UCF Undergraduate Researchers Go International

Hollis Dahn, a biology major, at the Great Wall of China during her 2014 summer research program

More than 30 UCF student researchers will participate in research programs around the world this summer. The students will receive stipends, lodging and often travel funding as compensation for their work in the research programs.

“Being an undergraduate researcher has opened doors for me that I did not even know existed,” said Samantha Mensah, a chemistry major who will conduct research at the Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie in Paris as part of a National Science Foundation-Research Experience for Undergraduates program. “I never expected to be able to participate in research outside of the United States during my undergraduate experience.”

Mensah’s three-month program will focus on synthesizing and characterizing new semiconductor materials.

Hollis Dahn, a biology major, will study ecology and evolution in Nanjing, China, for the second time as she continues her research and serves as a guide in the NSF-REU China program. The program pairs undergraduate students with faculty mentors, who then conduct research projects at Nanjing Forestry University.

“In 2014 I traveled to remote mountainous areas to survey for frogs in the family Megophryidae (Asian Horned Frogs) as their diversity was thought to be underestimated in China,” Dahn said. “We encountered several known frog species and one population we couldn’t identify as a known species.”

Her return to China will be to collect more samples and conduct genetic analyses of the previously undocumented species.

Many of these students are part of structured programs at UCF including, but not limited to, McNair Scholars, Honors in the Major, and Research & Mentoring Program. The Office of Undergraduate Research Facebook page will highlight these outstanding undergraduate researchers and their experiences in weekly posts about summer research.

For a full list of students visit the original article here.