2010 USRA - Poster Session

McMaster's undergraduate researchers have studied just about every topic imaginable.

From water delivery in rural Tanzania to the effects of interval training on hyperglycemia, and from Canadian illustrator Rex Woods' life to gender barriers at the Voisey's Bay mine, the latest recipients of Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) have a wide range of interests. But why do these students give up their summers to perform such work?

"I absolutely love doing research," says Erica Hiltz, a sociology student who used her award to study stigma-management techniques used by people living with HIV/AIDS. "Getting a USRA has opened so many doors for me. It helped me to discover my niche in the field of sociology, and I am now even more passionate about graduate school."

Hiltz, along with 46 other undergraduate students, took part in a poster session this week highlighting the research they performed with their USRAs. The awards provide faculty guidance and funding for undergraduate students to perform the sort of independent research usually reserved for graduate students, with the goal of giving undergraduates experience and inspiration at a time when they are still determining their academic and career paths.

"Getting a USRA allowed me to develop my theatre and writing skills, both of which I am continuing to develop through the creation of my own theatrical production for my fourth-year thesis project," says Mallory Greene, whose research project analyzed how first-year McMaster students are affected by the Welcome Week play IRIS.

"It gave me the chance to explore educational theatre at McMaster, something I'm really passionate about."

J. Paige Byers found her USRA experience so rewarding in 2009 that she pursued a second USRA-funded project this year. Studying materials science and engineering, her recent electron microscopy examination of hydrogen-producing bacteria is an extension of her previous research.

"My academic interests are definitely research-based," says Byers. "I love solving puzzles in the lab and it's a great climate to learn new skills in. Without a USRA, I never would have had the opportunity to do the work I'm doing."

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