BY ANITA PARRISH
Assistant to the Dean of Arts and Sciences
For the UAS Whalesong

Do you have a research or creative project that you would like to undertake? The Research and Creative Activity Committee has funding of up to $2500 per student to help you design and complete your project with the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Since 2011, URECA has funded 50 student projects in disciplines including the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humanities, and Management. About a third of the projects to date have had a strong creative element. Students have created and mounted art exhibits in a variety of formats including photography, painting, ceramics, and comic books. The literary arts have been well represented with play writing projects, documentary filmmaking, and the creation of literary and poetry journals.

Social Science students have worked with their faculty mentors to research and study issues in the areas of Psychology, History, and Anthropology with the support of URECA, and have even travelled to national professional meeting to present their findings.  Many students have focused their research on uniquely Alaskan investigations, while others have focused on broad social problems related to gender and racial bias.

The Natural Sciences have also been well represented in the URECA project gallery.  Students have studied glacier dynamics, humpback whales, alpine meteorology, and the interactions between the waters and the sea life of Southeast Alaska.  A full listing of the past 50 student projects can be found on the UAS website at http://uas.alaska.edu/research/students/index.html.

Do you have an idea for a URECA project? Talk to your potential faculty mentor and head to the research website (http://uas.alaska.edu/research/index.html) for application and instruction materials. Hard copies are also available in the Soboleff office suite and in the Anderson Building. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m., Monday, November 21. Funding for successful applicants will become available beginning in January 2017, and projects must be completed by June 15, 2017. If you have questions about URECA, please contact Brian Buma (bbuma@alaska.edu) or Kelly Jensen (kmjensen@alaska.edu). This could be just the opportunity for you!