Presenter Profile: Lindsey Knapp

Lindsey Knapp (Biology) presented "PICCOLO (PCLO) Is Differentially Expressed During Mouse Brain Development" at the 2012 URCA Symposium. Here's what Lindsey had to say about her experience with URCA:
 
"Presenting at the URCA Symposium has given me a lot of confidence in presenting my research. This summer I gave presentations to the lab I worked in at UC-Berkeley and even gave a presentation via video chat with other labs. Without URCA, that would have been a lot more intimidating. I am currently applying to Ph.D. programs in Developmental Biology and hope to pursue a career in the field. Having the experience of undergraduate research is a great way to prepare for graduate school or a career and presenting my research was a great way to practice speaking about science, a valuable skill for any scientist.

"I would recommend URCA to any student who is participating in undergraduate research or creative activities. The satisfaction of being able to share all or your hard work with your peers, professors, and public is priceless. Writing your project down and hoping people read it is always an option, but actually interacting with the people who see are interested in your work is very rewarding."

Presenter Profile: Dantan Wernecke

Dantan Wernecke (Political Science) presented "The Happy Empire: Aristotle, Publius, and the American Regime" at the 2012 URCA Symposium, and "Now That's What I'm Talking About: The Anomaly of the Upper North Dialect in United States English" at the 2011 URCA Symposium.

Here’s what Dantan has to say about his experiences with URCA:

"My first year I actually presented research in the field of English, specifically linguistics. As a political science and history major, it allowed me to branch out of my usual course of study. As an English minor, it was right up my alley nonetheless. It was nice to be able to flex different academic muscles and work closely with my faculty sponsor Dr. Hilary Donatini. That presentation was about the Upper North Dialect in United States English.

"I had such a great time presenting. It was fun speaking to a large audience. I really do think we all had a good time learning and laughing together.

"This last spring I presented part of my research for my senior thesis - something I decided to call "Universal Regime Theory" dealing with Aristotle's "Politics."  I also enjoyed presenting. This time it was more of an intellectual challenge to me as it forced me to be critical about how I was presenting research that I never truly articulated aloud before. For this URCA presentation, I have to thank my faculty sponsor Dr. Justin Lyons.

Overall, presenting at the URCA has prepared me for the future and my post-grad plans. As a graduate student this year, I know my experiences presenting have given me confidence in front of a crowd and confidence in my ideas."

Presenter Profile: Megan Wise

Megan Wise (Speech Communication and Broadcast Communication) presented two oral presentations, “Profiling and Detecting Deceitful Communication in Security Screening” and “Medical Professionalism and Ethics” at the 2012 URCA Symposium.

Here’s what Megan has to say about her experience with URCA:

“The URCA Symposium was an extremely beneficial experience to be exposed to a new component of research at the undergraduate level. From the initial stages of gathering information and statistics to actually presenting my research, it was a wonderful opportunity to submerse myself in the research aspect of my discipline at the collegiate level.  Presenting at the URCA Symposium was a great way to practice for upcoming presentations and conferences and receive valuable feedback.

“Regardless of one’s major, I would definitely recommend that students participate in URCA. It is a beneficial learning environment where you are surrounded by peers, friends, and faculty members who are there to support you and help you succeed. It is a great venue to practice for upcoming conferences where you can learn about your strengths and weaknesses in your presentation delivery, and then continue to grow as you prepare for different conferences and events.”

Presenter Profile: Lauren Goossens

Lauren Goossens (Psychology) has presented twice at URCA.  In 2011, Lauren was part of a group of students that presented "Weight Changes in First-Semester University Students" as a poster.  In 2012, Lauren and colleagues presented "The Influence of Context and Color on Memory" as an oral presentation.

Here's what Lauren has to say about her experiences with URCA:

"My sophomore year, we worked on a project titled "Weight Changes in First-Semester University Students," and I presented this research at the URCA symposium with Niki Valentine and Jessie Bates.  URCA was an excellent way to gain experience in how to prepare for presenting research, as well as how to actually present research while at a conference.  We did a poster session, and this gave us a chance to interact with our professors and fellow students and explain our research.  URCA also helped prepare us to do a poster session at the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) conference in Chicago sophomore year.

"Junior year, I was in PSYC 310, the Advanced Research Methods course.  Rachel Carson, Sarah Guarino, and I designed and conducted a study titled, "The Influence of Context and Color on Memory," and we presented this research first at the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) conference in Pittsburgh.  We presented a poster session, which we were comfortable with since we had all presented a poster previously.  Then, for the URCA symposium, we decided to do an oral presentation.  Although we were nervous at first since we had not done an oral presentation before, once we got up onto the stage, we did fine and had a great experience.  We practiced our presentation beforehand and were comfortable with our material, and the presentation could not have gone better.  This gave us the information and practice we needed with giving oral presentations, and we now feel that we are prepared to continue to give other oral presentations, as well as poster presentations in the future."