BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University will host the 37th annual John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference, showcasing undergraduate research projects undertaken by over 100 students, on Saturday, April 11, in the Center for Natural Sciences (CNS).
The conference will begin with a continental breakfast in the CNS atrium at 8 a.m. followed by presentations of posters and oral presentations beginning at 8:30. A performance by the School of Music begins at 9:45.
“The conference has grown so much that we’ve expanded to the second floor of CNS for the poster presentations,” said Assistant Professor of Physics Keller Andrews, chair of the Undergraduate Research Advisory Committee that organizes the conference. “And we’ve started using double-sided posters to save space.”
According to Andrews, “The number of participants has really grown since seeing a drop during the pandemic. I’m hoping that next year we can expand it across campus, maybe even to the new Petrick Idea Center.” The Petrick Idea Center, a new space for student collaboration and innovative endeavors attached to the Joyce Eichhorn Ames School of Art Building, will be open for fall semester 2026.
Andrews also emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of IWU’s undergraduate research.
“You don’t necessarily have physics majors with physics project advisors. Students who are interested in branching out from their field can talk to professors from other disciplines,” Andrews said. “We have a lot of cross disciplinary research in that way.”
Many majors and departments on campus are represented at the John Wesley Powell conference, with research ranging from quantum physics to literacy games in pedagogy to sportsmanship and teamwork.
This year’s conference will feature as its keynote speaker John D. Trybus, director of Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication and the founder of the Jane Goodall Oral History Project. Trybus’s work focuses on public policy and its social impact, ethical philanthropy and effective communication for mission-driven organizations.
The keynote address, “Telling the Story of Us: Lessons from Jane Goodall and the Art of Story Listening,” will begin at 10 a.m. in CNS C101. Further scheduling details can be found here.