Showcasing current scientific research spread across all Rowan campuses as Rowan University held its annual Rowan Research Day. The School of Graduate Studies’ first graduate student and postdoctoral scholar poster session inside the Eynon Ballroom of the Student Chamberlain Center on March 26. 

The idea for the university-wide poster symposium was created by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Tabbetha Dobbins, and the Vice President for Research, Mei Wei. 

Organizing committee planners including an Ed.D. student for Rowan’s Graduate School Christina Newlands based the theme on sustainability. The team intended to echo the message of an environmentally friendly atmosphere by providing natural wooden plates and silverware for meals. 

“The theme of sustainability..with the food, the snacks, our guest speaker is talking about sustainability,” said Newlands. “Throughout this whole presentation, it was really fun to work with my fellow colleagues to incorporate that in every step of the day.” 

The event began at noon, as attendees were welcomed by Dobbins who congratulated Rowan graduate students who received three awards for various achievements. 

The 2023 Master’s Award winner was announced as Rowan student Anahita Kakhani with an M.S. in civil & environmental engineering. Rowan student Susanth Revelli who has a Ph.D. in civil & environmental engineering received the Doctoral Award and student Deep Patel with a Ph.D. in civil & environmental engineering won the People’s Choice Award. 

“I think this whole event is very beneficial for everybody being able to talk to all of these postgraduates, master students, PC students, it’s really nice to be able to do that because you can get those insights into those programs if you want to go into them,” said Bradley Gathers, senior computer science major. “If you want to see those different research areas it’s beneficial to go out and talk to them in person instead of maybe viewing their research online or their paper.” 

Following the award presentation, guest speaker Senior Environmental Justice Consultant for Worley Consulting, Chris Whitehead gave a keynote address titled “Decarbonizing Sustainability: Where Collaboration and Innovation Intersect.” The speech intended to motivate attendees to work together to take on the issues they research. 

“If there are impacts that we are trying to make in this world in environmental justice…or even development, and climate change, we are better off talking about these things early and being well into having a date of thought around those topics,” said Whitehead. “It’s only by challenging yourself and being willing to be proven wrong occasionally, but being willing to test what your preconceived notions of various things are that you are going to ever actually learn anything and that we are ever going to make any progress.” 

Scientific research being conducted across all Rowan campuses including the main Glassboro campus, Rowan SOM, and Cooper Medical School was presented during the poster session. Undergraduates, doctoral graduates, and postgraduates collaborated to present nearly 100 posters showcasing their current studies. Attendees had the opportunity to find collaborators and engage with researchers. 

“We learned from one of the poster contributors, Rachel, that she is working on improving maternal-fetal medicine and just with preeclampsia,” said Newlands. “That’s what she’s presenting in there, and she was talking to us about it and we were asking so many questions. We didn’t know that it was a field that isn’t really research-heavy, and yet it is such a prominent medical issue for females in this country.” 

Other presenters including Noah Wenger who received his master’s at Rowan in biomedical science showcased his team’s behavioral neuroscience research lab. The group has been studying the role of acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter in the anterior insula deep inside of the brain. The team’s poster displayed how acetylcholine serves as a hub for signals coming from across brain regions. 

“I’m really excited, personally this is my first time presenting in over four years. I haven’t presented since I was an undergrad. It’s really refreshing to be back presenting,” said Wenger. 

The event ended with the poster prize presentation where the Doctoral Candidate of Mechanical Engineering from Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering, Kazi Zahir Uddin, received the Award for Excellence in Graduate Research. Fourteen Rowan colleges were featured including students from the College of Education, Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences, and College of Sciences & Mathematics who were recognized for their studies.

“I’m here to support them and look at their stuff, talk with them, and congratulate them. On Research Day, you get to present your stuff to a bunch of cool people. That’s mainly why I’m here, to visit and see what everyone’s got,” said Gathers. 

The Office of Research Development at Rowan will continue to host Rowan Research Days annually. The College of Science & Mathematics (CSM) and School of Earth & Environment will hold the next Student Research Day on April 23 inside the Eynon Ballroom. 

Rowan-Virtua will host their Research Day on May 2. The events plan to encourage all students in each college to explore and discuss how to face challenges by incorporating research-based ideas and findings.

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