NVC Student Researcher Determines there are no Sasquatch on Campus

Over the summer NVC student Allie Sanchez used camera “traps”—motion-sensor cameras affixed to trees—to conduct an exploratory study of campus wildlife. Having been bitten by the “research bug” last year while studying, presenting, and publishing on students’ knowledge of climate change research alongside other NVC students, Allie embarked on a student-faculty, extracurricular study of her own design.

Allie worked with Dr. Scott Walker in Geography and Environmental Sustainability to plan out where to place three camera traps around wooded parts of our campus and to map their locations using geospatial technology. For eight weeks Allie checked the cameras and retrieved the photos to determine what wildlife roams NVC day and night. She discovered raccoons, whitetail deer, opossum, skunk, a sounder of six feral hogs, coyote, grey fox, and a black-crested titmouse—a small bird common to this area. She was unable to “capture” any wildcat images.

Allie said “all this experience alone is worth more than a four-year degree.” When asked exactly what that means, she stated that she learned “not to be intimidated by something that seems monumental by taking a big project and breaking it down into smaller pieces.” She learned how to plan research, do a literature review, conduct statistical analyses, work with her research colleagues to write a peer-reviewed journal article, and present at a professional academic conference alongside graduate students and faculty from research-one universities—schools like the University of Texas-Austin and Louisiana State University.

She stated this work has boosted her self-confidence and she now finds herself doing some literature review work at UT Health San Antonio where she works as a full-time administrative assistant. Allie is moving on to Texas A&M-San Antonio this semester to pursue a BS in Biology with a concentration in Ecology.

Students interested in doing student-faculty research in Geography and Environmental Sustainability as an extracurricular activity, or for GEOG 2389-Academic Cooperative (independent study) elective credit, contact Dr. Scott Walker, [email protected]. Dr. Walker can also update students on the new BS in Environmental Science Field of Study coming in 2020 and discuss transferring to UTSA’s upcoming Environmental Studies BA degree.

 

NVC Psychology Students Present Original Research in New Mexico

More than a dozen current and former Northwest Vista College psychology students, along with NVC psychology faculty, Anna-Marie Evans, Jen Fox, and Don Lucas attended the annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) from April 5-7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Established in 1953, SWPA represents American Psychological Association members living in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. SWPA promotes and strengthens psychology’s scientific, professional and educational facets.

In addition to attending workshops, invited talks, research symposia, poster sessions, and research paper sessions — several students presented their original research to standing-room-only audiences!

Kiana Kelley, Diane Goguen, Tailar Matthews, and Kristelle Cefre presented their research titled, “Dispelling Sexual Myths with Higher and Virtual Education.”

Areayla Jeanpierre, Valerie Ortiz, and Marin McDaniel presented their research titled, “What is Your Sex IQ?”

Maimoona Palwala, Chris Lowell, and Kristina Martinez presented their research titled, “Sexual Language is implicitly More Offensive to Females than Males.”

Ethan Berry, Christian Salazar, Jacqueline Tucker, and Jacqueline Dominguez presented their research titled, “Does Childhood Adversity Affect Overall Well-Being?”

Summaries of their research can be found at:

https://www.xcdsystem.com/swpsych/program/hZV1oUP/index.cfm

Additionally, during the SWPA award ceremonies, Ethan Berry received national recognition from the American Psychological Association and was awarded for his services in the Northwest Vista College chapter of Psi Beta.

Several students have on-going research projects they plan to present at next year’s annual meet of the SWPA, which will be in Frisco, Texas.