Sophomore Emily Fitzsimmons Shows That Undergraduate Research is Thriving at ESU

Emily Fitzsimmons ’17 wants to show that ESU faculty are all wet.
Well hydrated, that is!

Fitzsimmons will be conducting a “Water Challenge” for ESU faculty next fall. Part of an ambitious student research project, Fitzsimmons wants to engage 200 faculty members in her effort to raise awareness about the benefits of drinking sufficient water.

The sophomore psychology major from East Meadow, N.Y. is working on the project with faculty mentor John (Jyh-Hann) Chang, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology. And as Chang will tell you, Fitzsimmons never does anything small.

Hydration research is only part of her project. Her overarching project is called “Grant Writing for Undergraduate Students,” and her goal was to actually demonstrate how undergraduate students can successfully write and win grants — as she did for the Water Challenge.
Her project received a $1,500 grant from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The funds will cover reusable water bottles and promotion, printed materials and pamphlets, information cards, pitchers of flavored water, and fruit, vegetable, and herb samples.

Fitzsimmons created the project as a member of Chang’s “research team,” a voluntary group of talented students who meet weekly with Chang to work on research projects.

Grant writing, Fitzsimmons says, “is one of the most difficult and critical aspects of a research program.” With this project Fitzsimmons has had first-hand experience with grant writing from creating the concept and scope of the project, the implementation plan, budget and research protocols to creating materials and a plan for evaluation.

In her “Grant Writing for Undergraduate Students” poster Fitzsimmons writes, “Starting the processes early allows undergraduate students to understand the requirements of the specific grants, learn how to contact the source of the grant professionally, complete the proposal successfully and fix any mistakes in the proposal brought to their attention by a review board, and efficiently rewrite and resubmit it. Beginning to learn and perfect these skills to be successful in the grant writing process will push these undergraduates a step ahead of their peers when entering graduate programs.”

Chang says that Fitzsimmons is unusual in that students usually don’t get involved in research until their junior or senior year. He says he doesn’t baby his undergraduate students, and he has high expectations of them. “I push and push. I’m so annoying to them,” he laughs, but Fitzsimmons, a dean’s list student and lacrosse player, “is always pushing herself to do more. She took the bull by the horns and just ran with it.”

Chang’s research team students have won three grants in the past three years. “So much of teaching is theoretical. Here students get an opportunity for real life application.”

Fitzsimmons will present her poster “Grant Writing for Undergraduate Students” at ESU’s Student Research and Creative Activity Symposium on April 23. Assisting Fitzsimmons with the Water Challenge project are fellow research team members Jacqueline Cassaro, a junior psychology major from Mongaup Valley, N.Y., Aisha Prodani, a junior psychology major from East Stroudsburg, Pa., Savannah Doyle, a junior mathematics and psychology major from Stroudsburg, Pa. and Alexa Strelecki, a freshman psychology major from Scranton, Pa.

More than 100 students are expected to participate in the Symposium, designed to provide both undergraduate and graduate students a forum to showcase their academic and research skills through oral and visual presentations. Kevin Quintero, coordinator of graduate admission and co-chair of the event with Bonnie Green, Ph.D., professor of psychology, says it is an opportunity for students to learn how to present their work in a professional venue and to hear valuable feedback from a non-classroom setting.

Fitzsimmons is looking toward a doctoral degree in psychology, with a career as a clinical psychologist or in counseling.

With grant writing a definite part of her professional future, Fitzsimmons says, “I was lucky to be exposed to research and grant writing so early.”

Her advice for other students? “I didn’t know what to expect. It was a lot more work than I thought. If you have the opportunity, get into it earlier.”

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