WSU’s Academic Showcase 2009 drew strong attendance from 9 a.m. to noon as it featured with approximately 350 scholarly and creative displays in Bohler Gymnasium. (View photos taken by Shelly Hanks, WSU Photo Services in the media box to the right. Simply click on the photos to enlarge them.)
Hundreds of visitors crowded the busy aisles, viewing the largest research poster session ever held on the WSU campus all of it conducted by WSU faculty, students and staff.
“Fabulous, absolutely fabulous,” said Mary Sanchez-Lanier, chair of the Academic Showcase committee. “The diversity of our research is so exciting, and to be able to talk with people outside my department was wonderful.”
From undergraduate student researchers to full professors, from administrative staff to research scientists, presenters were eager to explain everything from why sub-lethal pesticides might contribute to colony collapse, to the proper posture for superior trumpet performance, to why whiplash injuries might vary significantly from person to person.
Sanchez-Lanier, associate dean in the College of Sciences, said she spent the morning learning about research areas as diverse as metallurgy, dioxins, and Part D of the Medicare plan.
“There’s never enough time,” she said, and laughed. “It’s just not possible.”
Indeed, even as the posters were coming down and refreshments were being wheeled away, spectators and researchers like Timothy Lyons, a psychology undergraduate, continued to talk.
But, alas, the displays and equipment had to be taken down and moved, so Bohler could be quickly transformed from a research hall into a volleyball venue.
“I’d stay here all day,” Lyons said. “I’m having a great time talking to people.”
John Winder, associate dean for WSU Extension, said he has been on Academic Showcase committee for several years and has seen interest grow every year. “I think the presenters need to be commended for the quality of the abstracts and also for the posters,” he said. “Every year they are getting better and better.”
This year the committee received about 450 submissions and was forced to winnow the number down to about 350 accepted abstracts, mostly because of space considerations.
A list of the Showcase displays can be found by clicking the following
link then clicking the link to the abstract catalog (pdf) on the left.
link then clicking the link to the abstract catalog (pdf) on the left.
