Iowa State undergraduate students will showcase their research April 16, 2013 at the seventh annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression. Presentations on research ranging from architecture to zebra fish will be displayed.

One-hundred and sixteen students will be giving 98 research presentations at the Memorial Union from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each presentation will have a 15-minute slot to showcase the research they have completed.

Dana Schumacher, the symposium coordinator, stated that the symposium was started seven years ago to strengthen the role of undergraduate research at the university and to enhance the student learning experience.

“Research at a land grant university is key. The purpose of the land grant is to create and apply research,” Schumacher said.

Each of the ISU colleges are represented at the symposium. The event is broken up into 27 different categories, each presenting a different topic with four research groups showcased.

One topic, “How and Where We Live,” has students with majors in anthropology, animal ecology, history and interior design presenting. This presentation pertains to subjects on assisted living facilities to breakage and discard of ceramic vessels in a late prehistoric village.

“We are showing off a lot of cool research that is being done here by our students,” Schumacher said. “This symposium allows a lot of students from different majors to work together.”

Each session is being moderated by a professor who teaches in the field related to the topic they are moderating.

Each student presenting research has worked with an ISU faculty member in a mentor-mentee fashion throughout their research.

Kelly Wagner, senior in dietetics, approached Ruth MacDonald, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, two years ago about doing research on cancer and nutrition.

From this spawned a cookbook that Wagner wrote for children going through cancer and post-cancer treatment. The book, divided up into six sections, offers different recipes to help prevent and fight common ailments children may have during treatment. Wagner also lists in her book what foods to avoid during treatment.

“I am excited to show the development of my work at the symposium,” Wagner said. “I want to show that there are nutritional ways to help heal a person. This type of treatment should not be overlooked.”

Wagner, who attended the event for the first time her freshman year, also stated that the symposium is a good experience for students to present their own original work and to practice presenting in a low-stress environment.

Schumacher sees the event as being about the role of research in the university and in student’s lives.

“To see the incredible breadth of activity and work of research being done by undergraduates is phenomenal,” Schumacher said.