On Friday, March 15, the Office of Research and Creative Arts (ORCA) will host the 16th Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS). This annual event is a celebration of student work, showcasing a wide breadth and depth of research and creative topics.
The work of Elise Lee ‘24, a biology and women’s and gender studies double major, is illustrative of the diverse range of topics that will be on exhibit at this year’s URS. Lee will be presenting a poster about her biological anti-fungal research and taking part in an oral panel presentation highlighting work from her women’s and gender studies thesis.
Lee worked with Tatiana Kuzmenko, instructor of biology, to develop a method to test the anti-fungal activity of plants. Her oral presentation will center on a comparison of social responses to AIDS and Covid-19, two of the most serious public health crises of the past 40 years. Amanda Apgar, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies, serves as the advisor for Lee’s thesis project. Lee’s two projects are a testament to the support that LMU students receive to pursue topics of interest to them.
“The research and creative projects that the Lions work on as undergraduate students is valuable,” said Carina Flores, assistant director of student research at ORCA. “My favorite part about URS is getting to hear about the various projects the students have been working on. Our students are involved in some amazing, thought provoking, and even life-changing projects that I might not find out about if it weren’t for the symposium.”
Lee’s work on anti-fungal activity of plants certainly has important implications for antibiotic resistance, one of the more pressing global health issues of our moment.
“Antibiotic resistance is on the rise, it’s a problem that we’re facing and antibiotics are becoming less effective,” said Lee. “So people are looking for alternative methods to kill bacteria using natural methods or medicinal plants.” Because of the global health implications of her anti-fungal research, Lee noted that her work engages with the “Good Health and Well-Being” objective, one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations (UN SDGS).
This year, URS saw a significant rise in research related to the UN SDGS, with 47% of posters and presentations related to the SDGs, up from 27% last year.
“It is important for our students to engage in UN SDG-related research because it empowers them to utilize their research skills and apply them to the most significant social, economic, and environmental challenges of our time,” said Jennifer Ramos, director of Global Learning for Global-Local Affairs. “This engagement encourages them to leverage their interdisciplinary education for the collective well-being, enabling them to make a real-world impact and ignite the changes they wish to see in the world.”
The URS will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 15 at University Hall. All members of the LMU community are encouraged to attend. For more information, please visit the ORCA website.
