Eastern Student Danielle Robillard of Swansea Gives Oral Presentation at CREATE Conference

2016 May 5

More than 250 talented students at Eastern Connecticut State University presented research and creative work at the university's second annual CREATE conference this past April. CREATE stands for Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern, and is the university's premier, academic year-end showcase. At the culminating event, students of all majors presented professional posters, live music, dance performances, artwork, photography, documentaries and panel discussions.

Danielle Robillard '16 of Swansea, who majors in Mathematics, gave an oral presentation at the event. Robillard's research, conducted alongside classmate Anna Shannon, was titled "DNA: Knot What You Would Expect."

"A mathematical knot is a tangled piece of string with its ends attached. A given knot can be quite complex," the students said in a joint statement. "The understanding and classification of knots is an important area of study in mathematics. Knot theory can be applied to DNA analysis by observing its double-helixed structure as a ribbon. A ribbon can be thought of as a generalization of a knot. In this talk, we show how studying ribbons can give us insight into DNA structure."

Remarking on the variety of presentations, Professor Dickson Cunningham, conference co-chair, said, "CREATE encapsulates the essence of the liberal arts in one afternoon. It is an intellectual smorgasbord."

Speaking to the value of CREATE, Eastern President Elsa Nunez said, "It takes a very strong and dedicated student to produce this quality of work, and it's important for other students to see this output." Praising the faculty, she added, "It takes a committed and skillful mentor to guide students to the work that is on display. Mentorship is such an integral part of undergraduate research."

During the one-day conference, the Student Center crawled with artistic and scholarly activity. Students in professional attire addressed their peers, faculty and family. In the cafe, ensembles performed; in the theatre, student-produced documentaries were shown; in the Betty R. Tipton Room, aisles of posters depicting scientific research were displayed; across the hall, a gallery-worth of paintings lined the walls; and on the ground floor, panel discussions and oral presentations about the humanities took place.