When students come to study at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, one of the opportunities available to them is participating in academic research. Whether it’s engineering a way to improve a manufacturer’s machinery or delving into the reasons behind New Hampshire’s agricultural decline, students are tasked with using the skills they learned in the classroom and applying them to solving problems or answering questions in the real world.
From April 22-24, the University of New Hampshire’s Durham and Manchester campuses hosted the Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) to highlight the work these students have done in the past year, either through their major’s capstone project, an internship or through other opportunities they've seized to conduct research. The oral presentations, poster presentations and films presented during this conference highlighted not only the work these students have achieved, but the wide range of academic opportunities available to undergraduates. Manchester's events were sponsored by Bellwether Community Credit Union.
UNH Manchester is a research university located in the state’s largest city. The proximity to industry, historic archives and social services was reflected in the variety of subjects presented and gave students a wealth of professional expertise to draw from, as well.
Jesse Grazewski and Katelyn Williams, both senior psychology majors, conducted research into the barriers to spiritual treatment in hospice and palliative care. The duo worked with a team of students throughout the semester in collaboration with the New Hampshire Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. What they found through surveying caregivers, chaplains and other hospice workers is that questions about spirituality can cause great distress to patients at the end of life and that better training would help to improve care in this area.
Grazewski said the experience was not just an opportunity to study within his major, but to learn real life work skills, like working with a team.
“This class was smaller so everyone got a heavy workload and had to work together to make sure everything goes smoothly,” said Grazewski.
“My advice to seniors is to take a course like this,” said Williams. “It’s refreshing to apply what you know.”
Raquel Gawron, a senior history major, spent the semester in archives reading historic documents about race relations in the state more than 150 years ago. Her project, called Racial Impressions: A Look Into Race Relations in New Hampshire from 1820 to 1860, was inspired by her interest in social justice issues and examined why there was so little information about the role black people living in the state during this time played in society.
“People seem to think of New Hampshire as this glowing northern state that didn't struggle with racial animosity,” said Gawron. “I found it’s not true.”
Dan Reagan, Associate Dean of UNH Manchester, said the conference is a valuable opportunity for students to showcase the research they've done, often as a culmination of their undergraduate studies, and to learn how to present their findings to others.
“Research isn't helpful if it isn't shared and if it isn't communicated to others,” he said. “Today is about sharing.”
The presentations can also garner additional recognition. Students can opt to submit an abstract entering them in a contest for best presentation in each category. Awards for the top research projects are presented at the UNH Manchester honors convocation on Tuesday, May 13.
Research in science and technology were also highlights of the conference, with a number of biology students examining water quality and invasive species in Lake Massebesic, which supplies drinking water to the largest public water system in the state.
Other students presented work learned at engineering and technology internships, including Christopher Treadwell, who studied energy efficiency in municipal buildings, or Jeffrey Deming and Alex Roy, who created and built a prototype improvement of a hot air ring cleaner during their internship at Velcro USA.
Pauline Wilk, Brian Gailis, Ramon Whitman and Joshua Anderson, all computer information systems majors, worked on improving speech recognition software as part of their capstone project. The team spent considerable time researching work that had been done by other students before they could even begin the process of coming up with a solution. Anderson said it taught him about working with a team and how to overcome unexpected problems.
“The experience was one I’ve never had before in a college class,” said Anderson.
Now in its 15th year, the Undergraduate Research Conference includes the work of over 1,300 UNH undergraduate students, from all academic disciplines, on both the Durham and Manchester campuses. The UNH URC is one of the largest conferences of its kind in the country.
