Students celebrate undergraduate research

On March 20, Mount Royal University celebrated undergraduate research on Main Street by hosting Student Research Day.

Student presentations included completed or ongoing work from undergrads in all fields of research. Many of the student presenters are almost finished with their degrees at Mount Royal University and have plans to continue on to graduate school in the future.

Krista MacPherson, a fourth- year psychology student, was presenting on the effect of caffeine on Helisoma snails.

“This research project has facilitated furthering my dream of furthering my research and becoming a professor,” MacPherson said, “and to teach more people about the research field and the exciting times you can have doing research.”

Also presenting his findings was bachelor of business administration student Derek Kuntz, who developed his research, along with some peers, as a part of a competitive program. The topic focused around stock evaluation, and the benefits and insight it can provide to various forms of industry.

“I like the oil and gas industry, and am a huge promoter of ethics,” Kuntz said when asked his plans after completing his degree, adding: “I wouldn’t mind being part of a finance team that allows more money put into environmental research to bring some credibility to the oil and gas industry as a whole.”

Anita Chang — a fourth- year justice studies student — presented on the work of her honours thesis, which is focused on prostitution and the law from the perspective of Calgary professionals and what experience they have on how the law affects prostitution.

“I’m going to want to go law school,” Chang said. “But for now, I plan on doing more research and taking this topic to the next level.”

Chantelle Lemieux is a fourth- year bachelor of health science, who was presenting lab demonstrations on cardio-respiratory physiology, and the research focused on comparing two cardiovascular reflexes that play a huge role in heart rate and regulating blood pressure.

“I am interested in furthering my education to possibly teach science,” Lemieux said. “As to what level, I haven’t quite decided.” Lemieux also expressed an interest in research as a prime profession.