Undergraduate Student Research Accomplishments
Mercer Student Earns Fellowship to Help Rebuild His Hometown’s Food System
Mercer University senior Kelvin Graddick has a lot on his plate this year. He was selected to the prestigious Food and Community’s Fellow program. Graddick’s project is to revive the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative in his hometown of Hamilton. He has spent his summer laying the groundwork for it, but now he will be back at school as a full-time student and commuting back and forth as he and the other cooperative growers prepare for their first spring planting. More >
Two Mercer Greek Organizations Receive National Recognitions
Two Mercer University chapters of Greek organizations have recently received national recognitions. The Alpha Zeta chapter of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity was recognized as a True Merit Chapter and named one of the top 10 chapters in the nation, and the Beta Sigma chapter of Alpha Delta Pi sorority received a Maxine Blake Golden Lion Award. More >
Mercer History Class, Artist Collaborate for Exhibition about Douglas(s) County History
A class of students from Mercer University’s Douglas County Regional Academic Center has worked with artist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier to research one of the unique aspects of the county’s history — its name. The students, enrolled in Dr. Melanie Pavich’s History of African-Americans in Georgia class, spent the summer researching whether the county was named for famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass or for Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, who famously debated with Abraham Lincoln in the presidential race leading up to the Civil War. More >
Mercer Student Earns Honorable Mention for Goldwater Scholarship
Mercer University student Vanessa Breslin has been selected as an honorable mention for the 2011 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most selective research scholarships for undergraduates. The Goldwater program awards scholarships annually to students who intend to pursue careers in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering. Only 300 college sophomores and juniors receive the award each year. More >
Mercer Student Selected for Teach For America
Mercer University student Rachel Goossen has been selected for the prestigious Teach For America program. Following her graduation this month, Goossen will be placed in Houston, Texas, for the next two years, where she expects to teach pre-kindergarten. Goossen, a political science major, spent last summer working on the staff of TFA’s summer training institute, an opportunity that she said solidified her desire to become a TFA corps member after graduation. More >
Mercer Student Awarded National Fellowship to Study History this Summer
Mercer University student Kim Campbell has been awarded a SHEAR/Mellon Fellowship to study history this summer. Campbell, a history major from Hawkinsville, will spend several weeks in Philadelphia doing archival work for her senior thesis and will attend a seminar for the fellows. The rising senior is one of only 10 students chosen from across the nation for this year’s fellowship, which is sponsored by the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. More >The Cluster, Wins Statewide Awards
Mercer University’s student newspaper, The Cluster, won or placed in eight categories of the Georgia College Press Association’s 2011 Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were announced at the Association’s annual conference, held in Athens, Feb. 4-5. The yearly contest honors members of the Association and the conference deals with issues relevant to student journalists today. This is the second year in a row that The Cluster has won awards in the contest and has sent student journalists to the accompanying conference. More >
Mercer Wins 2010 Southeastern Small College Programming Contest
The Mercer University Binary Bears top computer programming team finished first in the Southeastern Small College Programming Contest on Nov. 13. Sponsored by the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges, the competition was held at Spelman College.
The Binary Bears’ top team solved all eight problems in the set, and was the only team to solve every problem correctly. Wofford College placed second in the contest after solving seven problems correctly. Mercer’s second team placed fifth among the 22 teams. The contest was a timed, three-hour event for four-person teams from smaller schools without graduate programs in computer science. The contest is held annually in conjunction with the Consortium for Computing Sciences Southeastern conference. More >
Three Student Papers Accepted to National Conference
Three students' papers were accepted for the 2011 National Conference on Undergraduate Research to be held at Ithaca College. Shea Simmons and Matt Gorgans (English), and Alex Havlik (Chemistry) were selected from over 3,500 submissions nationwide.
Hannah Vann Receives Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship
Hannah Vann, a women’s and gender studies major from Rome, was a awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship and will be teaching English 20 hours each week and plans to devote the remainder of her time to researching Muslim women’s rights activists in Indonesia, the women’s movement, and Indonesian non-governmental organizations that focus on women’s issues. She hopes to leave in August for the yearlong assignment.
