07/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/22/2024 10:11
Ten teams pairing faculty and students for research are taking part in the Faculty Undergraduate Summer Engagement (FUSE) program this year at the University of North Georgia (UNG).
UNG's Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (CURCA) is providing funding for seven of the projects, with the College of Science & Mathematics funding two others and a NASA Space Grant funding the other project.
The students will present a poster session on their research from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. July 25 in the Cottrell Ballroom of the Cottrell Center for Business, Technology & Innovation at UNG's Dahlonega Campus. University faculty and staff, students and the general public are welcome to attend the FUSE 2024 poster session to learn more about the students' research.
FUSE students and faculty mentors funded by CURCA include:
Projects funded by Dr. John Leyba, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, include:
The project funded by a NASA Space Grant is:
Mackenzie and some of his students, including Nicholson, learned about Italian painter Bruno Cordati during their "Film in Italy" education abroad experience in summer 2023 in Barga, Italy. That helped inspire Mackenzie to apply for FUSE funding to produce a documentary on the painter, in part by working with Cordati's grandson.
This summer on the "Film in Italy" trip, Mackenzie filmed 12 hours of content and regularly sent back the files via Google transfers to Nicholson and Lima so they could begin editing the clips into a documentary that will be less than 10 minutes.
Part of the FUSE process includes regular meetings where the groups share updates on their research.
"We've never done anything like this before. It's nice to get out of our comfort zone," Nicholson, a senior from Athens, Georgia, pursuing a degree in film and digital media with a production concentration, said. "We've gone to Dahlonega, met other students and shared our research with each other. It's very fun."
Lima, a senior from Thomasville, Georgia, also pursuing a degree in film and digital media with a production concentration, has not attended the education abroad trip in Italy. But she jumped at the chance for the paid internship through FUSE.
"I want to go down the editing route for my career. This is a great opportunity," Lima said. "I love art and art history. I wanted to learn more about this."
Mackenzie is grateful to see his students embracing their project.
"It's so cool to see students taking the lead in research," he said. "I've enjoyed seeing how much ownership Ellie and Genevieve are taking of the storytelling."