University students have proved throughout the semester they have what it takes to bring concepts learned through coursework outside of the classroom.
Ornithology students relied on extensive knowledge of bird species gained through experience working with the University Museum of Natural Science to compete in the Birding Rally Challenge in June 2013. The challenge was a competition where competitors sought to identify as many species of Amazonian birds as possible within a specified time frame.
The University team, the Tigrisomas, won the competition, proving they were among the top birders in the world.
“This whole birding competition could not have happened without the decades of work that LSU and other museums had put into exploring the area to actually document what was there,” Ornithology Ph.D. student Glenn Seeholzer said in August.
Higher education graduate student Mike Mosley Jr. has been running the LSU Food Pantry since the start of the fall semester, offering students in need various non-perishable goods.
“There was a need on campus,” Mosley said in September. “We are filling a void.”
Mosley has been collecting donations to increase the supplies, which are free to students who need the goods.
The students on team Tiger Racing, part of the LSU Formula Student Automotive Engineering Club, are continually applying concepts learned in engineering classes to help build their race car, which is built from the ground up to compete in an international competition in May each year.
A group of roughly 30 team members work nights and weekends to craft and design various aspects of this year’s car, something that gives a practical understanding of topics discussed in class, said Tiger Racing President and mechanical engineering senior Matthew Richards.
“Before I joined this I didn’t know much about cars. Now I’m confident in my ability to solve the problem,” Richards said. “I know that if I ask the right questions I can learn about a problem and find someone to work with and solve it.”
Other students, such as digital art senior Jody Knight, are using experience learned inside the classroom to market themselves for potential employers.
Knight worked with the University super computer SuperMike-II on digital projects combined with state of the art facilities like a green screen and motion capture software.
“You can present it to a potential employer,” Knight said in September. “You can be like, ‘Hey, this is what I can do.’ We’re going to go through the whole gambit of what a professional would do.”