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Undergraduate Research Abroad Scholarship Recipients Announced

By Andrea Gils Monzon, Gail Hairston

(March 29, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Division of Undergraduate Education and UK Education Abroad recently awarded $5,000 for the spring 2016 Undergraduate Research Abroad Scholarships (UGRAS) to junior biology student, Holden Hemingway; senior equine science student, Haley Reichenbach; and senior English and philosophy double major, Alexander Parmley. All three awardees will be conducting independent research projects abroad this summer.

“UGRAS gives students the opportunity to participate in original, cutting-edge research and promotes interaction with international scholars through immersion in the research environment,” said Evie Russell, assistant director of the Division of Undergraduate Education.

Hemingway will be conducting research in Scotland with UK professor Magdalena Muchlinski of the College of Medicine, as well as a local mentor. He will be exploring the muscular structure of primates, with his research project title being “Quinticeps? Investigating a possible fifth head of the quadriceps femoris in non-human primates.”

Reichenbach is taking her research to Denmark where she will work with a professor at Aarhus University. Reichenbach will investigate the effects of pregnancy on Holstein cows’ feeding behavior. Her research project is titled “Feed Intake and Feeding Behavior of Cows at Calving.”

For his research project titled “Exploitation and Ecotourism: Documenting the Lives of Costa Rica’s Indigenous Peoples,” Parmley will go to Costa Rica, where he will be mentored by a local developer to guide him both in his field research and in the summary of his findings.

“My goal is to explore the relationship between the exploitation of Costa Rica’s indigenous groups and the nation’s hugely successful ecotourism trade, all through the lens of a documentarian,” Parmley said. “I hope that my research might shed more light upon the facts surrounding the discrimination which Costa Rica’s indigenous peoples currently face.”

Parmley said the opportunity to do research abroad carries a number of added benefits besides the benefits of traditional research.

“It (research abroad) offers a medium in which one can develop cross-cultural communication skills and a greater global and cultural awareness,” Parmley said. “Exposure to diverse ideas and viewpoints, I hope, will be beneficial to my academic career, as well as my personal life.”

The UGRAS is awarded each March to undergraduate students interested in independent research projects abroad. To submit a proposal, applicants must have previously conducted research at UK with a faculty member, be highly recommended by said faculty member; and participate in an eight-week research abroad program. Find more information about this scholarship here.

About UK Education Abroad

UK Education Abroad is a unit of the UK International Center. Its primary responsibility is to facilitate high quality, academically sound and experientially rich study abroad, research abroad and intern abroad programs for University of Kentucky students. More information about the International Center can be found at http://www.uky.edu/international/.

Connect with UK Education Abroad on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, PinterestenKompassYouTube, and Snapchat (@ukyabroad). Visit 315 Bradley Hall to talk with an Education Abroad Peer Ambassador, email educationabroad@uky.edu, call (859) 257-4067 or go online to www.uky.edu/educationabroad for more information.