Undergraduate Research Symposium Recognizes Scholarly Work of Students
Tue, 05/31/2022 - 04:06pm | By: David Tisdale
The annual Undergraduate Symposium on Research and Creative Activity (UGS) at The
University of Southern Mississippi (USM), which highlights the outstanding work of
its undergraduate students, was held April 23 at the Thad Cochran Center and R.C.
Cook University Union on the Hattiesburg campus. It was the first live UGS since 2019
(due to COVID-19) and was co-hosted by The Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research (DCUR) and the Honors College (HC).
UGS Presentation and Arts Showcase awards are sponsored by USM alumnus Mr. Donald Drapeau and the Southern Miss Partners for the Arts, respectively.
“After having to cancel UGS 2020 and pivot to pre-recorded presentations for UGS 2021, we were delighted to hold UGS 2022 as an in-person event again,” said Dr. Sabine Heinhorst, interim dean of the Honors College and director of the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research. “One simply cannot experience in an online format the excitement of presenting or performing in front of a live audience.
“As noted by faculty judges and guests, the quality of our students’ research and creative work and their presentations were particularly impressive this year. Our plenary speaker, alumna Leslie Stevens, was dynamic and targeted her keynote address to the attending students by providing thoughtful tips on research; and as in previous years, the talented visual artists and performers at USM were featured in the Arts Showcase, which is now sponsored by the Partners for the Arts. We could not be more pleased.”
UGS 2022 award winners and their categories of competition include the following:
*Artist Practice as Research
First place – Taylor Alleman
Second place – Skye Bortz
Third place – Brittany Tolbert
*Behavioral Sciences: Memory and Learning
First place – Isabel Stoker and Garima Puri
*Behavioral Sciences: Coping and Reacting
First place – Sarah Swan
Second place – Kirsten Speights
*Business or Public Policy
First place – Lauren Beverly
Second place – Landon McFarland
Third place – Sophie Unson
*Environment/Sustainability: Coastal or Marine
First place – Faith Robinson
Second place – Baylor Lynch
*Environment/Sustainability: Freshwater or Terrestrial
First place – Malia Davidson
Second place – Hart Williams
*Education and Parenting
First place – Jasmine Plummer
*Gender and Sexuality Studies
First place – Chrystle Morman
*Gene and Protein Functions
First place – Ashley Grantham, Julia Cates, Ashleigh Burgess, Maegan Williams, Jarrett Herron, Nicole Roa, Lexee Bosarge, Nathaniel Hatton
Second place – Yeseul Bae
Third place – Hannah Guichet
*Health and Wellbeing
First place – Ianna Marshall
Second place – Sophia Oswalt
Third place – Liam Luckett
*Literary and Historical Studies
First place – Xian Maynor
Second place – Eden Duley
Third place – Olivia Ladner
*Materials and Structures: Synthesis
First place – Billie Brashears and Ashley Bailey; Aiden Leise
*Materials and Structures: Design and Analysis
First place – Rosemary Panella
Second place – Keely Hoppmeyer, Chloe Klusman
*Mississippi INBRE: Best Presentation on a Biomedical Topic
First place – Sydney Boyd
Second place – Jack Patterson
*The Women’s and Gender Studies Program
Women’s and Gender Studies Prize – Brittney Clayborn
*Arts Showcase Award: Visual Arts
Donisha Edwards, Brittney Brown, Grace May, Natalie Fortenberry, Desirae Oliver
*Arts Showcase Award: Instrumental/Vocal Performance
Casey Johnson, Skye Tobias, Brietta Goodman
*Arts Showcase Award: Choreography/Dance
Damion Seymour, Aki Holder, Brittany Tolbert, Kathryn Marchand, Natalie Davis
*Arts Showcase Award: Creative Writing
Brooklynn Smith
For more information about Undergraduate Research at USM, visit https://www.usm.edu/undergraduate-research/index.php.