TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

Eastern Washington University

EWU Summer Research Internship

EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson Completes Summer Research Internship

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EWU McNair Scholar Christina Hudson worked with Dr. Okera Nsombi on her Summer Research Internship project The Characterization of African Religions. Christina’s aim was to investigate how Western academia’s proximity to Eurocentric hegemonies influences religious studies. Her literature review went on to survey the work of scholars who have engaged in the examination of Eurocentrism as it pertains to the study of African religions.

Christina analyzed 129 articles taken from 10 of the top 20 peer reviewed religious studies journals from 2020. She first inspected the articles for instances of the terms Africa, African, African-American, Hoodoo, and Conjure. She found that Indigenous African and African diaspora religious traditions, such as Hoodoo and Conjure, were not mentioned in any of the 129 articles. 

Before beginning the study, Christina proposed:

Observing these gaps [in inclusion of Indigenous African and African diaspora religious traditions in peer reviewed religious studies journals] would highlight the ways in which the current survey of world religions within higher education can be expanded. Doing so may allow for a more accurate depiction of the contributions of African cultures to world religions. This will also help to reshape education in such a way that better tells the story of human development, cultural exchange, and interconnectedness.

Christina is interested in decolonizing religious studies with a focus on ancient African religious texts, with the intention of shifting the way we view the contributions of people of color to the development of civilization throughout history. 

Christina will be presenting at the 43rd Annual Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in February 2022. She is a regular contributor to BlackPast.org and the recipient of the Robert and Joan Morgan Nelson Scholarship, which benefits a History or Humanities Major at EWU. Christina is currently applying to graduate programs at several schools. We have no doubts that Christina will succeed in graduate school and generate essential academic work that expands the field of religious studies. 

EWU McNair Scholar Darlynne Khayesi Completes Summer Research Internship

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EWU McNair Scholar Darlynne Khayesi worked with Dr. Jillene Seiver in her Summer Research Internship on Mental Health Challenges in College Students which focused on the experiences of immigrant students. 

Darlynne’s study aimed to test the hypothesis that there is a higher prevalence of mental health issues among immigrant college-attending students compared to their native counterparts. In a multicultural context, all immigrants, regardless of their paperwork status, face psychological stress—or acculturative stress—when confronted with both risks and opportunities with regards to their cultural and individual identities upon arrival in a new nation.

She recruited survey participants through a random selection of college students who volunteered to participate in the online survey. The human volunteers’ identities could not be traced back to them.

The survey used questions based on The Perceived Stress Scale, Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Trauma History Questionnaire, in randomized order. These were followed by demographic questions, such as age, sex, marital status, family or household income level, parents’ highest level of education, participant highest level of education, employment status, and immigrant status. For immigrants, further questions involve family situation (e.g. whether moved to US with family) and living situation (e.g. with family, roommates, etc.). Following data collection, groups will be investigated and compared based if they are immigrants or native born, with data reflecting the sample population. 

Darlynne is a senior at EWU majoring in Applied Developmental Psychology and minoring in Communications Studies as well as Gender and Women’s Studies. She is currently finalizing the analysis and related research paper for this research project while applying to graduate programs at several schools. We look forward to seeing what Darlynne does next!

 

EWU McNair Scholar Ian Campuzano Completes Summer Research Internship

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Ian Campuzano EWU McNair 2020/2021 Summer Research Internship Returning Back to Campus After COVID-19: Neuroticism and it’s Correlated Attitudes Mentor: Dr. Jillene SeiverEWU McNair Scholar Ian Campuzano worked with Dr. Jillene Seiver in his Summer Research Internship on Returning Back to Campus After COVID-19: Neuroticism and it’s Correlated Attitudes. 

Ian first reviewed literature with an annotated bibliography of academic articles related to his research study. He created a survey and gathered data via SurveyMonkey. The online survey had a total of 62 questions with 3 parts. The first part included pictures with masked, unmasked, social distanced and crowded scenarios. The second part was a questionnaire about views on the COVID vaccine. The third part inventoried the Big Five personality traits to discover whether patterns of neuroticism were generated by the answers to the first two sections. 

Ian’s goal was to find correlations between these data points with regard to personality traits and attitudes towards mask and vaccine mandates on university campuses as in-person classes resumed.

Data collection for Ian’s project continued into the fall, and he is currently finalizing the analysis and related research paper while applying to graduate programs at several schools. We look forward to seeing what Ian does next!

