新澳门六合彩内幕信息

5 Reasons Why Undergraduates Should Do Research

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A male student sits on a compost pile.
Student Mario D'Andrea researched waste reduction and carbon sequestration through compost, like this pile at the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Student Farm, for a course in physics. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Nearly 40 percent of 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis undergraduates participate in hands-on research. On the occasion of the 28th annual on April 28 and 29 鈥 where more than 700 students will present their work 鈥 we introduce you to some students and alumni who share what they鈥檝e gained. Consider how the experience can benefit you, too.

1. Exploring career directions

A male medical student
Undergraduate research helped influence Shadd Cabalatungan toward a career in medicine. (John Griffin/Stony Brook University) 

Here is how undergraduate research influenced the direction of three 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis students:

Check out the conference

Come to our annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference

  • Friday, April 28 鈥 Poster sessions and arts exhibit, 3-7 p.m., The Pavilion
  • Saturday, April 29 鈥 Oral presentations, 1-4:30 p.m., Wellman Hall

Free and open to the public

The includes the agenda and more.

鈥婼hadd Cabalatungan started his studies at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis aiming for a career as a veterinarian. Touched by his aunt鈥檚 diagnosis with breast cancer, he got involved with research at the . That experience was key in changing his direction to pursue a medical degree. He also did research on how drinking by college students affects others who don鈥檛 drink. With a degree in sociology, he is now completing his first year as a medical student at Stony Brook University.

Graduating senior Rong Ben, once fascinated by the aesthetics of fashion, is geeking out on how technology can be incorporated so fashion helps solve problems. As a junior, she did a research internship with a professor working on wearable technology, including gloves to provide a patient鈥檚 vital statistics. 鈥淚t opened up a new view for me,鈥 said Ben. As a participant in the , Ben designed a grab-and-go coat for safety in an earthquake with protective materials, lighting, emergency food and water, and more. Next up for Ben: the graduate program in fashion enterprise and society at the University of Leeds. At the conference: arts exhibit at 3 p.m. Friday in the Pavilion

Physics major Mario D鈥橝ndrea took a course related to climate neutrality to confirm his desire to study physics in graduate school. He worked with two other students to research waste reduction and carbon sequestration through composting. He enjoyed the research, and it helped confirm his desire to study condensed matter physics in graduate school. 鈥淚 wish more classes were open-ended like this,鈥 he said. At the conference: poster session at 5 p.m. Friday in the Pavilion

2. Building transferable skills and enhancing resumes

Female student in front of restaurant menu board
Senior Julie Beppler developed skills that employers seek as she did research on restaurant menus. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Graduating senior Julie Beppler has learned a lot about food options in downtown Davis. The managerial economics major analyzed how 49 restaurants use menu design to promote certain items. But more than that, she developed and demonstrated skills that employers seek. Beppler first worked as a research assistant and then pursued this project for her . It focuses on the cost of production and price of featured menu items as well as their relative healthiness. She taught herself computer programing; learned time management; practiced professional communications as she interacted with restaurant managers; and proved her ability to motivate herself and direct her own work.

Beppler will soon start in the management development program at E. & J. Gallo Winery, so take her word that doing research can also help students find a mentor who can provide letters of recommendation and advice to support their success. Kristin Kiesel, a faculty member in agricultural and resource economics and a mentor to Beppler, agreed: 鈥淭here is no better way to recommend a student than by having them successfully complete an undergraduate research project.鈥 At the conference: oral presentation at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday in Room 207 of Wellman Hall

3. Learning to publicly advocate for and defend work

Woman standing by charging station for electric car
Senior Kathryn Green presented her policy research on California's consumer rebate for clean vehicles to a showcase for alumni, donors, regents and other friends of the University of California in Los Angeles on April 20. (Karin Higgins/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

鈥淣erve wracking.鈥 That鈥檚 how graduating senior Kathryn Green described her anticipation of presenting for the first time her research on California鈥檚 clean car consumer rebate program. Now she鈥檚 a 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 undergraduate research ambassador. Last quarter, the political science major participated in the policy program at the , which included classes, an internship with the advocacy organization Environment California and a research project.

Presenting the research was a requirement. Green designed a large poster representing her research and, in a session lasting 90 minutes, explained it one-on-one to attendees. She talked about the process and her policy recommendations not only to policymakers and people from the clean car industry, but also to others who were unfamiliar with the topic. 鈥淚 became almost a teacher,鈥 said Green. 鈥淚 took my research and explained it to someone who didn鈥檛 know about it.鈥

Based on her success in that venue, Green represented 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis at in Los Angeles last week for alumni, donors, regents and other friends of the University of California. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud I got to go down and share my research,鈥 she said.

4. Getting a leg up on graduate or professional school

Woman in scientific laboratory
Becky Fu, a 2012 graduate of 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, credits undergraduate research with helping her get into Stanford University, where she is completing doctoral studies in genetics. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

When Becky Fu came to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis in 2008, she was the first in her family to attend college. Nine years later, she is preparing to defend her dissertation and graduate from Stanford University with a doctoral degree in genetics and a master鈥檚 degree in biomedical informatics. A 2012 graduate from 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, she credits her participation in undergraduate research as foundational to where she is today. 鈥淣o question about it,鈥 she said. 鈥淲ithout undergraduate research, there would have been no way I got into any of the graduate programs I did.鈥

As a freshman, Fu heard others talking about research and sought out the on campus for more information. She went on to do research with two professors; participate in the ; publish in , the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis journal of undergraduate research; be awarded a to help pay for her research; and win the and other awards.

鈥淗aving that experience as an undergraduate to fail a lot and expand on the techniques,鈥 Fu said, 鈥渨as an integral part of being prepared for and getting through the doctoral program.鈥 At Stanford, she is working in the lab of Andrew Fire, who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

5. Contributing knowledge and impacting the world

Students discuss research at poster session
Students discuss their research at a poster session at the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. (Jason Spyres/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Annaliese Franz, associate professor of chemistry and faculty director of the Undergraduate Research Center, sees students experience the joy of discovery and creation through research. 鈥淪tudents really get the chance to create something new as they go into the lab or out into the field or study new policy.鈥

Fu, the Stanford student, explained how undergraduate research developed a new quest for her: 鈥淚 wanted to be contributing to a bigger cause, a bigger realm of intelligence, and that鈥檚 advancing medical care in general.鈥

And Green, who did the research on the clean-car rebate program, discovered a new power. 鈥淢y research told me that an undergraduate can make an impact,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to have a master鈥檚 degree or doctorate to make valuable contributions.鈥

Media Resources

Julia Ann Easley, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis News and Media Relations, 530-752-8248, jaeasley@ucdavis.edu

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