July 23, 2014
Media Advisory – McNair Scholars Research
Twenty-three undergraduate students in a Southern Illinois University Carbondale program that prepares them for careers in research will present their work on Friday, July 25.
Reporters, photographers and broadcast news crews are welcome to cover the 11th annual McNair Summer Research Symposium, which runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium. The event includes 14 oral presentations from McNair Scholars and nine poster presentations from students in the Southern Illinois Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program. Topics will include the internal parasite infestation on goat herds in American farming, transitional experiences of transfer students from community colleges to universities, and the early onset of criminal associates and anti-social behavior in adult offenders.
McNair Scholar Kenyahtta Gray, a senior in communication disorders and sciences, is one of 11 oral presenters and she will be investigating the early vocal development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and children who are at risk for ASD. Asia Lee, another McNair Scholar who is a senior in marketing, will be presenting her research on the social construction of gender roles in marketing.
Karen Renzaglia, a professor in plant biology and SIU McNair Scholars program director and Andrew Sharp, an assistant professor in anatomy at the School of Medicine in Carbondale, will present opening remarks. David Dilalla, associate professor of psychology and associate provost for academic affairs, will present awards beginning at 3:45 p.m.
The Summer Research Institute is an eight-week intensive program that equips McNair Scholars with the necessary research skills to succeed in graduate school. Students pair with faculty members on their respective research projects. The SI Bridges program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and provides paid biomedical and behavioral science research training and professional development for underserved students at John A. Logan College and Shawnee Community College, who will complete a bachelor’s degree at SIU in science, technology, engineering, math or social science disciplines.
For more information, contact Rhetta Seymour, associate director of the McNair Scholars Program at 618/453-4582.
The McNair Scholars Program honors the late Ronald E. McNair, a physicist and astronaut who died in the January 1986 explosion of the Challenger space shuttle.