Students Lilly Buzard (blue dress) and Felicity Kibaya discuss their research project with Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi and Penn State Vice President for Government and Community Relations Zack Moore during Penn State Beaver’s Undergraduate Exhibition April 21, 2022.
MONACA — Research is an important part of the Penn State Beaver experience, not only for professors, but for students as well.
On a recent visit to Penn State Beaver, Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, the University’s new president, reinforced the importance of research as well.
Each spring semester the campus holds an Undergraduate Exhibition to allow students to showcase their research, conducted under a faculty advisor. The research is in the categories of arts and humanities, creative accomplishment, engaged scholarship, library literacy, social science, and STEM.
The Undergraduate Exhibition is designed to highlight research, engaged scholarship and creative activities of students. It showcases student presentations of in-depth, original and scholarly work and research.
Research is part of the land grant mission of the University, along with teaching and public service.
Bendapudi, who has a research background in the study of consumer behavior in service contexts, was on the Beaver campus during the exhibition. She took time to tour the exhibition to talk to the student researchers and learn about the projects they were presenting at the event.
Bendapudi’s interest was sparked by a presentation given by Lilly Buzard and Felicity Kibaya on the correlation between teen driving ages and crash fatalities, so much so that she connected the duo with Zack Moore, Penn State’s vice president for Government and Community Relations, in the hopes that he could help them present their findings to state officials.
“This is the kind of research we need people to know about,” Bendapudi said.
Exhibition award winners
- Arts and Humanities : Kristen Marshall and Kristina Hogue (Does excessive social media usage make individuals more superstitious?)
- Social Science : Lilly Buzard, Felicity Kibaya, Maria Matts and Aaron Stribling (The impact of changes in graduated driver’s license programs on car crash fatalities among teen drivers and passengers at night-time.)
- STEM: Shaniah Miller (Zinc Tolerance in Dicentra Eximia)
- Creative Accomplishments: Kaylee Gallagher (Fall 2021 Photography Portfolio)
- Engaged Scholarship: Shaniah Miller and Jamie Batey (Student Farm Club Communal Produce Refrigerator)
Libraries Information Literacy Awards
First Place Winner ($150): Alexander Pretka (Development of an Electronic Thermometer)
Honorable Mention Winners ($50 each): Alaina Helabus (Oxidation of an Iron (III) Chloro POSS Compound); and Kristen Marshall and Kristina Hogue (Does excessive social media usage make individuals more superstitious?)