Back to News 
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (April 18, 2019) —Milligan College students will present their research at the college’s annual RISE Above Research Conference on Thursday, April 25, in Derthick Hall from 2-8 p.m.
The RISE Above Research Conference is a culminating event for undergraduate and graduate students engaged in faculty-mentored research. Presentations will showcase scholarly and creative research from many disciplines and majors.
“Research skills are critical for students preparing for master’s and doctorate-level work, and this conference is a showcase of what our students have learned through mentored research projects,” said Joy Drinnon, professor of psychology and director of undergraduate research at Milligan. “Every year, I enjoy seeing our students’ final projects after they have spent several months, or a few semesters, researching their topic.”
This year’s conference features over 30 research projects, and topics include: the music and musicians of the Titanic; mental health counseling in schools; creating a water filtration system for a community in Sneedville, Tennessee; improving antibiotics for cystic fibrosis patients; and others.
Doc Maines, a senior engineering major, will be one of five students presenting on creating a water filtration system.
“I wanted to work on a research project that was mission-driven,” said Maines. “Over the past two years, I’ve worked with my peers and faculty in the engineering department to create a filtration system that can remove bacteria from drinking water.”
For senior music education major, Derek Jeffers, his research on the musicians aboard the Titanic led to collaborations with the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
“When I began my research on music and the Titanic, I could not find many resources,” acknowledged Jeffers. “I reached out to the director of the Titanic Museum’s education department. The director granted me access to the museum’s research and requested that I collaborate with them to create music-related educational materials for their website.”
Art Brown, assistant professor of communications, will deliver a lecture on letterpress printing in the digital age at 7 p.m. in Hyder Auditorium. Brown’s lecture will provide a history of letterpress printing, his use of wood type in creative projects and in the classroom, and the direction of letterpress printing in the future.
For more information on the RISE Above Research conference, visit www.milligan.edu/research/.
To view the schedule for this year’s conference, click here.