Robin Grooms
Undergraduate Research & Artistry Day (URAD) takes place Tuesday, April 19, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center. Hundreds of NIU students will present their research. For more information, email URAD@niu.edu.
Meet Robin Grooms, a freshman environmental studies major with a policy emphasis.
Grooms is involved in Research Rookies, the Honors Program, the Leadership Academy and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Currently, she is researching strategies to change local eating habits to more environmentally sustainable ones. She enjoys the connections that she has made with residents of NIU and the surrounding community because of this project and has become more confident interacting with the community.
She is most excited to talk at URAD with people who share her interest in environmentally sustainable eating habits. Her advice to students who are interested in projects similar to hers? Tailor projects to career interests to make research the most worthwhile experience possible.
Jenée Carlson
Meet Jenée Carlson, a freshman business major who hopes to have her own business that will help solve social issues of the world.
Along with Research Rookies, Carlson is also involved in the Honors Program and CAUSE.
Her research has been to observe and volunteer at the Huskies Student Food Pantry and to issue a college wide survey that focuses on the extent to which hunger exists on NIU’s campus. Carlson hopes to use this project to better the lives of all NIU students and the community.
She has enjoyed conducting the survey at the Huskies Student Food Pantry because the students who consistently utilize the pantry’s services have a clear understanding of the need and offer great feedback.
From this project, Carlson has learned that even the smallest amount of help you can offer will go a very long way, and she is most excited to see everyone’s perspective of food insecurity on NU’s campus. Her biggest piece of advice for students interested in projects similar to hers is to make sure that to give 100 percent: “You might impact a lot more people than you think.”
