NCSSM welcomed two special guests April 28 to help kick off the school’s Research Symposium, where students across all disciplines shared their original research with faculty, staff, and fellow students through oral and poster presentations.
Dr. Steve Warshaw, who organized the very first symposium at NCSSM-Durham in April 1986 and who retired from that campus in 2015 after 30 years of service, returned to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the symposium in Durham. The inaugural symposium – called Symposium on Jordan Lake – arose from a Research in Limnology (the study of inland aquatic ecosystems) course that Warshaw taught.
In that very first event there were 10 student presentations. This year, nearly 300 students across both NCSSM campuses participated in the Research Symposium, highlighting the extraordinary opportunity NCSSM provides for high school students to conduct meaningful, challenging research.
“We would not be where we are today, providing significant research experience to so many of our students, without Steve’s vision and leadership,” said NCSSM’s Chancellor, Dr. Todd Roberts, in remarks to students gathered in the Durham auditorium prior to the symposium’s first presentation sessions.
“I had no idea when we had that first symposium,” Warshaw said after the event, “that it would grow into what it has become, thanks to the support of faculty and administration, and the creativity and hard work of the research students.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Mia de los Reyes, a 2012 Durham graduate and now an Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Amherst College, shared with the Durham students her academic and career trajectory, and the lessons she learned along the way.
“Participating in research at NCSSM was a formative experience for me,” de los Reyes said later. “It was really great to see how much the program has expanded and how many more students are able to participate in research now.”
Dr. Michael Bruno, chair of NCSSM-Durham’s chemistry department, has been leading the Research Symposium in Durham for the last 10 years.
“It’s important for the community to see what their peers are doing, for the juniors who are maybe just getting into it, to see what research actually looks like, and for the seniors, who are most of the ones who are presenting, to get practice at sharing their work with others,” Bruno said.
The intent is the same across both campuses, says Jennifer Williams, Morganton’s Chair of Science.
“The symposium is an amazing opportunity for students to move beyond the curriculum and present to their classmates here in Morganton their research and design projects from within and across several disciplines. This sharing of information really lets students fully participate in the research process.”
