Report from the Rockies: Day One!

The day was beautiful here, no snow and the sun broke out early, remaining throughout the day. Temps were in the mid/upper 60’s with a light breeze. Numerous very successful UWRF presentations took place today including the following:

THE MICROBIOLOGY OF RAW MILK: ORGANIC VS. CONVENTIONAL Oral Nutrition and Food Science Kimberly Altenhofen

A COMPARISON OF THE ATTITUDES, EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES, AND ENGAGEMENT OF MILITARY VETERANS AND NONVETERAN COLLEGE STUDENTS Poster Psychology Bryan Bodrog

SURSCA ENTERS THE 21ST CENTURY BY UTILIZING “FACEBOOK” AS A CONTACT TOOL AND PEER-REVIEWED GRANTS TO BUILD THE UWRF UG RESEARCH CULTURE Oral William Campbell, Ashley Graef, Felicia Colbeth, Tim Morris, Robert Gordon, Paul Casper an Tim Lyden

ANALYSIS OF ESTIMATED COSTS AND INVESTMENT FEASIBILITY OF TRANSITIONING TO AN ELLEPOT PRODUCTION SYSTEM Oral Economics Ted Cannady

FAKE BERRIES AND A MILK BOX: SEARCHING FOR GROUND Oral Creative Writing Harmony Hanson

THE ODEN ICE BREAKER CALIBRATION CRUISE: EXTENDING THE ICETOP ARRAY FOR SOLAR STUDY Poster Astrophysics Kyle Jero

MODELING COMPLEX CERVICAL CARCINOMA CELL-DERIVED STRUCTURES IN 3D “ARTIFICIAL TISSUE” CULTURES. Poster Bioengineering Brittany Lee

2009 UWRF CLIMATE CHANGE SURVEY Poster Political Science Jonathan Lyksett, Cory Heaton and Jennifer Haug

"WHEN MY FATHER DIES" Oral Creative Writing Todd Mueske

UNDER THE WAVES: WATER IMAGERY IN VIRGINIA WOOLF Oral English Stefanie Otteson

THE INFLUENCE OF DIABETES MELLITUS ON INTERPERSONAL AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS Poster Psychology Rachel Peterson

TISSUE AND CELLULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF LONG-TERM CARDIAC ARTIFICIAL TISSUES CULTURED IN 3D USING NATURAL ECM MATERIALS. Poster Bioengineering Victor Piazza

FIREARM INVOLVEMENT INFLUENCES ON THE RECIDIVISM OF GANG MEMBERS COMPARED TO NON-GANG MEMBERS Oral Criminology Daniel Scott

COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION OF A SIMPLE PENDULUM DRIVEN BY A NATURAL CHAOTIC FUNCTION Poster Physics Trevor Tomesh

VIRGINIA WOOLF: UNCOVERING HISTORY FOR THE OTHER HALF OF HUMANITY Oral English Catherine Wilson

Tomorrow promises to be another busy day!!!

“Well Toto...we’re not in Wisconsin anymore”, we made it to NCUR 2010!

We did it…with UWRF in the lead, some 360 undergraduate scholars from across the region successfully arrived in balmy Montana on the 14th for NCUR 2010! The flight out here was spectacular, with excellent and extremely friendly service from the Sun Country crews all the way! They made the trip a blast! Of course as you can see they made some of us work for our upgrades ;-))) !!! Both 737’s arrived in Missoula after beautiful flights across the plains and into the Rockies. Now the real work begins! Posters and oral presentations start this morning and our students are ready to go!

Shown here in transit and upon arrival are UWRF students Michelle Haring, Paul Casper, Ashley Graef, Felicha Colbeth and Chuck Phillips. Dr. Lyden (SURSCA Adviser) had to bus tables for his first class upgrade! Meanwhile, Chancellor Van Galen and Dr. Campbell as well as Nija Lawrence-Porter and our good friend from UW La Crosse, Dr. VJ Argawal enjoyed the hospitality of Sun Country.

Thanks, Sun Country!

A great start!

Weather in Montana!!!

Winter Storm Warning


Late Afternoon: Snow. High near 37. West wind around 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow. Low around 31. West wind between 11 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. West wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. West southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. East southeast wind around 7 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64.

Friday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Saturday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.

Sunday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57.

Chancellor Van Galen to join UWRF student presenters at NCUR 2010!!

