SMSU to hold 20th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference on Dec. 3
Published Friday, November 21, 2025
The 20th annual Undergraduate Research Conference will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 3 from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Southwest Minnesota State University. The annual conference features research projects from SMSU students representing 18 academic areas from across campus. This year’s conference has been coordinated by professors Dr. Alyssa Anderson, Associate Professor of Biology, and Dr. Mostafa Hegazy, Associate Professor of Exercise Science. The keynote speaker is Dr. Emily Deaver, founder of the Undergraduate Research Conference at SMSU and Professor Emerita of Environmental Science. She will speak on “Unlocking Opportunities for Learning and Growth.”
About the conference
The conference begins in the SMSU Conference Center Upper Level at 8:30am with student presentations. At 11:00am, Dr. David Jones, interim president at SMSU, will give a welcome followed by the keynote speaker, Dr. Emily Deaver, also in the Conference Center Upper Level.
Presentations resume at 12:30pm with the Library Research Award presented at 4:00pm. Approximately 146 students will be participating. There are 106 presentations including 16 oral presentations, one artistic/dramatic exhibition, 22 virtual talks, and 67 poster presentations.
Presentations will take place at several locations across campus. Oral presentations will be held in the Conference Center Upper Level while poster presentations will be held in the Conference Center Lower Ballroom. Oral presentations consist of PowerPoint presentations about the student's research topic, followed by a short Q&A session.
Poster presentations are created using a template and are printed in the GIS Center at SMSU. The posters are the same quality as those used at professional conferences. Virtual presentations are held via Zoom allow online students the opportunity to participate remotely in the research conference experience.
The conference features research topics from 18 different academic areas, including Accounting, Agribusiness Management, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Culinology, English, Environmental Science, Exercise Science, History, Hospitality Management, Justice Administration, Marketing, Math, Political Science, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, and Entertainment & Theatre Arts.
The Library Research Award will be presented at the closing remarks at 4:00 p.m. in the Upper Conference Center. The winner of the $250 award demonstrates high-quality use of library resources, articulates their research experience, and conducts a quality presentation. On-going support for the conference is provided by the David B. Jones Foundation.
To learn more about the Undergraduate Research Conference, presentations scheduled for this year, and for Zoom links to the virtual presentations, visit: www.SMSU.edu/go/urc
Celebrating 20 years of undergraduate research
“Given that this is a milestone year for the URC, bringing Dr. Deaver back as a keynote speaker was almost a no-brainer! Because of her dedication, vision, and passion, what started as an event for science research quickly transformed into something so much bigger and more important,” said Dr. Alyssa Anderson. “It’s become a tradition, a day that is etched into our university calendar, involving programs across the university! Having Dr. Deaver deliver the keynote this year is one small way to pay tribute to her lasting contribution to SMSU.”
Dr. Deaver founded SMSU’s Undergraduate Research Conference 20 years ago after recognizing the need for students to present research. The idea emerged from her participation in Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), which emphasized active learning and undergraduate research.
“I vividly remember thinking, if we want students to do research, they need a place to present it—so I guess I better plan a conference. It’s amazing to see how it’s grown and become a tradition at SMSU.”
Initially, the conference featured only science students, but strong interest led to expanding it campus-wide in its second year. Deaver also helped redesign her department’s curriculum to include research methods and capstone courses, ensuring students had meaningful projects to share. Over the years, the URC has grown into a signature SMSU tradition, adapting to challenges like the pandemic by adding virtual presentation options. During her time at SMSU, supervised more than 130 student projects and takes pride in seeing the conference thrive, supported by faculty, administration, and students.
“It’s really gratifying to see that what started as an idea has become a tradition. It takes faculty, administration, and students working together to make it happen—and SMSU has embraced that,” she said.
Current conference coordinators share the same passion that brought the conference to life 20 years ago.
“The conference is an invaluable opportunity for students. They commit to research projects that take months to complete, giving them hands-on experience they would not be able to gain in the traditional classroom setting,” said Dr. Mostafa Hegazy. “The conference elevates this experience…helping them build confidence, communication skills, and real-world connections. Continuing this conference ensures that future students and the community continue to benefit from these transformative learning experiences.”
“The URC is such an important event for our students and the greater campus community. It's a day to really highlight and showcase the hard work and achievements of our students and the work they have done in certain courses or working closely with faculty. SMSU's URC has developed a strong and positive reputation in our region,” said Dr. Alyssa Anderson. “Knowing I could be involved with the URC was one of the selling points for me when I was considering taking a position here; the event is one example of how much the university invests in student success.”
About the keynote speaker
Dr. Emily Deaver is Professor Emerita in Environmental Science from Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU). She has a BS in Biology from the College of William and Mary, an MS in Biological Oceanography from Old Dominion University and a PhD in Biology from the University of Mississippi. She taught for 7 years at Chowan College (now University) in North Carolina where she coordinated their Environmental Biology program. She then moved to Minnesota where she worked with her colleague Dr. Tom Dilley in the Environmental Science program at SMSU for the next 17 years. After serving as a member of the SMSU Project Kaleidoscope STEM Leadership team she was inspired to initiate a reorganization of the Environmental Science major to include a required capstone research project. With support from the Science Department, she planned and organized the first SMSU Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) in 2006 as a place for students to present their research findings. The first URC included only Science students but interest from across campus meant that the conference quickly expanded to include all interested disciplines and ballooned to hundreds of students and presentations from as many as 20 different disciplines. Over the course of her career, Dr. Deaver supervised over 130 different undergraduate research projects. She continued as the SMSU URC conference organizer and coordinator until her retirement in 2020. Recently Emily has enjoyed playing pickleball (lots and lots of pickleball), yoga, traveling, volunteer ushering at the performing arts center and participating in three book clubs.
Dr. Deaver will be sharing information about her unconventional work experiences on the way to becoming a college professor. She worked for 12 years after completing her master’s degree in Biological Oceanography before returning to school to get a PhD. She first spent about 5 years as a fish farmer and aquaculture specialist. She then worked at a variety of other jobs, from environmental monitoring, hazardous waste sampling, several years as a construction worker, a lab manager and research coordinator, culturing estuarine organisms to conducting environmental research in the Chesapeake Bay region. She will share lessons learned along the way and connect these experiences to undergraduate research and the importance of asking questions, striving to get answers, and learning about the world around us.
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