June 22, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

UMW Students Showcase Research at National Conference

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Students gathered in the lobby of a hotel

UMW students presented their original research and creative scholarship at the 2026 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Richmond.

Fourteen UMW students presented their original research and creative scholarship last month at the 2026 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Richmond, one of the nation’s premier gatherings for undergraduate researchers.

Sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research, the annual conference brought together more than 4,000 students from across the United States and several other countries to share work in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. UMW students represented a wide range of disciplines, including biology, computer science, English, physics, sociology and kinesiology.

Working closely with faculty mentors — including Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Laura Sipe, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Tyler Frankel, Visiting Instructor Jeffrey Goldthorp and Associate Professor of English Shumona Dasgupta — students presented research and creative projects exploring topics ranging from cancer biology, artificial intelligence and microplastics to immigration, environmental conservation, literature and film studies.

Presentations included both poster sessions and oral presentations, giving students the opportunity to engage with peers and faculty from institutions around the world. Several participants noted that the experience strengthened their research skills and broadened their perspectives.

“Seeing a variety of undergraduate students working in their own respective fields was an eye-opening moment and taught me how diverse research can be,” said biomedical sciences major Mohammad Ali Hassan.

Congratulations to the students and faculty mentors who represented Mary Washington at NCUR 2026 and shared their work on a national stage.

UMW Students and Faculty Collaborate with Dahlgren Researchers

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Eight University of Mary Washington students have received hands-on guidance this semester from mentors at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren. The students shared the results of their undergraduate research projects during poster presentations on Wednesday, April 30 at UMW’s Dahlgren campus.

UMW professors Debra Hydorn, Melody Denhere and Stephen Davies collaborated with the students and mentors on four projects:

  • Statistical modeling and analysis of counts in time – using social network data, students Kim Hildebrand and Candice Benshaw analyzed the number of Twitter messages sent within a county in the U.S. during a given hour.
  • Simulation of a social network graph – students Cody Reibsome and Benjamin Blalock established a model of the collection of individuals that a member follows and the collection of individuals who are followers on Twitter.
  • String edit distance for micro-blogging text – in order to follow trends on Twitter there is a need to be able to account for misspellings. Students Jonathan Blauvelt and Anthony Bell used a distance measure to determine the similarity of tweets.
  • Citation prediction and analysis – students William Etcho and Josiah Neuberger explored methodologies for predicting the number of citations a paper or patent receives or for identifying emerging technologies.

For more information about the projects, contact Hydorn at dhydorn@umw.edu.

Students Presented Work at Research and Creativity Symposium

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Hundreds of University of Mary Washington students presented their research as part of the annual Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Symposium on Friday, April 25. The event, in its eighth year at UMW, celebrates excellence in undergraduate student research by giving students the opportunity to share their work with faculty, their peers and the public.

Students discuss their research in Jepson Hall as part of the ninth Research and Creativity Symposium.

Students discuss their research in Jepson Hall as part of the ninth Research and Creativity Symposium.

The presentations represented various disciplines, including the sciences, history, humanities, mathematics, social sciences and the arts.

Many student oral and poster presentations took place in Jepson Hall, filling the building with students, faculty and family members. Presentation topics ranged from biodegradable polymers and erosion in the Chesapeake Bay to food security and advertising.

“It’s fun learning about the real life applications of the chemistry we’ve been learning,” said Rachel Thomas, a sophomore biology major and chemistry minor who presented on alternative methods for closing wounds. “You learn more as you go, and people ask questions to really help you think about your research.”

An art student shares her work.

An art student shares her work.

Student performed original music and scenes from plays in duPont Hall, with art and art history presentations and works in Melchers.

In conjunction with the symposium, additional presentations took place across campus in the areas of English, math, history and geography.

“We hope that our research will help inspire future UMW students,” said David Chambers, a senior geography major who co-presented with junior Ray Humiston on the results of their field work on deforestation in Guatemala.