Chancellor Van Galen will join the 75 students, staff and faculty who are attending NCUR 2010 in Missoula MT this year. UWRF will be leading a regional contingent of some 362 students, faculty and administrators from across the region on this trip. Organizing the charter of two Sun Country jets to provide transport, SURSCA and the UWRF Grants Office are at the lead in assisting travelers from UW-Whitewater, UW-Eau Claire, UW-LaCrosse, UW-Platteville, UW-Superior, U of MN, Hamline, St. Johns/St. Benedicts and St. Scholastica to attend this premier national UG student meeting.

On Wednesday Chancellor Van Galen released the following message to his fellow RSCA travelers:

“Congratulations to the UWRF students and faculty who will be participating in the upcoming National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Missoula, Montana! I look forward to joining you and seeing first hand the presentation of your research and scholarly activities.

As you may know, there is a tradition of a high level of participation by UW-River Falls students at NCUR, and this year it appears that we will have the greatest number of student presenters in our history!

On a personal note, when I was a full-time chemistry professor I had the opportunity to take students to several NCUR meetings. It is truly amazing to be able to present your work in front of a national audience of peers, and to interact with other students and faculty from many universities and colleges. I especially encourage you to attend some presentations that are well outside of your major. I recall several art
history research presentations that I found fascinating.

Special thanks to all of the UWRF faculty and staff who make these types of "high impact educational experiences" possible. See you in Missoula!

Dean Van Galen
Chancellor”

UWRF Students to Present at the 2010 CUR Posters on the Hill in Washington DC!!! (UWRF News Release)

Kyle Jero, a physics major at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls who is participating in the IceCube project in Antarctica, has been selected to present his abstract “The Oden Ice Breaker Calibration Cruise: Extending the IceTop Array for Solar Study” at the 2010 Posters on the Hill event April 12 in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Jero, UWRF physics Professor Jim Madsen and UWRF physics major Drew Anderson and UW-Madison engineering major Samantha Jakel, who both also participated in the IceCube project, will be attending. Each participant’s poster contains pages of text, graphs and photographs that will help with the student’s oral presentation of their research to members of Congress. Students will participate in an orientation session as well as field trips to various locations throughout Washington, D.C.

The international IceCube project is a collaborative effort involving 15 U.S. groups collectively with partners from Belgium, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, and The United Kingdom.

The IceCube project uses a one cubic kilometer volume of ice in Antarctica to explore the universe using subatomic particles known as neutrinos. Neutrinos are emitted during high-energy events in the universe; and together, project participants are working to better understand these events.

UWRF is one of two undergraduate schools involved with the IceCube project, giving students a chance to participate in cutting-edge research. Some of the University’s major contributions to the project include an initial IceCube detector performance analysis, designing and fabricating sunshades for IceTop tanks, deploying IceTop tanks at the South Pole, and simulating high-energy cosmic rays to study the IceTop detector performance.

Jero is part of the expedition on the Oden Icebreaker that set sail from Sweden to Antarctica on Oct. 29, 2009. He monitored the IceTop tanks from McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to Punta Arenas, Chile. Jero has been updating a blog during his travels.

To read Jero’s blog, as well as the blogs of other IceCube project students and for further information on the projects, visit http://www.uwrf.edu/icecube/welcome.htm.

UWRF UG Scholars meet to plan for NCUR 2010 travel!

On Wednesday, February 16th approximately 50 of the 62 students who had abstracts accepted for NCUR 2010 met in the Blue Lab to register for the conference and discuss travel arrangements. Students were assisted by travel and funding organizers, Dr. Bill Campbell (UWRF Grants Director) and Dr. Tim Lyden (UWRF SURSCA Faculty Adviser). In addition to registering, students were also briefed on the SURSCA-administered Falcon Grants program and walked through the application forms required of all grant recipient/travelers. Other topics covered included general information about NCUR meetings and the importance of professionalism at major meetings like this one. Students learned that NCUR represents a significant professional networking opportunity with large contingents of graduate school recruiters and faculty/administrators from across the nation. NCUR 2010 will take place April 15-18, 2010 in Missoula, Montana. Stay tuned for more details and student profiles as the date approaches.

SURSCA announces the Spring 2010 round of Falcon Grants, a call for applications.

The Spring 2010 round of Falcon Grant applications are now being accepted. The deadline for applications will be March 25th. Applications can be made in each of three general categories; “RSCA Projects”, “Travel to Present” at professional meetings or “Travel to Attend” such meetings. Students presenting at NCUR 2010 in Missoula, MT have a separate application form. In the spring round, NCUR travel is given highest priority. Following NCUR travel, the priorities for awards are “Travel to Present”, RSCA Projects” and finally “Travel to Attend” with maximum funding levels of $1000, $750, and $300 respectively. Successful awards will be available by the end of the academic calendar. Applications and instructions are available at www.uwrf.edu/sursca.

