Connect with us

Featured

UM Students Present Their Research at the Capitol

Published

on

University of Mississippi students (left to right) Madison Savoy, Abigail Garrett, Cellas Hayes, Lindsey Miller and Brittany Brown present their undergraduate research during Posters in the Rotunda March 20 at the state Capitol. Photo by Shea Stewart/University Communications

Five University of Mississippi students displayed their undergraduate research on topics ranging from the Latino South to therapeutic treatments for cognitive disorders during Posters in the Rotunda Tuesday (March 20) at the Mississippi State Capitol.
They were among 33 students from Mississippi’s eight public universities at the event, which showcased to state legislators and leaders some of the undergraduate research and scholarly activity being conducted at public universities.
“Research experiences at the undergraduate level can be extremely impactful for our students, giving them the first thrill of defining and answering a question no one else ever has,” said Josh Gladden, UM interim vice chancellor of research and sponsored programs. “We have been expanding these experiential opportunities at UM and are excited for this opportunity for our leaders to learn more about the impressive work being produced by our students throughout the state.”
The event provided opportunities for state leaders to visit with students from their districts, allowed students to network with one other and showcased cutting-edge research conducted by undergraduates that benefits Mississippians.
“The work being done by undergraduates with their mentors at the eight state universities is quite impressive,” said Marie Danforth, chair of the steering committee for the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research at the University of Southern Mississippi and coordinator of the event, in a news release. “This event (helps) legislators appreciate the contributions that the students are making to the state in so many areas, including economics, health care and education.”
Ole Miss students presenting at the Posters in the Rotunda event were:
– Brittany Brown, a journalism major from Quitman. “The Latino South: Migration, Identity and Foodways” was the title of Brown’s poster abstract. According to Brown, her research “examines the demographic changes that result from the migration of Latinos to nontraditional settings in the American South.”
“It is important to understand how this increasing population will affect the idea of race and how Southern society views people of Hispanic descent in order to move forward as a region,” she wrote in her poster abstract.
– Abigail Garrett, a mathematics and computer science major from Mountain Brook, Alabama. Garrett’s research involves analyzing and sorting data with the mission of giving others “the ability to easily view and understand vast amounts of data provided about breast cancer patients and their treatments,” she wrote in her poster abstract.
“The research seeks to benefit Mississippi by helping its residents who are affected by breast cancer, and also benefit the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s research in regard to this terrible disease.”
– Cellas Hayes, a classics and biology major from Lena. As life expectancy has increased, so has diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Hayes wrote in his poster abstract. The purpose of his research is to “identify therapeutic treatments for these diseases.”
“Within the last 50 years, life expectancy in Mississippi has increased to almost 80 years of age,” he wrote in his poster abstract. “This increased life expectancy has come with more age-related problems such as increased rates of dementia. Our goal is to understand how cognitive disorders come about in order to find potential therapeutic treatments.”
– Lindsey Miller, a pre-pharmacy major from Corinth. Miller’s poster abstract was titled “Finding the Dimerization Interface of Skp1 from Dictyostelium.” The research is focused “on understanding the function of F-box proteins, which are key proteins in regulating a wide variety of cellular activities in organisms including humans, plants and fungi.”
“Dictyostelium is an amoeba that lives in soil and is a good model system for studying how cells react to their environment,” she wrote in her poster abstract. “We are studying the Skp1 protein from this amoeba to understand how it works with other proteins. This information may help advance medicine and agriculture in Mississippi.”
– Madison Savoy, a communication sciences and disorders major from Southaven. Savoy’s research involves examining “how verb transitivity impacts pronoun interpretation for adults with intellectual disabilities versus typically developing adults,” she wrote in her poster abstract.
“Approximately 14 percent of Mississippians have intellectual or developmental disabilities. Understanding strengths and weaknesses in their language can help identify areas for targeted intervention. These targeted interventions could ultimately save the state of Mississippi a significant amount of funds to help these individuals go on to live independent lives.”
Started in 2016 and modeled after the Posters on the Hill event at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., which includes students from around the country, Posters in the Rotunda is held in some format in 17 states.
Both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature proclaimed March 20 as Undergraduate Research Day.
“Outstanding students from across the state have dedicated their time and have worked tremendously hard on their research projects for Posters in the Rotunda, and these students demonstrate the positive impact that higher education appropriation brings to our state, and supporting students who participate in Posters in the Rotunda is an excellent way for Mississippi to invest in its future,” House Resolution No. 54 stated.
“Undergraduate research is critical in developing solutions to the needs of Mississippi’s future workforce because it cultivates the students’ goals and aspirations and it encourages students to specialize in the biomedical and (science, technology, engineering and mathematical) fields after graduation.”

