Research Day Preparation is in Full Swing

By Elaine Amico | Published April 4, 2023

Research Day preparation is in full swing at Kean’s Ocean and Union campuses. The event is organized to explore the completed or preliminary research studied by both faculty and students.

On the Ocean campus, Research Day will take place on April 25, while on the Union campus, Research Day will occur over the span of three days, April 24, through April 26.

Some of the main topics that will be discussed at Kean Ocean’s Research Day include Kean’s COVID-19 vaccination education project, coastal resilience and economic sustainability, and transforming community engagement through research. 

Omara Cardoza, Managing Assistant Director for Kean Ocean is managing the event this year, and is a panelist as well. Cardoza feels strongly that Kean Ocean deserves as much representation as possible, and is pleased that students at Ocean have an opportunity to showcase their research on their own campus.

“Kean Ocean has its own Research Day because it provides equitable access to the resources and opportunities available across all campuses, such as academic programs, research opportunities, internships, and other forms of experiential learning.” Cardoza said. 

Cardoza expressed that she feels events like these allow Kean Ocean to foster a sense of community and academic engagement among the students and faculty. She wants to ensure that Kean Ocean is encouraging a culture of collaboration and intellectual curiosity by providing a platform for students and faculty to showcase their research.

Cardoza reported that Kean Ocean has more than doubled the number of last year’s participants. Kean Ocean invited Ocean County College students, and the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences students to present their research, because they want the community to see Kean Ocean as a resource with open doors.

Christina Fiocco, senior Kean Ocean environmental science major, is looking forward to educating the public on her research on the characteristics of the wave field in the winter season along the coast of Ocean County.

“This topic is important for the population, because wave characteristics impact erosion, which impacts the lives of individuals along the coast,” Fiocco said. “Research Day as a whole is an amazing event that students should participate in to share their research, and the public should utilize the priceless information presented to them.”

Frank Capone is currently completing his graduate degree at Kean Ocean, with a major in human behavior and organizational psychology. Capone, presenting his research on transfer persistence, experienced Research Day as an outsider last year, and was impressed with how the event was conducted.

“As a former transfer student myself, I was interested in exploring the factors that motivated students to continue on through higher education at Kean,” Capone said. “I never really took the time to understand how I got this far or what I did to get here, therefore, persistence was a great variable to describe students in this situation.”

Capone explained that some of the most interesting information he gathered was on the barriers to transfer persistence. Some of these barriers included a lack of confidence in students, a lack of opportunity, and ineffective academic advising to transfer students.

He believes that just like any process, imperfections are inevitable. However, if you are able to understand what is wrong with certain processes, you can then take different actions to fix them more efficiently.

In terms of Kean Ocean representation, Capone believes that student representation has been growing at a promising rate.

“Students hold a strong reputation in our community through research by collaborating with the Field of Dreams and the Barnegat Bay Partnership,” Capone said. “Kean Ocean is hopeful student participation and representation will greatly impact Kean University research down the road.”

At the Union campus, Research Days will begin with a Distinguished Lecture Series by Dr. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist on Monday, April 24. . On Tuesday, there will be special panel presentations, and on Wednesday, there will be both undergraduate poster presentations, as well as graduate poster presentations.

Emma Killeen, a Kean Union graduate student with a major in speech-language pathology, is presenting an informational review on the process through which it is required of college students to successfully apply to health journals. 

“In addition to highlighting the general steps to submitting a research paper to a health journal, my research includes further considerations, such as the SJR SCImago Journal Rank and the cost of publishing,” Killeen said.

Killeen decided to participate in Research Day because she enjoys sharing her newfound knowledge with her community, and has found a particular interest in the functionality of her topic. She feels her research may facilitate her peers and professors in the process of academics in the health field, when selecting a prestigious journal for publications.

Kileen also expressed that if there is any extra pressure being put on her since she is presenting research while completing her graduate degree, the pressure is coming from herself. 

“I have been building my research skills and knowledge since my undergraduate career, and it would feel like I was missing out on something if my graduate career were devoid of research,” Killeen said. “While I don’t feel external pressure to participate in research, there is definitely an internal state of pressure in conjunction with my general desire for research.”

Killeen is excited to share her research with the community, and looks forward to absorbing the wealth of knowledge that comes with Research Day. She feels the experience is enjoyable,  as well as one filled with learning.

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