Month: September 2012

Come to the RC Family Weekend Showcase of Research & Creativity this Friday

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Roanoke College invites you to the “Family Weekend Showcase of Research & Creativity”, which takes place on Friday, September 28, 2012. Student Presentations will be held in Fintel Library in the rear of the library’s main floor from 5:45pm-8pm and poster presentations will be held in Smoyer Gallery (Olin Hall) from 6-8pm. Students and faculty from all disciplines will be sharing their research and creative works on a variety of topics. All are welcome. Free to the public.

Some of the poster presentation topics include “Zinc Toxicity in Plants”, “The Relationship between Perceived Fitness Status and Physical Activity Level”, “Developing a Measure of Climate for Learning”, “Brain Activity while viewing Attractive and Unattractive Faces”, “Implementation of a Yeast Expression System”, and some of the oral presentation topics include “The Economic Role of the Mexican Sweatshops”, “Unveiling the Life of a Banker”, “An Analysis of Leonardo and Raphael’s Drawings”, and much more!! Be sure to check back here on the RC Research blog next week for highlights from the showcase.

The program (including abstracts) is available here: https://roanoke.edu/Documents/research/Program2012FA.pdf

Presentations for Family Weekend Showcase of Research & Creativity

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2012 Summer Scholars

 

This Friday, September 28, Roanoke College is hosting a Showcase of Research & Creativity. Several student presentations will be in Fintel Library in the rear of the library’s Main Floor, starting at 5:45 PM and concluding at 8:00 PM.

Please come by to support these student researchers!

Student Presentations

 

Author

Title of Contribution

Time

John Stang

 Living in the Shadow of History: The story of Catharine, Kansas and its legacy as a Volga-German settlement, 1876-2012

5:45 PM

Charla Henley

 The Economic Role of the Mexican Sweatshops: Exploitation or Saving Grace?

6:00 PM

Sarah Perkins

 El mundo desapercibido de las mujeres no reconocidas: Un estudio de la construcción de género e identidad nacional a través de la ciencia ficción escrita por las mujeres hispánicas/The Unnoticed World of Unsung Women: A Study of the Construction of Gender and National Identity through Science Fiction Written by Hispanic Women

6:15 PM

Renae Dower

 An Analysis of Leonardo and Raphael’s Drawings

6:30 PM

Jonathan Thumas

 Nature in the Shugendo Amalgam: An Example of Contemporary Japanese Folk Religion

6:45 PM

Joshua Ferrier

 U.S. Freshwater Resource Management Policy and Its National Security Implications

7:00 PM

Tiffany Ingram

 “Unveiling the Life of a Banker”

7:15 PM

Stephanie Vogel

 The Extraction and Identification of oil within Lycopodium spores

7:30 PM

Tyler Barnes

 vitellogenin1 in Embryonic Zebrafish as a Bioindicator to Detect Estrogenic Compounds within the Roanoke River

7:45 PM

Poster presentations will be held from 6-8 PM in Smoyer Gallery (Olin Hall).

Roanoke College Senior Travels to Japan for Summer Scholars Project

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Kinpusen temple
Kinpusen temple

 

Jon Thumas traveled to Japan this past summer for his Summer Scholars project, “Nature in the Shugendo Amalgam: An Example of Contemporary Japanese Folk Religion”. This was Jon’s first experience with an independent research project and the idea for this project was sparked from a 2009 documentary, Shugendo Now, which looks at the Shugendo tradition in modern times. Jon stayed in the Kii Peninsula in Japan for two and a half weeks where he visited many temples and sacred sites for field work and interviews as well as to be able to observe and participate in some of the customs in order to better understand Shugendo in its own context.

Jon’s faculty mentor for this project was Dr. Marwood Larson-Harris of the Religion and Philosophy department. Dr. Larson-Harris did not travel to Japan as he was in India at the time but Jon points out that they still collaborated closely throughout and that “it was very helpful having someone more familiar with something of this scale”. Dr. Larson-Harris mentions that working one on one with a student is the “best and most rewarding part of being a professor.” Jon also points out that research with a topic in the humanities is similar to research with a topic in science in that “you put forth an initial hypothesis and research, and then the interpretation is grounded in field work and research.” Dr. Larson-Harris notes that “research in the humanities is very challenging because you can’t always know where you will find relevant materials so you have to cast a wide net.”

Jon was able to travel to Japan thanks in part to the Dean’s Travel Fund which he notes is “one of the best ways to go out and do field work…I would strongly encourage students to get out of the library and be within the realm of what you are studying.” The Dean’s Travel Fund allows students the opportunity to request funds to travel to do research or to travel to present research at conferences. You can follow this link to apply for funding: https://tiny.cc/travelfund

Also, please be sure to plan on attending the Roanoke College Student/Faculty Showcase of Research & Creativity Friday, September 28 from 6-8pm in Smoyer Gallery, Olin Hall. Jon will be among one of the many students there showcasing research.

Ryusen temple
Ryusen temple

 

Roanoke College Junior Presents at ASM Conference in San Francisco

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Dr. Brooks Crozier and Reid Mizelle presenting at the ASM conference

Reid Mizelle presented his research project, “The qPCR Detectability of a Bovine-Associated Genetic Marker in Composite Fecal Mixtures and in Microcosms”, at the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Francisco this past June. The majority of the attendees at this conference were faculty and graduate students, very few undergraduate students so “for Roanoke College to have a student go to this is fantastic” states Dr. Brooks Crozier, Reid’s faculty mentor.  Dr. Crozier goes on to explain that conferences such as this one are “a good way for students to meet future graduate school faculty as well as students already in graduate school…those connections are critical.” This was Reid’s first time presenting at a national conference and he notes that the highlight was getting to meet a lot of big names and top people in the field. Reid even had the opportunity to meet a microbiologist whose work was referenced in his project.

Reid transferred to Roanoke College at the start of his sophomore year. He had been involved with Microbiology based research at his previous school and knew coming in that he wanted to do research here as well. Reid mentions that this has been “one of the best things I can take away from my undergraduate career. I’ve learned things in three years of undergrad that most people won’t get to; it gives me a step up.” Dr. Crozier points out that “I fully involve my students in my research projects to the point where they are helping to drive it.” He also mentions that Reid is “one of the most motivated students I’ve had” and that high motivation is what will get a student the opportunity to present at a national conference.

Reid’s advice to incoming freshman thinking about research is to “jump in the lab as soon as you can, the earlier you do, the more advanced your research can become.” Dr. Crozier recommends that freshman not only talk to their professors and advisors but also, “when other students are in a research lab, poke your head in and take a look at it.”

For more information on the General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology you can visit: https://gm.asm.org/