Shoreline Honors Program students Ashley Cowan and Sophie Morse presented at the University of Washington’s 19th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on Fri., May 20.
Cowan, a sophomore at Shoreline studying Political Science and International Studies, presented her research titled “Youth on the Margins: An Analysis of Youth Political Participation and Diversity in the United States.” Her faculty mentor for the project was Terry Taylor, Assistant Dean of History, Political Science, and International Studies at Shoreline.
Morse, also a sophomore, presented her research, “Establishing a Feasible Sanitation System after a Natural Disaster to Protect from Waterborne Diseases.” Morse is studying microbiology, and her faculty mentor for the project was Alison Armstrong, a professor of Engineering at Shoreline.
Run by the UW’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP), participation in the prestigious symposium is application-based and competitive. The symposium process facilitates research experiences for undergraduates that motivate understanding of concepts through their application to a real problem and helps students to develop a deeper understanding of more complex materials.
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for Shoreline students to present alongside UW undergraduates,” said Brooke Zimmers, co-faculty adviser for Shoreline’s Honors Program. “Not only does it look great on our students’ resumes, but it gives them the opportunity to validate their successes at Shoreline by discovering that they already excel at University-level work.”
This is the second year in a row that Shoreline has sent students to the symposium. In 2015, biology student John Brew became the first student from Shoreline to present at the symposium.
“Having multiple students present at this upper division research symposium is a great testimony to the quality of our students’ work in the Honors program at Shoreline,” said Taylor. “We hope to send more students in the future as part of the research option in American Honors at Shoreline.”
In fall of 2016, Shoreline’s Honors Program will become an American Honors program, a selective honors program offered at two-year colleges across the country. The American Honors Program at Shoreline Community College is designed to offer a challenging curriculum for students planning to transfer to four-year institutions of higher learning or who simply wish to deepen their college experience.