Students share learning at fifth annual Undergraduate Research Conference

Collaboration, questions and common interests were all on display last weekend during Nipissing University’s Fifth Annual Undergraduate Research Conference. The university welcomed roughly 100 undergraduate researchers and scholars to campus to present their academic work through poster presentations and panel discussions. Topics ranged from electroconvulsive therapy to T.S Elliot, from organizations representing sex workers to agriculture, and everything in between as students from around the province wowed judges and colleagues with their knowledge and presentation skills. The event featured 19 poster presentations and 78 individual presentations grouped into 23 panel discussions.

“The level of academic quality that we’ve seen here is remarkable,” said David Tabachnick, associate professor in Political Science and conference Chair. “These students are conducting some incredible research. It is very rewarding to see undergraduates so passionate in their research interests, so skilled in conducting that research and so professional in presenting it. The future of research is in very good hands with these young academics.”
The conference is designed to provide students with an opportunity to experience a scholarly conference in a way that is supportive and encouraging.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to collaborate with their peers and hone their presentation skills,” said Tabachnick. “Many commented on the level of professionalism in the conference and how enjoyable an experience it was for them.

“It was pretty amazing to be able to present my work to other students, answer their questions and get their feedback,” said Nicolas Speranzini, a fourth-year Bachelor of Physical Health and Education student at Nipissing who presented his paper The Effect of Body Position on Autonomic Nervous System Activation and Visual Attention. “I especially enjoyed the opportunity to learn about some of the other researchers.  One presentation I heard was all about how plants can be used to effectively clean toxic chemicals from the environment; it was really interesting and in a totally different discipline from my work.”