Hope was again well represented at the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR), held this year on Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8, at the University of Memphis in Tennessee.
A total of 27 Hope students, representing departments campus-wide, made presentations regarding their original research which they had conducted at Hope either mentored by or collaboratively with members of the faculty. They were selected by NCUR on the basis of their projects, which explored topics ranging from Italian ceiling art, to alternative high schools, to Alzheimer’s disease.
The annual conference, which is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study, regularly hosts 3,000 students and their faculty mentors from around the country to present their research through posters, oral presentations, visual arts and performances. Hope has consistently had students chosen to be presenters since the annual event began in the latter 1980s, with an acceptance rate of 98 percent.
- The student presenters and the programs they represented
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Kirstin Anderson, art and art history, Mellon Scholars Program
Jonathan Bading, music, Mellon Scholars Program
Ellee Banaszak, art and art history, Mellon Scholars Program
Barbara Bollhoffer, education
Elizabeth Ensink, art history, Mellon Scholars Program
Mikayla Freyling, education
Irene Gerrish, Mellon Scholars Program
Savannah Girmscheid, education
Hannah Jacobs, art and art history
Jamie Johnson, nursing
Joshua Chun Wah Kam, English, history
Sarah Lundy, Mellon Scholars Program
Mary Magan, Spanish
Ellen Messner, music, Mellon Scholars Program
Jean Luc Miralda, communication
Courtney Myers, engineering
Anne Neumann, education
Kelsie Nyhuis, communication
Miriam Roth, education, Mellon Scholars Program
Allison Schultz, communication
Olivia Skatrud, communication
Cullen Smith, English, Mellon Scholars Program
Elizabeth Tally, education
Nathan R. Vance, chemistry
Bethany Vaughan, education
Parker Weaver, communication
Michael Wurster, education
In addition, another six students were accepted but unable to attend. Hayley Schultz, who has been off-campus in Philadelphia this semester, was to be one of the presenters but was prevented from participating when severe storms disrupted her flight to the event. The other five students who were accepted, but could not attend due to scheduling conflicts, were Jorge Benitez, Nicolette DeSantis, Margaret Dickinson, Anna Jones and Emily Martin.
The students were accompanied by Dr. William Polik, who is associate dean for research and scholarship and the Edward and Elizabeth Hofma Professor of Chemistry, and Rajean Wolters, who is the college’s NCUR coordinator and administrative assistant in the Office of the Dean for the Arts and Humanities.
Established in 1987, NCUR is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for students. Unlike meetings of academic professional organizations, the gathering of young scholars welcomes presenters from all institutions of higher learning and from all corners of the academic curriculum. Through the annual conference, NCUR creates a unique environment for the celebration and promotion of undergraduate student achievement, provides models of exemplary research and scholarship, and helps to improve the state of undergraduate education.