Undergrads present research at Capitol Hill
Forty-two USU students presented USTAR-funded research, including search for a cure for cancer and emotional regulation in children, on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Jan, 16.
This is the first year the students have gotten to work directly with USTAR professors.
“Utah State believes that research is invaluable for a student’s intellectual growth and development,” said Joyce Kinkead, associate vice president for research at USU. “Undergraduate research provides a unique hands-on experience that enhances learning and prepares students to be key participants in the knowledge economy.”
Andrew Burgon, a sophomore biology major, is helping work on a weight-loss drug as a part of obesity research headed by USTAR professor David York. He said, “Collaborating with a USTAR professor is a privilege you don’t normally get.”
Burgon’s research includes studying a peptide naturally produced in the body. He and York are trying to pinpoint how it works in decreasing the desire to eat fatty foods. A drug tested on mice and rats showed that the mice and rats chose a diet with low fat content.
USU President Stan L. Albrecht said, “Research programs provide unparalleled educational opportunities for Utah’s deserving students. They create technologies, jobs and skilled professionals for the statewide economy.”
Mary-Marie Sullivan, a senior majoring in liberal arts, spent three semesters studying sleep patterns and weight gain in freshman. She is trying to validate data from national studies that show the less sleep students receive, the more likely they are to gain weight.
Brent Miller, vice president for research at USU, said, “As a top research university, we commit ourselves to increasing our standard of research and excellence for our students, faculty, community and world.”
USTAR has been of large significance in this university’s research this past year, he said. Students’ participation is important to the success of USTAR, he said, and as they participate, they become “better learners, better citizens and better contributors” of Utah’s future workforce.
Nathan Jack, a senior electrical engineer major, said, “It’s important for the legislators to see what’s being done with the money they have allocated. And it’s going to good use.”
Jack’s research includes making sensors that can collect data by using magnetic waves as opposed to radio waves. They can be used to monitor livestock, track water in fields or predict avalanches.
Nichole Frank, a junior majoring in biology, is studying the stingers of sphecid wasps collected from Costa Rica and Madagascar. She dissects the stinger into nine pieces and puts photos and data into a computer program.
Kinkead said, “We have an amazing number of first-year students who are already out of the chute in terms of research.”
Among these freshmen are Vikki Carlisle, who offers guidance in labeling of consumer food products; Natalie Naegle, who explores student evaluations as a measure of teaching effectiveness and Aubree Nielsen, who presents literacy-based learning activities.
-shanmccl@cc.usu.edu