Roever receives Lydecker Student Research Award 

April 21, 2022 – Senior Dan Roever has been named the recipient of the 2022 Drs. Ann and William Lydecker Student Research Award at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Each year since 2011, the Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity (URSCA) Office has recognized an outstanding undergraduate’s research efforts coupled with service to and/or involvement in UW-River Falls. 

The award was created by William (Bill) Lydecker, now deceased, to honor his late wife Ann, UWRF chancellor from 2000-04, who died in a car accident south of River Falls in March 2004. Ann was the university’s first woman chancellor.

Roever, of River Falls, will graduate in May with majors in neuroscience and psychology with an emphasis in mental health.

“I was pretty surprised by the award,” Roever said of the $1,066 he received. “I feel honored.”

He has been active in both collaborative and independent research. Roever’s independent research includes:

• A Friend in Need: Investigating Empathy and Prosocial Behavior Utilizing Rat Models: For this project, rats are placed in an arena containing another restrained rat, and the free rat is provided the opportunity to release its trapped counterpart. Previously, rats have been shown to release the trapped rat despite it being a distressful endeavor, an act which is believed to reflect the experience of empathy. The research expands on this work by seeking limits to this behavior by introducing factors such as aversive stimuli, examining the morphology of the animal’s neural tissue, and expanding the paradigm for use with mouse models.  
   
• The Role of Chronic Caffeine Administration on the Attenuation of Depressive Behaviors in Long Evans Rats: In the research, rats are subjected to a chronic unpredictable stress model, followed by a regiment of caffeine treatments to determine if caffeine may mitigate the effects of stress and might be a useful addition to treatment approaches for major depressive disorder.
   
• Effects of Nucleus Accumbens Inhibition on the Expression of Stress Induced Behavioral Sensitizations: Drug addiction is a major health concern, and research indicates people exposed to stress are more susceptible than others. This experiment seeks to determine if inactivating the Nucleus Accumbens will prevent the expression of stress-induced behavioral sensitization in response to nicotine.

Roever presented at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, Research in the Rotunda, the Midwest Psychological Association Conference and the UWRF Falls Gala. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society and Psi Chi National Honors Society for Psychology, serving as the current president, and is a part of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, the UWRF Honors Program and is the current club president of the UWRF Psychological Sciences Club. He is a member of the Student Undergraduate, Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Council (SURSCA) and is the current president. He is also a member of the Midwest Psychological Association and the Society for Neuroscience.

Following graduation, Roever will continue to work on research projects at UWRF and plans to volunteer with area mental health groups.

His goal is to attend graduate school to become a clinical psychologist.

He at first got involved with lab research work because he knew he needed the experience to get into graduate school.

“I found out I enjoyed doing research,” he noted. “I have always liked psychology and am interested in why people do what they do. I also like to help people. It was a natural fit.”

He chose UWRF because it was close to his home and affordable. He also enjoys having the opportunities to do undergraduate research. Roever is the Neuroscience Lab and Animal Colonies, instructor, caretaker and coordinator for professors James Cortright and Daniel Ehlinger. He is responsible for the care of the animals and keeping the lab clean and organized.