Sokolov Honors College students selected to showcase research at national conference

Eight undergraduate honors students and a professional staff member from the Sokolov Honors College presented academic posters showcasing their research last week at National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) Conference held in Kansas City. The conference, a premiere gathering for honors students and faculty nationwide, allowed students to share their academic work with peers and experts from across the country.

The following YSU students presented their research at NCHC:

• Natalie Dando, senior Mathematics major, Applications of Google's PageRank: Predicting Tennis Outcomes
• Avinab De, Jake Louis, and Muawiyah Shariff, all three senior Biology majors in the YSU-BaccMed program, Stem Cell Therapy for Radiation Induced Skin Reaction
• Alexis Garcia, sophomore Nursing major, Attitudes and Ethical Concerns Regarding Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Codes
• Crescenzo Scheetz and Mason DeBrosse, both sophomore Biology majors in the YSU-BaccMed program, A Retrospective Study Assessing the Quality of Reporting Materials and Methods in the Preclinical Behavioral Neuroscience Literature
• James Killmeyer, sophomore Physics major, The Creation and Analysis of TiB2 Thin Films
• Honors Assistant Director Alisha Dodge presented her research, Communication Tactics with International Students, in a faculty/staff poster presentation session.

The students not only demonstrated their own scholarly work but also contributed to important conversations in their fields ranging from healthcare and ethics to materials science and math modeling. Collectively, they observed how research from different disciplines can work towards a common theme and learned that conversational skills are very important for scientists.

“I would describe this experience as incredible because it gave me the opportunity to share my research, meet honors students from other institutions, and learn about the experiences of well-known educators such as Erin Gruwell,” said Kilmeyer.

The students also attended a variety of conference sessions, including a keynote address by Erin Grunwell, an American teacher who became famous for mentoring her students to tell their stories through writing and ultimately publish the book, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them.