This spring the Paul Robeson Library launched the Undergraduate Research Award, a new initiative designed to recognize and celebrate excellence in original undergraduate research. Undergraduate students from all schools at Rutgers University–Camden were invited to submit research papers or other research projects completed between spring 2020 and spring 2021. Applications were required to include a completed project, a bibliography, and a reflective essay describing the search strategy employed and how sources were evaluated.
An evaluation committee of both teaching and library faculty reviewed each application, looking for those that made use of a range of library resources, collections, and services and showed evidence of critical thinking, originality, and creativity. Five winning papers were selected. Each winner received a cash prize and certificate, an invitation to include their paper in a digital collection, and recognition at a virtual event held on May 24, 2021.
First Place
Second Place
- Omri Bar & Anthony Monte Carlo, “Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins on Host Gene Expression and Fitness”
- Julia DeFeo, “Evaluating the effects of wild and prescribed fire on the taxonomic and functional diversity of soil-dwelling arthropods in the New Jersey Pinelands, a high-disturbance system”
Honorable Mentions
- Annika Liu, “Blue Wall of Silence: Degradation of Accountability”
- Benjamin Nixon, “Blood and Soil: Right-Wing Terrorism Poses an Existential Threat to the United States”
Samantha Kannegiser & Zara Wilkinson
