ISU students are getting the opportunity to showcase their research to members of the Iowa Legislation with topics ranging from analysis of college student debt in Iowa to food storage and cheese making during Mars missions.

On March 26, 2013, 25 Iowa State undergraduates will be traveling to the Iowa Capitol to present their 20 research studies.

This presentation of student research also includes the two other regent universities; the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa will also be showcasing 20 research studies of their own.

“This event shows the impact research has on society and how student learning isn’t just restricted to the classroom,” said Dana Schumacher, assistant director for scholarship and research for the University Honors Program.

The event, which is in its eighth year, is set up in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol, with each research presentation being shown on a large poster.

For each Iowa-native student presenting, the University Honors Program mailed information about the event to their representatives from the Iowa Senate and House of Representatives.

Iowa legislators are invited to walk around the showcase and interact with students, inquiring on their research.

“Having topics related to Iowa attracts legislative members to attend,” Schumacher said. “Some legislative members might be involved with certain projects related to the student’s research and will want to come and talk to them about it.”

The majority of the research shown by ISU students is specific to Iowa.

Some examples of research being presented are “Perspectives of Domestic Violence Service Providers: Serving Latinas in Iowa,” “The Debt Effect: Is Student Debt Creating Ex-Iowans?” and “If You Build It, Will They Come?: Fiscal federalism, local provision of public tourist amenities, and the Vision Iowa Fund.”

“We will have a broad representation of Iowa State research at the event. This will give a broad picture of what Iowa State looks like and what we do,” Schumacher said.

Schumacher also pointed out the majority of students presenting are Iowa natives, with representation of Iowans coming from throughout the state.

One of the 25 students presenting, Garrett Schieber, junior in mechanical engineering, sees the presentation at the capitol as an opportunity to give Iowa Legislature members an introduction to lunabotics and stress the importance of math and science in education.

Schieber is showcasing “Iowa State Lunabotics.” Lunabotics is a NASA competition wherein university teams design and build an excavator to mine lunar simulant.

“This is a great opportunity to get people more interested in science, engineering, technology and mathematics, and to show how important they are and what we can do with them,” Schieber said.