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| Click the image above to see the flyer for the Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium |
PULLMAN, Wash. More than 50 outstanding students from over 30 universities have spent their summer on the Washington State University Pullman campus conducting research and attending workshops in science, technology and engineering fields.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, in the atrium of the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE), the results of the students’ work will be featured at a poster session entitled “Summer 2012 Undergraduate Research Symposium.” The public is invited to attend at no charge.
More than 40 faculty members worked with the students from May through July on various projects and efforts involving everything from air quality to biofuel emissions, and from nanoporous materials to respiratory disease pathogens. Four were Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs funded by the National Science Foundation; two others had funding from the USDA, and the rest had support from various grants and continuing research.
The projects, efforts, and their principal investigators, include:
- “Regional Atmospheric Chemistry,” an REU in the Laboratory for Atmospheric Research in the College of Engineering and Architecture, led by Shelley Pressley, assistant research professor, and Shane Brown, assistant professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
- “Introduction to Multi-Scale Engineering,” an REU in mechanical engineering, led by Cecelia Richards, professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- “Characterization of Advanced Materials,” an REU in materials science engineering, led by Dave Bahr, director and professor, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- “Plant Genomics and Biotechnology,” an REU in horticulture, led by Amit Dhingra, associate professor, Department of Horticulture
- “The Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA),” an intercollegiate effort funded by the USDA and led at WSU by Bahr and Michael Wolcott, professor, CEE
- “Chemistry Summer Experience,” led by Jim Brozik, associate professor, and Lori Bruce, principal assistant of materials science program, in Department of Chemistry
- A project in the Institute of Biological Chemistry, led by Sanja Roje, associate professor, and David Gang, associate scientist, in the institute
- “Regional Approaches to Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest (REACCH),” an intercollegiate effort funded by the USDA in the LAR, with student advising at WSU by Brian Lamb, Regents Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the LAR; a co-PI at the University of Idaho is Jodi Johnson-Maynard, associate professor of soil science, and Marijka Haverhal, summer internship coordinator
- “Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF),” in pharmacology/toxicology, led by Raymond Quock, Allen I. White Distinguished Professor and chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and
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Special research in animal science, led by Holly Neibergs, assistant professor and scientist in the Department of Animal Sciences
“WSU has had the pleasure of welcoming undergraduates to our campus and our many research activities for several past summers, and every year we are pleased at the intelligence and enthusiasm the students bring to the program and how they help us advance our work,” said Shelley Pressley, director of undergraduate research for University College, who helps to facilitate all of the programs and organizes the poster capstone presentation.
Brown-bag sessions
Another aspect of this summer programming involves informal brown-bag sessions presented by faculty mentors. During one of the brown-bag sessions, Timothy VanReken, assistant professor in CEE and a LAR researcher, talked about his research involving particulate matter released into the air by pine trees and finding the right fit for graduate school. Dave Bahr shared insights into the wide variety of graduate programs at universities and selecting the right one for each individual’s needs during another session. Both VanReken and Bahr are faculty advisors to summer researchers.
Universities participating
Students participating in WSU research this year come from a wide variety of universities, including Yale, Columbia, Princeton, University of Chicago, Washington University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Oregon State, Pacific Lutheran, Claremont McKenna College, Yakima Valley Community College, Fort Valley State University, California Polytechnic University, Northwest Indian College, University of California-Berkeley, and others.
Click the following link for a book featuring abstracts of the posters. More information about the researchers, the brown-bag presentations, and links to the programs are available here.