Contact: Chance Dibben, [email protected]
KU McNair Scholars present original research at summer symposium
LAWRENCE — Sixteen undergraduate students from the University of Kansas shared their original research at the McNair Scholars Summer Research Symposium. The event marked the culmination of months of dedicated scholarly work and mentorship. Hosted by the KU TRIO McNair Scholars Program, the symposium highlights student-driven inquiry and offers a preview of the next generation of researchers.

“This symposium is more than a presentation — it’s a celebration of research, development of researcher identity and joy of scientific discovery,” said Mulubrhan Lemma, director of the TRIO McNair Scholars Program. “Our students start by learning how to ask meaningful questions, and by the time they present, they’re contributing insights to their fields. It’s a powerful transformation.”

That transformation often begins with uncertainty and grows through experience. Gilbert Barranca, a civil engineering student from Topeka, did not consider research until a mentor encouraged him to apply to McNair. His project compared roundabouts in Lawrence and rural Topeka to examine how driver behavior differs across settings.

“It’s pushed me in ways I didn’t expect,” Barranca said. “I’ve learned a lot, and I’m excited to keep going.”

The Center for Educational Opportunity Programs (CEOP), a center within the Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at KU, leads the TRIO McNair Scholars Program. The program prepares undergraduates for graduate study through research, mentorship and academic development.

A key milestone in the program is the McNair Scholars Summer Research Symposium. Students begin developing proposals in a spring seminar and spend the summer transforming their ideas into full research projects with support from dedicated faculty mentors. This year’s cohort represented fields ranging from public policy and linguistics to microbiology and transportation systems, with each project reflecting students’ intellectual curiosity and personal goals.

Natalia Lopez-Rios, a linguistics major from Wichita, centered her project on bilingual language development, exploring how children understand specific words in English and Spanish.

“It’s exciting because I get to interact with my community and have them participate in the research,” Lopez-Rios said. “Being part of this group has deepened my motivation and enriched my research experience.”

Mentorship is a cornerstone of the experience. Each student is paired with a faculty member in their discipline and receives wraparound support from the McNair program, ensuring they receive comprehensive guidance throughout the process. For Meghan Arias, a microbiology major from Olathe studying an antiviral host protein, mentorship was crucial in navigating academic research.

“McNair strikes the perfect balance,” Arias said. “They throw you into research where you have to figure things out on your own, but they also provide the mentorship and technical support to help you succeed.”

The program’s holistic support is intentional, said Monica Martinez, assistant director of the TRIO McNair Scholars Program.

“We don’t just prepare students to do research,” Martinez said. “We prepare them to thrive in spaces that weren’t necessarily built for them. They leave McNair not just with a project, but with a sense of agency, confidence and belonging in higher education.”

McNair also helps students reimagine what’s possible in their academic lives. For Gerardo Fornoza, a political science major and returning adult learner, that meant seeing graduate school as something within reach.

That shift began when Maggie Borders, assistant director for TRIO SES + STEM, asked if he’d ever considered grad school.

“I told her, ‘No, that’s not for someone like me,’” Fornoza said. But with her encouragement, he applied to the McNair Scholars Program and was accepted.

As a McNair Scholar, Fornoza explored how political partisanship shapes public opinion on social programs. He worked under the mentorship of Kevin Mullinix, associate professor and undergraduate director in political science, who helped refine and guide his research. Mullinix had once served as a graduate McNair mentor over a decade ago and brought that experience full circle in supporting Fornoza’s growth.

“McNair helped me turn a broad idea into a real, manageable project,” Fornoza said.

Now in its 30th year at KU, the McNair Scholars Summer Research Symposium continues to serve as a gateway for students to discover their potential — not just as scholars, but as future leaders in their fields.

McNair Scholars Summer Research Symposium participants

Sumaya Ahmed, Overland Park
Meghan Arias, Olathe
Hildana Ayana, Lenexa
Gilbert Barranco, Topeka
Daniella Beers, Junction City
Gerardo Fornoza, Wichita
Madison Knoll, Wichita
Natalia Lopez-Rios, Wichita
Esperança Monteiro Henson, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sophia Nevarez, Norfolk, Virginia
Levi O’Connor, Louisburg
Josh O’Connor, Louisburg
Selena Reno, Kansas City, Missouri
Giselle Sandoval Morales, Topeka
Andrew Stumblingbear, Crookston, Minnesota
Bethel Yigezu, Olathe

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KU News Service

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Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

https://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | https://www.news.ku.edu

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Water history exhibit grand opening at El Quartelejo Museum in Scott City
Using a variety of multimedia components, a collaborative exhibit from the Kansas Geological Survey and Groundwater Management District 1 combines the scientific study of water and local history to show the story of water use in western Kansas. “History of Scott County Irrigation and the Ogallala Aquifer” opens Aug. 16.

Dole Archives, American Congress Digital Archives Portal partners awarded funding to expand portal, add civic and history education initiatives
The allocation will allow staff at the Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archives and Special Collections to digitize and contribute to the portal more items from the congressional archives of Sens. Bob and Elizabeth Dole, as well as expand the Institute’s K-12 civics and history education programs and outreach throughout Kansas.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Sunday Siomades, [email protected]
Water history exhibit grand opening at El Quartelejo Museum in Scott City
SCOTT CITY — El Quartelejo Museum, in collaboration with the Kansas Geological Survey and Groundwater Management District 1, will open its newest exhibit, “History of Scott County Irrigation and the Ogallala Aquifer,” on Aug. 16.

