Undergrads dig into research

Undergrad Research Scholarship recipients Stephenson and Ashton display examples of their research materials. Photo: UVic Photo Services

By Robie Liscomb

Fifty-three UVic undergraduate students are getting the chance to make significant contributions to hands-on research projects this year, thanks to a new UVic scholarship program.

With mentoring and supervision from some of UVic’s top researchers, they are working on a wide range of projects, including studying the brains of children diagnosed with ADHD, the cycling of greenhouse gases in coastal environments, breast cancer vaccine development, and the use of nanomaterials for early detection of cancers.

UVic’s vice-president academic and provost initiated the Undergraduate Research Scholarship (URS) program this year to enhance opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in research as part of their academic programs—one of the objectives of UVic’s strategic plan. It provides $3,000 annually to each academic unit to support one or two exceptional third- or fourth-year undergraduate students who might otherwise be unable to obtain direct research experience.

Students are nominated by their departments and the nomination process is administered by the Learning and Teaching Centre (LTC).

“Nearly every university supports the integration of research into the undergraduate curriculum, but this means different things at different institutions,” explains LTC Director Teresa Dawson, who was responsible for much of the development of the URS program. “In my experience, the level of commitment here at UVic is quite rare. This program is unusual in its size—it represents a large amount of money and is comprehensive in its breadth in that every academic unit is entitled to one of the scholarships.”

“Based on our experience this first year, the program is successful in really enhancing the student experience on the research side,” Dawson adds. “The quality of the mentoring is quite high, and we feel that the experience will have a real impact on the lives of these students.”

“It’s been an invaluable opportunity for me to work one-on-one with a prof, doing actual research and working with primary source materials,” says Pacific and Asian studies student Dean Ashton. He is working with Dr. Richard King on a project to research and create an online archive of King’s collection of Chinese posters—some quite rare—from the latter part of the Cultural Revolution and immediate post-Mao years.

Ashton has conducted a literature search on this art form, reviewed available online collections and digitized 128 posters, developing valuable research and technical skills along the way.

Ashton and King share a keen interest in Chinese propaganda posters. While studying Mandarin at East China Normal University last year, supported in part by a departmental scholarship, Ashton bought about 100 propaganda posters. “And at least one of them is not a fake,” he jokes.

Ashton is writing his honours thesis on Chinese peasant painting and hopes to return to China to further his language studies before applying to graduate school in anthropology or sociology.

Ellie Stephenson, pursuing a double major in environmental studies and English, echoes Ashton’s satisfaction with the experience the research scholarship has made possible.
“It’s been one of the best learning opportunities I’ve had at UVic,” she says.

Stephenson is working with Dr. Eric Higgs (environmental studies) and his research team for the Mountain Legacy Project. They are working with the world’s largest collection of systematic, historical mountain photographs, taken by survey teams creating the first topographical maps of western Canada, and comparing them to 3,000 recent photos taken from exactly the same locations. Comparative analysis techniques are yielding valuable data pertaining to land use, ecological processes and climate change.

Stephenson’s part of the research puzzle has been coordinating creation of an online map indicating photography locations and linking them to collections of data.

“It’s entailed more responsibility than I expected,” she explains. “But I’ve been able to collaborate with a bunch of really talented and experienced people who have been incredibly supportive and encouraging. And it’s great to feel that the work I’ve been doing will have an impact and be useful to others.”

This year’s undergrad research scholarship recipients will present their projects in a special public showcase event April 14 in the Hickman Building. As well, they will be eligible to publish the results of their research in a new online scholarly journal, produced by the Learning and Teaching Centre and The Writing Centre, that is planned for a fall 2010 launch.

More information, including a complete list of recipients and project abstracts.