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Contents
A Note from the Collaborative Director
Undergraduate Research: Adjusting to Life at a Liberal Arts College
2012-2013 McNair Scholars
Fall-Summer Collaborative Grants
Convention Spotlight
NCUR
AACR
- Kaela Gedda
- Jens Paasen
- Gretchen Panzer
- Hannah Schmitt
- Luanne Spence
- Sarah Titus
Collaborative Research Stories
Important Dates
May 4, 2012 Student Academic Travel Grant and Attendee Grant applications due
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National Conference on Undergraduate Research
Field Notes from NCUR
Dr. Anindo Choudhury
Professor of Biology & Environmental Science
The students, Sarah, Steven and Eric, are
enjoying themselves thoroughly at the conference. The Weber State U campus is
wonderful and the view of the mountains all around is spectacular (see attached
pic). There are some 3000 people here at the conference, with strong
representation across the country. Almost all states are represented and even
students from abroad! Lots of people from Wisconsin: met some of them (UW Eau
Claire has 30, UW Milwaukee some 30+, UW Madison also has about the same).
Things got started yesterday with a rare treat: Nobel
laureate Mario Capecchi spoke to the conference (packed hall of over 2500
undergraduates in a splendid new auditorium). He was unassuming, humble, and
uncomfortable talking about himself, but was incredibly inspirational and
masterful. He talked about his work (knock-out, gene targeting) that earned him
the Nobel prize, why he does what he does, its joys and challenges, his
grandmother (who was a well-known painter), his uncle who has a role in
inventing the television, the influence of his mother, her ordeal at Dachau,
his childhood, his coming to America at age 3, his academic preparation, and
his "trip to Sweden." At one point, in a rather matter-of-fact
manner, he threw a slide up on the screen of his PhD mentor Ja mes Watson! Powerful stuff. At the end, the entire
auditorium gave him a standing ovation. What a story. What an experience for
these students.
Students Steven Garza, Sarah Lottes, & Eric Gale
Sarah presented her poster yesterday. She had quite a
few visitors to her poster and did an excellent job. Her poster and the quality
of the work stood out. The entire hall was packed with people and there were
over a hundred posters in that one session alone. Kudos to Sarah for handling
herself so professionally and ably. In the afternoon, we watched Steven Garza
present his talk on international law, compliance, and human trafficking. He
was also outstanding: fluent, energetic, knowledgeable, and he fielded a lot of
questions really well. His talk generated so much interest that the moderator
had to, reluctantly, cut off the Q&A! His talk was easily the best of the
session. He got lots of kudos from the faculty in attendance, and the moderator
who also sought him out at the end of the session for words of felicitation--he
was curious to know where SNC was! So, in all, a great day for our students and
SNC, and wonderful testimony to the splendid work of our students and their
faculty mentors.
In the evening, it seemed that most of us attendees descended upon the historic
and pretty downtown 25th Street (Ogden's equivalent of Madison's State Street).
The four of us walked the street, took in the sights, checked out some of the
stores and ate at one of the recommended microbreweries (Rooster's). It was
rather funny because one of their signature beers is called Polygamy Pale Ale, named so because "if
you try it once, you will want to try it again, and again and again . . . .” The food was excellent. We had a great time.
Eric presents his poster in about an hour. He is calm and confident and his
poster looks pretty good. So, I am expecting another great performance shortly.
That's the report from the field, for now.
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