Multiple PLU students receive awards for their research at Murdock Conference

PLU students showed up to the Murdock Conference on Science and Engineering – and left with multiple awards for their research.

Biology majors McKenzie Kapalova ’27 and Yom Aymeku ’27 were recognized for a project on how energy moves through biological systems, which has real implications for things like sustainable energy and human health. It’s the kind of research that sounds intimidating at first, and honestly, parts of it are. “I thought that when we were going through the research, we would read manuals and know exactly what to do,” McKenzie said. “I was wrong about this approach.” Instead, they had to figure things out as they went – testing ideas, adjusting, and learning through the process. When they won, it felt earned. “It was such a rewarding experience, and I felt like, ‘Wow, we really did this.’”

At the same conference, psychology student Viktoria Yeager won a top award for research on how people perceive language sounds, work that could shape how we understand language learning and even improve speech recognition technology.

Across the board, students talked less about the awards and more about what it took to get there — creativity, problem-solving, and learning to trust themselves when things didn’t go as planned. As Yom put it, “Through this experience, I gained a new perspective on the importance of patience and learning to trust the research process.”