By Bev Makhani, Office of Undergraduate Education
PULLMAN, Wash. – More than 250 Washington State University students will participate in the seventh annual Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, 3:30-5 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the CUB M.G. Carey Senior Ballroom.
The event is open to the public from at no charge. An awards ceremony will follow in the CUB Auditorium.
Undergraduate research
“SURCA 2018 will be packed with unique and interesting presentations on research, scholarship and creative activities that students have conducted with mentors from fields all across WSU,” said Shelley Pressley, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, the SURCA host. “Most judging will be complete when the doors open to the public that Monday. We welcome guests to come and talk to the presenters and learn about the important contributions they are making to research at WSU and to their disciplines.”
Students from all years in college and WSU campuses were eligible to submit abstracts about their work and results. A SURCA committee, made up of faculty and staff, evaluated every abstract to determine who would present.
STEM, Humanities, Social Science
The SURCA website will feature the 2018 abstract book. Following are a few examples of students’ topics:
- The basking behavior of post-breeding frogs.
- The need for better maternity hospital gowns.
- Salt-sugar-slavery connections in colonial Jamaica.
- Effects of human/calf interactions.
- Role of proteins in ear-hair regeneration.
- A visual representation of “Women of Wazzu.
- The internal composition of “ice giant” exoplanets.
- Association of the TNXB gene with dairy-sheep milk production.
SURCA process and sponsors
SURCA presenters participate in research with a mentor. Poster presentations are in eight categories that cover all disciplines at WSU. In-person and virtual presentations will be evaluated by volunteering faculty, postdocs and guest experts from the community using a rubric judging form.
Based on scores, up to four types of awards may be given in each category: Crimson (highest), Gray (second highest), Early Career (freshmen and sophomores), and Novice Researcher (students with two or less semesters invested in research).
Awards sponsors for SURCA 2018 include Alturas Analytics, Inc.; The Boeing Co.; alumnus Robert H. and Mary L. Rieck, from Richland; the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship (WSOS) program; and the WSU Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President.
Personal, academic growth
“SURCA gives students tremendous opportunities to grow personally and academically,” said Mary Sánchez Lanier, assistant vice provost. “Every presenter must refine and organize knowledge gleaned from months and even years of work with a research mentor. Students must prepare detailed posters and deliver concise speeches to tell audiences — both lay and from their fields — about their work and results. At the event itself, participants can also learn about a myriad of subjects being investigated by their peers.
“Participants from years past tell us that their understanding of the scope of their work as well as their commitment to research was deepened by their SURCA experience.”
WSU Showcase event
SURCA is the concluding event in this year’s Showcase calendar. [https://showcase.wsu.edu/]
Contact:
Shelley Pressley, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, part of WSU Undergraduate Education, 509-335-5443, spressley@wsu.edu
