One year ago, Dehaven McCray came to the USURE Science Symposium to view the research fellow students had done and was amazed. "I saw everyone's stuff and I thought 'I want to put myself out there but I don't know how.' And now I'm here and I'm into this research thing!"
This year, McCray was showing off research she conducted during the semester break. Her research question was "what are the effects of ionizing radiation on cellulose?" She conducted her research in the Cellulose Lab at SUNY-ESF with Dr. Mark Driscoll and Dr. Richard List.
She was one of 27 students who shared the findings of their research during the USURE Science Undergraduate Research Experience Winter Symposium, held February 5 in the Gordon Student Center Great Room on the Onondaga Community College campus. The students did their research at either SUNY ESF, SUNY Upstate Medical University, or Syracuse University during the break between the fall and winter semesters.
"It is super exciting to have this many students participate and to have so many good partnerships with ESF, Upstate, and SU," said OCC's Dr. Melissa Hicks. "Their professors really like working with our students, and a number of the professors came to see the presentations. For a lot of these students, this is the jump start they need to get into research while they are working on their degrees in the sciences."
McCray is a 2023 graduate of Liverpool High School who enrolled at OCC with the goal of becoming a nurse. After an outstanding first semester, she was invited to join the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society.
When McCray decided she wanted to pursue a career other than Nursing, she sat down with PTK & Honors Program Coordinator Jackie Barstow to discuss options. Their conversation led to McCray enrolling in different courses than originally planned, and signing up for the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP). Through C-STEP McCray was awarded her first research opportunity in the summer of 2024, the Bridges to Baccalaureate program at SUNY Binghamton. "I didn't think I would be capable but I did it. I studied behavioral neurosciences with 52 rats and it was a beautiful experience!"
McCray will complete her Mathematics & Science degree this May. In the fall, she'll be at SUNY Binghamton studying Biological Sciences. "In the beginning, I was very hesitant about myself. But I realized I wouldn't be here if I wasn't capable and supposed to be here. If there are any people out there who genuinely want to take a risk and go for it, I recommend it. I don't know what I ever would have done if I didn't join PTK and meet Jackie."
The USURE program is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. A complete list of students whose work was part of the Science Symposium is listed below.
- Karar Abed
- Maya Abedrabbah
- Emerson Brill
- Pine Boyer
- Gavin Burns
- Maya Cuadrado
- Charles Deyo Jr.
- Vanessa Esposito
- Olivia Garofalo
- Felicity Goetz
- Kyra Hall
- Mohammad Sharif Jafari
- Caitlyn Jones
- Dominick Kastner
- Aashu Khadka
- Aiden Knapp
- Isabella Alvarez Lazcano
- Liam MacPherson
- Dehaven McCray
- Ashton Murdock
- Brooke Nicholson
- Nicholas Pangaro
- Ryan Skidmore
- Fateh Syed
- Alexandra Strikis
- Patience Williams
- Laila Zamani
Because the USURE program has been such a success at OCC, Dr. Hicks and Professor Colleen Stevens have been chosen to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research later this semester. Their presentation is titled "Accepted Mentor-Led Poster Presentation."
