Student Stories

Undergraduate students Mary (Tess) Overton and Nemah-Allah Saleh have received Goldwater Scholarships, as only the second and third students at the University ever to receive this award. The scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

Beneath the surface of the sea exists a vast world that UNC Charlotte student researcher Tyler Carrier seeks to explore through research at the intersection of evolutionary ecology, oceanography, and microbiology. “The questions I am attempting to answer are deeply rooted in fundamental evolutionary and ecological processes, and are also vastly unexplored,” Carrier says.

Squeezing years of work and thousands of words into a three-minute talk, graduate students Shayan Nazari and Danny Yonto earned first and second place in UNC Charlotte’s inaugural Three-Minute Thesis competition.

Teachers lay the foundation for students to understand and embrace science. This significant role holds true whether the students aspire to scientific careers or simply need as citizens to understand how scientific research can help their everyday lives. Despite their critical role, teachers often find themselves limited in their exposure to the settings where scientific research occurs. Charlotte Teachers Institute has worked to address that gap, including through a new research experience for teachers.

When Vasily Astratov explains complex principles of physics, specifically in the world of optics, he turns to St Paul’s Cathedral in London and its Whispering Gallery. Whisper on one side of the iconic dome, and someone standing a hundred feet away on the other side can hear the whispered words. The same principle is at work in optics, which has helped shape the groundbreaking work in Astratov’s lab in the Department of Physics and Optical Science at UNC Charlotte.

Britney Phippen, a doctoral student in biological sciences, and Rahul Upadhyay, who is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, are the 2015-16 recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards.

What began as a biological sciences’ extra-credit assignment bloomed into a project that is helping to slow the erosion of sediment into Toby Creek by converting a barren parking lot into a diverse natural habitat.

As people worldwide cry out for safe drinking water, UNC Charlotte master’s degree student Billy Johnson has discovered a way to help, through nanoscience. Working with his UNC Charlotte faculty mentor Jordan Poler, Johnson has developed a novel nanomaterial.

Hundreds of UNC Charlotte undergraduates have participated in the Charlotte Research Scholars initiative at UNC Charlotte in a 10-week summer program. Those chosen receive a scholarship to work closely with faculty mentors conducting research and participate in professional development sessions to better prepare them for graduate school and careers.

UNC Charlotte student scholars are researching diverse topics ranging from lightning strike patterns in the Southeast U.S. to the connection between Maya Angelou’s poetry and contemporary hip-hop to the impact of UNC Charlotte’s student-run food pantry.