Three Spelman students recently were named undergraduate winners of the 2017 Georgia Psychological Association Annual Meeting Student Poster Session in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Winning presenters were Cecily B. Reese, C’2017, a psychology major; Trevor A. Stephens, C’2017, a psychology major and comparative women’s studies minor; and Gaina-Yvan Pierre, C’2017, a biology major and biochemistry minor. They won for their poster presentation titled, “Is Rank Associated with the Stress Levels and Social Interactions of Female Green Monkeys?”
Their presentation included behavioral research they conducted at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve during a four-week summer 2016 course with faculty advisor Kai McCormack, Ph.D., G-STEM director, associate professor and vice chair of psychology at Spelman. The course, “Research in Primate Behavior: The Green Monkeys of Barbados,” is offered every summer. Other students from last year’s course have presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association meeting and the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.
“The goal is to have students from the course design and execute an observational research project on the animals, and then present their findings at a research conference the following year,” said Dr. McCormack.