Undergraduate Eastern students from various majors presented the research they had accumulated throughout the semester at Student Research and Creative Activity Day at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union on Wednesday.
Some of the students participated in a “three-minute thesis” competition, meaning they were given three minutes to present their work. After the presentations, judges selected their top three choices to win a scholarship.
Graduate student Agnes Yigah was one of the presenters that won. She presented her research on the impact that university staff have on the experience of international students.
Yigah is an international student herself, and she said this inspired her to conduct research on the topic.
“My research found out that [the] international students office strives to support international students through orientation and academic coaching,” Yigah said.
She talked about why international students still struggle despite the supports that are in place.
“These offices are understaffed and balance so many responsibilities, making it difficult to give their all,” Yigah said.
Many of the presentations at Research Day revolved around various scientific studies, like research on how people metabolize drugs or an analysis on how forever chemicals work.
There were also presentations on other subjects, like a presentation on the “final boy” trope in horror and how it serves as a window into the way society views gender roles.
Some of the presenters utilized posters as their visual medium. Poster presentations were not part of a competition, and they were displayed as a showcase rather than given as individual speeches.
Senior neuroscience major Brooklynn Greene used a poster to share her research on the prevalence of disordered eating behaviors and over exertion in college athletes compared to non athletes.
Greene was surprised that the non-athletes reported more disordered eating than athletes, she said.
“Most research has shown that athletes are going to have more reason to diet or be more lean or muscular, so it was really weird that the non-athletes reported more [disordered eating],” Greene said. “It could have something to do with us being a smaller school, because I only did students at Eastern. If I was at a bigger school with a bigger athletics department, then maybe it would be the other way around.”
Junior history major Jack Burton presented a poster on America’s history of social persecution of Catholics. He said there were many examples of such persecution taking place in the time between the Civil War and the Cold War.
He said that during that time, many immigrants from Catholic countries started populating bigger cities in America because of cultural commonalities with people already there.
“Rural Americans saw that as a threat to their power and independence because governments started pushing towards the cities and putting a lot more of their influence there. The rural Americans started blaming Catholics for all their problems,” Burton said.
Eastern students also presented research at another event prior to Wednesday’s Research Day.
Nine undergraduate students from different fields attended the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Richmond, Virginia, from April 13-15.
The nine students who presented at the conference were:
- Tori Agans, a senior biological sciences major
- Jemma Booth, a senior majoring in biological sciences
- Maddy Colby, a senior interpersonal communication major
- Allison Cooke, a junior music education major
- Isabel Fuentes, a junior engineering cooperative major
- Preston Siewert, a senior chemistry major
- Jayla Singleton, a junior biochemistry major
- Abby Smith, a junior public relations major
- Lucia Villalobos, a biological sciences major
Booth attended the conference as a member of the BECK Research Group at EIU. The group studies biological chemistry and human carboxylesterase, which is a type of enzyme that is involved in the process of metabolizing drugs.
“If I give you Tylenol, it’s inactive. What this enzyme does in the first phase of metabolism in the liver and long intestine is to make this inactive drug active, and so it starts to act,” Booth said.
Booth said that it was not her first time attending a conference and that the BECK group went to the National Chemistry Conference two and a half weeks prior.
Booth said there were many benefits of attending the National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
“I got to meet potential principal investigators that I would be willing to join their lab with a Ph. D.,” Booth said. “I also got to see what lab research I’m interested in and meet the top researchers in some fields.”
Smith’s research took a different approach.
Her research centered around theatre, specifically around a theatre in St. Louis called “The Muny,” which is an outdoor theatre that can host 11,000 people. Her research focused on analyzing the ways that the theatre prioritizes its audience, she said.
“They give out a thousand free seats every night, and they’re focused on sharing art with people since their start in 1919,” Booth said. “25% of their audience has been there for free.”
Smith’s research was originally just a presentation for a theatre history course. When her course professor, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Chris Mitchell, saw the presentation, he was impressed and suggested that she submit her work to the conference, she said.
Mitchell helped Smith make her poster for the event because it was her first time attending a conference.
“I was nervous because I didn’t know what to expect and I’ve never done anything like this,” Smith said. “But it gives you a good public speaking experience and the ability to network.”
Smith said the only negative part of the conference for her was that she was a public relations major, but many of the graduate schools at the conference were for technology majors or for STEM majors.
Mitchell said the Eastern students were successful at the conference.
“I always am so delighted and impressed with how well our students do there,” Mitchell said in an email. “They are thoroughly professional and communicate their research in a sophisticated yet accessible way.”
The students that attended the conference first applied for funding through EIU. The dean of the college of liberal arts and sciences and the honors college secured the funding. After getting the funding, students then applied to the conference organization to have their proposal accepted, said Dean of the Pine Honors College Richard England in an email.
Mitchell said the experience of presenting at the conference was very valuable for the students.
“The gathering is full of energy, and everyone walks away learning something new about their discipline and of others,” Mitchell said. “Students had the opportunity to network at lunches and seminars hosted by the conferences.”
England said the honors college has been taking students to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research annually since 2009, and he said he hoped that the streak would continue.
“We hope to take students to NCUR next year as well. It should be a bit easier in 2027 since NCUR will be held relatively nearby in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” England said.
Andrea Jimenez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
Evan Rybak can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].
