Students and their Faculty Mentors Shined at the 10th Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Day, Held on December 5
It was standing room only last Friday when students, faculty, members of the College community and distinguished guests gathered in the Student Union to celebrate the 10th Annual Undergraduate Research & Creative Works (URCW) Day. The event is a showcase of faculty-mentored undergraduate research efforts across the disciplines at the College. The conference gives undergraduate students an opportunity to present and showcase the results of their research in various fields that will go a long way in preparing them to successfully continue their education or enter the workforce.
Dr. Sarbani Ghoshal, MPH, PhD (Biological Sciences & Geology), led the planning of this year’s Undergraduate Research & Creative Works Day in collaboration with committee members Dr. Roumen Vragov, Dr. Paul Sideris, Dr. Zhou Zhou, Dr. Regina Sullivan, Dr. Rezan Akpinar, Dr. Andrew Bulawa, Dr. Matt Lau, Associate Professor Heather Huggins, Professor Jennifer Chabra, Ms. Christina Denny, and Mr. Christopher Adams.
Dr. Ghoshal opened the program by expressing her appreciation to everyone involved in organizing the event. “I’m thankful to all who participated and planned this wonderful event. We are extremely proud to showcase 87 presentations this year, highlighting the work of 154 students mentored by 54 faculty members over the past year.”
As Co-Chair of the QCC Research Committee, she added, “We extend our sincere thanks to our faculty mentors, who have prioritized engaging students in meaningful research and creative activities, as well as to the student participants whose hard work has brought this exciting event to life.”
Queensborough President Dr. Christine Mangino welcomed everyone, including special guests and praised the student presenters who “proactively reached out to their faculty to conduct research and, when faculty reached out to them to participate in research, for having the courage to say yes.”
Additional welcome remarks were delivered by Dr. Phyllis Curtis-Tweed, Provost and Vice President for the Office of Academic Affairs; Dr. Joshua Brumberg, President of The Graduate Center; and Dr. Ron Nerio, Research Programs Director at the CUNY Office of Research.
There were also several external distinguished visitors who joined the event to encourage students and share important internship opportunities: Dr. Tom D’Auria of Brookhaven National Laboratory; Dr. Ruth Stark, Distinguished Professor at City College and Co-PI for the QCC NIH T34 Bridges to Baccalaureate Grant; and Dr. Ana Carnaval of City College.
The event concluded with closing notes from Dr. Michael Pullin, Dean of Academic Initiatives, and Dr. Linda Bastone, Dean of Faculty.
Examples of the many outstanding URCW projects were:
Case Study of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Jingyu Li and Kat Griefen
Art & Design
Investigating Alpha-synuclein Using AI and Other in Silico Methods
Susan Zhou and Urszula Golebiewska
Biological Sciences & Geology
Determining the Origin of Radioactivity in a Mineral Using Gamma Spectroscopy and X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Sherlin Rosales Caamano, Paul Sideris, Sharon Lall-Ramnarine, Roland Scal, and Guiseppe Camarda
Chemistry
‘Bent’ Through a Modern Lens
Olivia Burke, Heather Huggins, Ash Rutella and Stacy Torres Cruz.
Communication, Theatre & Media Production
Questioning Stephen Jay Gould’s Critique of Progress
Brandon Levy and Matthew Lau
English
Autoethnography: My Connection to Basketball
Farzin Hasan and Chy Sprauve
Health Physical Education & Dance
To every student, congratulations on your achievements!
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URCW Day is organized by the URCW Planning Committee, the Office of Academic Affairs, the Research Committee, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
Click Here for Full Program and Special Acknowledgements
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