Eastern Connecticut State University

Seven Eastern Connecticut State University students presented their research virtually at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) from April 4-8. Hosted annually by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), the national event showcases undergraduate research projects, with more than 3,200 students, faculty and administrators in attendance.

Eastern Connecticut State University sophomore Eugene Bertrand was awarded an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Project Grant by Eastern's Provost and Undergraduate Research Council. The grant helped fund Bertrand's history film project titled "Connecticut's Tobacco Industry and Diversity: A History."

Eastern Connecticut State University accounting major Tyler Wright has been selected to present at the annual "Posters on the Hill" conference. His research, titled "The Effect of Length of Stay and Readmission on Total Charges of Total Knee Arthroplasty and Total Hip Arthroplasty Patients," will be presented at the virtual event, which will take place April 26-27.

Eastern Connecticut State University psychology student Noelle Ciccarelli presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) convention on Feb. 18. Ciccarelli's project was titled "Similarities and Differences in Mate Preferences among Parents and their Daughters," and focused on the ratings that daughters gave when seeking a male mate, compared to their parents' ratings when seeking a mate for their daughters.

Two biology students from Eastern Connecticut State University presented at the 85th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the American Society of Plant Biologists (NE-ASPB), held virtually on Oct. 30.

Two Eastern Connecticut State University biology students presented research to the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) during its 2021 Virtual Worldwide Summit held July 19-23.

Psychology student Sierra Nastasi presented on the personality traits associated with mate guarding at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) on June 25. Titled "Dark Triad Personality Traits Are Better Than Big 5 Traits at Predicting Mate Guarding and Mate Retention Behaviors in Men," Nastasi was the primary author of the presentation, with the overall Eastern research project led by Psychology Professor Alita Cousins.

Eastern Connecticut State University's J. Eugene Smith Library recently announced the winners of its 9th annual Library Research Awards. This year's awards recognize four exemplary undergraduate research projects from the last two years that utilized library resources.

Eastern student Jack Cerra recently received the Rankin Award for best undergraduate oral presentation at the recent virtual meeting of the New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS).

Eastern Connecticut State University student Olivia Anderson recently presented at the prestigious Posters on the Hill Conference on April 28. The conference, which was hosted virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, provided students from across the country with the opportunity to present their research to U.S. senators and other government officials.

Eastern Connecticut State University history students Claire Lavarreda '21 and Allen Horn '21 presented their research at a virtual conference of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society on March 27. Hosted by Saint Anselm College, the New England regional conference included 25 student presenters grouped into 11 panels from 16 colleges across the Northeast.

Seventeen Eastern Connecticut State University students presented at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) from April 12-14. The event, which is the largest undergraduate research conference in the country, was hosted virtually this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eastern Connecticut State University political science students Mary Greenwell '21 and Trevor Mays '22 recently attended the Eighth Annual Pi Sigma Alpha National Student Research Conference. This was Eastern's first time at the conference, which is usually held in Washington, D.C. Due to COVID-19, the event was held virtually on March 6-7.

Eastern Connecticut State University student Lucy Truszkowski '21, an English major concentrating in Rhetoric and Composition, has had her essay accepted in the upcoming undergraduate research-focused issue of "Xchanges," an interdisciplinary journal for technical communication, writing/rhetoric and writing across the curriculum.

Twelve Eastern Connecticut State University students presented at the first-ever virtual meeting of the Northeast Regional Undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity Conference on Nov. 7. Hosted by Eastern and sponsored by the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), the conference featured the scholarly research and creative works of approximately 80 students from nine public liberal arts institutions across the Northeast.

Allison Lundy '20, a recent Eastern Connecticut State University graduate, has been notified that her honors thesis, "Effects of Active Outdoor Play on Preschool Children's On-Task Classroom Behavior," will appear in an upcoming edition of "Early Childhood Education Journal."

Forty-three students at Eastern Connecticut State University presented research at the fifth annual Psychological Science Night on Dec. 4.

Eastern students recently participated in the the Center for Early Childhood Education's (CECE) annual TIMPANI toy study--Toys that Inspire Mindful Play and Nurture Imagination.

Four Eastern Connecticut State University History majors presented their projects at the history honor society's Phi Alpha Theta New England regional conference on Nov. 23. The Phi Alpha Theta conference highlighted research on topics ranging from gender and power to colonial and imperial legacies, and was held at Salem State University in Salem, MA.

Two biology students at Eastern Connecticut State University presented research at the recent Waterbird Society meeting in Maryland this past November.

New research into antifungal resistance, conducted by Eastern Connecticut State University student Stefanos Stravoravdis '20 and mentored by Biology Professor Jonathan Hulvey, was recently accepted for publication in an international science journal.

Early childhood education students Allison Lundy and Alyssa Barry presented research at the annual National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) conference in Nashville, TN, from Nov. 20-23.

Eastern Connecticut State University student Michael Tuttle presented his research at the Psychonomic Society's 60th Annual Meeting on Nov. 14-17 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Eastern students Allison Lundy and Jenna Mazza have been awarded the Jeffrey and Nancy Trawick-Smith Early Childhood Undergraduate Research Fund.

Health sciences major Dymond Smith '22 participated in an eight-week research experience at the Yale School of Public Health this summer.

Seven Eastern Connecticut State University students presented research projects at the Northeast regional conference for the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) on Nov. 8-9 at Keene State College in New Hampshire.

Eastern Connecticut State University recent graduate Malvina Pietrzykowski '19 and Psychology Professor James Diller were published in Springer's "Learning and Behavior Journal" on Aug. 19 for their research titled "Human and Pigeon Suboptimal Choice." The research looked at the completion of similar tasks by humans and pigeons to determine whether non-human performance can serve as a model for human gambling research.

Eastern Connecticut State University student Adella Dzitko-Carlson '19 of Woodbury devoted three weeks this summer to mastering the clarinet and analyzing music scores. As part of an on-campus fellowship that concluded this August, she worked with her faculty mentor, Professor Christopher Howard, to strengthen her performance skills and obtain a better understanding of her role as a musician.

Rachael Finch, a biology major at Eastern Connecticut State University, has spent the past five weeks working with the endangered birds in Massachusetts' Buzzards Bay.

Eastern Connecticut State University student Allison Lundy was the sole recipient of the Council on Undergraduate Research's (CUR) 2019 Education Division Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Award.