Six students—with majors in chemistry, music therapy, physics and psychology—represented themselves and Georgia College in February at the 2nd annual “Posters at the Georgia State Capitol.”

The undergraduates were among 54 students from 15 colleges and universities statewide, who participated at the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta. University President Dr. Steve Dorman was there for support, along with other administrators and professors. Multiple members of the state House and Senate stopped by to see research posters, along with lobbyists and legislative staffers.

“The 2020 Posters at the Georgia State Capitol was a great success,”   said Dr. Doreen Sams, professor of marketing and coordinator of Georgia College MURACE (Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors).

Sams thanked her Capitol co-chair Robin Lewis, who is also director of Georgia College’s Office of Grants and Sponsored Projects. In 2018, she and Lewis came up with the idea for the state event, modeled after the popular “Posters on the Hill” held every year in Washington D.C. by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). The state event has been adopted by Georgia Undergraduate Research Collective (GURC) and included a wide range of projects from accounting, biomedical technology and environmental engineering to health communications, political science and education.

Johnny Grant, Georgia College Director of Economic Development and External Relations, is one of the project’s “greatest champions,” Sams said. He told House and Senate members about the exhibit and encourage them to stop by. She also applauded the work of the steering committee—which included members from Georgia Southern University, the University of North Georgia and University of West Georgia.

The six Georgia College undergraduates at the Capitol this year were:

• Senior chemistry major Megan Andrews of Covington, Georgia, who is studying prostate cancer in men of African descent. This population is disproportionately affected by the disease. She’s working with three Georgia College Chemistry and Public Health professors, along with the state Department of Public Health, to determine how socioeconomic status affects onset of this particular cancer. The professors are Dr. Wathsala Medawala and Dr. Chavonda Mills, who helped with chemistry and hormonal data, and Dr. Ernest Kaninjing, who helped design the project.
• Senior Ashley Newkirk of Woodstock, Georgia, who used music therapy to help a first-grade student with autism increase his ability to follow directions, communicate and be more social. Working with Katie Whipple in Creative Arts Therapies, Newkirk used various musical interventions, including instruments and dance, to promote social interaction between the boy and his peers.
• Senior physics major Bo Cavender of Brooks, Georgia, who helped build a portable solar charging station that tracks the sun to generate energy as a power source for cell phones and laptops anywhere on campus. Cavender works with Dr. Hasitha Mahabaduge in the Condensed Matter Research Group. As a mentor, he said Mahabaduge knows when to step back and when to offer advice.
• Sophomore physics major Catherine Boyd of Columbus, Georgia, who determined whether solar panels could improve the battery performance of golf carts. This involved hooking solar panels up to golf cart batteries and measuring voltage and current. She worked with Mahabaduge too, learning how to analyze data and present research.
• Senior psychology majors Madeline Drives of Johns Creek, Georgia, and Amelia DuBose of Thomasville, Georgia, who are studying aggression levels in children, perceived by parents and teachers, and how this connects to socioeconomic status. They are working with Dr. Tsu-Ming Chiang, who helped spark their interest in research.

Andrews said undergraduate research is “the most impactful experience” she’s had at Georgia College. Boyd said she didn’t expect to have so many research opportunities in college and feels “very blessed to have had the opportunity to present” at the Capitol. Drives, too, said if someone had told her she’d be doing so much research in college, she would’ve thought they were “crazy.” She feels her research time at Georgia College has been a “truly amazing experience.”

“Posters at the Georgia Capitol” is selective. Due to limited space, only 42 of 78 projects were accepted from private and public institutions throughout Georgia. Applications go through a blind-review process with faculty reviewers statewide.

“I’m so proud of our students,” said Dr. Jordan Cofer, associate provost for Transformative Learning Experiences. “This was an amazing opportunity for students to present their research to legislators, lobbyists, university administrators and members of the general public. We definitely saw an increase in foot traffic this year and, because of the stiff competition, I think the projects that were accepted were all very strong.”

Music therapy instructor Katie Whipple echoed that sentiment. The audience is what makes this event unique. Legislators get to “see the relevance of higher education in a time where student debt load and work readiness are big issues,” she said. The Capitol gives students a chance to communicate their ideas and findings in laymen terms. It’s a critical skill to be able to explain the importance and relevance of their work to people outside their field, Whipple said, especially to politicians who make decisions on funding and support.

“Legislators may not necessarily be part of the traditional academic community,” she said. “But they may be the ones helping us make governmental changes, based on what we and our students find though research.”

Assistant Professor of Physics Dr. Hasitha Mahabaduge also considers the Capitol a unique place for student research. It’s a more-relaxed setting than most conferences, he said, and allows students to focus on presentation skills, rather than be too technical with details. Students “were excited to see President Dorman at the event,” he added. “It was a validation for our students and their hard work.”

Perhaps Cavender summed it up best with his advice for underclassmen.

“Being involved with research here at Georgia College has given me opportunities that would not otherwise have been possible,” he said. “Students should be inclined to participate in research for the opportunities that it grants. There are many different research groups on campus, which all vary in their level of involvement and area of focus, allowing anyone to participate.”

