April 12, 2006 :: College Students Showcase Research Projects to State Lawmakers
Oklahoma undergraduate students, hand-selected by their colleges and universities, competed in a scientific poster competition as part of the annual Research Day at the Capitol festivities held recently at the State Capitol.
Students presented projects addressing a variety of research topics to legislators, ranging from tornado detection and milk production to treatments for osteoarthritis and cancer.
The annual event, inaugurated in 1996, was developed to showcase the outstanding undergraduate research being conducted at Oklahoma’s colleges and universities in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to inform the general public about how this research relates to and impacts their communities.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the National Science Foundation sponsor Research Day at the Capitol.
Organizers invited Oklahoma colleges and universities to nominate outstanding research projects conducted by undergraduate students. Twenty-two students, nominated by 16 institutions, received $250 stipends from Oklahoma EPSCoR to prepare and present their scientific research posters at the State Capitol.
Many students were visited by their districts’ state representatives. In addition, students’ scientific posters were competitively judged by an independent panel who selected the top research projects to receive the following awards:
- 1st Place Winner – Jonathan Hatley of Tahlequah (Northeastern State University) presented the winning poster featuring research on fecal pollution. He received a $500 cash prize, plus a $4,000 summer research internship at the Oklahoma college or university of his choice. In addition, a $2,500 award will be given to the sponsoring college or university laboratory to offset expenses for supplies, travel and other related expenses associated with hosting the internship.
- Other winners received cash prizes ranging from $100 to $500. Winners included Steven Harris of Langston (Langston University) for his research poster on cancer; Rex Moore of Chickasha (University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma), who presented a poster on the moths of Oklahoma; Lauren Hutter of Broken Arrow (The University of Tulsa) for her research on nanopower sources; and Manal Gasem of Stillwater (Oklahoma State University) for her research on treatment of osteoarthritis.
For further information on Research Day at the Capitol 2006 activities, contact Shelley D. Wear, special programs coordinator in the Oklahoma EPSCoR office, at 405.225.9287 or swear@osrhe.edu.
