Fifteen Edmonds College students were selected to present their research at the University of Washington’s 24th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. The students represented a range of academic disciplines, including environmental science, computer science and physics.

“Presenting at the symposium made me realize how far I’d come,” said EC student Tatum Narode, who gave a lightning talk about her research on the urban heat island effect in Atlanta, Georgia. “For a long time it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere, uncovering problem after problem. It was a bumpy but satisfying process.”

Narode started her research as part of a group project in instructor Rachel Wade’s physics class last fall. She met her initial collaborators — Tatiana Macarov, Nereyda Fuentes and Harrison Butler — through in-person labs.

“Dr. Wade really helped build a community in class,” said Narode. “She’s been encouraging this whole time.”

Narode is a high school student taking college classes at EC through the Running Start program. She will graduate from high school this spring and transfer this fall to the University of British Columbia to continue studying environmental science.

“I enjoy the world of academia quite a bit.” said Narode. “I see myself in grad school, maybe studying policy as well. I like finding the intersections between people and the planet.”

To learn more about the EC student researchers, visit the Undergraduate Research Symposium website. One EC research team also presented at the national Posters on the Hill conference earlier this year — read more on the Edmonds College website.