Contact: Leah Barbour
Photo by: Russ Houston
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Eight Mississippi State University undergraduates--four from Mississippi and four from Alabama--and one Ohio State University student were recently named winners at MSU's summer 2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium.
"I'm very impressed with the quality of work our students are doing," said mathematics professor Seth Oppenheimer, director of undergraduate research in the Shackouls Honors College. "This local event is that first step into that wider world of sharing research, helping them to prepare for the future, both academically and for a professional career."
Any undergraduate student attending an institution of higher learning may participate in the symposium, as long as he or she has an MSU-faculty mentor. The university's Shackouls Honors College and the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program sponsored the symposium.
During MSU's summer classes, REU subsidized nine students, representing postsecondary institutions all over the country, at MSU as the undergraduates worked with faculty members guiding their respective research projects.
OSU student Dennis Omari of Columbus, Ohio, participated in an REU with MSU chemical engineering assistant professor Santanu Kundu, and he won second place in the symposium's physical sciences and engineering category.
Additional categories include arts and humanities, biological sciences and engineering, and social sciences. Students either presented explanatory posters or short talks explaining the research they conducted during the summer months.
Winners included:
ARTS AND HUMANITIES
FIRST PLACE TIE: Junior philosophy major Alexander J. "Alex" Ward, the son of Ronny Ward and Frances Hodges, both of Marietta; and senior architecture major Jacqueline Dorman, the daughter of Richard Dorman of Biloxi and Kitda Dorman of Anchorage, Alaska.
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
FIRST: Junior agricultural information science major Kenneth T. Hearn, the son of Michael and Terri Perkins of Semmes, Alabama.
SECOND: Junior biochemistry major Andries P. Both, the son of Christiaan and Karin Both of Meridian.
THIRD: Senior biological engineering major Justin B. McMahan, the son of Andrew and Nancy McMahan of Long Beach.
PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING
FIRST: Senior chemistry major Jeffrey D. Johnston, the son of Daniel Lewis of Atlanta and Mary Johnston of Clinton.
SECOND: Junior OSU aerospace engineering major Dennis Omari, the son of Kwabena Omari and Amma Tenkorang of Columbus, Ohio.
SOCIAL SCIENCES
FIRST: Senior agricultural information science major Libby S. Durst, the daughter of William and Evelyn Durst of Rolling Fork.
SECOND: Junior psychology major Destini A. Smith, the daughter of Emanuel and Debra Smith of Hoover, Alabama.
Visit www.honors.msstate.edu/research to learn more about undergraduate research opportunities at MSU.
See www.msstate.edu to discover more about MSU.