April 28, 2025
Students from Pearl River Community College recently participated in the Spring 2025 Dr. William Lewis Honors Institute Undergraduate Research Expo hosted at the Forrest County Campus.
Each spring semester, the Honors Institute Research Expo makes it possible for freshmen students to present the very beginning of an idea to research that over the next year will evolve into something worthwhile.
“The spring Symposium allows our students to present their preliminary research on a topic of special interest to them,” said Dr. Ryan Ruckel, Dean, of the Dr. William Lewis Honors Institute.
“We provide a friendly, encouraging environment that includes faculty, staff, and other students so that the presenters have a wide range of questions and suggestions to help them further develop their area of interest. Freshmen also have the prospect of enlisting the support of a Faculty Mentor to guide them in the coming year.”
Students gave oral and postal presentations in front of faculty and students covering a variety of topics.
Oral presentations included:
Freshman JenniLyn Overstreet of Hattiesburg: What is the Effect of Childhood Trauma on Long-Term Mental Health?
Freshman Emily Carroll of Carriere: How is Education Impacted by Artificial Intelligence?
Freshman Melany Carrasco of Pascagoula: How Can the Fitness Culture Shift from Prioritizing Aesthetics to Focusing on Overall Health and Well-being?
Freshman Kierstin Polk of Hattiesburg: Why Aren’t there More Black Women Working as Physicians?
Overstreet and Polk are students at the Forrest County Campus. Carroll and Carrasco are students at the Poplarville campus.
Poster Concept proposals (e-version) included:
Sophomore Makayla Herberger of Purvis: Emerging Themes in Free Clinics: An Inductive Exploration of Care, Cost and Community.
Sophomore Madiha Karim of Purvis: Role of Architecture in Preserving Culture.
Sophomore Kyrstin Korbe of Hattiesburg: How Can Putting one Foot in Front of the Other Change Your Brain.
Freshman Diego Sosa of Hattiesburg: The Racial Evolution of American Incarceration and its Global Influence.
“Freshmen students will have the opportunity to refine their work and present at the Fall Symposium, hosted by USM or William Carey, where they are also heavily recruited, and then on to the Mississippi Honors Conference, where we have been very competitive and have had winners each year,” said Dr. Ruckel.
He also gave special thanks to Honors Faculty mentor Mary Ann Stewart.
Said Dr. Ruckel, “We are very proud of the turnout and engagement and want to thank everyone for their support.”
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Article and photography by Chuck Abadie.
