Global experience helps prepare tomorrow's research leaders
Three undergraduate student researchers from UBC will head to Fudan University in Shanghai, China, to represent the University of British Columbia at the U21 Undergraduate Research Conference.
Microbiology student Jessica Baker and math student Meghan Dutot are from UBC's Okanagan campus, and sociology student April Dutheil is from the Vancouver campus. UBC's Go Global program worked in partnership with MURC and the Undergraduate Research Award (URA) program in the I.K. Barber School of Arts & Sciences to select students to receive a financial award to cover participation costs, including flight, accommodation and program fees.
"We place great emphasis on research as part of the undergraduate student experience – it's how we prepare tomorrow's research leaders," says Cynthia Mathieson, Dean of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences at UBC's Okanagan campus. "These students have proven themselves as outstanding researchers and they are great choices to represent UBC at a gathering of promising young researchers from around the world."
This year's conference, which runs from July 8 to 23, has the theme "Share Your Inspiration."
"We strongly believe that inspiration is the source of creativity, imagination and innovation, which are indispensable qualities for successful academic research," says Professor Yinzhang Chen, Provost Vice President International at Fudan University. "We will provide a platform for participants to share their inspiration and encourage research activities."
Baker's microbiology undergraduate research project that looked at the effect of lavender on oxidative stress during acute colitis took home one of three Oral Presentation Awards at the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference in Vancouver in April.
Dutot's mathematics research project looked at predicting the effectiveness of biocontrols on post-harvest fungal growth on fruit. She is also a recipient of a 2011 URA Award, working with math professor Rebecca Tyson on a project to model biocontrol of post-harvest fungal disease.
Dutheil's sociology research took her to Arviat, Nunavut, last summer to work with the Nanisiniq Arviat History Project. That project aims to bring Inuit elders and youth together so that Inuit youth can learn more about their history from their elders in order to create a stronger sense of self