“If undergraduate research seems like it requires students to have an excellent understanding of their area of study or that it’s going to take up a lot of time, you are mistaken,” Cavender said. “Many of the concepts I was taught in the classroom were solidified while doing research. Undergraduate research provides students with an excellent way to get introduced to research and also get to know your professors, which is why you should get involved.”

Please visit https://frontpage.gcsu.edu/article/news/georgia-college-undergraduates-shine-2nd-annual-‘posters-capitol’&​nbsp;to view the orgininal article, as well as photos of the student’s posters.

Christos Plachouras, an undergraduate student and researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi, presented the work “Mapping the Sounds of the Swahili coast and the Arab Mashriq: Music research at the intersection of computational analysis and cultural heritage preservation” at the 2019 Digital Libraries for Musicology (DLfM) Satellite Event of the Conference of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR). Christos shared the importance of the research that the MaSC research group is conducting, his experience in ISMIR, and how it inspires his future research work.

My name is Christos Plachouras, and I attend New York University Abu Dhabi, located in the United Arab Emirates. I am a junior currently majoring in Computer Science and Music, while being especially interested in areas such as Sound and Music Computing and Music Information Retrieval.

At NYU Abu Dhabi, I am part of the Music and Sound Cultures (MaSC) research group, a group of researchers focusing on the multidisciplinary study of music from the Gulf, the Levant, East Africa, and South India. The type of specialization of each researcher varies greatly; there is expertise in artificial intelligence, digital signal processing, computational modeling, library science, ethnomusicology, music composition, and others. This collaboration results in some fascinating insights about how to analyze music from many different perspectives. For example, for a given piece, what can we infer by analyzing its rhythm? What can we conclude about its timbral evolution by analyzing the soundfile itself? What insights can we get by finding its recording location and date? Did some sociopolitical event influence the lyrics of the song?

The work MaSC is carrying out is meaningful and important. It involves musical traditions that are significantly underrepresented in musical research, and especially in computational approaches to musical analysis. By making field recordings, collecting local music, finding correlations between similar songs and their recording location, uncovering musical influence between nations or tracing immigration patterns, MaSC is contributing to cultural and, especially, musical heritage preservation. One of the key pursuits of MaSC is accessible music education, that’s why many of our efforts are concentrated in building an interface with which users can visually and interactively traverse a music collection, and see the differences and similarities between the musical characteristics or associated artist, location, and genre information of songs. All these efforts have resulted in significant contributions to research in fields ranging from computational ethnomusicology and library science to digital signal processing and machine learning.

My main project with MaSC is developing and using computational methods for the analysis of a music compendium consisting of excerpts from the Middle East – North Africa (MENA) region and the Swahili-speaking East Africa region. The main question I am interested in is what can we infer just by using the soundfile of the music pieces themselves, the question underlying the field of Music Information Retrieval (MIR). Research in MIR suggests different ways with which we can try to identify rhythmic structure, melodic and harmonic content, instrumentation, or danceability of a song by computing lower-level features from the audio and mapping them to musical features we understand. The implications of this extend to the ability to visualize the similarity of these features between musical excerpts, and the creation of groups of those excerpts which share similar characteristics.

The work I co-authored with other members of MaSC entitled “Mapping the Sounds of the Swahili coast and the Arab Mashriq: Music research at the intersection of computational analysis and cultural heritage preservation” explores which lower-level audio features we can use to create those interesting groups of similar music pieces. It also provides details into the recording, collection and digitization of the pieces of this music compendium.

In November 2019, I presented a poster based on that paper at the Digital Libraries for Musicology (DLfM) satellite event of the 2019 Conference of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR). I already look back to that conference as a very memorable and significant point in my academic and research career. I got the chance to discuss with experts in my field about my work and their own cutting-edge research, I got familiar with the future directions that MIR is taking, and I was introduced with fascinating ideas for the future development of the project. Most notably, I experienced a passionate and humble community that was extremely accepting, motivating, and willing to help me find and pursue my own research questions and make a meaningful contribution to ethnomusicology, and, hopefully, the world.

Daniel Montoya is a senior pursuing his bachelor’s of social work at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in the city of Azusa, California. Montoya is currently the Vice President of the Latin American Student Association, an ethnic organization at Azusa Pacific University that offers a forum for fellowship, education, and dialogue to encourage the appreciation of cultural diversity. He is currently an intern serving individuals living with chronic homelessness and severe mental illness. Montoya also provides mentorship as a TRiO: Upward Bound Academy leader to first-generation high school students surrounding professional development, academic success, and emotional wellness. A proud Azusa native, Montoya takes pride in his community and has a passion for serving his local school district demonstrated through his mentorship opportunities and previous tutoring experience through the AVID program. Following the completion of his BSW, his goal is to further his education and pursue a master’s of social work. 

Research focus: Daniel is researching chronic homelessness among families with young children in Los Angeles County, California. His research will examine the effectiveness of the supportive housing model and will make recommendations for how government and civil society institutions can best promote stability and flourishing for families as they transition out of homelessness. 

