McNair Students Present at 17th Annual Texas McNair Conference
Nine McNair Scholars (who are also in the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Pre-Graduate Internship program) presented at the 17th Annual Texas McNair Conference held at University of North Texas – Denton February 20-22. Twenty-two McNair Scholars from UT Austin attended the conference.
Masi Deidehban, Ignacio Cruz, Fernanda Herrera, Taylor Carr and Jonathan Cortez were among the students who presented at the conference.
The following students presented their research at the conference:
- Taylor Carr, African and African Diaspora Studies Department – Policing Blackness: Recurring State Violence & Tense Police-Community Relations in Austin,TX 1995-2013
- Monica Cisneros, Department of Cell Biology – Identification of Genes Enriched in TAAR-Expressing Olfactory Sensory Neurons by In Situ Hybridization
- Jonathan Cortez, Department of Curriculum and Instruction – Increasing Student Choice: Implementation of Texas House Bill 5 in Two South Texas High Schools
- Ignacio Cruz, College of Communication – Continuing Conversations Beyond the Meeting: Combinational ITC Use & Social Capital
- Masi Deidehba, Department of Education – Capital and Community Wealth Used by Students of Color in STEM Courses Led by International Faculty Members
- Collin Gonzalez, Department of Aerospace Engineering – Design and Integration of an Amateur Band Software-Defined Ground Station for Cubesat Communication
- Maria Fernanda Herrera, Department of Communications – Immersive Online Environments, Motivation and Social capital: Are MMOs Detrimental to Social Capital?
- Mehr Mumtaz, Department of Rhetoric and Writing – Affective Rhetoricity of Humanitarian Aid Narratives
- Jeremy Simmons, Department of Psychology – Relationship of Extent of Participation in Competitive Football and Prejudicial Attitudes Toward Gay Men in College-Aged Males
with his post
About half of the McNair Scholars group who attended the conference along with Dr. Charles Lu (far left) who teaches the McNair research class.
Students remain in the McNair program for two years. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research with graduate student mentors and faculty as well have the chance to attend academic conferences. Students meet regularly with mentors and with the Longhorn Center for Academic Excellence staff members who serve as counselors: Drs. Darren Kelly, Charles Lu, Rodolfo Jimenz and James Brown. During the spring semester the year that students enter the program, they are enrolled in UGS312, a research methods course taught by Drs. Lu and Jimenez. During that course students develop research proposals for the summer research institute. Students receive a research stipend and receive GRE prep courses plus the opportunity to take the GRE at no cost as well as funding for travel to academic conferences and visits to graduate schools.
