New Mexico State University’s longest-running event dedicated to undergraduate research and creativity will take place April 14 at the Corbett Center Student Union. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Now in its 28th year, the Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium showcases the research and creative scholarship of students across campus, representing each of NMSU’s colleges. This year’s URCAS will take place beginning at 9 a.m. April 14 on the third floor of Corbett Center. Nancy McMillan, NMSU geology professor and Discovery Scholars director, will be the keynote speaker.
This year’s event will also feature a poster session, 10 student panels, a roundtable on faculty mentorship, an evening reception and an art exhibit opening for the Honors Art Collective. NMSU Vice President for Research and Strategic Initiatives Luis Cifuentes will deliver remarks on the culture of research at NMSU during the poster session, which is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. April 14.
“Through these efforts, we also hope to foster a sense of peer community for undergraduate researchers and artists,” said Tracey Miller-Tomlinson, director of NMSU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, which hosts the URCAS.
This year also marks the second year the URCAS will host events in person since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clarissa Nuñez, who graduated from NMSU last year and is a past participant of the URCAS, said she appreciated the opportunity to learn about other undergraduate research projects and to discuss her own research as a Maximizing Access to Research Careers, or MARC, student in biology professor C. Brad Shuster’s lab.
“Symposiums like URCAS provide an excellent opportunity for students to practice their communication and presentation skills,” Nuñez said. “It was an enjoyable experience to not only share my research at URCAS, but also to interact with other students and learn about what they are studying. In addition, there was such an eclectic group of participants and attendees, which was great for getting feedback and questions from different perspectives.”
For more information about this year’s URCAS and a complete schedule of events, visit https://honors.nmsu.edu/curca1/urcas/home.html.
-30-
PHOTO CAPTION: Nancy McMillan, geology professor and Discover Scholars director at New Mexico State University, will be the keynote speaker of this year’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium. Now in its 28th year, the symposium showcases undergraduate student research and creative activity. (NMSU photo by Ingrid Leyva)
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Woman speaking while holding a microphone.