Kathryn Doornbos Receives Fulbright Research Grant
Kathryn Doornbos, a biology major from Brasstown, N.C., was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to work in association with Mahidol University in Bangkok and will be conducting research in cooperation with the tropical disease faculty at the university. Doornbos will collect and analyze tick samples in the forests of northern Thailand, with the hope of finding ways to combat Rickettsia bacterial disease. More >
Mercer Student Team to Help in Search for Lost Colony
Mercer history professor Dr. Eric Klingelhofer will for the first time lead a team of six Mercer students to Roanoke Island, N.C., to participate in an archaeological dig at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites. The group will look for signs of the “Lost Colony” that disappeared from the island in 1590.
The students departed on October 9, 2010 and travel to Roanoke Island, the location of the first colony of the English nation. The settlement was established in 1585 by military colonists, who were eventually withdrawn and replaced by a civilian group in 1587. This group is the famous “Lost Colony,” so named because a ship landed on the island in 1590 and found it empty. The fate of the colonists has been a mystery ever since.
More >
Mercer Student Wins $2,000 in Culture of Enterprise Essay Contest
Mercer senior Rachael Bishop of Jefferson earned an award of $2,000 for placing third in an international essay contest, besting students from many of the nation’s top universities. Bishop, an English and political science major, earned the honor in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s fourth annual International Culture of Enterprise Student Essay Contest. With nearly $20,000 in prize money at stake, undergraduates from around the globe competed by submitting a scholarly essay addressing the question: “Can Character and Community Survive in an Age of Globalization?
2010 Undergraduate Research Symposium, Engineering Expo, and Undergraduate Research Conference
The 4th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium was held on April 16, 2010 in the University Center. This year's symposium featured 49 posters presented by 93 students from 12 departments across the University. At the same time, the Engineering Expo was held in the University Center arena. Learn more >
Mercer Engineering Students Participate in Poster Competition
On April 19, 2010, five student teams from the School of Engineering participated in the American Society of Engineering Education Southeastern Section Student Poster Competition. This event was held at Virginia Tech. Three teams won awards for their outstanding work:
- "Time Domain Reflectometry and Water Level Measurement in Porous Media," Jessica Pippard
Award: 1st place in the Undergraduate Research Division - "The Effect of Sample Storage Time and Temperature on Oxygen Uptake Rate Measurement," Andrew J. Simms and Kristen N. Wyckoff
Award: 1st Place in the First/Second Year Design Division - "Microbial Fuel Cell Wastewater Treatment for Developing Nations," Leah Moore and Jamie Joyner
Award: 3rd Place in the Junior/Senior Design Division - "Open Channel Flow Apparatus - V-notch Weir and Hydraulic Jump Experiments," Timothy C. Dinkins and Drew R. Hammett
- "Use of Sand Filters for On-site Sewage Management in Georgia," Sarah Dorminy, Ryan Peters, and Jacqueline Lagratta
Three Mercer University student teams brought home awards. More >
Mercer Science Student To Present Her Research at Congressional Event
Research student Corinne Gilmer (2011 B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the College of Liberal Arts) and her profession, Dr. Bridget Trogden will attend the Posters on the Hill event in April 2010. This annual event is sponsored by the Council for Undergraduate Research. Gilmer is the first Mercer student to be accepted. Learn more about Posters on the Hill >
Her research focuses on placental malaria in pregnant women, which leads to anemia, low birth weight, and death of both mother and child. She and Dr. Trogden are working to isolate the protein that allows infected red blood cells to adhere to placental tissues so that drugs can be designed to prevent the infection. Learn more about Gilmer's research >
Mercer On Mission Project Features the Development of Low-Cost Prosthetic to the Vietnamese People
Dr. Vo, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, traveled to Vietnam with a colleague from the School of Engineering and a team of students to work with Vietnamese amputees living in and around Ho Chi Minh City. In all, the team fitted 35 prosthetics and cast 27 people for later fittings. Dr. Vo and the students also treated approximately 1,000 patients for related ailments such as back problems, arthritis and sprained ligaments. In addition, the group also trained local medical personnel to adapt the prosthetics to fit individual amputees.