EWU McNair Scholar Seth McCullough Completes Summer Research Internship

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Seth McCullough Completes Summer Research InternshipEWU McNair Scholar Seth McCullough worked with Dr. Justin Bastow in his Summer Research Internship focused on The Effect of Biochar Soil Amendments on Soil Food Webs in Palouse Prairie Restoration. The internship prepared him for graduate school by providing field researcher experience, wet lab skills, and communication skills, all of which are necessary for success at the graduate level. He learned how to develop his own research project, generating and addressing specific questions and hypotheses. Seth hopes that the results from his research will help with future decision-making surrounding EWU’s prairie restoration project. His results can also be used as baseline data to track the efficacy and progress of EWU’s restoration project in the long-term.

Seth experienced a unique challenge due to COVID-19 protocols: all of the doors were locked to the science buildings, with no professors on campus. To navigate these challenges, Seth learned to pre-plan extensively before sampling events, making sure he had access to all of the equipment he would need. In doing so, he developed strong communication and networking skills by contacting the many people required to gain access to the proper rooms in the science building.

Putting his research experience and findings in his own words, Seth says:

I learned the importance of understanding community composition when working on restoration projects. I learned about how below ground food-web composition can influence above ground productivity. Regarding my specific research, I found that biochar soil amendments significantly increased nematode abundance, soil moisture retention, and pH within the soil at EWU’s prairie restoration project. Soil moisture retention and pH levels increased to conditions similar to what is found at local prairie remnants. Nematode functional group composition did not shift to being similar to the functional group composition that is found at local prairie remnants, suggesting that community structure changes on a large time scale compared to soil abiotic properties.

His next step is completing the manuscript for his research to submit for publication. Since working on soil food-webs he has become more concerned with how below ground and above ground food-webs influence one another and how they are connected. This research also sparked his interest in studying how top-down control can influence the community composition within an ecosystem.

To undergraduate researchers in similar fields, Seth recommends taking advantage of all the opportunities that come your way. He offers a reminder to stay passionate about your research, and apply for any research positions or internships that you can. They are invaluable learning opportunities that give you a competitive edge in the graduate school market.

EWU McNair Scholar Lucia Roussa Completes Summer Research Internship

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Lucia Roussa completes Summer Research InternshipEWU McNair Scholar Lucia Roussa worked with Dr. Julie Keister of the University of Washington School of Oceanography on her Summer Research Internship project, Measuring from the Sky: Methods to Quantify Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia labiata) Using Aerial Photographs, in collaboration with CICOES. She contributed to research on the effect that climate change is having on jellyfish populations in the Puget Sound ecosystem. Specifically, she worked on the development of a protocol that can be followed by any researcher using image processing to collect data.

The first week of her internship, which began with remote work, included a coding bootcamp. While initially concerned about her ability to master this new skill, Lucy ultimately learned not to be afraid of something new and challenging. She came away confident that she can learn anything – a great lesson to take with her to grad school.


The last week of Lucy’s internship was in person, aboard the research vessel Rachel Carson in Seattle, which required a quarantine before sailing. For six days, Lucy and the research team conducted laboratory and field work involving Moon Jellyfish sampling.

Lucy was one of only 13 interns selected for this project. She credits her participation in the EWU McNair Scholars program for encouraging her to apply for this opportunity, and for assistance along the way with application feedback and time management support.

Lucy hopes her research and leadership in her field will come to have a global impact.

Any biological research expands our database of knowledge we have about how the world works.

Lucy encourages undergraduates interested in STEM research to remember that they are probably more qualified and competitive than they may think, and reminds them not to disqualify themselves before they have applied for an opportunity! She says that getting involved with research was a game-changer that shaped her pursuit of science. Experience in the field and in the lab helped her develop a clearer sense of what kind of work she wants to pursue as a future graduate student and beyond.

Dr. Lindsey Upton: A Thoughtful, Engaged Mentor Makes a Difference in the Lives of First Generation Scholars

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EWU McNair Faculty Mentor, Dr. Lindsey Upton, “It was a really rewarding experience to talk through scholars’ ideas and facilitate their first foray into research.” Mentees include Alexandria Coronado and Theresa Lee

EWU McNair Faculty Mentor Spotlight: Dr. Lindsey Upton

 

by Cori Jaeger, EWU McNair Program Academic Advisor

 

When I spoke with Dr. Lindsey Upton about being a McNair faculty mentor, it was no surprise to me that she’d been in touch with EWU McNair alumna Theresa Lee recently. Dr. Upton mentored Theresa for two summers as she researched Prisoner Reentry: College Perceptions of Reentry Barriers in a Northwest Community. As I worked with Theresa over the last two years it was clear that she felt supported by her mentor and saw Dr. Upton as someone she could reach out to anytime.

