From personal poetry to precision photometry, eight University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students had the opportunity to share their creative and scholarly works at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research earlier this month at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
UWO undergrad Anna Wright presented two poetry/creative writing projects. In a small chapbook of poems called “Marked,” Wright explored how she affects herself, her body and the world around her. She worked on the project with faculty adviser Abayomi Animashaun
Then in a two-part creative writing effort called “August and Everything After,” with faculty adviser Paul Klemp, Wright considered how grieving is as individual as fingerprints.
Wright said presenting her works at the conference gave her the opportunity to “meet and speak to faculty at other universities about my work as well as students from all over the country.”
She said traveling to the conference with the other student presenters also allowed her time to interact and socialize outside her discipline. “I am a nontraditional student, so some of the events on campus feel too young for me, but conferences like NCUR are perfect for this,” she said.
Susan Surendonk, Grants and Faculty Development assistant director, said UW Oshkosh’s Student Scholarly and Creative Activities Program was able to support the majority of the students whose abstracts were accepted to the NCUR this year.
“Their participation (at NCUR) is an important part of the research process, which typically culminates with the presentation or publication of the work,” she said. “NCUR gives students an opportunity to meet peers and faculty from around the country who work in similar research fields. In addition, this is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about graduate school and employment opportunities and, of course, to develop presentation skills.”
Recent UWO graduates also have indicated that their experiences in student research events, such as NCUR, have helped them “gain acceptance into graduate school and to be successful in the competitive job market,” she added.
Four UWO students worked with faculty adviser Nadejda Kaltcheva, of the physics and astronomy department, on their research projects presented at NCUR. Steven Bartel presented a poster on “A Precision Photometry Study of Galactic H II Regions;” Christopher Christopherson gave an oral presentation about “Observing Nebulosities;” and Timothy Conard and Vincent Fabbri presented a research poster regarding “Precision Photometry Study of the Cepheus Star-Forming Field.”
Jessica Hron gave an oral presentation on “’Baby It’s Your World Ain’t It?”: A Rhetorical Criticism of Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality.” Her UWO faculty mentor was Geneva Murray.
Jackie Morrow, who worked with faculty mentors Stephanie de Montigny and Michelle Kulh, presented a poster titled “All Eyes on Hurston.”
Taylor Waring gave an oral presentation about “Atomic Colossus: (Re) Presenting the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
NCUR 2014, held April 3-5, focused on “Readiness for the Future: Maximizing Undergraduate Research” and included 2,000 students and their faculty mentors from universities across the country.
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