URCA 2020 Zooming Live on 4/15

Ashland University’s College of Arts and Sciences is going virtual for the eleventh annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Symposium which will feature 41 presentations and exhibitions given by 75 students and alumni representing 27 programs in the College of Arts and Sciences. The April 15 symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. and is free and open to the public through various Zoom meetings which are listed on the schedule at ashlandurca.blogspot.com.

According to Dr. Christopher Swanson, URCA Symposium Committee Chair, "Based on the positive response to alumni presentations in the past couple of years, this year will again offer research presentations by two arts and sciences alumni, Paul Dyczkowski and Dr. David Werner. Their presentations will be featured at the first Oral Session from 9 - 10:15 a.m."

Paul Dyczkowski (2013) was raised by an artist who is also a factory worker which guided him into seeing the art behind the machine, and into sensing a grander architecture and architect behind the daily rumblings of our lives. After studying English, Creative Writing, and philosophy at AU, art and especially reading and writing remain critical to both his day-to-day life and career. Now employed by a technology company that prides itself on problem-solving and for supplying makers, thinkers, and repairers with whatever type of hardware they need, poetry remains integral to who he is. Written and verbal communication is imperative where he works, and quickly identifying what type of problem is at hand and fixing it as smoothly as possible is of paramount importance. Having studied what may get hidden or lost in words helps his career, and also drives his personal life. In his presentation "Speak to the Rushing Water: I Am - Reflections in Poems," Paul will share a few poems that revolve around his thankfulness and awe in looking at this world that we can constantly change with all the tools at our disposal, tools both physical and otherwise.

Dr. David Werner (2001) graduated with a double major in biology and chemistry. Following graduation, he continued onto his graduate studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine specializing in neuropharmacology, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is currently a tenured associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at Binghamton University, State University of New York, where his lab focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic developmental factors related to substance use disorders, primarily alcohol. His presentation "The (Not So) Good, Bad, and Ugly: Adolescent Alcohol Exposure" will give an overview of our current state of understanding of adolescent alcohol use vulnerability, its relationship to alcohol use disorder later in life, and novel translationally relevant preclinical interventional conduits.

A complete presentation schedule with online links and abstract booklet can be accessed at ashlandurca.blogspot.com.