RESEARCH DRIVES DISCOVERY

Event recognizes student work, faculty excellence

More than 280 undergraduate and graduate students are expected to present their research this week to fellow students, colleagues, faculty and the local community in a conference-style setting this week at East Carolina University’s Mendenhall Student Center.

It is the seventh annual installment of ECU’s Research & Creative Achievement Week, a forum providing an opportunity for discovery in biomedical sciences, business, education, engineering, the fine and performing arts, human health, humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, technology and computer science, and visual art and design. Their research can be shared either via poster or oral presentations, face-to-face or online.

The event runs through Friday, April 12.

“It is a key learning opportunity for students to experience one of the most important skills they will need as they graduate: presentation of their own creative work,” said Tom McConnell, associate dean of the Graduate School at ECU and chair of the this year’s RCAW events.

The best among the student research projects and the first-ever Faculty Mentor Award winners – the nominations made by students – will be presented during a luncheon at noon on April 12 in the Mendenhall Great Rooms.

Additionally, faculty members achieving excellence in research and creative endeavors are also recognized this week. Below are this year’s recipients.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Roger A. Rulifson
Professor, Department of Biology
Thomas Harriot College of Arts & Sciences

When Roger Rulifson has meetings with members of federal agencies, he doesn’t see strangers anymore. He sees his former students—a testimony of just how far he’s come in 30 years of fisheries research and the difference he’s made.