Provost, graduates highlight impact of undergraduate research at conference

As a first-generation college student, Nkrumah Grant, '14, did not expect opportunities to explore undergraduate research.

"I had no framework for what research was. I thought research was out of my reach," Grant said.

That changed when he took part in a biological research project by collecting cattails as an undergraduate - an experience that sparked a journey leading to his current role as an assistant professor of microbiological research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

"I will say that without the undergraduate research experience I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to even go to graduate school," Grant said.

Grant was one of three GVSU graduates to join Jennifer Drake, provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs, for the opening plenary session at the Council on Undergraduate Research's ConnectUR conference held June 16 in Grand Rapids. The trio of graduates highlighted how undergraduate research shaped their academic and professional trajectories.

"For students, the opportunity to do research as an undergraduate can be profoundly life changing," Drake said. "It can be the first time someone says, 'Your ideas matter, and you belong here.'

"Undergraduate research builds confidence. It builds capacity. It nurtures curiosity and critical thinking and it helps students move from learning about the world to engaging with it and shaping it."