UA Students to Present at National Research Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Six University of Alabama undergraduate students will present their research findings April 16-18 at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

The annual event, held this year at Eastern Washington University, is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study, according to the conference’s website.

UA students scheduled to present are: Christine Kim, psychology, Auburn; Taylor Sheeran, English and communication studies, San Antonio, Texas; Erin Hein, biochemistry and art history, Wheaton, Ill.; Genevieve Miller, biology, Biloxi, Mississippi.; Madison Hunter, communicative disorders, Memphis, Tennessee; and Maggie Chavez, early childhood education, Sacramento, California.

“This is a great opportunity for undergraduate researchers to experience what typically only happens at the graduate student and faculty levels,” said Dr. Kim Bissell, director of undergraduate research at UA.

“Being selected to present your research as an undergraduate student is a huge honor, and the students have worked very closely with their research mentors on these projects,” Bissell said. “They will not only get a chance to see other undergraduate research projects, but they’ll also get a chance to meet with graduate recruiters from around the country.”

Each of the UA students, whose research ranges from cultural effects on parent-child relationships to research through storytelling to the relationship between psychological distress and smoking in adolescents, work with UA faculty mentors on their research projects.

“Research is just one of the ways students get exposed to graduate-level work, graduate school, etc., and this conference will do just that,” Bissell said. “I know the five I have been working with are very excited for the opportunity, and each is grateful for the financial assistance from their own colleges, from the University’s Office for Research and Economic Development and from the provost’s office.”

Accompanying the students will be Bissell and Dr. Mary Katherine Shreves, coordinator of the Emerging Scholars Program.