By Shea Stewart
For questions or comments email us at hottytoddynews@gmail.com

Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2024 Ole Miss Football

Sat, Aug 31Furman Logovs Furman W, 76-0
Sat, Sep 7Middle Tennessee Logovs Middle TennesseeW, 52-3
Sat, Sep 14Wake Forest Logo@ Wake ForestW, 40-6
Sat, Sep 21Georgia Southern Logovs Georgia SouthernW, 52-13
Sat, Sep 28Kentucky Logovs KentuckyL, 20-17
Sat, Oct 5South Carolina Logo@ South CarolinaW, 27-3
Sat, Oct 12LSU Logovs LSUL, 29-26 (2 OT)
Sat, Oct 26Oklahoma Logovs OklahomaW, 26-14
Sat, Nov 2Arkansas Logo@ ArkansasW, 63-35
Sat, Nov 16Georgia Logovs GeorgiaW, 28-10
Sat, Nov 23Florida Logo@ FloridaL, 24-17
Sat, Nov 30Mississippi State Logovs Mississippi StateW, 26-14
Thu, Jan 2Duke Logovs Duke (Gator Bowl)W, 52-20

Ole Miss Men’s Basketball

Mon, Nov 4Long Island University Logovs Long Island University W, 90-60
Fri, Nov 8Grambling Logovs GramblingW, 66-64
Tue, Nov 12South Alabama Logovs South AlabamaW, 64-54
Sat, Nov 16Colorado State Logovs Colorado StateW, 84-69
Thu, Nov 21Oral Roberts Logovs Oral RobertsL, 100-68
Thu, Nov 28BYU Logovs BYUW, 96-85 OT
Fri, Nov 29Purdue Logovs 13 PurdueL, 80-78
Tue, Dec 3Louisville Logo@ LouisvilleW, 86-63
Sat, Dec 7Lindenwood Logovs LindenwoodW, 86-53
Sat, Dec 14Georgia Logovs Southern MissW, 77-46
Tue, Dec 17Southern Logovs SouthernW, 74-61
Sat, Dec 21Queens University Logovs Queens UniversityW, 80-62
Sat, Dec 28Memphis Logo@ MemphisL, 87-70
Sat, Jan 4Georgia Logovs Georgia11:00 AM
SECN
Wed, Jan 8Arkansas Logo@ 23 Arkansas6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 11LSU Logovs LSU5:00 PM
SECN
Tue, Jan 14Alabama Logo@ 5 Alabama6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 18Mississippi State Logo@ 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Jan 22Texas A&M State Logovs 13 Texas A&M8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Jan 25Missouri Logo@ Missouri5:00 PM
SECN
Wed, Jan 29Texas Logovs Texas8:00 PM
ESPN2
Sat, Feb 1Auburn Logovs 2 Auburn3:00 PM
TBA
Tue, Feb 4Kentucky Logovs 10 Kentucky6:00 PM
ESPN
Sat, Feb 8LSU Logo@ LSU7:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 12South Carolina Logo@ South Carolina6:00 PM
SECN
Sat, Feb 15Mississippi State Logovs 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Feb 22Auburn Logo@ Vanderbilt2:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 26Auburn Logo@ 2 Auburn6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 1Oklahoma Logovs 12 Oklahoma1:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Mar 5Tennessee Logovs 1 Tennessee8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 8Florida Logo@ 6 Florida5:00 PM
SECN

@ COPYRIGHT 2024 BY HT MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. HOTTYTODDY.COM IS AN INDEPENT DIGITAL ENTITY NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.