WHS graduate chosen to present research at national conference

Undergraduate students from Iowa State University (ISU) in Ames headed south the second week of April to share their research and scholarship with their peers from across the nation at the 33rd annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) held April 11-13 at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. About 4,000 undergraduate students from across the U.S. present their research at this annual conference, the largest such conference in the country.

This is the third year ISU students have attended NCUR. Iowa State’s 62 students representing 30 different majors marks the university’s highest level of participation yet. In addition to presenting their research and scholarship, these students were also provided with networking and professional development opportunities.

Among those ISU students selected to present research is Erika Johnson, a 2017 graduate of Waukon High School and the daughter of David and Robin Johnson of Waukon. She is a junior Animal Science major and presented her research on “The Effects of Dietary Protein Oxidation on Growing Pigs”.
ISU students worked hard to fund their attendance at the conference, said Svitlana Zbarska, coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Program. Zbarska said the outstanding support of faculty mentors, departments, colleges, the Undergraduate Research Program, University Honors program, IINSPIRE LSAMP program, Division of Student Affairs and the McNair Scholars Program all helped these students plan their path to the conference.

“NCUR is so beneficial for these students because it empowers them as scientists. It gives them an opportunity to present their research at the national level and attend one of the biggest graduate school fairs in the U.S.,” Zbarska said. “ISU students have attended this conference three years in a row, and I hope our undergraduate research will continue to be represented at the national level in the future.”