VCU news

By Carrie Atherton

Virginia Commonwealth University hosted its first student Research Week from April 18 to April 22. The series of events brought together undergraduate and graduate students from across numerous disciplines to celebrate research, creativity and scholarship.

VCU’s inaugural student Research Week was an opportunity for students to learn the research process, receive valuable advice from professors and present their findings to their peers and the VCU community.

During opening remarks at the Poster Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity, VCU President, Michael Rao, Ph.D., and Francis Macrina, Ph.D., VCU’s vice president for research, interacted with students, asked questions about their research and expressed their pride in the hard work and motivation the students portrayed through their posters.

“Academic success is not what you are able to memorize or recognize, but your ability to take what you’ve learned and help other people,” said Rao.

“My goal is to double the amount of participants next year. I issue that challenge and I know it can be met,” he said.

The week-long event kicked off on Monday, April 18, with a lecture by James McLurkin, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Rice University, and his “swarmbots” in the Commonwealth Ballroom of the Student Commons. He discussed the importance of undergraduate research and his experience as an undergraduate researcher in Massachusetts Institute of Technology Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program – UROP.

The next day was the Graduate Student Research Symposium where students, representing a variety of academic disciplines, were able to showcase research topics including pediatric en bloc kidney transplantation, an analysis of sex offender registry laws and video game theatre.

The symposium was a time for both students and their mentors to see the results of their dedication and hard work.

Faculty mentor, Judy Thomas, Ph.D., an instructor in the Master of Social Work program, helped guide Eileen Waugh, a Master of Social Work candidate, through her research project titled “Practice of Horticultural Therapy as a Social Work Intervention.”

“[Research Week] is such a great opportunity for motivated students and allows them access to professors that they usually would not have access to,” Thomas said of her mentoring experience.

During the symposium, keynote speaker Beverly Macy, professor in Extension Business and Management program at the University of California in Los Angeles, discussed the impact of social media on research.

“Research is being reinvented through social media. We can now research and share our findings with people globally,” said Macy.

She also spoke about the important role research and social media play in serving the overall social good. “Research is fundamental to how we solve problems in society,” she stated. “We should be researching things that matter to society. How do we find out what matters? Through social media in real time!”

A second presentation of the day was led by a team of undergraduate students Hannah Bell, Margeau Graybill, LaRoz James and Jason Young. These ambitious students researched and presented the benefits of tubular daylighting, an environmentally friendly lighting system that utilizes sunlight in dark indoor spaces. The team proposed that tubular daylighting should be utilized on the fifth floor of VCU’s Harris Hall. They selected this particular building and floor because of the lack of natural light in the many office and classroom spaces.

The Poster Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity was another opportunity for students to showcase their research. During the event, awards for outstanding faculty mentors were presented and the next cohort of students entering the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program was announced.

The 2011-2012 UROP awardees include Aruna Anbazhagan, Jared Boyd, Brendan Elliot, Timothy Fiore, Jonathan Fletcher, Mary Gallagher, Victoria Hribar, Yeimarie Lopez, Theresa Aileen Painter, Laura Peters, Jason Phillips, Mary Reck, Illijana Soldan, Royena Tanaz and Tobias Wilbur.

The Goldwater Scholarship Committee at VCU presented undergraduate research mentoring awards to Ronald B. Smeltz, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, for his mentorship of Grant Day, a 2011 Goldwater Scholar, and Babette Fuss, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, for her mentorship of Anjali Yashasvi Hari, a 2011 Goldwater Scholar.

The Office of Research Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and the National Scholarship Office at VCU also presented an undergraduate research mentoring award to J.M. "Clint" Turbeville, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biology, for his mentorship of Serena A. Caplins, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

All three faculty were applauded for their intentional efforts to involve undergraduates in their ongoing research programs.The purpose of these awards was to focus on importance of undergraduate research mentors.

The week wrapped up with a panel discussion entitled “From Student to Researcher: Reflections on Careers in Research” concluded Research Week. The panel included VCU faculty researchers Mary Ann Peberdy, M.D., professor of medicine and emergency medicine; Karen Rader, associate professor in the department of history; and Kevin Ward, MD., professor of emergency medicine, physiology and biochemistry.

Peberdy, Rader and Ward discussed the trials and tribulations of researching throughout their careers. Each of the speakers emphasized the importance of motivation, determination and collaboration in research.

“I have a lot of collaborations across VCU – approximately 60 with most being on the Monroe Park Campus,” said Ward. “If you’re not collaborating, your research is not going to reach the potential it could be. It is essential.”

Research Week was sponsored by the VCU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, VCU Graduate Student Association, the VCU Office of Research and the VCU Office of the Provost.