PHOTO CREDIT: Hadley Bodell
Hadley Bodell
Editor in Chief
Every year, Idaho State University hosts students from across all programs and disciplines to present their research. The Research and Creative Works Symposium includes undergraduate and graduate students, who are judged on their posters and presentations by faculty members.
This event gives students the opportunity and experience of presenting research to those outside their field of work. Tracy Collum, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, said students from both the Pocatello and Meridian campuses participate as well as online students.
She also said this was the largest number of participants in the 12 years of the symposium, with around 250 students. Organizers had to split the group into several sessions to accommodate.
“It gives them a sense of what a professional conference can look like, and they’re able to present in a way that they haven’t been able to probably in class or with colleagues,” Collum said. “It just gives them a wider immersive experience to put on their resume, especially if they win. But also it gives them a very good experience to provide information to another audience that might be outside their discipline, to be able to provide information about their research and the work that they’ve been doing.”
Students showcase research of all kinds, from the tiniest cell biology to major patient rehab in physical therapy and literature review.
Sydney Walsh, a second-year student at ISU, presented her case study from a patient in physical therapy with fear avoidance in treatment. She said this case from her clinical rotation in South Carolina stuck with her and is going to help her in the future.
“I think what I’ve learned from this the most is to have patience with the patients. And to treat the individual themselves, not just the injury, using a bio-psychosocial approach,” Walsh said.
The projects the students worked on are helping them further their knowledge and skills for the workforce.
The winners of each session got cash prizes. Collum said the event has more than just the student presentations.
“We also have the keynote speaker each year. This year we have doctor Dr. Devaleena Pradhan, who’s from the biology department, and she is giving a talk about soaring into the light for research,” she said.
Grace Cain, a senior studying Biomedical Sciences, works in Dr. Pradhan’s lab. She conducts research with sex-changing blue-banded goby fish and presented at this year’s Research and Creative Works Symposium.
“I’m very biased towards humans. I’m a pre-med, so I love learning about humans. But with my project, I get to actually look at anatomy in a different species, which is really cool,” Cain said. “Knowing that I am doing something novel and I’m adding to the world of science, it feels kind of crazy because I’m just an undergrad student. I’m just a student in college. But I’m still adding just a little speck of knowledge to science. And I think that’s really rewarding in itself.”
The presenting students also enjoy a luncheon prior to the event. Community members and fellow students stopped by to see the packed student union building ballroom all afternoon. For many of the student presenters, it wasn’t just about the experience of a professional conference, it was about passing along their passion for the projects.
“I think fear avoidance is really important to talk about, lots of our patients experience it,” said Walsh. “I think this is really important to discuss. And this was a case that really stuck with me when I was on my first rotation, so I just really wanted to share.”
The symposium in March was interrupted by a fire drill in the Pond Student Union Building. Thankfully, students, faculty and staff gathered outside in the unseasonably warm weather and returned inside the building after just ten minutes. A second, false alarm rang out several minutes later. The drill happened during the undergraduate presentations session, so student presenters were given an extra ten minutes before their graduate counterparts took places for their turn.
