Greenwich Area Natives Participate in Eastern CT University's CREATE Conference

From Eastern Connecticut State University: The Third Annual CREATE Conference at Eastern Connecticut State University took place on April 21. CREATE stands for "Celebrating Research Excellence and Artistic Talent at Eastern," and is the University's premier conference showcasing student research and creative activity. The one-day conference featured more than 300 Eastern undergraduates who presented talks, professional posters, live music, dance performances, art and photography exhibits, documentary films and panel discussions.

Among the participants were:

• Phillip Hoeps '17 of Riverside who majors in Economics and Political Science and participated in a panel discussion titled "Overcoming Obstactles in Undergraduate Research"; an oral presentation titled "Is the Pursuit of Monetary Union Worthwhile? The EMU after the Great Recession"; a poster presentation titled "A Statistical Analysis of Economic Policies to Mitigate Ocean Pollution."
• Destiny Sammut '18 of Greenwich who majors in Social Work and presented a poster titled "Does Creative Expression as a Coping Strategy Reduce Stress."

"CREATE is a reaffirmation of Eastern's commitment to undergraduate research as Connecticut's only public liberal arts university," said Niti Pandey, business administration professor and conference co-chair. Reflecting on this year's record number of participants, she added, "There is a wonderful variety of presentations and performances for people to see. CREATE 2017 showcases the hard work and talent of our students and demonstrates the dedication of their faculty mentors. We look forward to an excellent event!"

From art to zoology, Shakespeare to social media, tax law to terrorism, Eastern students of all majors explore important concepts and produce exemplary research and creative work; the culmination of their work for the 2016-17 academic year was on display at CREATE.

"CREATE is a superb learning experience for all who participate and a true celebration of our student's achievements," said Patricia Szczys, biology professor and conference co-chair.

Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving more than 5,300 students annually at its Willimantic campus and satellite locations. In addition to attracting students from 163 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 24 other states and 74 other countries.

A residential campus offering 39 majors and 58 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal art foundation grounded in an array of applied learning opportunities. Ranked the 26th top public university in the North Region by U.S. News and World Report in its 2017 Best College ratings, Eastern has also been awarded "Green Campus" status by The Princeton Review seven years in a row.

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Photos courtesy of Eastern Connecticut State University:

(Image 1) Students explain their research during the poster presentation portion of the CREATE conference.

(Image 2) Music and dance students perform in the Student Center Theatre at the CREATE conference.