Georgia Southwestern students showcase undergraduate research

AMERICUS, GA (April 22, 2024) — Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) hosted its 6th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium featuring student research on topics such as politics and history, business, computer science and IT, psychology, biology, chemistry, and nursing.

Students from a variety of majors and fields shared their research projects with oral presentations and poster presentations. The research projects provide an opportunity for students to actively collaborate with their professors and peers, investigating real-world challenges within their chosen fields of study.

"GSW's Undergraduate Research Symposium highlights the outstanding achievements of our students as developing scholars," said Jill Drake, Ed.D., provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. "I am always so impressed with their disciplinary expertise and professional presentation skills. Their talks and posters are a wonderful testament to their dedication to their academic studies as well as the profound impact of faculty mentorship."

The 2024 project award winners are:

• First Place Best Talk in Room 1: Connor Mathis of Albany, Ga. for his talk "Reels That Sparked Revolutions – Films That Changed the 1960s"
• Second Place Best Talk in Room 1: Dalton Holley of Americus, Ga. and Binita Patel of Nairobi, Kenya for their talk "SAT: School (Bus) Activity Tracker"
• First Place Best Talk in Room 2: Lum Fube of Leesburg, Ga. for her talk "Taurocholic acid induces NRAS via YAP1 in Biliary Atresia"
• Second Place Best Talk in Room 2: Devin Fincher of Leesburg, Ga. for his talk "Chemical, Bacterial, and Microplastic Analysis in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee Watershed"
• First Place Poster Presentation: two awards were presented for a tie; Joanna Myers of Americus, Ga. for her poster "Interspecific Competition Between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus” and Makayla Lashley-Dorough of Albany, Ga. for her poster “Identifying potent drug candidate for kidney cancer”
• Second Place Poster Presentation: Destiny Musgrove of Augusta, Ga. for her poster "The effect of refuge complexity on refuge choice in the crayfish Procambarus gibbus”
• Provost’s Choice Poster Award: Rees Smith of Albany, Ga. for her poster "Survey of White Tail Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Populations on the Campus of Georgia Southwestern State University"

Over 60 students participated in the Symposium: 21 presented their research in an oral presentation, 37 displayed their work on posters, and four served as moderators for the oral presentations.  

“This annual event perfectly aligns with our strategic plan and provides our students with an opportunity to engage in a transformative experience that can propel them towards brighter futures,” said Drake. “As Provost, this is one of my favorite events on campus, and I am deeply committed to fostering and expanding upon this enriching opportunity for our students."

The Symposium was organized by a faculty committee and sponsored by generous donations to the Student Success Fund of the GSW Foundation.

View pictures from the Symposium on GSW’s Facebook page in the 6th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium album.

Pictured (L to R) are Rees Smith, Destiny Musgrove, Devin Fincher, Joanna Myers, Makayla Lashley-Dorough, Connor Mathis, Dalton Holley, and Binita Patel.