The three-year initiative by Mercer will provide amputees with low-cost prosthetics that can be fitted without having to be fully customized. Because amputees in developing countries cannot afford expensive customized prosthetics, they often must go without them. Mercer has developed a new form of prosthetics, which do not require full customization, that cost less than $200 each. Designed by Mercer School of Engineering students, the prosthetics use a universal socket technology developed by Dr. Vo, a native of Vietnam. Eventually, Mercer will expand the program to Thailand and India. More >
The Cluster Wins Georgia College Press Association Awards
Mercer’s student newspaper, The Cluster, recently won several awards at the Georgia College Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, including first place awards in the categories “Best Campus Community Service - Sports” and “Improvement.” More >
Mercer Adult Students Create Literary Journal that May be First in the U.S.
Adult students from Mercer's College of Continuing and Professional Studies have published a literary journal, titled Regeneration!: A Journal of Creative Writing, that may be the first of its kind in the country. The efforts to publish the journal began with a group of 12 students who enrolled in three consecutive writing classes in Macon, over the 2008-2009 academic year, and grew to include writing from all of the College’s locations: Macon, Eastman, Henry County, Douglas County and Atlanta. The result was a landmark publication for undergraduate adult education students — a 288-page journal featuring the works from the College’s students, faculty and staff, as well as Mercer Chancellor Dr. R. Kirby Godsey – already the author of a number of books. More >
Mercer Student Awarded Grand-Prize Winner at the 4th Annual Herty Medalist Undergraduate Research Symposium
The 4th Annual Herty Medalist Undergraduate Research Symposium took place at Morehouse College on Friday September 18, 2009. Junior Ross Terrell who researches with Dr. Kevin Bucholtz (Department of Chemistry, CLA) and Dr. James Thomas (Basic Medical Science, MUSM) was one of two grand prizes winners for his poster entitled “Structure Activity Relationship of Novel Trilostane Analogs to Selectively Inhibit 3 beta-Hydoxysteroid Dehydrogenase / Isomerase (3 beta-HSD1)”. Ross was awarded a $500 travel award to present his results at an American Chemical Society National Meeting.
The symposium featured 23 posters:
- Georgia State University - 5
- Kennesaw State University - 2
- North Georgia College and State University - 3
- Georgia Tech - 3
- Emory University - 8
- Mercer University - 2
Student Participation in Southern Writers, Southern Writing Conference
Two undergraduate students, Eleta Andrews and Eva Walton, presented papers at the Southern Writers, Southern Writing Conference. The conference was held at the University of Mississippi during the third week of July 2009. Andrews' paper was entitled "Lillian Smith: Strange Fruit and Spirituality," and Walton's paper was "'Some Make You Want to Dance Your Way to Freedom': Guy Carawan and the Development of Freedom Songs." See the abstracts from these papers >
Undergraduate Chemistry Students Present at the National Organic Chemistry Symposium
In June 2009, Justin Peterson (BMB '10) and Luke Cohen (BMB '10) presented their research findings to date at the National Organic Chemistry Symposium, a biennial conference sponsored by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society.
Peterson and Cohen have been conducting research with Dr. Bridget Trogden since their sophomore years at Mercer. They are researching the synthesis of fluorophore-labeled carbohydrates for a malarial assay.
Mercer Undergraduate Biomedical Scholars (MUBS) Training Initiative
The Mercer Undergraduate Biomedical Scholar (MUBS) Training Initiative at Mercer University is an intensive, 10-week summer program designed to provide qualified undergraduates the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research early in their academic careers. Students in the program pursue their career goals in modern biomedical research by working directly in the laboratory with faculty mentors. Participating MUBS faculty are drawn from the Departments of Biology and Chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts, the Mercer University School of Medicine, and the Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The unique, interdisciplinary nature of the program exposes students to several areas of research and provides a solid foundation for future work in the research laboratory. Get more information and a list of available research projects.