BGSU students take home awards at research conference

BOWLING GREEN, O.—Bowling Green State University students had a strong showing at a recent undergraduate research conference in Tennessee.

Six BGSU students from the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines were selected to attend the 2014 Undergraduate Research/Graduate School (URGS) retreat at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Sept. 26 and 27. Three of the students presented posters of their undergraduate research projects and two of them won awards.

Nadejda Mirochnitchenko, a junior from Sylvania majoring in biology, and Cole Olmstead, a senior from Potsdam, New York, also majoring in biology, won first and third place respectively in the science category of the competition. Both work with Dr. Eileen Underwood, an associate professor of biological sciences, in her lab.

“Nadejda and Cole did a wonderful job representing BGSU at the URGS retreat in Tennessee and we are very proud of their achievement,” said Dr. Cordula Mora, director for undergraduate research. “They are both excellent students and are great examples of what kind of opportunities open up to undergraduate students when they decide to participate in research or other scholarly/creative activities with faculty mentors on campus.”

The retreat encourages students to consider undergraduate research and graduate engineering or science education and to apply for graduate programs and fellowships. The event focused on the global importance of research and innovation, lifelong career benefits and real world role models.