Meet seven of the nearly 500 VCU students who presented their research this week at a prestigious conference

By William Lineberry
Honors College

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research attracted more than 5,000 student researchers from around the country this week - and nearly 500 of them were from Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU News spoke with seven of those VCU students on the conference floor and learned about their research and what they thought of the NCUR experience.

VCU News spoke with seven of those VCU students on the conference floor and learned about their research and what they thought of the NCUR experience.

Elizabeth Delcid | Junior | Dance & Choreography, School of the Arts, and Psychology, College of Humanities and Sciences

Elizabeth Delcid

Project title: Bridging the Gap: Developing Choreographic Skills at the Bates Dance Festival

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

I attended a dance festival to explore and immerse myself in a collaborative environment with emerging artists and professional artists. I wanted to explore the art form of choreography and the variety of methods that there are to choreography.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

I think my background in dance and psychology. As seniors in choreography, we have to create a large project where we create a work. I wanted to get a headstart on that project and how I want to go about it. I also wanted to see the different psychological aspects of how a rehearsal space is constructed and managed.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

It means a lot to me because I think there are a lot of other areas being represented but being able to represent the arts at NCUR is very important to me. In larger research conference environments, arts can sometimes be overlooked while there are a lot of more STEM-focused projects.

Molly Goecker | Senior, Honors College | Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences

Molly Goecker

Project Title: Psilocybin Treatment for Alcohol Addiction and Reduction of Harm: Implementing Treatment for Low Socioeconomic Status Individuals in the United States

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

Essentially, alcohol use disorder is a really damaging and prevalent issue in the United States. People at a lower socioeconomic status experience disproportionate amounts of harm when they have alcohol use disorder, and psilocybin is potentially an effective treatment method for helping alcohol use disorder. My research seeks to better understand how psilocybin could be used to address the treatment gap in lower socioeconomic groups.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

I have a personal family history of alcohol use disorder so it's an important issue to me. And especially considering how little treatment there is available and the amount of harm that comes from alcohol use disorder, I wanted to focus on how to help address that through alternative and underutilized treatment methods.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

It means a lot to be able to share my work with people from all over the country. It's also really exciting it's at VCU this year, which makes it even more accessible for students like me. I think it really will help with my own personal development and to help me be able to feel like I am sharing my work professionally and hopefully opening doors to my future.

Ayomide Ogunlana | Junior | Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

Ayomide Ogunlana

Project title: Socio-Environmental Life Cycle Assessment on Vanadium Production

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

My project is a life-cycle analysis, which is quantifying the outputs of producing a certain material. My research focuses on cradle-to-gate, which is basically taking the material and processing it. I'm comparing three different pathways for how vanadium is produced.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

My research advisor, Leah Spangler, Ph.D., told me about the project and she allowed me to keep going with it and now it's something I think is really interesting. I think my research is important because all companies should be thinking about which processes are safest for the planet and which create the least amounts of emissions.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

The experience so far has been really nice. I've already gotten a few opportunities to talk about my research and network with people.

Julian Piccone | Sophomore, Honors College | English, College of Humanities and Sciences

Julian Piccone

Project title: War on Drugs and the Controlled Substance Act: Racial Disparities and Drug Scheduling in the United States

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

My research examines why marijuana is a Schedule I drug and how that scheduling has created disparities in enforcement; it is more punishing toward Black Americans. I also found that disparities in states that legalized marijuana were less than in those states where legalization had not occurred.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

I had watched a documentary on the War on Drugs and the LSD era, and I thought it was interesting so that's where I initially started. I ended up moving away from that because what I found more interesting was the disparities in the system, which are well studied, but it made me more curious as to why marijuana had this labeling as a Schedule I drug.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

It's surprising to be here. I honestly didn't think that I would be here, but I'm really happy to be here. It's a confidence boost for sure. If I had not done NCUR, I don't think I would feel comfortable pursuing other conferences.

Brooke Schofield | Sophomore, Honors College | Biology, College of Humanities and Sciences

Brooke Schofield

Project Title: Combat Veterans and Combroid Illness: Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-associated Symptoms through Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

My research examines Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, which is proven to be effective in treating symptoms associated with brain injury, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

My dad had multiple traumatic brain injuries when I was growing up. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine, so I looked into treatment options for brain injuries that have not been published as much.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

I think it's a great way to connect with other students and learn from other students. I've just been here for an hour so far, and I've already met some peers of mine from other universities who do similar research to me. It's amazing to see how research connects throughout the entire country.

Evelyn Squires | Freshman | Honors College, Art Foundation going into Graphic Design, School of the Arts

Evelyn Squires

Project title: Missing Depictions of Western Black Africans and Luso-African Ivory Carvings in 16th Century Renaissance Paintings

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

Basically, I am arguing that there is a piece of Black History, specifically representations of Western Black Africans in paintings, that have been overlooked in art history. My research combines cultural and historical analysis to examine the paintings and argue that there are more of them out there than previously documented and that to fully understand Black history art scholars need to go back and look at these paintings and their depictions of people.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

I've always been interested in Black history and art history. I am from Mississippi and moved to South Carolina. I grew up around a lot of the Black community but then I would go to western art history courses, and you do not see that demographic reflected in your standardized courses.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

It's been amazing to be here because I get to see so many people I already know from VCU, but I also get to meet so many new people from all over. I think all the interaction of all the different areas of study is also really interesting and unique to NCUR. It's great to be able to learn and take from each other. Those intersections between areas of study is where innovative solutions often come from.

Ovya Sundaram | Freshman | Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Ovya Sundaram

Project title: Impacts of Prosthetic Innovation on Mental Health Empowerment, Embodiment and Psychological Recovery

Can you explain your research in three sentences or less?

My research is about different categories of prosthetic design and how they relate to the mental health of those who wear them.

What drew you to this line of research and why do you think it's important?

As a biomedical engineering major, I knew that I wanted to do something that had to do with rehabilitation. This idea actually stemmed from my Honors 200 Research Writing course. At that time, I knew I wanted to talk about prosthetics and connect it to psychology because I know some people who have had amputations. Also, to this specific research, I am working with another lab that's researching prosthetic devices so it kind of helped set the foundation for me to learn more about what I would be researching in that lab.

What does the experience of being a part of NCUR mean to you as a student-researcher?

For me, it's not that I get to give out my own findings and what I have learned but also I get to learn about what other students found through their research. I love research. I'm part of two labs right now, and I see myself doing research as a future profession so seeing what others have done opens my perspective on what I could do in the future. It inspires me.