ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA -- For some, summer means taking vacations, relaxing, exploring...but for several Winthrop University students, it’s the perfect opportunity to investigate the world through undergraduate research.
Check out some of the interesting work students in the McNair and Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) programs have been working on this summer:
*Bobbie Owens ‘22, environmental studies and sociology with an anthropology concentration, Myrtle Beach
McNair Scholar
Awards: Rising Star Award - Department of Sociology
Research Topic: The perceived factors contributing to the success or failure of grassroots
movements in the Rock Hill area
In Owens’ own words, the environmental grassroots movement is “an initiative started on a community level with an aim towards making positive changes in the community focusing on environmental agendas.” Owens’ research inspiration came from her involvement with the Student Environmental Action Coalition.
Read more about Owens’ research here.
*Jewel Edwards ‘22, fine arts, Greenville
Awards: 1st Place - Undergraduate Juried Exhibition (2020); Merit Award - Department
of Fine Arts (2020); 3rd Place - Undergraduate Juried Exhibition (2020)
Research Topic: The origin and influence of beauty standards
Edwards’ inspiration for her undergraduate research began in the chair of her local hair salon at a young age. As she was flipping through the pages of beauty magazines there, she realized how emphatically the magazines focused on women’s hair.
Read more about Edwards’ research here.
Jasmine Moyd ‘22, mathematics, Chester
McNair Scholar
Awards: 1st Place in Education Category - Southeastern Association of Educational
Opportunity Program Personnel (SAEOPP)
Research Topic: STEM educator experiences during the pandemic
Moyd found inspiration for her undergraduate research from the most pressing world issue: the global COVID-19 pandemic. “As a student during the pandemic, I experienced the surprising benefits and obvious frustrations of virtual learning,” she said.
Read more about Moyd’s research here.
Ashley Wood ‘24, biology, Richburg
Awards: Undergraduate Scholar Award (2021)
Research Topic: Antibiotic cell resistance
Wood decided to pursue undergraduate research to gain new experience and knowledge in the field of scientific research. She focused on an antibiotic named tetracycline, which is commonly used to treat a variety of infections, in hopes to discover a way for the antibiotic to work on resistant cells.
Read more about Wood’s research here.
For more information on undergraduate research, visit the website. For more information on McNair, visit the website.
