March 30: Undergraduate research showcase sets record
By Beverly Makhani, Office of Undergraduate Education
PULLMAN, Wash. – Undergraduates will present posters and compete for awards at 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 30, in the CUB ballroom at the 2015 Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA), part of the annual Showcase celebration of Washington State University achievement.
With 186 freshmen through seniors, “this is the largest number of participants in SURCA’s four-year history,” said Shelley Pressley, director of the hosting Office of Undergraduate Research. of Undergraduate Education. “This tells us that SURCA is gaining recognition as a quality event.
“It may also speak to the fact that WSU is engaging more students across all disciplines in the high-impact experience of mentored research, scholarship and creative activity that we term ‘research,’” she said.
Evidence of the breadth of investigations is reflected in this year’s 167 posters. They range, for example, from stormwater treatment to a noninvasive blood glucose monitor, from rural summer robotics camps to sequencing the RNA of the tropical gar. An abstract book describing all presentations, and more information, can be found on the SURCA website (http://SURCA.wsu.edu).
