UGRADS
Welcome to the
College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences
UnderGraduate Research And Discovery Symposium (UGRADS)
Friday, April 26, 2019
Enjoy presentations and posters all day at the NAU Fieldhouse (Bldg 30) and in the Student Union.
Please visit the NAU Undergraduate Symposium webpage for more information and registration.
UGRADS overview
The Undergraduate Symposium is an NAU campus-wide celebration of student achievement. Students, faculty, and project sponsors present their collaborative efforts to the university and the general public. Teams present projects ranging from capstone designs, to sponsored research, to summer research projects. These creative endeavors demonstrate the innovative capacity at Northern Arizona University in a tangible way. This is an opportunity for students and faculty alike to engage in something real and authentic outside of the conventional classroom through participation in a public showcase.
UGRADS (UnderGraduate Research And Discovery Symposium) is the College of the Environment, Forestry & Natural Sciences portion of the Undergraduate Symposium.
Events are free and open to the public, unless noted.
Additional information
Important dates at a glance Accordion Closed
Registration period:
February 1 – March 17, 2019 (closes at 11:59 p.m.)
Poster printing deadline:
April 19, 2019
Undergraduate Symposium event date:
April 26, 2019
Reminder: You must be present at your assigned poster presentation session or you will receive a score of zero on oral quality which will take you out of contention for receiving a prize.
Judge registration process Accordion Closed
Volunteering is easy! Just go to the following URL and fill in the requested information. You will receive an email confirmation for your records with your preferences listed:
Undergraduate Symposium Judge Registration
Please register before Monday, March 17th to be acknowledged in the program (This is also the abstract submission deadline for students.)
After the abstracts are in, you will receive judging guidelines, logistics, and the titles of your assigned posters.
Please contact Anita Antoninka if you have questions.
Student registration process Accordion Closed
Registration period: February 1 – March 17, 2019 (closes 11:59 p.m.)
Applications from undergraduate students in all colleges who wish to share their work as posters, oral presentations, exhibits, and performances should be submitted online during the registration period.
Registration information can be found on the NAU Undergraduate Symposium registration page.
Note:
- Only the primary author or presenter should register
- All co-authors are to be listed by the primary author on the form
- CEFNS students may be the lead (primary) on only one poster
- Reminder: you must be present at your assigned poster presentation session or you will receive a zero on oral quality, which will take you out of contention for receiving a prize
Student poster presenters will be assigned to be present at their posters during one of the following sessions:
- Session 1: 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
- Session 2: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Poster presenters should follow the specific directions in the Undergraduate Symposium Presentation Information email messages regarding poster set-up and take-down times.
Poster preparation information Accordion Closed
Poster creation
It is the responsibility of participating students to create posters for the poster sessions. Posters should be designed to be hung with velcro on a large display board (no tape, pins, or tri-fold poster boards). For consistency and convenience, we recommend that you download, and take advantage of, the poster templates provided below. There is a landscape version and a portrait version with useful tips to help you quickly create an attractive poster, but we encourage you to be creative as well.
NOTE: There is one CEFNS 2019 poster judging rubric this year. This is how your poster will be judged. Please review: CEFNS UGRADS Rubric
Poster templates are available here
Basic poster formatting and construction guidelines:
- CEFNS posters should be no larger than 36″ x 46″ to fit on the display board
- Posters should be created in PowerPoint format; trying to blow up an 8.5 x 11 does NOT work well
- The use of dark (especially black) solid color backgrounds is strongly discouraged…and will incur additional charges
- All posters must be attached to the display board using velcro; no tape, pins, or tri-fold posters are permitted
- Posters must be readable from at least four feet away
- The presentation title must be at least two inches high
- Beneath the title, the name(s) of the student author(s), faculty sponsor, and department/school must be at least one inch high
- All source(s) of your funding should be acknowledged on the poster
- Generally more graphics/less text is preferable
- Large format NAU logos are available
Poster printing options
CEFNS students: to have a poster printed at no cost, the student who registered the project must submit the poster to the Physics department by email to Ed.Anderson@nau.edu (3-7096) no later than 5:00 p.m., Friday, April 19, 2019. Students should choose a white background.
- Posters must be sized to 36″ high by 44″ wide in PowerPoint format (as they are in the templates). No other software formats or sizes are acceptable if you have your poster printed by CEFNS.
- Download one of the poster templates.
- Printed posters should be picked up by a member of the presenting team in the Physics and Astronomy Office, building 19, room 209; posters will NOT be delivered to the Symposium or departments.
For other poster printing options, refer to the University Symposium Poster Presentation Information page.
