Summer brings so many opportunities for college students. Some of them have full-time jobs. Some travel. Some serve internships while others enroll in classes and study. And still others invest their energies in research.
At the College of Charleston, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) is dedicated to supporting students who engage in serious, hands-on research. Each summer, this office supports faculty-led research projects by providing funds for student researchers in the form of SURF grants (Summer Undergraduate Research with Faculty). Student-recipients can obtain grants of up to $6,500. And this summer, 28 students will be the beneficiaries of the program.
Exercise science major Miranda Badolato will investigate the social influences on obesity in Peru, a country that has recently begun to experience the obesity epidemic. Existing research in this field has focused on high-income countries and in the aggregate it indicates that adults who have obese friends or life partners are at greater risk of becoming obese themselves. But research in this area has yet to focus on the populations of low-income countries, so that is what Badolato will do under the direction of public health professor Kathleen McInvale. Working with colleagues in Peru, she will create a social network database that includes information regarding subjects from three villages in coastal Peru. She hopes that this work will ultimately lead to the development of obesity interventions using social networks.
Story by Dan Dickison. For more on this story, check out The College Today!
