February 24, 2022
After presenting their research at last year’s Celebration of Scholarship (COS) conference, Shawnee State University students Tori Oehlers (Hometown: Huntington, WV) and Niki Young (Hometown: Upper Sandusky, OH) are collaborating once again to expand their past research for this year’s conference. Working together, they are presenting a comparison of mammal diversity among microhabitats in Shawnee State Forest. Their work follows an investigation into trap usefulness for small mammal capture.
“For this year’s conference, we narrowed it down to two sites with more traps and cameras to get a better understanding of the populations,” said Niki Young, a Natural Science major. “We are also doing what is called a BioBlitz to find other animals that we could not catch in the traps.”
In preparation of this year’s conference, Oehlers and Young utilized existing information and scientific studies to support their work. The partners compiled their data into clean graphs to make it easier to evaluate.
“We prepared by looking over past studies that had been done to check results and see what we were doing differently”, said Tori Oehlers, a Biology major. “We then worked together to analyze our data from the past few months into graphs that could be easily understood.”
Dr. Sarah Ivers, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences has served as the partners’ mentor for the conference, providing advice and assistance to the group when preparing their presentation and completing their research.
“Dr. Ivers has an eye for design and how information and pictures flow together,” said Oehlers. “She went through the presentation and gave us advice for improvement.”
Reflecting on their experience in last year’s conference, the partners are optimistic in continuing their project’s efforts after receiving support and praise from their professors and peers at SSU.
“Showing everyone the hard work that my partner and I have put forth in our research made presenting it a rewarding experience,” said Oehlers. “It was nice hearing other professors and students say that what we are doing is exciting.”
Oehlers and Young encourage other SSU students to participate and present their projects in this year’s COS. Young specifically offers helpful advice when it comes to students’ preparing their research efforts.
“When starting your project, keep good records to help with compiling the presentation,” she said. “Also, have fun with it! Some parts of your research may seem grueling and tiresome, but it is all worth it in the end.”
SSU’s COS conference brings together undergraduate and graduate programs from different colleges across campus to deliver academic presentations showcasing their personal academic research. Work presented at the conference relates to student’s research in their field, creative work in visual and performing arts, community service, and study abroad. This year’s COS conference will be held the week of Apr. 4 in a hybrid format.
To learn more about the upcoming Shawnee State University Celebration of Scholarship Conference, visit shawnee.edu/cos.