From the UDaily article by Beth Miller:
If safety goggles and lab coats are all that pop into your mind when
you hear the word "research," you really need to get to the University
of Delaware's next Undergraduate Research and Service Scholars
Celebratory Symposium.
The eighth annual event Thursday, Aug. 10, had record numbers of
undergrads mixing it up on all four floors of the Patrick Harker
Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering (ISE) Lab, talking about their
projects -- everything from algae blooms to the Zika virus, from the
solar wind to the surface of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, from the
beliefs of a young man on Wilmington's West Side to molecular
interactions related to Alzheimer's disease.
The work of almost 500 students from more than two dozen universities
was represented in posters, oral presentations, displays, even in the
dance of "Women of Consequence."
Getting into research and service as an undergraduate opens doors some students say they never considered before. . . .
Claire Martin, a rising UD senior from Buffalo, New York, said she
was a bit nervous when she started work on irreplaceable materials at
Winterthur Museum, such as the dust jacket from Carton Moore Park's An Alphabet of Animals.
The book and related drawings are part of a collection recently donated
to the University of Delaware Library by Victorian literature expert
and UD Senior Research Fellow Mark Samuels Lasner.
"It's not often that undergrads have a chance like this," Martin said, "and I am thankful to Mark for that opportunity."
Martin, who has a double major in art conservation and art history,
worked with her adviser Vicki Cassman, associate professor of art
conservation, and was supervised by Melissa Tedone, book and library
conservator at Winterthur Museum.
Such materials are not placed in anyone's hands recklessly, of
course, but Tedone had met Martin during a book conservation course she
taught at UD.
"I was very impressed by the students," she said. "They were
energetic, engaged and their work ethic was amazing. I was so impressed
with what they accomplished and that is where I met Claire. When I was
asked if I would supervise her, I said, 'Of course.'"
In addition to stabilizing the dust jacket, which was deteriorating,
Martin's project -- her senior thesis -- includes research into Moore
Park's life and work.
"Claire Martin gave a wonderful presentation on her work, which is
both a research project on a largely unknown (and somewhat mysterious)
artist as well as a practicum in conservation work,” Samuels Lasner
said. "Making the collection available to students is a major reason why
it’s here at UD."
To read the full UDaily article, click here.
