Ready, Set, 研究

Collage of McNair scholars portraits and photos from their summer research

Ready, Set, 研究

McNair Scholars contribute to new and innovative summer research

Thursday, August 12, 2021

赌博娱乐平台网址大全致力于学生成功和本科生研究机会的主要内容之一是麦克奈尔学者项目. 的 McNair Scholars program helps first-generation, 低收入, 而代表性不足的大学生通过在他们感兴趣的领域进行研究来支持他们，从而走得更远.

学生在教授的帮助下探索他们的学术好奇心，因为他们培养了帮助他们在博士研究中取得成功的技能. McNair Scholars operate on three pillars: undergraduate research, academic enrichment, and graduate school preparedness. 麦克奈尔项目的核心是一项有偿的暑期研究经验，允许学者与教师导师进行一对一的研究.

暑期研究经验包括暑期学期10周的独立研究经验，并获得3美元,300 stipend to enable students’ full focus on their research and enrichment, as well as free housing on-campus for the duration of the summer program and a $1,000 allowance to support living expenses.

Meet the McNair Scholars that contributed to Summer 2021 research projects:

Araceli Gonzalez ’23

Sociology major; 教育 minor
休斯顿,德克萨斯州

This summer, Gonzalez joined 教育教授小恩里克Alemán., Ph.D., on an ongoing project regarding the 教育 pipeline of Latina/o students in Texas, 对参与Alemán研究的第一代拉丁裔/非拉丁裔学生的访谈进行初步分析.

“As a first-generation Latina student, I reflect about my personal experiences with the 教育al system and pipeline,冈萨雷斯说。. "My interest has been to learn and inform myself, 作为一个拉丁人, of the issues that further marginalize my community."

与Alemán一起做研究让她有机会获得知识，并引起人们对拉丁裔/非拉丁裔学生面临的困境的关注.

“这项研究激励我继续成长为一名学者，并准备自己为改善下一代拉丁裔/o领导人的教育体系做出贡献,冈萨雷斯说。. "Dr. Alemán has been a great mentor in helping me ease into the world of academia. 还有麦克奈尔学者项目给了我做研究的机会，让我更好地为研究生院做准备."

Benjamin Falcon sits at a table with his laptop, reading through a book

Ben Falcón ' 22

Political science and history double major; Chinese minor
Corpus Christi, Texas

This summer, Falcón has been working alongside 教授 Scott Wolford, Ph.D., from the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. 猎鹰的项目, "Peace and Great Power Conflict in Asia, 1816-2010,寻求通过探索双方内部(前联盟伙伴之间)以及交战双方和第三方国家之间达成的协议来填补和平解决方案的空白, such as the great powers, interested in the war's outcome.

Peace settlements define the international system’s structure, allocating political goods like territory, 财富, 人口, and authority among states. Falcón调查并收集了1816年至2010年间东亚和东南亚战争和平解决方案的所有缔约国的数据. 解释为什么一些定居点能维持下去，而另一些则会崩溃，重新陷入战争，可以让我们深入了解战争的原因, the effectiveness of proposed policy interventions, and the stability of local, 区域, 全球秩序.

“我的工作表明，内部和第三方讨价还价相当普遍，是和平解决方案破裂的一个未被充分认识的原因,Falcón说. “我对政策和政治科学奖学金的交叉点着迷，在这个项目之后. I will be applying to Ph.D. and master's programs in political science and international policy. 我的目标是扩大我在国际安全方面的知识，并为终身从事公共服务做好准备.”

Collage of Daniela Gonzalez in front in lab with Dr. Kah-Chung Leong and Daniela Gonzalez in front of her lab equipment

Daniela Gonzalez ’23

Neuroscience and 心理学 double major
墨西哥城，墨西哥

“I’ve always known that I wanted to work in a lab,” Gonzalez says. “麦克奈尔学者项目通过提供这个夏天做研究的机会，帮助我把我的愿望变成了现实. 在上个学期和暑假沉浸在行为神经科学的世界里之后, I am more sure than ever that I want to go to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. 在神经科学.”

As part of her research with 心理学教授 Kah-Chung Leong, Ph.D., 冈萨雷斯进行了一项实验，通过给老鼠注射酒精来观察饮酒如何影响空间记忆. 的y then used a behavioral model of memory that requires the rat to solve a maze. 到目前为止，他们已经发现酒精会损害海马体依赖性空间记忆的提取.

“Alcohol abuse is a prevalent issue in our society, 我们预期的结果将强调酒精对不同哺乳动物记忆系统的有害影响,冈萨雷斯说。. “特别, 我们的项目主要关注记忆恢复的机制，以及饮酒如何影响习得性和习惯性行为."

Collage of two portraits of Elly Gonzalez

艾丽·冈萨雷斯，23岁

数学专业
得克萨斯州奥斯汀市

艾丽·冈萨雷斯和数学教授 E. Cabral Balreira, Ph.D., 利用数学和计算机科学进行研究，根据人口密度与少数/多数人口(非西班牙裔和西班牙裔居民)一致，制作奥斯汀市的模型，并运行定义城市内不同地区的代码.

“来自奥斯汀让我看到了家乡的许多种族和经济差异,冈萨雷斯说, 这导致了他对政治学的交叉研究兴趣，并使用数学分析和应用. I had heard about Dr. Balreira用数学和计算机科学作为研究工具来研究选区划分不公，他想做一个对我来说更私人的项目.”

Gonzales和Balreira研究了I-35高速公路的东西两侧是如何将同一个城市的两个截然不同的侧面分隔开来的, 20世纪初，种族隔离制度被裁定违宪后，美国长期以来一直将少数民族推向东部.

“Since I was in high school, I wanted to study math for this exact reason, 用我擅长的东西来解决问题，让人们意识到社会和政治的不公正,冈萨雷斯说. “这项研究无疑加强了我利用学术作为追求正义的手段的愿望, as well as helped me find an interest in what I would like to study, post-grad.”

Collage of a portrait of Victoria Briggs, Victoria Briggs doing field work out on properties beyond 圣安东尼奥, and two photos of bugs she found out in the fields

Victoria Briggs ’22

Chemistry major; Spanish minor
鹿园，德克萨斯州

“我第一次加入麦克奈尔学者项目是在我大一的时候，因为我对读研很感兴趣,布里格斯说. “A lot of the work we do is based on how determined you are to learn the material. I obtained a drive to go out on my own and search for answers to my own questions.”

For Brigg’s research, she went out to different properties with 生物学教授凯利·莱昂斯博士.D., and collected several samples of native Texas grasses and one invasive species. In Texas grasslands, there is an increasing amount of KR, an invasive grass Briggs studied this summer. KR also seems to do well in disturbed lands, 布里格斯正在研究真菌如何调解本地物种和入侵物种之间的竞争.

“我认为做研究非常令人大开眼界，因为在科学领域，人们通常认为这是事实，我们知道一切, which is far from reality. 还有很多东西我们不了解，这就是研究的美妙之处. 你可以利用先前的知识，提出问题，并尝试回答这些问题，”布里格斯说.

After graduation, Briggs plans to attend medical school.