Katlin McNally
Student Communications Specialist

Twenty-nine undergraduate students from the College of the Arts and Sciences, as well as five non-
ASC students, were invited to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. The conference was held this year at Ithaca College in upstate New York, March 31 – April 2.

Julia Watson, ASC associate dean for recruitment and diversity, and Patrice Dickerson, ASC assistant dean and director of the Office for Strategic Recruitment and Diversity Initiatives, organized student participation and accompanied the group to Ithaca.

NCUR reported that 3,433 students and advisors attended the conference from colleges and universities nationally and internationally.

Kurtis Host, microbiology and pre-med major, shared the importance of the range of universities at the conference. “By getting a national perspective on my project, it really helped in generating new avenues to explore,” he said.

The conference regularly hosts students and their faculty mentors to present their research through posters, oral presentations, visual arts and performances. The Arts and Sciences students presented research related to their fields of study.

Clark Butler, mathematics major, expressed the diversity in research present at the conference. “NCUR was an excellent opportunity to meet fellow undergraduate researchers. I saw work in fields ranging from literature to psychology to mathematics, and was able to compare and contrast research methodology and results in those diverse fields,” he said.

The conference allowed students to observe other students’ work and view how they may have addressed problems from different perspectives.

Marvin Brown, comparative studies and French major, said, “My favorite part of the conference was seeing the engagement that all of the students had with each other’s work. It was nice to feel challenged by other student research and also be challenged by questions on my own research.”

“It was a thrill to see our students excel at a national conference. Their oral and poster presentations were outstanding evidence of the active commitment of Arts and Sciences to undergraduate research,” said Watson.

The group included 15 students majoring in Natural and Mathematical Sciences, eight in Social and Behavioral Sciences, seven in Arts and Humanities (two were double majors with NMS), and one in a Personalized Study Program.

A senior researcher, Travis Gurney, studying biology and pre-health, noticed Ohio State’s students comparatively. “I was impressed with how advanced and thorough our projects were compared with other reputable institutions from all over the country,” he said.

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research will be held again at Weber state university in Ogden, Utah in the spring of 2012. Arts and Sciences will send out information on the conference in October, with proposals due by the end of November.