Undergraduate Research Stories

For Roxanne Wan, the divinity is in the details. Whether it’s tiny flour-coated fingers rolling out dumpling wrappers, static electricity mussing a boy’s hair as he prepares for bed or a mother delicately latching the bedroom door after whispering goodnight, Wan’s camera lingers and lounges in these moments.

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​

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 ​

Daniel Montoya is a senior pursuing a B.A. in Social Work at Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, California). Daniel was selected as one of the three recipients of the 2020 Hatfield Prize from the Center for Public Justice based in Washington D.C. The Hatfield Prize is awarded annually to three student-faculty pairs from among Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) institutions to conduct research on social policies that impact the wellbeing of children, families, and communities. Dan​

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.

Katrina Lyon thought she might end up just cleaning test tubes when she signed up as an undergraduate to work in a scientific research lab at Montana State University. Instead, she’s been working on real research to find out if black raspberries can help fight stomach cancer.

Most college students have apps on their phones. You might see Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok on a typical student’s phone. Three biology sophomores at Delaware Valley University are using something a little different. They’re sharing plant science data with a global network of scientists using an app.​

Since 2009, Dr. Joanne Murphy, associate professor of classical studies and principal investigator for the Mellon-funded Transforming the Humanities initiative, has guided UNCG students like Michael Bell through six-week professional internships at an archaeological field school on the Greek island of Kea.

Through more than 7,000 miles of travel together, Sophie Partington ’21 and Laura DeMassa ’21 have gone from friends in French class to roommates in Italy and research partners in France.

Southwestern music literature major Katiebeth Brandt ’19 helps resurrect the long-archived manuscripts of composer Florence B. Price.