WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., April 12, 2017 — The Student Research Competition returns to West Liberty University for its 26th year this spring and takes place today in the R. Emmett Boyle Conference Center. The competition is designed around two academic categories covering Social Sciences, Humanities, Business and Education — and the Natural Sciences and Math.
Students can enter in one or both of the categories and teams of two students are welcome. The number of students competing has varied greatly over the years, according to biology professor, Dr. Roger Seeber, who acts as the research competition coordinator.
This year the three finalists for oral presentations and their projects, in order of presentation, include:
- Zachary Dillard – Environmental Associations of Cambarus veteranus Faxon, 1914 (Decapoda: Cambaridae), An Imperiled West Virginian Crayfish
- Austin Cusick – The potential for flower nectar to allow mosquito to mosquito transmission of Francisella tularensis
- Katie Scott – Historical and Current Distribution of Western Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Primary Burrowing Crayfishes: A Century of Change or Stasis?
All research projects were due by noon, March 31 and must include the research paper, an abstract, and contact information.
After the deadline, judges then score the research projects, and the top three contenders then receive a chance to present their projects in the oral competition at 3 p.m, April 12. The presentations are open to anyone in the campus community and attendance is encouraged.
“I’d like students to come and watch their peers,” Seeber said. “We get all kinds of different topics. We’ve had a fair number in psychology. We’ve had a fair number in education, some business; kind of across the board. It is very interesting.”
After the presentations, the scores from both the written and oral portions will be combined, and whoever has the highest score will win. The winners will then be announced and receive the official monetary prize at the Honors Convocation on May 4.
The competition is important because it helps prepare students for their futures, according to Seeber.
“Presentation is an integral part of research. Most of these students will go on to medical school or graduate school where they are going to have to do something along these lines, and no matter where you go, you have to present. Finding something out doesn’t do anything if nobody knows. And one of the things students dread the most is standing up in front of somebody and talking. So, this is a way to get people to understand that this is the next step in their careers if they are going to stay in science or do graduate level work.”
There is a committee of faculty assisting Seeber with the Student Research Competition.
“There’s one representative from every college on campus,” explained Seeber, who is a biology professor in the College of Sciences. “They are there to advertise, support, and provide me with judges.”
To keep the competition fair, Seeber said, “If you’ve [faculty] got a student competing, you recuse yourself and you don’t judge.”
For more information on the Student Research Competition, please contact Dr. Roger Seeber at seeberrg@westliberty.edu.