Students take part in research experiences

Students from the University of North Georgia (UNG) took part in a wide variety of National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and similar programs this summer.

"As a primarily undergraduate institution, although UNG is well-equipped, it does not have the necessary resources to conduct months-long summer research projects involving advanced undergraduates," Dr. John Leyba, dean of the College of Science & Mathematics, said. "We are grateful that our students can participate in these career-altering experiences. This also speaks highly of UNG and our students because REUs are extremely competitive and each summer many UNG students get the opportunity and honor to attend an REU."

Jiselle Gonzalez, a senior from Oakwood, Georgia, pursuing a degree in biology, gained valuable experience at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Gonzalez took part in a plant genetics project conducting germination trials on a rare plant species. She appreciated the mix of fieldwork and lab work. Gonzalez also utilized computer coding to make graphs for her research poster.

She enjoyed weekly professional development workshops that were part of her REU and was able to learn more about the graduate school application process.

"I learned that I enjoy plant science and I would like to go into plant genetics," Gonzalez said. "This experience helped me solidify that decision."

Mateo Valera, a senior from Riverdale Park, Maryland, pursuing a degree in physics, completed an REU at Colorado University-Boulder. Valera worked on creating visualizations of occultations, in which objects in the sky are larger than the objects they block, through OpenSpace software.

The project at Colorado came after Valera's research with Dr. Gregory Feiden, associate professor of physics and astronomy and director of the North Georgia Astronomical Observatory, in summer 2023 on the windspeed of stars. Valera has also worked with Dr. Francisco Guzmán, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, on simulating interstellar gas. The senior said both of those UNG faculty members have helped Valera gain a better feel for how academia works while considering graduate school. Taking part in an REU only further enhanced Valera's toolkit.

"They encouraged us to build a community with each other during the REU," Valera said. "Because of this experience, I have these connections with students from across the country that we could use in the future."

Other students with REU or similar research experiences this summer included:

• Angela Ayala, biology, University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories 
• Hannah Burch, physics and astronomy, University of Alabama at Birmingham  
• Jakob Dobbs, psychology, University of Missouri 
• Logan Hikes, chemistry, Auburn University 
• David Olsen, physics and astronomy, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
• Alyssa Pold, biology, University of Kansas 
• Hailey Pruitt, chemistry, University of Nebraska 
• Alia Stevens, computer science, University of Missouri 
• Hasten Veal, biology, University of Southern Mississippi 

The Nationally Competitive Scholarships office helped many of these students pull together their REU applications and is looking forward to the summer of 2025. Students should reach out to Dr. David Patterson at david.patterson@ung.edu if they are interested in applying for the next round of REUs.

Another pipeline for REU assistance is the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholars (STEMS) Program, which provides scholarship funds up to $10,000 per student per academic year for students in non-clinical/health care STEM fields with demonstrated unmet financial need. This program, funded through a $1.5 million grant from the NSF Scholarship in STEM program in 2023, seeks to increase the number of qualified STEM majors entering graduate school and/or the STEM workforce. Gonzalez is a STEMS Program scholar.