Several Hope College students made presentations during two regional symposia held in the first half of November and organized by the Midstates Consortium for Math and Science, discussing original research that they have conducted collaboratively with members of the faculty.
The "2010 Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Biological Sciences and Psychology" was held on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 5-7, at the University of Chicago. Some 140 students and faculty from throughout the Midwest made 26 oral presentations and 74 poster presentations during the symposium.
Making an oral presentation of a research paper from Hope was junior Angelica Willis of Lansing. Hope students who made poster presentations during the Chicago event were: senior Jonathan Brooks of Hudsonville; senior Alyssa Cassabaum of Polk City, Iowa; junior Andrew E. Cook of Frankfort, Ill.; senior Kyle Edewaard of Holland; junior Anne Georges of Ramsey, Minn.; junior Christine Gobrogge of Frankenmuth; junior Matt Hartwell of Brighton; senior Emily Leathley of Livonia; junior Robert Muterspaugh of Clarklake; senior Anne Short of Holland; junior Robert Sjoholm of Burnsville, Minn.; junior Ingrid Slette of Holland; and sophomore Alyssa Stevenson of Brighton.
The "2010 Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science" was held on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 12-14, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Some 92 students and faculty from throughout the Midwest made 23 oral presentations and 46 poster presentations during the symposium.
Hope students making oral presentations of research papers during the St. Louis event were: junior Elly Earlywine of Richmond, Ind.; junior Kristen Hasbrouck of Traverse City; and junior Colin Rathbun of Ada. Hope students who made poster presentations were: senior Olajide Banks of Chicago, Ill.; junior XiSen Hou of Qing Dao, China; and senior Kyndra Sluiter of Holland. In addition, two sisters who are students at Harold Washington College in Chicago who conducted research at Hope this past summer also made poster presentations of research papers: Ana Ortega and Arcelia Ortega.
Members of the Hope faculty and staff who attended one or both of the two symposia were Dr. Maria Burnatowska-Hledin, who is the Frederich Garrett and Helen Floor Dekker Professor of Biology and Chemistry; Marlene Field, who is the program assistant for the Midstates Consortium; Dr. Karen Nordell Pearson, who is an associate professor of chemistry and is director of the consortium; and Dr. Graham Peaslee, who is a professor of chemistry and a professor of geology and environmental science.
Peaslee delivered the "Janet Andersen Award Lecture" during the Nov. 12-14 symposium. Established in 2008, the award is named for former Hope professor of mathematics and consortium director Dr. Janet Andersen, who died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in November 2005. Selection for the lectureship is intended to honor faculty who have vigorous research programs involving undergraduates, who are exceptional mentors for undergraduate research students, who are engaged and skilled teachers, or who create interdisciplinary research opportunities for undergraduate students. Peaslee discussed his research with students using the college's Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory.
More information about the symposia, including listings of the presentations, can be found on the consortium's website at http://www.mathsciconsortium.org/.