More than 50 students occupied the Goddard Library on Wednesday, Nov. 3, crowding the Academic Commons main corridor and spilling into the second-floor circulation lobby – all in the name of research.

The students were participating in Clark’s annual Fall Fest, where they explained and showcased their academic research projects, with accompanying posters and interactive displays. Presentations this year represented Clark departments of biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, geography, international development, the Mosakowski Institute, political science, physics, psychology, and others.  Among the many deep and varied topics were homelessness prevention (Matthew Furman ’10); promoting breastfeeding among low-income/uninsured mothers (Hannah Berry ’12); ion transport through polymer matrices (Abhijit Srungavarapu  ’12);  marriage equality in California (William Adams ’11); fungal DNA sequencing (Anders Ohman ’10, Dylan Glotzer  ’11, Darcy Young ’11); and the water crisis in Beijing (Jessica Chung ’12).

Faculty members, staff and students visiting the festival moved among the rows of stanchions, listening to, quizzing, and learning from the young researchers.

The Fall Fest, which began in 2000, is a preview of Clark students’ academic “main event” each spring: Academic Spree Day, a campus-wide program founded in 1991 by the esteemed late Clark psychologist Dr. Seymour Wapner.  These events celebrate the research and creative work Clark undergraduate students produce under the support and mentoring of the University’s distinguished faculty.

Several of the Fall Fest participants were interviewed for the “Clark Voices” audio-video series.

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