We’re “leaving on a jet plane”…well, actually on TWO jet planes….a record number of UWRF student abstracts have been accepted for NCUR 2010!!!

Some 50 UWRF student abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the 2010 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) to be held in Missoula, Montana! Altogether this represents 66 student presenters, which tops the previous record when 42 UWRF students traveled to Lexington Virginia for NCUR 2005. Students going to NCUR 2010 represent 24 different fields from across the campus community…including:

Animal Science/ Pre Vet, Astrophysics, Art History, Bioengineering, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Creative Writing, Criminology, Dance, Economics, Education, English, European Studies, Geology/Earth Sciences, History, International-Global Studies, Literature, Music, Nutrition and Food Science, Physics, Political Science, Psychology and Studio Art.

To accommodate such a large contingent, it was actually more cost effective for us to charter a jet! And, in fact, the UWRF Grants Office Director (Bill Campbell) and UWRF/SURSCA have taken the lead for the entire region by organizing collaborative travel arrangements for other campuses attending the meeting as well. This leadership role has snowballed into not just one “jet plane”, but two!!!! We now have commitments to fill two Sun Country 737’s with undergraduate researchers from across the region (both Wisconsin and Minnesota)! That’s approximately 324 mid-western UG researcher/scholars “leaving in a convoy” of our best and brightest to a major national research meeting! Participating institutions include: UW-Whitewater, Eau Claire, Stout, LaCrosse, and Platteville, plus University of Minnesota, Hamline, St. Scholastica, and St. John's/St. Ben's.

The UWRF student presenters travel will be funded through the SURSCA Falcon Grants program. Stay tuned for more details and student researcher profiles/interviews as the date approaches!

Fall 2009 Falcon Grants Awarded

SURSCA announced the results of the Fall 2009 round of Falcon Grant awards this week. Overall, $16,332.39 was awarded in this round of the student-funded and peer-reviewed grants program. These awards were made for grants to travel for presentation, group travel and RSCA project costs. Some 35 students participated in these various grants, which included individuals and/or groups from Biology, Psychology, Physics, Chemistry, Agricultural Engineering, Food Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Sociology.

The “Falcon Grants” program was begun in the Fall of 2007-08 as a component of the UWRF Differential Tuition initiative supported by the student body and provides funding for students from throughout the campus for undergraduate Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (RSCA). To date, more than 250 students have received funding to engage in and/or present their undergraduate RSCA from various fields across the campus.

UWRF Students submit 52 abstracts to NCUR 2010

UWRF Grants Office has been informed that collectively, UWRF students, faculty and administrators have submitted a record number of abstracts to the 2010 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). At least 52 submissions were made to present at this year's meeting in Missoula, Montana. Although the abstracts have yet to be reviewed, it is very likely that at least 45 will be accepted. This will exceed the prior record of 42 UWRF students who presented in 2004 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virgina. In addition this year, a very wide range of fields are also represented from the traditional sciences to English and Music as well as many other fields.

To accommodate travel for this large contingent, SURSCA and UWRF plan to charter our own jet from Sun Country Airlines! In addition, we will also be sharing the plane with contingents from other UW campuses as well.

Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting upcoming event/adventure for our students.

SURSCA establishes a Facebook presence!!!!

In December 2009, the current officer corps of SURSCA decided to establish a “Facebook” presence to help develop our outreach to fellow students, faculty, administrators and interested parties. Together with this new blog space these tools will help guide the organization into it’s second decade of activities. Check it out and become a “Friend” of SURSCA!!!


http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=186197127592&ref=ts

2009 Gala Evening of RSCA

On November 30th 2009, the UWRF SURSCA chapter held it's 8th annual "Gala Evening of RSCA" event in the Falcon's Nest of the UC. Attended by nearly 100 students, faculty, administrators and interested parties from across the campus community, this year's event featured work from some 29 presenters. Included in this work were posters from Biology, Animal Sciences, Food Sciences, Psychology, English, Physics, Education and other UWRF departments. In addition, for the first time, this years event included presentations from our sister institution UW-Stout, which was represented by Dr. Micheal Pickert. Keynote presentations were made by the new UWRF Chancellor, Dr. Dean Van Galen as well as each of the Deans from CAS, CAFES and Education. Altogether, another successful start to RSCA in the 2009-2010 academic year.

Images from the evening can be seen at the UWRF Photo archive:

http://www.uwrf.edu/photo_archive/02009/091130galaeveningrsca/index.html