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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students showcased their senior assignments and Undergraduate Research Creative Activities (URCA) to the campus community during the annual Undergraduate Scholars Showcase on Friday, April 14 in the Morris University Center. 

The showcase highlighted the depth and variety of outstanding research and creative activities such as performances, demonstrations, presentations, readings, and poster displays.

“The Undergraduate Scholar Showcase is one of the most exciting days at SIUE,” said Elza Ibroscheva, PhD, associate provost and professor of mass communications. “It is truly a day of celebrating the amazing research and creative work of our students. I am always amazed at the innovative projects they are pursuing and how enthusiastic and excited they are to share their scholarship. It is a genuine testimony to the outstanding educational opportunities SIUE has to offer and the remarkable impact of the senior assignment and URCA.”

“It always amazes me to see what our students are capable of achieving,” added Ariel Belasen, PhD, professor and coordinator for URCA. “This year, in particular, is even more impressive given that many of our seniors have had to adapt to completely different modalities of learning every single year.”

Students like senior psychology and economics major Kelly Cruise, described her research on her project: “Age Biases and Technological Mistakes in a Virtual Job Interview.” Cruise collaborated with Jonathan Pettibone, PhD, professor and undergraduate program director.

“We wanted to know now that some job interviews have shifted to virtual, is there some sort of negative impact happening to older workers,” said Cruise. “We were specifically looking at mistakes made in a virtual job interview, including failing to unmute yourself or dropping from a call, and asking if those mistakes effects older candidates more than younger candidates.”

Dana Smith, applied health major, worked with Joshua Wooten, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Applied Health looking at the effect of continued fructose consumption during weight loss on de novo lipogenesis.

“As obesity is on the rise, we know poor diet and poor lifestyle habits can lead to fatty livers, liver and cardiovascular disease,” said Smith. “We wanted to see how fructose, or how we drink soda, fruit juices, energy drinks, effects fatty liver development.”

Psychology students Jafar Alkalf, Teanna Cattani, Kaitlyn John, Kayla Myers, Kiya Rainey and associate professor Eunyoe Ro, PhD, showcased their work entitled “Path to Progress: A Validation Study of the P Factor.”

“We researched the co-morbidity of mental health disorders,” explained Alkalf. “If you have depression, then you are more likely to have anxiety. If you have both of those, you’re more likely to have another disorder, like ADHD. This research helps explain that and how to provide more generalized treatment methods.”

Photos: SIUE students perform during the Undergraduate Scholars Showcase.

Students explain their research to SIUE Chancellor James T. Minor, PhD.

Psychology students Jafar Alkalf, Teanna Cattani, Kaitlyn John, Kayla Myers, Kiya Rainey present their research.