT RESEARCHES ONLINE MARKETING FOR BUSINESSES All businesses need an online presence, even if their customer base is local, said Northern State University School of Business student Ruth Kinyanjui.
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