At the end of the year, students present their research and are judged.

UMKC undergrads show off research

By: Jheel Mehta

Posted: 4/28/08

Research is the process of creating new knowledge. Research can take many forms, from scientific theory testing to artistic endeavors, and this is what Students Engaged in Artistic and Academic Research (SEARCH) is all about.

On April 11, UMKC hosted the SEARCH symposium, which is a celebration of undergraduate student research and creative accomplishments.

"I find it [SEARCH] very inspiring," said Sarah Linneman, sophomore political science major. "This is one program where we get to see all the academics together. I am looking forward to being a part of SEARCH in the future."

Research to many is gathering scientific data, but SEARCH contains projects ranging from science to performing arts to humanities to medicine, and many others. Undergraduate students at UMKC explore their areas of interest and work with faculty mentors before presenting their projects.

"SEARCH is a great way of getting expertise in your field of study, plus you get to work closely with the faculty member you admire, as your mentor," said Jumoke Balogun, senior in communication studies. Balogun was one of the participants for SEARCH this year, whose presentation was titled "Between Two Revolutions: A Look at Women's Liberation in Iran."

The SEARCH committee starts working with the participants a year prior to the symposium to give them and others the best of the program, said Jim Murowchick, SEARCH director. Workshops are held to help the participants with poster-making, PowerPoint presentations and how to interact with judges and meeting their expectations.

"The last month and a half before the symposium is the most hectic - getting the guest speaker, creating abstracts for the presentations, arranging food, working with the unknown events that take place and much more," Murowchick said. "But it is all worth it at the end of the year and we look forward to the upcoming year."

This year, there were a total of 51 SEARCH participants, including seven oral presentations, 18 visuals presentations (architecture displays) and 28 poster presentations, according to the SEARCH Web site, www.umkc.edu/searchsite.

Each participant was judged by a panel of four judges. Three of the four judges were specialists in the division being judged, and one peripheral judge provided lay-perspective to see if the participants could explain their research to someone who was not an expert in that field of study. One of the main judging criteria seemed to be the students' ability to explain their work.

"In the past there was a point-scale judging guide; considering the different academics, we abandoned the point-scale judging," Murowchick said. "The practitioners make up the criteria of judging depending on each presentation."

A total of 20 judges, 17 from UMKC and three from various architecture firms, judged the student research displays. The judges then went over the presentations they saw in each department and chose the winners.

"Keep doing what you do, every one of you is going to go very far," said Dr. Lora Lacey-Haun, Dean and professor of UMKC School of Nursing. Lacey-Haun was the guest speaker for the event and distributed the certificates and $100 cash prizes to the winners.

In the department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, Spencer Yaw, junior in urban planning, won first place for his presentation "Pavilion for a Geoscientist." John Michael, sophomore in architectural studies, won second place for his presentation "Garden Project."

In the department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, James Townsend, senior psychology major, won first place for his presentation "Gender, Gender Self Concept and Needs for Affiliation." Taryn Hodison won second place for her presentation "A Stroll Down Memory Lane: Does Rumination Bias Your Memory?"

In the department of Biological and Health Sciences, Maria Iliakova, a junior majoring in biology, chemistry and Spanish, won first place for her presentation "Bipedalism: A Comparative Study of the Corpus Callosum - Spinal Cord Angle." Tiffanie Fowlkes, junior biology major, won second place for her presentation "Tough Actin Dynactin: Effect of G59S Mutation on Microtubule-binding of Dynein-Dynactin Complex."

In the department of Humanities, Ryan Sullivan, senior music education major, won first place for his presentation "Two Case Studies of Leading Musicians' Patronage in the Franco-Flemish Renaissance." A group project entitled "Main Street Vision 2030" won second place.

In the department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Whitney Berard, senior computer sciences major, won first place for her presentation "Graphs Based on Vector Spaces over Finite Fields." Amy Ameis, junior geology major, won second place for her presentation "Paleotempestology of the Lacustrine and Backbeach Environments of San Salvador."

jmehta@umkc.edu