Summer Research Symposium

Mount Holyoke College (MHC) is committed to providing summer research opportunities for our students. Students receive awards through a competitive process, which includes submitting a proposal, which is reviewed and rated by a summer fellowships committee. During this past summer, many of our students have worked with mentors here at MHC or at a number of other prestigious, domestic institutions. Some of our students conducted their summer projects and internships abroad.  The Summer Research Symposium is an opportunity for students to share their to share their experiences with the MHC community and their families.

The first MHC Summer Research Symposium took place in October of 2004. At that time, students had received awards from the Weed Research Scholar Program and the Mount Holyoke Summer Research Fellowship program (MHSRF), and they presented their summer research projects to family, friends, faculty, and the Mount Holyoke Community, during Family and Friends Weekend. In 2005, we were able to expand the program to include, the MHC-Yale Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (MHC-Yale SURF), the Center for Global Initiatives Internship program (CGI), and the Global Studies Summer Fellowship program (GSSF). In 2006, we were pleased to expand the program further to include students receiving funding in the Sciences and the new MHC-Yale Materials Research Surface Interface Center Undergraduate Fellowship program (MHC-Yale MRSEC). In 2007, we are expanding even further to include students who participated in internships through the Career Development Center.

The oral presentations and poster projects reflect the creativity, diversity, and talent of our students. For many, this work will lead to independent study and thesis work with their various mentors here at MHC. In preparing for their presentations, a number of students made use of our training sessions and the resources available at the Speaking, Arguing, and Writing (SAW) Center at the Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts. We are pleased to present the abstracts of their work within this booklet and look forward to having you enjoy the program.

Thank you for your interest and support of our students’ endeavors.

Dr. Connie Allen, Dean of the Classes 2009 and 2010
Chemistry Department Faculty

4th Annual Summer Research Symposium
Saturday, October 20th
9-11:30 am, Willits-Hallowell Center