More than 160 students attend regional undergraduate research conference at UNE
The University of New England hosted the 3rd annual Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium, NURDS, at UNE's Biddeford campus on March 5 and 6, 2011.
More than 160 students from 42 different colleges and universities attended, ranging from as far south as New York City and as far north as Halifax and Antigonish in Nova Scotia, Canada. Undergraduate students presented honors theses, senior theses and independent projects, all of very high quality.
The conference is organized by UNE graduate and undergraduate students and is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, with Markus Frederich, Ph.D., UNE associate professor in marine sciences, as the principal investigator.
Because only undergraduate students make presentations, all attendees enjoy the research conference experience at the same level. The conference also provides attendees their first experiences in presenting and getting valuable feedback on their projects.
Presentation topics cover a broad range of sciences including: marine biology, ecology, evolution, environmental sciences, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, physics, geology, and oceanography.
In addition to presenting talks and posters, students attended and learned at workshops organized by UNE students and experts from the area. The workshops included: seal necropsy, atomic force microscopy, a bird walk guided by a member of the Audubon Society, and others.
The keynote talk was given by Jeffrey Osborn, Ph.D., dean of the school of sciences at The College of New Jersey and past president of the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR).
The NURDS conference is the sole undergraduate-only regional science symposium that exists in northern New England. The high number of undergraduate students performing high quality research projects as part of their college educations each year at NURDS reflects a nation-wide trend of involving students early in first-hand research experiences.