MILLIGAN, Tenn. (April 7, 2025) – Milligan University will host the 31st annual Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference (BRURC) on Thursday, April 10, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
“We are delighted to welcome students back to Milligan as we host the Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference for the second consecutive year,” said Dr. Joy Drinnon, Milligan’s director of undergraduate research and professor of psychology. “It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to present research alongside peers from other institutions.”
Students from institutions throughout the southern Appalachian region will present over 100 student research projects presented through posters, oral arguments and technical presentations.
The BRURC coincides with Milligan’s 12th annual RISE Above Research Conference, allowing graduate students from Milligan and participating colleges and universities to participate.
Many of the schools participating are affiliated with the Appalachian College Association. This year’s student participants will represent Milligan, Emmanuel Christian Seminary at Milligan, East Tennessee State University, King University, Tusculum University, Emory & Henry University, Johnson University, Lincoln Memorial University, Carson-Newman University and Johns Hopkins University, among others.
One of Drinnon’s first experiences at Milligan involved taking “students to the Blue Ridge Conference as a brand-new faculty member and research mentor in 2000.”
“I saw firsthand how valuable it was to have a regional conference where students from any discipline could go and present in a low-pressure environment,” Drinnon shared. “My hope is that each presenter will be excited and come away encouraged about their work, and I hope students who attend will learn something new and be inspired to pursue their own research question.”
The conference will include a keynote lecture titled, “Woodlands of the Mind: How Two ETSU Teachers Collaborated on a Book about College Forests,” from English professors Dr. Scott Honeycutt and Dr. Kevin O’Donnell. The keynote lecture will be at 11 a.m. in the McGlothlin-Street Theatre in the Gregory Center.
Over the past few years, Honeycutt and O’Donnell have collaborated on a collection of essays, “Woodlands of the Mind: Rambles through Campus Forests in the Eastern U.S.”
To research and write their book, the two ETSU professors visited 15 campus forests in 11 different states. For their keynote, the two will discuss their research and writing processes and read excerpts from their work. They will also invite listeners to appreciate the beauty of some exceptional trees on Milligan’s campus.
For more information, visit www.milligan.edu/research.