Undergraduates racked up awards at Research Symposium held at Madison Square Garden during the Big East Tournament
UConn's team at the Big East Undergraduate Research Symposium earned top honors. From left: Office of Underground Research Director Micah Heumann, and Katarina Kalajzic '26, Hailey DeWalt '26, Ademide Ogunsina '26, UConn President Radenka Maric, Malak Nechnach '26, Anja Kearney '26, Wyeth Haddock '26, Vice Provost and Honors Program Director Jennifer Lease Butts. (Contributed photo)
UConn undergraduate researchers are officially the beasts of the Big East.
A UConn team won top honors at the Big East Undergraduate Research Symposium, held concurrently with the men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 14. The group earned a first-place finish in the poster contest, winning against students from the 10 other schools in the conference.
The symposium celebrated undergraduate research achievement. For the event, the participants turned the "World's Most Famous Arena" into an academic fair, with each Big East school represented by five respective posters. Students presented their work and answered judges' questions, with winners earning medals.
For the first time, the symposium featured a team competition where schools were evaluated on collective performance. As the champion, UConn won a large trophy and was honored during the Big East men's basketball final held later that evening between the Huskies and the St. John's Red Storm.
Micah Heumann, the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, assembled UConn's team with associate provost and director of the Honors Program Jennifer Lease Butts. They reserved participation at the symposium to seniors, selecting an all-star team representing a wide array of topics.
"Our students had such great camaraderie and support for one another," Heumann says. "They were less interested in winning for themselves than they were about seeing their peers succeed."
Each school appointed three judges to evaluate posters and presentations. Heumann and Lease Butts represented UConn, along with interim Provost Pamir Alpay.
Hailey DeWalt '26 earned individual honors at the symposium. The molecular and cell biology major took first place in the STEM category for her poster on antimicrobial defense of Hawaiian bobtail squid eggs by symbiotic bacteria.
DeWalt, who is a peer research ambassador for the OUR, says it was an honor to represent UConn.
"If you had told me as a freshman that I would be presenting my own independent research project at Madison Square Garden and representing UConn, I would have been shocked," DeWalt says. "Research is one of those fields where so much work happens behind the scenes, late nights in the lab, troubleshooting methods, and going over results with mentors, so opportunities where we can come together and celebrate that work are really special."
The UConn team celebrated their victory with President Radenka Maric, Alpay, and their coaches. "I am grateful for the faculty who mentored our students and the staff from OUR and the Honors Program who made this opportunity possible for them," says Lease Butts. "It's thrilling to watch our Huskies become academic champions and earn the recognition they deserve."
The team members were:
- Hailey DeWalt '26 (CLAS)
- Wyeth Haddock '26 (COE)
- Anja Kearney '26 (CLAS)
- Malak Nechnach '26 (CLAS)
- Ademide Ogunsina '26 (CLAS) and Katarina Kalajzic '26 (CLAS) (collaborative project)