While many choose to turn a blind eye to the growing homeless crisis in the greater Los Angeles area, Montoya decided to use his college education to make a difference. He was recently awarded the Hatfield Prize by the Center for Public Justice (CPJ) to conduct research on the reintegration of families who have experienced chronic homelessness and are living or have lived under the permanent supportive housing model. Montoya will receive a $5,000 grant to fund his research under the guidance of faculty advisor Anupama Jacob, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Social Work. Findings from their semester-long research project will publish in a public policy report by the CPJ. Montoya and Jacob are the first social work team from APU to receive the Hatfield Prize.

“I am blessed with the opportunity to conduct research and develop a report that will positively impact social policy in support of chronically homeless families,” Montoya said. “As a first-generation college student, APU has given me the chance to make a difference within my community while developing research skills.”

Within his field internship as a social work major, Montoya gained valuable experience working with homeless individuals, many affected with mental illness. While working with clients in the field, he learned more about the supportive housing model – affordable, subsidized housing that provides on-site services to promote stability, dignity, and long-term independence. The services are designed to build tenancy skills and connect people with community-based health care, treatment, and employment services.

“I want to help change the perceptions and attitudes of society toward the homeless. Every individual experiencing hardship has their own unique story, and the Lord has given them the right to change the course of their lives,” Montoya said. “With the increase of our homeless population within the city of Azusa from 23 in 2015 to 321 in 2019, I hope that my research sets the stage for how our community can begin addressing chronic homelessness.”

The prize is annually awarded to three faculty-student dyads from Council of Christian Colleges & Universities schools. Recipients conduct research on social policy that impacts the well-being of children, families, and communities while integrating their faith to the issue they choose to study. “I’m excited for what this prize means for Danny and our social work program,” Jacob said. “Our students are doing extensive social impact research in their classes, which is rare for undergraduate students. This award shows the high level of research we’re conducting within the program.”

Text courtesy of Anupama Jacob. Please visit https://www.apu.edu/media/news/release/27249/ to view the original article.

Alyssa Bley may not be your typical scientist. But what is a typical scientist?

“I feel a little insecure at times about science,” Bley said.

And yet, Bley, a Talawanda graduate, came one step closer to achieving her dream of a career as a scientist when she was awarded a Miami University Undergraduate Summer Scholarship in 2019. She conducted research in David Berg’s Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation Laboratory, which brought opportunities beyond what she could have imagined.

Although Bley always had a love for science and animals, her academic journey started at Butler Tech in the School of the Arts where she pursued Theatre during her junior and senior years of high school. When it was time for her to start thinking about going to college, she turned her focus to science, as a biology major.

She hasn’t looked back since, but the path has not been easy

During the second semester of her first year of college, Bley found out she was pregnant with her son. She finished out the semester and decided to take the following semester off.

“The flexibility of the Regionals helped a lot,” Bley said.”Being able to do online classes helped me get back into the routine of going to school.”

After taking invertebrate zoology with Berg, Bley began working in the ABC Lab and Berg encouraged her to apply for a USS. The highly competitive awards are given to a select group of Miami students based on the quality of their research proposals. 

With the assistance of doctoral student Steven Hein, she identified a research topic: determining multiple paternity (the number of males contributing sperm) in broods carried by female mussels. The subject of interest was the Texas hornshell, an endangered species found in the Rio Grande and its tributaries in New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico.

Male mussels release aggregations of sperm cells into the water, which are filtered by a female and fertilize egg cells to create larval mussels. The larvae are then brooded by the females for several weeks before attaching to fish hosts, where they develop into juveniles before detaching and settling in river sediments to grow to adult size and reproduce. 

Research journey takes her to New Mexico

For 20 years, Berg and students in the ABC Lab have collaborated with scientists from the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish to conduct research focused on conservation of the Texas hornshell and other invertebrate species. 

As part of her nine-week summer research experience, Bley spent two weeks working in southeastern New Mexico, where she gathered adult and larval samples from the Black River. The rest of her summer was spent utilizing molecular genetic tools in the lab to extract DNA and determine the number of males that fertilized the offspring of individual female mussels. 

After completing the research, which is scheduled to continue through the spring of 2020, Bley plans to present it at Miami’s Undergraduate Research Forum and at a national conference. She will then submit a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The USS opportunity will have taken her through the whole research process: selecting a topic; writing a proposal to fund the research; collaborating with faculty, graduate students and other undergraduates to conduct the research and analyze the data and submitting her results for peer-review, all steps required of a scientist. 

“Miami Regionals faculty collaborate with students in disciplinary research in order to provide students the opportunity to develop as scholars in the natural or social sciences, the humanities, fine arts, education or business,” Berg said. “With the USS, Alyssa and other Regionals students have been able to experience the thrill of discovering new knowledge as part of their Miami education.” 

Bley, who plans to head to graduate school and study biology or ecology, encourages girls who have a passion for STEM to “just do it.” Find your passion and work toward your dream; you never know where it will take you.

by Emma Price, student communications specialist, Miami Regionals

Please visit https://www.miamioh.edu/news/campus-news/2020/01/alyssa-bley.html to​ view the original article.