Students Share Independent Research at Annual Science Symposium

 

Presentations from eight students focused on topics including microbial diversity, carbon sequestration, primate numerical sequencing, and patterns of conformity and dissent among other research.

 

For the students who chose to participate in Millbrook’s rigorous Independent Research course, the symposium offered the opportunity to share their findings and answer questions about their research.

 

Students began working on their research at the beginning of the academic year, and used a variety of our campus resources to collect their data. Arthur Meadowcroft ’16, for example, turned the dining hall into his own personal lab to determine the ideal breakfast for brain performance.

He investigated the correlation between a high-fat, low-carb breakfast and mental performance by having his peers take tests after eating breakfasts that he provided. He studied his 12 subjects’ ability to do both mathematics and memory problems. He proctored three tests weekly for eight weeks in order to collect his data.

 

“I had a lot of independence and ownership over my work,” says Meadowcroft ’16 about his research process. “I never thought I could do something like this until I took this class.”

 

Students like Ariana Montenegro ’16 found the symposium to be rewarding in itself, “I felt knowledgeable on my research topic beyond the research I conducted, and it was rewarding to answer questions,” she said.

 

Congratulations to the following students on the completion and presentation of their research:

 

 

Learn more about our Independent Research course, Student Research Symposium, and student research on our website. You can also view photos in our online photo gallery.