University Communications and Marketing

Student work showcased at MSUB Research and Creativity Conference

Sixth annual conference scheduled for Friday, April 12

University Communications and Marketing, 657-2266

MSU BILLINGS NEWS—The sixth annual Research, Creativity, and Community Involvement Conference (RCCIC) will be held on Friday, April 12 at Montana State University Billings. A variety of student work from over 140 MSUB students will be on display for all to enjoy. 

This event is free and open to the public, and will include diverse demonstrations ranging from music concerts and the Student Art Exhibition, to the first-ever student presentation formatted as a discussion forum. Guests will also get to enjoy oral presentations covering a wide variety of topics including Google trends in relation to psychological disorders and analyses of popular television shows.

The annual Juried Student Exhibition (JSE) reception and awards ceremony will be held Thursday, April 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Northcutt Steele Gallery. The exhibition will remain open for viewing throughout the conference and through April 30.

“Submissions were received in response to an exhibition call extended earlier this year to all students currently enrolled at MSUB and City College” shared David Craig, honors program director and RCCIC coordinator. “The artworks selected for exhibition testify to rich talents and diverse visions of MSUB students working across a range of media.”

Following the JSE reception, the MSU Billings Music Department will present a Jazz Concert at 7:30 p.m. featuring MSUB groups and guest musician Jeff Troxel of Wyo.

On Friday, April 12 at 12:45 p.m., Gary Ferguson, a noted nature and ecology writer, will open the conference with the keynote lecture in Petro Theatre located on the MSUB campus.

A well-known author in the science community and beyond, Ferguson has published 26 books and hundreds of articles centered on ecology, conservation, and nature. After graduating from the University of Indiana in 1979, Ferguson worked for the U.S. Forest Service before beginning his successful career in writing. From there, he has been recognized for a number of awards from several renowned organizations, including the Society of American Travel Writers, High Plains Book Festival, and the Montana Book Award committee. He continues to be a frequent contributor to a wide variety of publications, including Vanity Fair, Orion, and the Los Angeles Times.

His first book, titled Hawks Rest, was the first book to be awarded Book of the Year by the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association as well as the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association. His newest book, The Eight Master Lessons of Nature, will be released this October.

Immediately following the keynote address, students will begin to deliver their presentations. They will be standing next to their displays, available to discuss their projects with passing visitors. Poster presentations will be featured in the Glacier Room with oral presentations located in the Academic Support Center.

“This sixth annual RCCI Conference showcases and celebrates student creativity, discovery, and research,” said Craig. “Whether at the Juried Art Show, the Jazz Concert, the creative writing sessions, or the research posters and presentations, there is something wonderfully infectious to seeing our students’ achievements.”

An ice cream social open to all guests and participants will round out the event at 3:30 p.m.

A sampling of this year’s presentations:

• Jennifer Downing, student of Dr. Melissa Boehm, will focus on the ABC sitcom “American Housewife”, conducting rhetorical analysis on the correlation between body image and social class portrayed in the series.
• Rusty Butler, student of Dr. Lisa Kemmerer, will hold the first-ever RCCIC discussion forum highlighting ideas for an Environmental Policy in hopes of consideration and adoption by MSUB.
• Shalese Gentry, student of Dr. Jennifer Scroggins, has performed a content analysis of children’s toys in six stores in Billings to ascertain how often and to what degree gender stereotypes are used.