2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium

Friday, June 12, 2026
Hazel Miller Hall

Hello Everyone,

The 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium will be held on Friday, June 12, 2026.

Please stay tuned to this space and for emails from the Undergraduate Research Team for updates. 

In the meantime, we'd like to invite you to review the following summaries from our 2025 Symposium. 

Feel free to email us at ugr@edmonds.edu if you have any questions.

We look forward to another successful year of research and presentation!

Mary Whitfield (Chemistry)
Gwen Shlichta (Biology)
Robin Datta (Political Science)

2025 Symposium Highlights

Symposium Statistics

The 2025 symposium was the largest we've hosted. There were 118 presentations featuring 301 unique student authors working with 26 faculty mentors. Students presented their research through both poster sessions and oral presentations. The halls of Hazel Miller were abuzz with detailed discussion and peer interaction.

Participating Institutions

In addition to Edmonds students, we had students and faculty from Green River College, Everett Community College, Bellevue College, Washington State University, and Shoreline Community College. We hope to expand participation from our peer institutions. 

Research Areas and What Made 2025 Special

The 2025 symposium highlighted the breadth and depth of student research with projects that often bridged multiple fields and addressed real-world problems with scientific rigor. 

Students in the biological sciences explored questions ranging from bacterial communities on everyday surfaces to molecular cloning techniques, while chemistry researchers examined heavy metals in food products and developed approaches to sustainable chemical processes. Ecology projects investigated plant-insect interactions and assessed how environmental stressors affect local ecosystems. 

Physics and mathematics students addressed practical engineering challenges by building electromagnetic generators and seismic monitoring systems, and they developed mathematical models to analyze traffic flow patterns. Students working in emerging technology fields designed cybersecurity architectures, created data visualizations for industry applications, and built functional robotic systems. 

The Social Sciences and Humanities brought essential perspectives to contemporary issues. Communication studies students produced podcast-based rhetorical critiques of popular media, sociology researchers examined topics including environmental justice and healthcare access, political science students investigated military spending and research ethics, and environmental studies work addressed water system degradation.

Edmonds College Undergraduate Research Symposium - Celebrating Student Excellence in Research and Innovation