Skip navigation

Honors College

Honors College Researcher Spotlight

Page Content

 

HC Podcasts with Sam Gearhart

 

Join Honors College graduate Sam Gearhart as he talks with his fellow students about college life, their research, and the advice they have for new Honors College students.

 

 

Ep. 1: John Hood

In this episode, senior John Hood discusses his project involving the synthesis of tri-substituted piperidines, an important organic structure that is often used in drug syntheses. John recounts his journey from high school through college, from being a carpenter to a scientist. He additionally gives advice for incoming and underclassmen students, as well as a direction for his work after graduation from USM.

 

 

Ep.2: Maya Rex

Maya Rex, a senior Philosophy major from Ocean Springs with pre-law emphasis and a psychology minor and a love for Phish Food, discusses her experience through the Honors College and her project. Her research, begun sophomore year, investigates the response from children when confronted with various facial features and skin tones, to prove that implicit and explicit biases exist and that these may affect children through their childhood and into adulthood. She also includes insights she has learned throughout her college experience and thesis writing process. 

 

 

Ep. 3: Delaney Clouse

Delaney Clouse, a senior Polymer Science major from St. Louis, MO, details her choosing of USM as her university and the ups and downs of her underclassman years. We discuss her work in her research group, which focuses on how water molecules move through multi-layer polymer systems to prevent corrosion. Her research is pertinent in many materials fields, evidenced by her participation in numerous REU (Research Externships for Undergraduates) programs across the country during her summers. She gives advice from her experiences at USM as well. 

 

 

Ep. 4: Ella Embry

Ella Embry is a senior "stressed out cucumber." More specifically, she is a senior theater major from Olive Branch, MS, who is active in the numerous plays put on by the Theater department at USM. She talks about her transition from high school to college, and details her research, which focuses on how actors' perceptions of self change with getting into their costumes, thereby marrying her love for theater and psychology. Ella details the numerous struggles she had with her project and how she was able to get through all of them, and gives advice for upcoming researchers.  

 

 

 

Ep. 5: Nathan Kurtz 

Nathan Kurtz is a senior Chemistry major from Daphne, AL who likes to "lift weights, go for long walks on the beach, pet dogs, etc" who researches in the field of renewable energy. He also holds a religion minor and enjoys studying eastern religions. Nathan details his work in Dr. Wujian Miao's lab, as well as recounts some of his REU experiences during summers. He also gives advice to Honors students that he has learned over his time at USM. 

 

 

Ep. 6: Caroline Brady

Caroline Bradley, a senior from Lucedale, MS is a pre-law HC student that will be attending the University of Florida Law School next year. In addition to serving numerous roles at USM, she has also completed her honors research project, which under Dr. Emily Stanback focused on disability studies in the light of Disney movies. Her project seeks to investigate how perceptions of disability are a perpetuated social construct in our childhood Disney movies. Caroline tells us about her favorite ice cream, her project, and advice that she has for upcoming students. 

 

 

Ep. 7: Henry Woodyard

Henry Woodyard, a senior Economics major from Ellisville, MS, details his choosing of USM as a college, which was mostly based on the people here at USM. We also get to hear about some of Henry's hobbies outside of school, mostly drawing and reading. Henry also details his research, which focuses on segregation in schooling created by the myriad private schools that popped up after integration began to be implemented. His focus is on the choice of private school over public at a school level, rather than an individual level, to provide a better look at the geographic and economic drives for choosing either school. Finally, Henry closes out our year by discussing his thoughts on good things for up-and-coming students to get in the habit of. 







Contact Us

Honors College
Honor House
118 College Drive #5162
Hattiesburg, MS 39406

Hattiesburg Campus

Campus Map

Phone
601.266.4533