UMass Boston Students Participate in the 14th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference
Twenty-seven UMass Boston undergraduate students, representing a variety of academic disciplines and colleges, presented the results of their original work in oral and poster presentations during the Fourteenth Annual Undergraduate Research Conference, held at UMass Amherst on Friday, May 2. Each year, the University Honors Program coordinates UMass Boston's delegation to this conference, which is sponsored by the Massachusetts Public System of Higher Education and the Commonwealth College at UMass Amherst. This year, more than 400 students from twenty-eight public institutions of higher education in Massachusetts participated.
The conference is an opportunity for students to learn to present academic work and experiences in a formal setting and to receive feedback from scholars in their fields. It also serves as an occasion for students to learn about each other's work and to make connections across disciplines. This year’s conference featured two keynote speakers, Raymond Bradley, a UMass Amherst professor who spoke to conference-goers about climate change, and Amilcar Shabazz, a professor of Afro-American studies, also from UMass Amherst.
A sampling of research topics explored by UMass Boston students this year included: the impact of a student magazine on a commuter campus, anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder, citizenship and race in America, a GIS-based system for Winthrop's first-responders and decision-makers during a flood evacuation, and an atomic force microscopy investigation of amyloid fibrillogenesis.
Davin Watson, a senior, presented his work “Structure/Function Studies of Three Metal Ion Assisted Catalysis” as part of a biochemistry panel. Watson presented alongside a civil engineering student from UMass Amherst. When asked about the faculty members whom she collaborated with on her research project, “Surface Analysis of Carbon Studied for Hydrogen Storage,” Catharine Sauer noted, “I work with the dream team,” referring to Professor Michelle Foster and Professor Deyang Qu, both of the Chemistry Department. Sauer will continue working with this team as a graduate student in chemistry this fall. Charlene Nastwold, a psychology major, showcased her research, “The Effect of Tilt on the Visual Salience of Faces in 5-Month-Old Infants” at an afternoon poster session. Nastwold will begin graduate research in learning sciences at the University of Indiana this fall.
Throughout the day, many students reflected upon their experiences as undergraduate student researchers. “Research experience at UMass Boston has helped me to learn more than I would ever learn from just a lecture—it has provided me with the experience I need for my future work and research world,” said Anastasia Sobolyeva, a chemistry major, who presented the results of her research at an afternoon poster session.
Student research is not entirely science-focused. Patrick Brand, a Spanish major who will pursue graduate studies at Ohio State University this fall, presented his work, “Division of Labor in the Resolution of Spanish Anaphora,” as part of a panel presentation, and Kathryn Danckert, a history major, presented her thesis research, “Vindicating the Wretched: The Theories of Mary Wollstonecraft and Frantz Fanon in Comparative Perspective.”
"This opportunity to present their research—whether in the sciences or the humanities—trains students to distill their findings to a concise 10-minute presentation. This is not an easy task, because they are learning how to extract the essence of their year-long exploration into a few salient points,” said Rajini Srikanth, professor of English and director of the University Honors Program. “Furthermore, presenting at the conference teaches them how to craft a compelling narrative about their very specialized study and deliver the key points to both specialized and non-specialized audiences. I am always impressed by how articulate and confident our students are."
For more information about the conference, please visit: http://webapp.comcol.umass.edu/msc/about.aspx