Eleven of Lubbock Christian University’s brightest undergraduates left for Lexington, Kentucky, yesterday to present their research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR). The students will present alongside 3500 undergraduates across the nation, including students from known prestigious schools such as Harvard and Yale. Students in every discipline present at NCUR, and this year LCU is sending students in the disciplines of psychology, nursing, exercise and health promotion, youth and family ministry, chemistry, and biology. Faculty mentors who are traveling with the students will be attending sessions specially designed to help mentors improve the quality and quantity of undergraduate research. In addition, Dr. Brandon Fredenburg and Dr. Steve Bonner will be presenting in a session for faculty mentors. “In the five years that LCU students have been submitting proposals for presentation at NCUR, we have seen steady growth in the number of students and faculty participating and in the quality of their work,” comments Dr. Susan Blassingame, Dean of the Hancock College of Liberal Arts and Education. “This year we have eleven students who had work accepted, more than doubling the number of the first year. Five faculty mentors have been working with these students, showing remarkable dedication to their students and their scholarly growth.” Dr. Blassingame later went on to explain that in addition to their academic achievements, LCU students are known at NCUR as good colleagues. “They attend all the sessions and ask good questions of the presenters. They get to know students and faculty from other schools,” says Dr. Blassingame. LCU offers students who are involved with undergraduate research, particularly in the sciences, the opportunity to participate in research that would typically only be available to graduate level students at other universities. This gives LCU students an advantage after graduation when looking to further their education. Not only that, but when their faculty mentors publish research, their undergraduate students have the opportunity to be listed as co-authors. “It’s not about us, it’s about our students taking the theories and research, then working them out in practice,” says Dr. Steve Bonner, Chair for the Council of Undergraduate Research (CUR) at LCU. Undergraduate research is high impact at LCU, meaning there is a high level of faculty-student mentoring taking place, and the faculty mentors are undoubtedly dedicated to the LCU mission to be student centered. View the <link http: www.cur.org ncur_2014 external-link-new-window external link in new>schedule for NCUR 2014. Below is a list of the eleven students along with their project titles and their faculty mentors.   Markese Bohanon – Psychology – Honors Scholar
"Optimal Growth Parameters of Pycnoporous sanguineus for Enzymatic Breakdown of Peanut Hulls"                 Faculty Mentors:  Julie Marshall and Lucy Porter   Winter Chambers – Nursing
"Emotional Eating and Visual Food Records"                 Faculty Mentor:  JoAnn Long   Taylor Cockrell – Youth and Family Ministry – Honors Scholar
"How We've Met Our Father: The Sitcom of Spirituality"                 Faculty Mentor:  Steve Bonner   Scott Hall – Youth and Family Ministry
"Contemporary Eucharist"                 Faculty Mentor:  Steve Bonner   Bryan Hettick – Chemistry – Honors Scholar
"Quality and Stability of Peanut Oils in Raw Nuts Treated with Ultraviolet Light to Reduce Bacterial Loads"
                Faculty Mentor:  Julie Marshall   James Masterson – Youth and Family Ministry
"The Effectiveness of Short-Term Intensive Youth & Family Ministry Internships"                 Faculty Mentor:  Steve Bonner Sara McBride -- Biology
"Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli Isolated from the Feces of Playa Lake Resident Waterfowl"                 Faculty Mentors:  Lucy Porter and Bart Durham   Jordan Putman – Biology and Chemistry
"Using DNA Profiles to Determine the Commonality of Escherichia coli Isolated from Canada Geese Feces and Urban Playa Lake Water"                 Faculty Mentor:  Julie Marshall and Lucy Porter   Michael Sa-Id – Exercise and Health Promotion
"Genetic Profiles of Escherichia coli Isolated from the Fecal Matter of Resident Water Fowl of Urban Playa Lakes"

Faculty Mentors:  Lucy Porter and Julie Marshall

 

Tyler Sams – Chemistry – Honors Scholar
"Survival of Escherichia coli in Relation to the Disaccharide Trehalose"                 Faculty Mentor:  Amanda Boston   Joshua Thomas – Biology
"Preparation of a Recombinant Enzyme of the Fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium for the Breakdown of Agricultural Waste for Biofuel Production"                 Faculty Mentors:  Julie Marshall and Lucy Porter