Sharing KBS climate change research in Qatar

Kathryn Bloodworth and her mentor, Will West

KBS researchers are well known in our local community for expertise on climate change, but recently, several KBSers also had the opportunity to share their research globally.

2016 KBS undergraduate students Aleah Dungee  and Kathryn Bloodworth, and KBS postdoctoral researcher Will West, attended the first ever World Congress on Undergraduate Research (WCUR), which took place in Doha, Qatar November 13 – 15.

Aleah Dungee & Kathryn Bloodworth at the World Congress for Undergraduate Research (WCUR)

Both of the students’ projects dealt with nitrogen and nitrous oxide emissions in agricultural soils and explored how emissions may be impacted by climate change. Dungee was mentored by KBS graduate student Di Liang, and Bloodworth was mentored by West.

“Traveling to Qatar to present my research was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I was excited at the chance to travel and experience a new culture.  Even more though, I was thrilled to be able to talk with people from all around the world,”  Bloodworth said. “We had the opportunity to come together and discuss some of the issues that our generation is and will be facing in the near future.”

Danielle Zoellner, the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator at KBS, sent an announcement about WCUR to the KBS REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) students and mentors from summer 2016, and Bloodworth, Dungee and West expressed interest.  Their abstracts were accepted, and they were given slots to present at the conference in Qatar.

“I’m so proud to be sending undergraduates from our NSF-sponsored REU program to present their research overseas,” said Zoellner. ” These students did an exceptional job this summer, and I am so happy that their hard work has opened up the opportunity for both of them to travel, present their work, share ideas and receive phenomenal professional development.”