Undergraduate Research Day is getting a rebrand to make it known that a student of any major can utilize the program, which is why this year’s slogan was “A Celebration of Research, Creativity, and Innovation.” The program took place in the Hamilton Room of the UC, in the morning of March 21.
(Katie Zee)
Undergraduate Research Program (URP) Director Dr. John Frye explained there is a common misconception that the URP is only for students who are majoring in a scientific field. However, students performed theater and dance in addition to the poster presentations about each student’s research.
For example, students Anna Olson and Makayla Fedler performed a “Sword Fighting Soiree” at the event. According to the two, they chose a sword fighting scene because it was their favorite activity from a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) workshop they attended in Flint, Michigan, with help from the URP.
“We do more than just acting, we know how to fight too,” Felder joked, explaining that there is more to acting than what some might initially think.
Olson stressed the safety aspect of the various stage fighting techniques.
“We can punch someone, we can do a slap, we can do a stage fall, but we can all do it safely,” Olson said.
Student Antonio Parra, who also attended KCACTF, performed one of the monologues that he used to apply to the Irene Ryan Scholarship, which is a highly coveted theater award.
There were more than 50 posters in the UC’s Hamilton Room, each one detailing a different research topic. According to Frye, this is the biggest group to participate in the event since COVID hit.
Physics student Henry Rohde studied “The Hydrogen Recombination Spectrum and Two-Photon Emission.”
According to Rohde, this is an aspect of astrophysics that is often overlooked. He recalled having to translate
a piece of Polish himself so that he could properly cite one of the sources that he used a figure from because he could not find the English translation.
Rohde’s research has the potential to be used to screen out noise in astronomers’ signals, which Rohde’s mentor Dr. Bob Benjamin, believes is caused by the two-photon emissions. This is significant because it differs from what astronomers currently believe causes the noise.
Biology student Amiee Broaddrick had a poster titled “Identifying Amyloidogenic Proteins in Human Spermatozoa Using a Proteomic Approach.” Her goal is to confirm the presence of those proteins so that a grant can be awarded to fund the future study of what those proteins mean for reproduction.
“It feels really cool to be a part of something that’s hopefully going to be bigger,” said Broaddrick. “I’m excited to follow along and see what happens.”
The call for students to submit their proposals to the URP has gone out. The deadline for a grant for the 2024 to 2025 academic school year is April 22, 2024. To learn more about how to apply, visit UWW’s URP page.