Dr. Upton is a wonderful McNair mentor. She is very hands on with mentees, as well as supportive, open-minded and dependable. I would have had a much harder time with my McNair research project as well as graduate admission if I didn’t have her. I am grateful to have found such an outstanding mentor and friend.”                                                   – Theresa Lee, EWU McNair Alumna

Theresa was accepted to 5 graduate programs and is currently attending the Bowling Green State University Sociology PhD Program with full funding. She relayed to Dr. Upton that grad school was hard but going well and she was deeply grateful for the preparation she had at EWU, especially through the McNair program and Dr. Upton’s mentorship. In fact, one of her professors at BGSU told her that they were impressed with her level of preparedness.

 

Dr. Upton also mentored Alexandria Coronado who was accepted to three graduate programs and is currently attending the University of Alabama’s Political Science PhD Program with full funding. Clearly Dr. Upton’s mentorship has had a powerful impact on both of these students and made a significant contribution to their competitiveness as PhD applicants. She is passionate about teaching research and service. When asked about what her experience as a mentor was like, she said,

It was a really rewarding experience to talk through scholar’s ideas once a week and facilitate their first foray into research.” - Dr. Lindsey Upton

McNair faculty mentors formally take on their mentorship in the spring supporting students as they hone in on their research topic and methodology. Then, they meet regularly with them throughout the summer as the students conduct this research and work on a high-level research paper they can submit as an example of writing for graduate school applications. The depth and rigor of this research is what helped Theresa be so well prepared.

EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee presents her research poster with Mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton at the American Society for Criminology Conference in 2019.
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee presents her research poster with Mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton at the American Society for Criminology Conference in 2019.

Dr. Upton’s favorite memory of mentoring was going to the American Society of Criminology Conference with Theresa. She remembered her own first experience at a conference and how she caught the bug for research there. It was incredibly rewarding to see her scholar have that same experience and excitement as a first-generation college student. While McNair encourages and pays for students to attend conferences, not all students and mentors take up this opportunity. Fortunately, Dr. Upton helped Theresa know about and participate in this conference.

EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee and her mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton take a walking tour of San Francisco on their trip to the American Society of Criminology Conference.
EWU McNair Scholar Theresa Lee and her mentor Dr. Lindsey Upton take a walking tour of San Francisco on their trip to the American Society of Criminology Conference.

Theresa agreed that it was momentous:

The time I spent at the American Society of Criminology (ASC) conference was incredible! I attended multiple university socials and was able to converse with professors and graduate students about life at their university and research opportunities. It was interesting and helpful for me to see how professionals in the field conduct, investigate, and present their research. All in all, this experience was life changing and unbelievably enjoyable.”                    – EWU McNair Alumna Theresa Lee

Dr. Upton recognizes that mentoring is a commitment, but she said it was a reasonable one and the benefits are high. She indicated your main role as a mentor is to facilitate the experience. You spend about one hour a week with scholars most weeks and then a few times more than that, such as to help with a particular part of data analysis that an undergrad might not know how to do yet. Further, she noted that McNair really works to prepare students for research, academic writing, and graduate level engagement and skills. Students came to her with questions and information and took an active role in their research. McNair also provides funds for students to travel to conferences and to purchase research supplies.

McNair does a really excellent job on guiding the students through research. Students would bring such amazing questions to their meetings, questions that got deeper and deeper, and this really prepares them for the research and for graduate school. It really is a great partnership between faculty and McNair. Students would constantly reflect back and what a positive experience they were having with McNair.”                                   – Dr. Lindsey Upton

McNair is grateful to Dr. Upton and all of our McNair faculty mentors. Without them, the program couldn’t run. They provide critical support and guidance for students as they grow their research skills. Moreover, it’s this research experience that allows many of our McNair Scholars to go straight from their undergraduate degree to a PhD program. In addition, McNair mentors often are able to find the perfect students for the program. As soon as I reached out to Dr. Upton about recruiting a new cohort of scholars she immediately said she had a few students she would encourage to participate as well as invited us to provide a promotional video and flyer she could share in her current online course. This kind of engagement is why the EWU McNair program remains strong regardless of the pandemic. This last year, even with scholars being 100% virtual for their McNair experience, we had 13 scholars apply to graduate school who collectively received 36 acceptances, many of which included funding.

 

This year, EWU McNair is recruiting for as many as 19 new scholars. If you are a student and you’re interested in graduate school, please complete our eligibility questionnaire or just stop in Monroe 107 and say hello! If you are faculty and would like to get involved, please nominate a student and send them our way, or email us. The success of McNair, reflected by our 41 (and growing!) scholars who’ve already attained their PhD’s, really does take a partnership between faculty, McNair, and the scholars themselves.