Presentations and judging rubrics Accordion Closed
Poster presentations:
All poster presentations will be reviewed by 2-3 judges. Judging will occur within the two categories of projects presented at the University Symposium:
- Research and research-based internships
- Community internships and Science, Teaching & Learning
Fabulous prizes will be awarded to winners in each category. Please keep in mind that your posters may be judged by people outside your area of expertise. Therefore, poster presentations should be structured for a lay-audience. As a guideline to what the judges are looking for, the judging templates for each of the three categories are available below:
Poster presentation expectations:
- The poster’s first author is required to present the poster in the scheduled session. Additional undergraduate authors are also permitted to co-present. To allow enough time for poster judges to view all posters and visit with presenters, posters will be presented in two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. All posters will be displayed, all day, in the NAU Fieldhouse.
- There are two poster sessions, one in the morning (Session I) and one in the afternoon (Session II). You will be assigned to be physically at your poster for two hours during either the morning or afternoon session. We have ~200 posters to schedule for judging, so you will not be able to choose your session.
- All posters should be put up on the assigned poster board space by 8:30 a.m. on April 26th. You should plan to take your poster with you on April 26th. Staff will be in the Fieldhouse to assist you.
- Posters will be affixed with velcro, not pins. The poster boards are fabric. You will need to purchase inexpensive velcro tabs at Walmart, JoAnn’s, etc. in order to put your poster up.
- If you will miss classes during your oral and/or poster presentation, please see your mentor to obtain an institutional excuse for the day. Contact them by April 5th to ensure excuses can be issued in time.
Event schedule and venues Accordion Closed
9:00-11:00 am: Posters Session I in the Union Fieldhouse
11:30-1:00 pm: Luncheon for Student Presenters, Faculty Mentors, and Judges in Ashurst Hall (Bldg 37A).
2:00-4:00 pm: Posters Session II in the Union Fieldhouse
Parking Accordion Closed
Judges unregistered vehicles may park in the San Francisco Parking Garage during the Symposium. Faculty, staff, and student permit holders should continue to park in their designated parking lots for set-up on Thursday and all day on Friday.
Please refer to the NAU Parking Map for more information.
2018 Poster Winners Accordion Closed
Internship/Community Project
1st Place
Maxwell Herbert
Mentor: Dr. Richard Hofstetter
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
“The Music of Bark Beetles”
Research
1st Place
Kyle Lindstrom
Mentor: Dr. Lisa Prato
Department of Physics & Astronomy
“Planet Formation around Binary and Multiple Star Systems”
2nd Place
Tatum Bardsley
Mentors: Dr. Robert Kellar, Dr. Andrew Koppisch, Robert Audet
Department of Biological Sciences
“Ionic Liquids Demonstrate Antimicrobial Activity and Cellular Compatibility”
3rd Place Tie
Austin Dikeman
Mentors: Dr. Faith Walker, Dr. Carol Chambers, Dr. Viacheslav Fofanov, Daniel Sanchez
Department of Biological Sciences
“Tracking Escherichia coli infections of the endangered New Mexico jumping mouse (Zapus luteus luteus)”
Amalee Nunnally
Mentors: Dr. Paul Keim, Dr. Heidie Hornstra-O’Neill, Nathan Stone
Department of Biological Sciences
“Are soil and water important reservoirs for clostridioides difficile disease in Flagstaff, Arizona?”
Engineering Capstone
1st Place
Daniel Matthews, Zachary McCormick, Jacob Head, Mitchell Parker
Mentor: Dr. David Trevas
Department of Mechanical Engineering
“MWI Labs NRL Loss Arch Redesign”
2nd Place
Tatum Begay, Taylor McCormack, William Senseman, Wyatt Bain, Brandon Dunn, Alonzo Bizahaloni, Ahmad Abuouf, Carl Aaker
Mentor: Dr. Sarah Oman
Department of Mechanical Engineering
“Salt River Project Solar Air Heater”
Phi Kappa Phi Senior Award
Darius Rowe
Mentor: Dr. Cindy Browder, Dr. Constantine Ciocanel
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
“A Conductive Thermosetting Polymer for Use in Energy Storage Systems”
CEFNS UGRADS information contact
2019 Luncheon Speaker
Dr. Christopher Edwards
NAU Department of
Physics & Astronomy
“Robotic Martians: Orbiters, Landers, Rovers and a Half Century Unmanned Exploration”
Sponsors
Dr. Henry O. Hooper
Dr. Paul C. Begovac &
Mrs. Susan Begovac
Begovac Experiment Fund
In recognition of outstanding pursuit of new knowledge through experimentation