{"id":108306,"date":"2026-04-28T08:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=108306"},"modified":"2026-04-28T08:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:46:13","slug":"delta-state-university-students-recognized-for-excellence-at-academic-research-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/2026\/04\/delta-state-university-students-recognized-for-excellence-at-academic-research-showcase\/","title":{"rendered":"Delta State University students recognized for excellence at Academic Research Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; row_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; row_border_radius_applies=&#8221;bg&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221; tablet_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; phone_text_alignment=&#8221;default&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221; border_type=&#8221;simple&#8221; column_border_width=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;][vc_column_text]\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>CLEVELAND, Miss. \u2014 <\/strong>Delta State University recognized the outstanding achievements of 14 graduate and undergraduate students who showcased their research at the annual Academic Research Showcase, highlighting the university\u2019s continued commitment to academic excellence and student scholarship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organized by Fawn Ussery, Director of Library Services, and hosted by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Roberts-LaForge Library, the showcase provided a platform for students to present original research in a poster session format. Held in the Student Success Center on the first floor of the library, the event allowed participants to share their work and engage with members of the campus community.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_108308\" style=\"width: 353px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-108308\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-108308\" src=\"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/IMG_0687-e1777383669380-343x430.jpg\" alt=\"Jacob Runyon stands next to his research poster.\" width=\"343\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/IMG_0687-e1777383669380-343x430.jpg 343w, https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/IMG_0687-e1777383669380-96x120.jpg 96w, https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/IMG_0687-e1777383669380.jpg 449w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-108308\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jacob Runyon of Hilton, New York placed second in the recent Academic Research Showcase.<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among undergraduate participants, Erick Manriquez of Hamburg, Arkansas earned first place for his project, \u201cAnalysis of Microplastics in Teeth,\u201d while Jacob Runyon of Hilton, New York placed second with his research titled \u201cEndurance Sport Performance Under Mental Fatigue.\u201d In the graduate category, Katerina Krauss of Tupelo received first place for \u201cChaos to Calm: Building Respect and Self Control in First Grade,\u201d followed by Abigail Cockerill of Brandon in second place for \u201c10 Day Tardy Erase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ussery reflected on the significance of the event, noting its connection to the university\u2019s longstanding mission. \u201cAlmost one hundred years ago, our second president, Dr. Kethley, told his students to \u2018Hold up the light of learning, and forget not that you, yourself, are the true reflection of your school,\u2019\u201d said Ussery. \u201cThat message remains today, as I witnessed 14 scholars stand tall as the true reflection of their major, college and university with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Academic Research Showcase underscores Delta State\u2019s dedication to fostering a culture of inquiry, innovation and hands-on learning by providing students with meaningful opportunities to pursue and present research.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more information about the Office of Academic Affairs at Delta State University, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/academics\/academic-affairs\/\">https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/academics\/academic-affairs\/<\/a>. For more information about the Roberts-LaForge Library, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/\">https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row type=&#8221;in_container&#8221; full_screen_row_position=&#8221;middle&#8221; column_margin=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_tablet=&#8221;default&#8221; column_direction_phone=&#8221;default&#8221; scene_position=&#8221;center&#8221; text_color=&#8221;dark&#8221; text_align=&#8221;left&#8221; row_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; row_border_radius_applies=&#8221;bg&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; shape_divider_position=&#8221;bottom&#8221; bg_image_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;][vc_column column_padding=&#8221;no-extra-padding&#8221; column_padding_tablet=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_phone=&#8221;inherit&#8221; column_padding_position=&#8221;all&#8221; column_element_spacing=&#8221;default&#8221; background_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; background_hover_color_opacity=&#8221;1&#8243; column_shadow=&#8221;none&#8221; column_border_radius=&#8221;none&#8221; column_link_target=&#8221;_self&#8221; gradient_direction=&#8221;left_to_right&#8221; overlay_strength=&#8221;0.3&#8243; width=&#8221;1\/1&#8243; tablet_width_inherit=&#8221;default&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":108307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1942],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-college-of-nursing-health-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108310,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108306\/revisions\/108310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}