Undergraduate Researchers Cover Health, Arts, Microbiology and More

Heading to the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference this weekend in Daytona are 19 students representing the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Natural and Health Sciences and the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education.

The students have research as diverse as the colleges — from “Isolation of Bacteria that are Antibiotic Producers from Different Soil Environments” to “Risky Drinking and Eating Behaviors Among College Students.” The process of sharing their research refines communication skills and provides further insight into the project. There will also be 25 different graduate programs from around the country recruiting at the conference.

Cara Hazel ’17 will present on creativity and health through her work with Professor Susan Taylor Lennon and the Spartans 2020 initiative. Hazel has been creating a database of research on incorporating creativity into the life of students — either in the classroom or in extracurricular activities.

Hazel, who volunteers every Saturday at Pyramid teaching dance to mixed-ability children, said she uses her research directly in the UT organization, Healing Arts.

“When an expressive, healthy atmosphere is created, the individuals living in it have the opportunities to develop a stronger, more durable well-being, because not only are the benefits physical but also psychological,” said Hazel, a dance and psychology double major from Holmdel, NJ. “Research shows that a person develops a more positive self-image, a higher level of well-being and an overall enhanced satisfaction with their lives when creativity is somehow integrated into their daily life.”

This will be Erica Fremming’s first research presentation. A fine arts major with a sculpture concentration, she will be presenting on the use of projection mapping with sculpture, an idea born out of personal experience and one of her installation and digital arts courses. Her presentation is called, “Memory.” Watch a video from her MemoryTunnel 2014 presentation.

When Fremming was 15, her father suffered a brain injury that left him with memory loss, such as her age, what college she attends or her major. The experience has influenced her work, which portrays a fragmented reality to show the disconnect memory loss causes.

Through her four years, Fremming ’15 tried to distance her artwork from her personal experiences, which she said resulted “in really bad art.”

“I have to make it personal,” she learned. “It’s given me a way to communicate, because it’s really hard to talk about.”

Fremming ’15 created a wire sculpture formed into a tunnel where she projects 20 different home video clips from her family’s archive.

“I presented it at the BFA exit show (in December), and it was really cool because people got it instantly, without knowing me or my body of work,” said Fremming. “I wanted to tell the story of what happened and how memory affects identity without me having to explain it. Project mapping allows you to become the narrator.”

Fremming, of Scottsboro, AL, likes reacting to space in the way installation art requires. It’s a great fit for sculpture. “Sculpture interrupts your space, your life, and you have to allow it to exist with you.”

Fremming came to UT to study art therapy. She had never taken an art class until college, and after one sculpture class with Associate Professor Kendra Frorup, she was hooked.

“I love the hands-on experience I’m getting. I’ve learned that what I really love is teaching,” said Fremming, who has been accepted into three Master of Fine Arts programs. “I was encouraged by my professors and the close-knit art community.”

Fremming and Hazel’s experiences are examples of the impact experiential education has on students — from filtering through career choices to giving voice to personal struggles.

“I think anytime a student spends significant time and effort in pursuit of a question or creative endeavor, it is a powerful learning experience to speak to others about what they have discovered,” said Eric Freundt, assistant professor of biology. “Research is so much more than what happens in the sciences. It is really about applying the skills of a discipline to create something new, whether that be an art piece, dance or a new piece of knowledge.”

Have a story idea? Contact Jamie Pilarczyk, Web Writer
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