The symposium kicked-off on Thursday, April 24 with the keynote lecture “Structural Color – Origin and Evolution,” by Hui Cao, professor of applied physics and physics at Yale University.

The Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Symposium is funded by the Class of 1959 Endowment. For a full list of student presentations, visit http://cas.umw.edu/student-research-and-creativity-symposium/.

UMW Students Present Research at Annual Symposium, April 25

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Hundreds of University of Mary Washington students will present their research as part of the annual Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Symposium on Friday, April 25 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event celebrates excellence in undergraduate student research by giving students the opportunity to share their work with faculty, their peers and the public.

Every year, students showcase their work at the Research and Creativity Symposium.

Every year, students showcase their work at the Research and Creativity Symposium.

Hui Cao, professor of applied physics and physics at Yale University, will present a keynote lecture on Thursday, April 24 to kick-off the symposium. Cao’s lecture, “Structural Color – Origin and Evolution,” will be held at 7 p.m. in Jepson Hall, Room 100.

The symposium, in its eighth year at UMW, will feature oral presentations, poster sessions, art exhibits, and theatrical and music performances from numerous disciplines across the university. Diverse oral and poster presentations will be held in Jepson Hall; geography, history and American studies presentations will be held in Monroe Hall; a mindfulness gallery and religion talks will be held in Trinkle Hall; English, linguistics, and communication presentations will be held in in Combs Hall as part of the Kemp Symposium; and art history senior presentations will be held in Melchers Hall. Students will perform original music compositions and scenes from several plays in duPont Hall’s Studio 115.

The Undergraduate Student Research and Creativity Symposium is funded by the Class of 1959 Endowment. For a full schedule and list of student presentations, visit http://cas.umw.edu/student-research-and-creativity-symposium/.

UMW to Host Psi Chi Symposium, April 17-18

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James P. Morris, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, will deliver the keynote address at the 29th annual Psi Chi Symposium for Undergraduate Research in Psychology at the University of Mary Washington. The lecture, “Characterizing Individual Variability in Neural Circuitry Underlying Social Perception,” will be delivered at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 18 in Lee Hall, Room 411.

James P. Morris, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia

James P. Morris, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Virginia

UMW students will present their research as part of the symposium on Thursday, April 17from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Friday, April 18from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Lee Hall, Room 411. Morris’s lecture and the symposium are free and open to the public.

Morris is the head of the Social Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Virginia.  He also teaches courses in human neuroscience, social neuroscience and social neuroscience research at UVA.  In his research, Morris focuses on how social perception is represented in the brain, with research relating specifically to the neuroscience of autism spectrum disorder, epigenetics and social perception. He is a member of the International Society for Autism Research, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology and the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society.

Sponsored by UMW’s chapter of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, the symposium provides a forum for students to share their research and findings with their professors and peers.

For more information, contact Mindy Erchull, associate professor of psychology, at (540) 654-1557.

Mathematics Faculty and Student Present in San Diego

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Suzanne Sumner

Suzanne Sumner

At the 2013 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, Calif., in January, two faculty members and a student from UMW presented their work.  Suzanne Sumner, professor of mathematics, delivered the talk “Intensive Experiences for Undergraduate Mathematics” in a session on Communicating Mathematics sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America.

 

Debra Hydorn

Debra Hydorn

Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, spoke in a session devoted to Innovative Ideas for Courses in the First Two Years.  Her talk was titled “Exploratory Projects in an Introduction to Discrete Mathematics Course.”  Hydorn gave a second talk titled “Using R for Data Analysis Assignments in an Introductory Statistics Course” in a session devoted to Modern Ideas in Introductory Statistics Courses.  In addition, she was honored to have a piece of geometric artwork accepted through a juried process to the Mathematical Art Exhibition.

Finally, UMW senior Ryan Vaughn presented a poster at the National Undergraduate Student poster competition.  Ryan’s poster, titled “Embeddings of Complete Bipartite Graphs in Finite Projective Planes” won one of the Outstanding Poster Awards.