Nearly 200 Bemidji State University students will be sharing the results of their undergraduate research on topics ranging from a survey of winter scavengers in the Hobson Forest to an archaeological perspective on the tale of Beowulf during the university’s 15th annual Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference.

The conference will be held on April 9. The day’s activities begin with a continental breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by the event’s keynote presentation from BSU alum and Antarctic research scientist Dr. James Karner at 8:30 a.m. Student presentations begin at 10:30 a.m. at various rooms on campus.

BSU’s Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference is open to the public at no charge.

Keynote speaker: Dr. James Karner
This year’s conference keynote speaker is Bemidji State alum Dr. James Karner.

The University Heights, Ohio native, now a senior research scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has authored numerous scientific papers and is the second science lead for the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) program. Each November, Karner and a team of scientists travels through New Zealand, trains at McMurdo Station, the largest U.S. base in Antarctica, and embarks by small plane to remote ice sheets where, weather permitting, they spend 45 days searching for meteorites. The samples they collect are curated by NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the Smithsonian Institution as part of the U.S. Antarctic Meteorite Collection, and are made available for research and public education around the world.

Likely the first Beaver to blog from Antarctica, Karner developed an interest in planetary geology while studying at BSU. After graduating as the Student of the Year in 1994, he went on to study planetary mineralogy at the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico, where he earned his master’s and doctorate degrees. Karner also was a member of the BSU men’s hockey team from 1990-1994 and earned Academic All-America honors in 1994.

“The Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference represents what higher education is all about,” said Dr. Martin Tadlock, BSU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Students and faculty collaborating on the creation of knowledge is the core of learning, and we highly value that here at BSU. The percentage of our students and faculty who are contributing in the area of scholarship and research is impressive, and this conference is our opportunity to share this outstanding work with the community.”

Conference Schedule
Following Karner’s address, student presentations and performances will be held from 10:30-11:50 a.m. and 1-2:20 p.m. in Hagg-Sauer Hall, the Crying Wolf Room and the Terrace Lounge in the upper Hobson Memorial Union. Each session will feature blocks of three 20-minute presentations with short breaks in between.

Looking back at 2013 Student Scholarship & Creative Achievement Conference
• Video feature
• Photo gallery

These sessions will feature the work of more than 120 students in nearly 60 presentations on a vast array of topics, including the use of BSU’s Green Fee for transportation projects; an examination of the social, economic and health-related issues surrounding three communities in rural Nicaragua; conspicuous consumption of technology by 21st-century college students; and how the 1973 War Powers Act is relevant in the current war on terror.

Session schedules will be available on the door of each presentation room in Hagg-Sauer Hall. A complete schedule will be available online prior to the conference.

Poster sessions, which give students the opportunity to explain their work in a display setting will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Students will be at their posters from 11:55 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. More than 40 poster presentations will represent the work of nearly 90 students on a diversity of topics including an analysis of crime in Minnesota’s counties between 1990 and 2010; NHL players and their home countries; seasonal dietary changes of yellow perch; and the impact of training on the reduction of medication errors among nursing students.

The day’s activities also include an invitation-only presentation, “Keys to Success for Sophomore Students” beginning at 11:30 a.m. Sophomores will receive a token symbolizing academic achievements and continued success at BSU, and is intended to honor student persistence and support a continued move toward graduation.

Contacts
• Office of Academic Affairs; (218) 755-2015
• Troy Gilbertson, professor of criminal justice, conference coordinator; (218) 755-2819

Links
• BSU Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference website

• Case Western Reserve University
• Antarctic Search for Meteorites program
• McMurdo Station
• Johnson Space Center
• Smithsonian Institution
• U.S. Antarctic Meteorite Collection
• Institute of Meteorics at the University of New Mexico