It was a typical Saturday mid-morning scene in the Bryan Center--a college student talked with his peers about wild partying and an intense collegiate lifestyle.
However, this was no ordinary conversation, but rather part of the Triangle Undergraduate Research Symposium held this past weekend to collaborate and highlight research from undergraduate students at institutions in the Triangle and beyond.
Undergraduates from Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Salem College presented their research in humanities, social sciences, biology and physical sciences and engineering.
Specific topics ranged from the aforementioned study into the image of the collegiate lifestyle, plant defensive mechanisms and even a study into the relationship between President George W. Bush's war rhetoric against Saddam Hussein and a Missouri Baptist Church's claims against homosexuality.
TURS, developed by junior Emily Heikamp, is Duke's first multidisciplinary research symposium and featured both oral and poster sessions.
"I got the idea about a year ago when I went to a conference at the University of Maryland with students from all over the East Coast. I thought it would be a neat idea to have a collaborative symposium [at Duke] with all three schools, Duke, Carolina and N.C. State," Heikamp said.
The symposium, which was organized by Heikamp, a student steering committee comprised of students from Duke, Carolina and N.C. State and the undergraduate research directors from the three institutions, offered 89 students the chance to display and present their research.
Partially sponsored by a Robertson Scholars Collaboration Fund grant, the symposium sought to bring together students not only in the spirit of scholarship, but also in a general sense of community.
"We are a major research institution so there is just an abundance of undergraduate research going on," Heikamp said. "I think Duke, Carolina and N.C. State do a good job of collaborating on the graduate or professional level but not at the undergraduate level."
The keynote speaker at Saturday's event reflected the multidisciplinary theme of the conference. Marie Lynn Miranda, a Gabel associate professor of the practice in environmental ethics and sustainable environmental management at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, discussed her multi-faceted foray into applying research to practice.
"We thought she would appeal to all disciplines--her work has to do with locating pinpoint centers of risk," said Trinity Dean Mary Nijhout, who helped organize the symposium in conjunction with Duke's Undergraduate Research Support Office. "She has a strong interest in social justice and I think it was quite a successful talk."
Students who presented at the symposium also enjoyed the collaboration between the various institutions.
"In my group we had someone from UNC-Wilmington, someone from N.C. State and Carolina," said Duke senior Meredith Clements. "It was interesting to see what everyone was all involved in."
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