Catalyst: Online Version

Amanda Perkins

For the first time, Catalyst: A Multidisciplinary Review of Undergraduate Scholarship is available online. We at Catalyst hope that this will boost our readership, reach more people, and most importantly, inspire undergraduates to pursue research.

I have designed several organizational web sites at The University of Southern Mississippi, including that for the Gay/Straight Alliance and the award-winning Honors Student Association Web site. Throughout the process of design, I keep in mind the image to be presented, but I also include a little bit of myself. I study biology, so for the Catalyst Web site, I wanted to use the motif of a protein structure.

In living systems, a catalyst is an enzyme, a protein, that helps chemical reactions occur at a faster rate. Similarly, Catalyst is a medium for helping students reach their scholarly potential sooner than most.

Although a biochemical catalyst may give the impression that Catalyst is only a publication of laboratory research, it is clear that Catalyst is multidisciplinary. Research is a staple of all fields, and Catalyst is like an enzyme that does not discriminate: any undergrad in any field can succeed academically and work in research.

Catalyst online will include every article you have read and every picture you have seen in this issue. In future years, I hope to see it grow to include subsequent issues.

I suppose I am a catalyst, getting the Web site off the ground and running sooner than if I were not around--but enough with the metaphors. Visit Catalyst online. Give us some feedback. Get inspired: