Through research and presentation, students took an extra look and found several startling results at the Research Symposium on Thursday, April 28, at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center (MAC).

Though the event was hosted on campus, it was not only for Mercyhurst students. Gannon, Edinboro, Slippery Rock, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and the University of Buffalo were represented, too.

Tyler Stauffer photo: Senior Amber Kissman presented her research at the Research Symposium hosted by the sports medicine department and the Honors Program.

The Honors Program and sports medicine department co-hosted the event with help from Instructor of Sports Medicine Tim Harvey.

The symposium, an annual event, provided graduate and undergraduate students an opportunity to display their research to the public through posters as well as oral presentations. This research was done in order to prepare students for future occasions and formal presentations at regional and national levels.

Senior Amber Kissman did her project on stink bugs and how the weather affects them.

“I found that the bugs were invasive and rely on super cooling, while staying at subzero temperatures. When I told people about my topic, most responded by asking me how to get rid of them rather than on how they survived,” Kissman said.

Senior Jacob Gdovin did his research on two different portals about football equipment and possible neck injury.

“The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has an ‘all or nothing’ principle, and I thought their position they have currently was incorrect,” Gdovin said.

Rows and rows of projects were displayed in the MAC. Mostly seniors were among the researchers at the symposium, but a few juniors attended.

Senior Richael Forde did her project on electromyography comparisons with different exercises and measured muscle activity.

“It was interesting to do research, but better equipment would have been nice to conduct my research, since some of my data was skewed,” she said.

For students in the Honors Program, the symposium fulfilled a senior thesis presentation requirement, one of the main conditions of graduating from the Honors Program.