Wednesday afternoon saw this year’s Celebration of Scholarship, Creativity and Engagement event take place on Doudna’s concourse, with white banquet tables and a selection of cocktail snacks — the accompaniment to the hour’s ceremony.
The annual event, which serves to recognize research developments and student-teacher collaborations across all faculties, presented awards to several members of staff for their work over the last year.
Holly Farley, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, hosted the presentation and said the event was a great way to not only congratulate staff, but to show students there was much more to their studies and the roles of their professors.
“I don’t think people realize how much research and activity is going on across campus,” Farley said. “They’re doing this on top of teaching, which is really important to recognize.”
The first plaques to be presented were the Undergraduate Research Mentor Awards, with four professors being recognized under this title: Elliott Zieman of biological sciences, Amy Davis from the college of education, Toqeer Israr from the school of technology and Angela Anthony of communication disorders and sciences.
Associate Professor Zieman’s research involves investigating parasites and their effect on both wildlife and domestic animals, which he said he was interested in ever since he began studying biology in high school.
Originally on a pre-veterinary pathway, Zieman found observing the effects of parasites on animals in the veterinary clinic fascinating and decided to pursue parasitology in graduate school.
Through Eastern, Zieman has been able to involve his undergraduate students in his research, where he said they play an “integral role” in his lab.
“I think it’s really important to keep students interested in their program, to get them involved in research,” he said. “We get to show them what people are actually doing in the field, which gets them interested, gets them motivated.”
For this student involvement, Zieman earned his Research Mentor Award, though he said it was rewarding enough to be able to work with his undergraduate students.
Anthony, who has served as departmental honors coordinator since 2009 directing and co-directing over 25 honors theses, echoed this sentiment.
“I really appreciate the recognition,” Anthony said. “One of my favorite things is working with students and mentoring students, seeing them grow in research.”
Anthony’s area of research has led to her involvement in a study of autism in the book “Language Disorders in Children: Fundamental Concepts of Assessment and Intervention.”
The next presentation was the Edwin L. “Bud” May Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research and Grants, which was awarded to Michael Beck, an assistant professor of chemistry.
Beck’s establishment of a research laboratory as a training platform for student scientists has been supported by federal grants from both the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
Following the presentation, attendees were given the opportunity to observe several different pieces of faculty research work across all academics, many of these supported by the joint research between professors and students.
The two-way benefit of students gaining mentorship and researchers having support is invaluable, according to Farley.
“I think it’s important to have events like these that encourage students to have mentors,” Farley said. “They find their person that helps them figure out what it is that they’re really passionate about, what they really want to do.”
A full archive of Eastern’s scholarly and creative works can be accessed online at EIU’s institutional repository The Keep, including the research on display from the many professors at Wednesday’s event.
Ethan Vine can be reached at 581-2812 or ejvine@eiu.edu.