Using a variety of multimedia components, the exhibit combines the scientific study of water and local history to show the story of water use in western Kansas.

“The exhibit focuses on farming outcomes, water resources, management and education to illustrate the irrigation history of Scott County and the High Plains of western Kansas,” said Stephanie Fisher, El Quartelejo Museum director. “Its goal is to highlight primary sources, photographs and interactive educational elements.”

Sunday Siomades, who interned with the museum through the University of Kansas’ Museum Studies program, designed the exhibit.

“The design of the exhibit seeks to connect visitors with water history in tactile, immersive ways to demonstrate how communities interact with the natural environment,” said Siomades, who is studying geology and science communication through the KU Department of Geology and the Kansas Geological Survey.

The exhibit begins with early Scott County irrigation in the 1650s and moves through time to the management practices and water science that define present-day agriculture. Scott County’s cattle industry — the fourth highest in the nation — relies heavily on groundwater. Consequently, the status of the Ogallala aquifer, which provides this essential water resource, is especially relevant to the county.

Exhibit visitors will learn about historical innovations (and innovators) in irrigation, explore the science of aquifers and groundwater and watch water flow through the decades right under their feet.

The installation represents locality-driven science outreach designed to equip visitors of all ages with the historical and scientific background to discuss community water resources. Katie Durham, GMD1 manager, said the district sees education and outreach as critical components in protecting groundwater for future generations.

“Sharing the history of irrigation in our district helps us all to understand where we’ve been, the challenges we face and why the progress being made is so important to our communities, culture and economy,” she said.

In conjunction with the new exhibit, the KGS plans presentations, educational games, and activities for the public beginning at 10 a.m. at the museum. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the exhibit will take place at 2 p.m. The schedule of events is available online.

“I’m so grateful to the museum for providing the KGS with this opportunity,” said Blair Schneider, KGS science outreach manager and exhibit contributor. “I hope that this project paves a pathway for the KGS to partner with more community museums across the state.”

The “History of Scott County Irrigation and the Ogallala Aquifer” joins a variety of paleontological and anthropological exhibits featured at El Quartelejo Museum and Jerry Thomas Gallery and Collection on topics ranging from Kansas’s prehistoric inland sea to Native American history to modern municipal development.

About the Kansas Geological Survey
The KGS is a nonregulatory research and service division of the University of Kansas. KGS researchers study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, critical materials and earthquakes.

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Contact: Jackson DeAndrea, 785-864-4900, [email protected]
Dole Archives, American Congress Digital Archives Portal partners awarded funding to expand portal, add civic and history education initiatives

LAWRENCE — The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas — one of three founding members of a national consortium of congressional archives created in 2021 and based at West Virginia University Libraries — will receive up to $200,000 in federal funding to expand the utility, usability and capacity of the American Congress Digital Archives Portal in the next phase of its development.

The allocation, a portion of $1.5 million in total funding, will be distributed by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. It will allow staff at the Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archives and Special Collections to digitize and contribute to the portal more items from the congressional archives of Sens. Bob and Elizabeth Dole, as well as expand the Institute’s K-12 civics and history education programs and outreach throughout Kansas.

“Growing the portal from an idea five years ago to where it is today – nearly 7,500 items from 20 collections at six partner institutions digitized and available online – has been incredibly gratifying,” said Sarah Gard, senior archivist and head of collections at the Dole Institute. “These collections are vital for understanding Congress and our democracy. We are really excited about bringing these resources to new audiences and expanding our educational outreach throughout Kansas to K-12 audiences.”

Unlike presidential papers or similar government records, congressional collections are geographically dispersed across the nation at institutions of all shapes and sizes. Scholars, educators, students and the general public have open access through the portal to thousands of civically important primary resources created by the legislative branch and about public policymaking throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. This includes documents, photos and audiovisual materials.

Going beyond the study of Congress and its role in American government, the value of these archives lies within their capacity to illustrate the country’s social, cultural and political development narratives.

The award will support digitization of selected materials from the Dole Archives, including creating full-text transcripts of manuscripts and audiovisual materials, which will make them accessible online for researchers with disabilities.

Funding will also support the installation of a new digital repository for digitized materials, allowing the Dole Archives to quickly make more content available to researchers. In this phase of the project, all member institutions will contribute more than 8,000 manuscripts, audiovisual assets and photographs.

Additionally, the award supports the Dole Institute’s civic education initiatives, which annually reach thousands of students across Kansas. Over the next year, the Institute is hosting workshops for students participating in the National History Day contest, providing them opportunities to develop and enhance their presentations using materials from the Institute and other institutional project partners.

The Dole Institute is partnering with WVU Libraries and other institutions that hold congressional archives, including the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma, the Dirksen Congressional Center, the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies at the University of Georgia, and the University of Hawaii Manoa Library.

For more information about the American Congress Digital Archives Portal or the Congressional Archives Education Project, visit congressarchives.org.

About the Dole Institute

Inspired by the leadership legacies of Sens. Bob and Elizabeth Dole, and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation, the Dole Institute of Politics strives to promote a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service and civic education and engagement.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

https://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs