On April 23, 2024, the Minds@Work Conference was showcased at Shippensburg University. This annual event provides a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to present their academic research and creative knowledge across various fields and disciplines. Both students and faculty worked together to provide their unique perspectives and research on a given topic. The event included departmental conference panels, an honors symposium and poster presentations.
Dr. Charles E. Patterson, president of Shippensburg University, emphasized the importance of Minds @ Work by stating that it “prepares Ship students for the demand of graduate pursuits, as well as some of the challenges our students may experience in their chosen profession.” Ship’s Interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, Dr. Nicole R. Hill also emphasized the importance of the event, noting that the collaboration between faculty and students has a great impact on the growth and development of the university community.
As a APSCUF president at Ship, Aaron W. Dobbs expressed the collaborative nature of the faculty-student research that makes Minds @ Work possible. “…we lead the way in a collaborative construction of knowledge through the enterprise of faculty-student research across the disciplines that comprise our campus”.
On behalf of the Shippensburg University Foundation, Leslie Folmer Clinton, President and CEO of the SU Foundation, acknowledged gratitude for the continuous support of undergraduate student-faculty research. The foundation’s commitment to providing opportunities for students to engage in important research does not go unrecognized.
Ship is proud of the hard work that students dedicated to their research. The Ezra Lehman Memorial Library Research Award honored student contributions to research, with winners receiving cash prizes for their commendable work. This year’s awardees, Jeffrey Grimes and Jeremy Satayawan Putra, provided and presented outstanding research in their fields of study.
A wide range of research projects were presented at Minds @ Work, showing the diverse interests of Ship students. One of the many poster presentations on display included the biology department’s ongoing analysis of Babesia species in ticks collected within Pennsylvania. Babesiosis is a rare and severe disease that is caused by the bite of a tick infected with the Babesia, a parasitic species. The research was led by Julian Barnhart, Cejay Cocco, Phylicia Hockman, and Noghan Keiser under faculty sponsor Dr. Alison Fedrow, associate professor of biology.
In the Communication, Journalism and Media Department, Katerina Negron conducted a comparative analysis of male and female athletes in the media, comparing representation, pay disparities and sexualization. This research project was sponsored by Dr. Dhiman Chattopadhyay, associate professor in communication, journalism and media.
Danielle Claycomb, a geography and earth science major, related her expertise to global languages and cultures research on German beer culture by analyzing German beer’s influence on climate change. She researched how temperature changes affect beer taste and availability and how breweries adapt. The faculty sponsor for this project was Alison Feeney, professor and chair of the Geography and Earth Sciences Department.
Minds @ Work serves as a demonstration of Ship’s commitment to encouraging academic excellence and innovative research. Through collaboration between students and faculty, Minds @ Work continues to allow students and faculty to explore a variety of subjects and conduct meaningful analyses on creative topics.
To explore more about the event and to learn more about the different research that was presented, visit here to view the Minds @ Work program and read through the abstracts of various student and faculty research projects.
