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Graduate Research Showcase Will Give Thousands in Top Awards

Join Boise State for its third annual Graduate Student Showcase on April 10 in the Jordan Ballroom of the Student Union Building. Poster presentation sessions will be held from 9 a.m.-noon followed by a performing arts session from noon-1 p.m. The showcase encapsulates the breadth and inspiring creativity of the university’s graduate student’s research and will feature 195 posters and art presentations.  

Eighty-three faculty judges will rank posters on purpose, design, impact and overall impressions, while arts graduate students will be judged on their originality, creativity, technical execution and artistic merit. Presentations will include music performances, creative writing readings art displays and more. More than $17,000 will be awarded to participants.

Samples of some of the research being presented at the showcase are:

  • Jenn Butt, biology master’s student, will be presenting research on the impact of perennial grass biodiversity and nitrogen fertilizer on the storage of carbon in the soils in biofuel cropping systems. “We are trying to understand ecosystem functioning in these systems as governments work to remove the use of fossil fuels from our energy budget,” said Butt.
  • Aaron Marshall, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Geosciences, will be sharing research conducted on the magma of a particular volcano’s unusually explosive eruption. His project is titled, “Unraveling the Causes of Mafic Explosive Volcanism at Llaima Volcano, Southern Chile.”

Awards and sponsors include:

  • The Office of the President will present the Presidential Scholars, Presidential Performing and Visual Arts award.
  • The Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management will present Student Success, Access, Retention and Wellness awards.
  • Office of Information Technology will present the CyberSecurity, and Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and the Customer Experience awards.
  • Center for Global Education will present the Global Impact award.
  • STEM and Diversity Initiatives will present the Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity award.
  • Energy Efficiency Research Institute will present the Sustainable Energy award.

There will be additional departmental and college awards. The Graduate Student Showcase is free and open to the public.