On April 22, 2009 five students along with the Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, Kathryn Lomax, participated in the 6th Annual Posters in the Rotunda in the state capitol in Madison, WI. Barbara Daus, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, Kim Schmelz, Alumni Director, and Research Advisors, Drs. Joan Riedle and Michael Ruane, attended in support of the excellent research being featured by the following UWP students: Kelly Bratkowski- Psychology, Brittani Leibfried & Carsten Carlsen- Psychology, Jennifer Kopiske- Chemistry & Engineering Physics, and Vanessa Glatt- Psychology. Kevin Opgenorth, UWP student senator and student representative on the Board of Regents also attended.
This event showcased the work of 100 student participants along with their faculty advisors from the University of Wisconsin System. They shared their work with System administrators, university faculty and administrators, legislators and members of the public. The students were from all 26 UW System campuses. This year, Senator Dan Kapanke (R-LaCrosse) and Representative Jennifer Shilling (D-LaCrosse) showed their support by hosting the visit in the Rotunda. This year’s speakers included Kevin P. Reilly, President, University of Wisconsin System, Mathew Groshek, Student, UW-LaCrosse, and Tim Murray, Graduate ’02, UW-Platteville. President Reilly discussed the value of undergraduate research to UW System and the future economy of Wisconsin. UW-La Crosse student, Matthew Groshek, Biology Major, spoke of his research investigating the competition between Reed Canary grass and Silver Maple seedlings. Tim Murray, an electrical engineer, shared his work on UW-Madison’s IceCube project, an international project to construct a massive telescope at the South Pole. The project will look for extremely high energy neutrinos that come from supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts, black holes, and other extra-galactic events.