Students to Display Summer Research

About 20 Westmont students exhibit their summer research projects Thursday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m. in Founders Dining Room. “A Celebration of Summer Research at Westmont,” includes students’ work on a variety of topics, such as determining the distances between star clusters around the constellation Cygnus and investigating an unidentified yellow ball sponge collected from the Richfield Pier pilings south of Santa Barbara.

The event is free and open to the public. Students will present their findings on poster boards and be available to answer questions. One of the hallmarks of Westmont’s academic program is the opportunity for undergraduate students to work with faculty on significant research projects.

President Gayle D. Beebe and Acting Provost Rick Pointer will participate in the celebration. Eileen McMahon, assistant professor of biology, will speak on “The Gift of Wonder.” She earned a doctorate in microbiology and immunology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and joined the Westmont faculty in 2004.

Student speakers include Joshua MacFawn, a junior majoring in communication studies, Joshua Pritchett, a senior biology major, and Timothy Newton, senior with a major in chemistry.