Kelsey Richardson ’15 (NURS) earned her bachelor’s degree this spring and shares her “accidental” journey into research in this essay.

I had never thought upon entering nursing school that research was even a remote possibility for me. When my advisor suggested joining the Honors program my sophomore year, I was interested but a little hesitant. I thought Honors meant taking extremely hard classes and losing all my free time. Instead, in the nursing program, Honors meant finding an advisor and completing a research project with their guidance and expertise. Then, finally, if you found new results, you would be able to submit your findings to be published. This sounded interesting to me and thankfully I took my advisor’s advice and started an amazing journey down the research path for the past three years. I learned that not only is research ever changing, but even students can make discoveries that can improve the practice and lives of others.

My trip down the research road started with finding an advisor. I was lucky enough to meet Dr. Xiaomei Cong, who is involved with so many amazing projects it was hard to pick just one to make my own. We decided that I would use a survey that had already been created and tested to further investigate neonatal nurses’ perceptions of the phenomenon known as Skin-to-Skin Contact or Kangaroo Care. First, I completed my preliminary literature review, searching multiple databases to see what was already published about Kangaroo Care. Not only did I learn about this intervention, but I also learned how to search the databases, save my results and pick out was and was not important. These skills helped me immensely in the next few years as a student when we needed to do research on a multitude of topics for various classes.

I then started the meticulous process of getting IRB approval before I could actually send out my survey. After this, I was able to send my survey out and we received more responses than I could have ever dreamed. This did prove to be slightly overwhelming when it became time to analyze all the results, however! Around this time, in November of my Junior year, I was lucky enough to receive the SHARE award from the Office of Undergraduate Research. Both my advisor and I received a stipend for our work, which greatly helped with my project. Not only did this make me feel as though my research was really worthwhile, but it was the best feeling to believe that others felt that my research was important enough to be recognized. Continue reading →

Richard Wolferz, Jr. ’15 (CLAS) recently graduated from UConn as an Honors Scholar in Biological Sciences with a second major in Physiology & Neurobiology. In this essay, he describes the role that research played in his undergraduate career.

I grew up and went to high school in New Jersey but was convinced on my first visit that the University of Connecticut was right for me. UConn is a great combination of a small town campus feel mixed with a world-renowned research university. One of the main reasons I came to UConn and chose the majors I did was for the opportunity to perform scientific research as an undergraduate. Research has been large part of my undergraduate career and has given me incredible hands on experience that many students do not see until graduate school.

After hearing about her research, I spoke with Rebecca Acabchuk, the graduate TA for my sophomore year Enhanced Anatomy and Physiology course. I explained to her how interested I was in the concussion research she was doing in Dr. Joanne Conover’s lab. After speaking further with Rebecca, and then with Dr. Conover, I was granted an opportunity to try volunteering in the Conover lab during the summer of 2013. Right away I was given responsibility to begin refining a technique to better analyze the expansion of the lateral ventricles in response to repeated concussive impacts. I was hooked.

Starting the fall of my junior year, I was welcomed in as an undergraduate research assistant in the lab. As a full-time member of the lab I applied for and received the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Supply Award. The research funding through OUR allowed me the chance to continue researching the effects of repeated concussions through our mouse model. The technique that I began to develop during the summer was now in full use generating three-dimensional reconstructions of lateral ventricles for volume analysis. The most rewarding aspect of the experience was being treated with the same respect and responsibility as any other lab member. I was expected to present my findings each week in lab meeting and expected to contribute intellectually in discussions. Continue reading →

Nellie Binder ’15 (CLAS) recently completed an individualized major in International Relations and will start law school in Fall 2015 to pursue her interests in immigration, asylum, and refugee law. In this essay and memoir, she shares her undergraduate research on Holocaust memorialization in the U.S. and in Poland.

The research for my 2014 SURF project, titled “Implications in the Past and Present: Holocaust Memorialization through Photographs, Camps, and Museums,” took place mainly in Poland and Washington D.C. While in the capitol, I spent multiple days in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, which gave me the chance to examine each exhibition with particular care, keeping in mind how the museum functions within the realm of Holocaust memorialization. I was able to contrast this research with my experience at the actual sites of destruction: the concentration camps themselves. After going to Auschwitz, where I saw groups of Israeli protesters as well as masses of IDF soldiers in uniform, I also began considering the connection between Holocaust memorialization and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How do differing opinions about the Holocaust translate into dialogue regarding the conflict? This observation was critical as it enabled me to connect my research on the past with one of the most highly debated international conflicts in the present.

By visiting various concentration camps throughout Poland, in particular Auschwitz, I was also able to develop a very personal perspective on the formation of Holocaust memory in varying political spheres. This personal response to my time in Auschwitz prompted the short creative memoir piece below. Continue reading →