The Second Annual Graduate Research Symposium was held on Wednesday, April 1 at Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. Ten creative performances and forty-nine poster presentations were given by graduate students. Awards of $200, $100, and $50 were presented respectively for first, second and third place in each category. Emeritus faculty Dr. Lathon Jernigan, School of Music, Dr. George F. Day, English Language and Literature, served as creative performance judges. Dr. Joel Haak, Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and emeritus faculty Dr. Judith F. Harrington, Communicative Disorders, and Dr. William L. Waack, Curriculum and Instruction, judged the poster presentations.

Dr. Gregory Colón Semenza gave his keynote address, “Preparing Scholars: From the Academy to the Real World," at 2:00 pm. Dr. Semenza is Associate Professor of English and Director of English Graduate Studies at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of “Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities.”

Participating in the symposium was a rewarding experience for graduate students. It helped students prepare for their thesis and dissertation defenses and presenting at other conferences. As Rosemary Geiken, Curriculum and Instruction Ed.D. student, said, "I got to meet other researchers. I made a connection with one who has a very similar topic so we are collaborating on some things. I got to get valuable feedback from those who viewed my poster. It should be required for all doctoral students to participate!"

A full list of presenters and performers can be found on the Graduate College's Symposium site.

A very special thank you to all participants. Congratulations and best wishes with future research pursuits!

First Place:
Justin Huisman
Biology, M.S.

"The Effects of Planting Methods and Granivory on Seedling Emergence and Establishment in a Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction"