Kent State University student Celeste Weise stands near
her research poster during the 2015 Undergraduate
Research Symposium in the Kent Student Center.

What do sleep quality, post-traumatic stress disorder and smoking have in common?

Celeste Weise, a Kent State University senior psychology and sociology major, presented her research centering on that question at the university’s second annual Undergraduate Research Symposium held March 11.

Preparing for the Symposium

As a research assistant in the psychology lab of Doug Delahanty, Ph.D., at Kent Hall, Weise looked to her mentors within the lab when she decided to submit her research to the symposium. Her mentors worked with Weise to create a research question and provided her feedback throughout the process.

“Ms. Weise really distinguished herself as a research assistant in our lab,” Delahanty says. “When she heard about the Undergraduate Research Symposium, she was very excited about submitting a poster. She worked closely with one of my students to develop a research question regarding data that we are collecting in a student sample.”

Weise’s research involved her compiling data to find and analyze the correlation between sleep and extraneous factors.

“I did an analysis based on some pre-existing data,” Weise says. “My research specifically explored the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and sleep quality and smoking as a factor that helps to explain that relationship.”

Gaining Experience

Weise was encouraged by the experience she stood to gain while working on her research project. She felt that this type of opportunity would give her confidence in her professional experience.

“A lot of undergraduates don’t really get to have this research experience before they get to graduate school,” Weise says. “This experience has taught me how to be a professional and how to really analyze the data and think critically about all these psychological concepts that happen in our world.”

Planning for the Future

Weise plans to attend graduate school upon graduation and hopes to become a counseling psychologist for young adults. She feels that her participation in Kent State’s Undergraduate Research Symposium gave her an advantage when submitting her applications to graduate school.

“I finally got to dip my toes in the actual research,” she says. “It made me feel really good that I get to take these steps to better myself as a professional.”

Recognizing Symposium Winners

Weise was one of 120 students to present at the symposium. Students from across all eight Kent State campuses gathered in the Kent Student Center Ballroom to have their work reviewed by the Kent State community. Forty-five winners were chosen from varied categories that ranged from biomedical sciences to psychology to fashion/art.

“The Undergraduate Research Symposium puts Kent State in an elite group,” says Ann Gosky, co-director of the symposium. “Through research, we can often impact the public good through areas of health, communication, energy, etc., and it helps us educate students to become leaders in their chosen fields.”

Below are the 2015 Undergraduate Research Symposium winners and runners-up:

• Sarah Adkins
• Muhammed Bahcetepe
• Elijah Balogh
• Sonia Britton
• Sean Burridge
• Kerry Butler
• Amanda Calvin
• Essien Cobham
• Anthony Daniels
• Zachary Fejedelem
• Donald Fincher Jr.
• James Gadd
• Nirmala Ghimirey
• Robert Hakes
• Paula Jones
• Ruby Kelly
• Brandon Lavelle
• Justin Leiter
• Jeremy London
• Austin McCrae
• Bilal Muhammad
• Veronica Musser
• Todd Ness
• Patrick Nguyen
• Sarah Nock
• Timothy Ong
• Emily Ouellette
• Shiyao Peng
• Brad Polen
• Aneela Qadir
• Justin Ricker
• Brittany Samburg
• William Scharlott
• Gabe Schut
• Kelsey Schuster
• Randall Slonaker
• Madison Tasker
• Rajaa Thalluri
• Sam Timko
• Tyler Vanderhoof
• Mallory Vetter
• Alexa Wagner
• Patrick Winiecki (2)
• Hagan Whiteleather