UC Davis student Natasha Bibbs of Sacramento has already gone places with academic research — and she hopes to go even further.

The fourth-year student travelled about 2,000 miles to Louisiana and more than 150 years back in time to discover how someone she believes is an ancestor — perhaps her great-great-grandfather — became one of the first Black doctors in his community and used his status to contribute to the African American community.

Acknowledging that at one time she avoided research, Bibbs said she now knows the excitement of handling original documents from an archive: “It was like holding history in your hands.”

Record number

Writing a senior honors thesis on John H. Lowery (1861-1941), Bibbs is among a record number of students preparing oral and poster presentations and arts and design projects for the 36th annual Undergraduate Research Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference on campus Friday and Saturday (April 25-26).

Within the culture of a top research university, thousands of undergraduates participate in faculty and independent research projects. The conference will showcase the research of 1,066 students as it familiarizes them with the process and academic rigors of presenting research in a scholarly manner.

“Research is in the fabric of what the campus does,” said Raynell Hamilton-Starks, director of the Undergraduate Research Center. “Our students are asking questions. They’re looking for answers. They’re thinking critically. They’re trying new things.”

Free and open to public

The conference is free and open to the public. Poster presentations and the arts and design exhibit will be held in the University Credit Union Center from 1-5 p.m. Friday. Oral presentations will be held in Wellman Hall from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday.

To participate in the conference, students were required to submit an abstract of their research and have sign-off from a faculty sponsor.

Bibbs, a transfer student majoring in both psychology and African American and African studies, used the spring break to do research in New Orleans and Donaldsonville, about 70 miles to its northwest and where Lowery practiced.

Her visit included a tour of the River Road African American Museum in Donaldsonville, dedicated to preserving the history and legacy of Lowery’s medical office and three other sites. Bibbs drove past the site of the plantation where Lowery employed African American sharecroppers during Reconstruction. She also met with the mayor of Donaldsonville, who presented her with the key to the city.

Archival research took Bibbs to the Amistad Research Center, which specializes in the history of African Americans, and Xavier University of Louisiana, both in New Orleans.

New initiative provides support

Her research trip was made possible by the Aggie Scholars Research Initiative, a new program among those that provide funding, mentorship and skill-building workshops for undergraduate research. Awarding stipends of up to $1,000, the initiative is designed to foster equitable participation in research, with a focus on supporting underrepresented students in the social sciences, arts and humanities.

Bibbs and 34 other students already pursuing independent research with a faculty advisor were accepted into the initiative in the winter quarter. A cohort of 14 students without a defined research topic or mentor joined this spring and are pursuing research-related projects in teams.

Last year as a junior, Brittnay Barrett of Suisun City, California, got involved with research through the McNair Scholars Program, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education to prepare undergraduates for doctoral studies. Participants are first-generation students with financial need, and the program provides mentoring, workshops and a stipend for summer research.

Now a senior, the psychology and African American and American studies double major will make a conference presentation about the research for her senior honors thesis. It looks at how the experiences of Black fathers with mental health resources shape their decisions about seeking treatment for their children and what effect this will have on their choices of treatment in adulthood.

Resources for all students

Working with several campus units, the Undergraduate Research Center organizes workshops, open to all undergraduates, to help them pursue research including how to use the library for research, prepare applications to the Institutional Review Board to work with human subjects and write research paper abstracts.

At the conference, Barrett and Bibbs will make oral presentations with slides. The center offers workshops and has other resources on its website to help conference participants create effective academic posters, make oral academic presentations and more.

Bibbs, who will later complete a 25- to 40-page paper for her honors thesis, said she intends to pursue graduate school and a career in speech language pathology or as an elementary school psychologist.

‘Transferrable skills’

Beyond the introduction to academic research, Bibbs said, her experience has already yielded benefits. “It definitely gives me transferrable skills,” she said. “I did so much calling and correspondence trying to find connections, synthesizing of information … it can transfer to other things.”

After graduation, Barrett will be looking to build on her research experience before applying to start a graduate program in clinical psychology in fall 2026. She said she hopes to open her own practice or work with community organizations.

Barrett has advice for fellow students: “Start research as early as possible, even in your first year.

“Everybody should do it,” she added. “I love the fact that even if you’re not an expert, you still have insight to offer. To talk about stuff that is of interest to you is an amazing opportunity.”

The research conference is organized by a campuswide committee and sponsored by the center, with support from Undergraduate Education, Student Affairs, Global Affairs and the University Library.