Bemidji State Students Share Research at Annual Conference

Students at a small Minnesota university just proved that groundbreaking research doesn't only happen at Ivy League schools.

Bemidji State University hosted its 27th annual Student Achievement Conference on Wednesday, where more than 80 students shared projects they'd spent months developing. The conference featured two dozen oral presentations and 56 poster displays, giving students a platform to present real research to their community.

Senior Bailey Gottlieb tackled a problem every college student knows too well. Her project on "Proactive Interference on Working Memory" explored why students remember the beginning of lectures but forget the end. "It's proactive interference happening in real life," she explained, hoping her findings will help teachers redesign how they present information so students retain more.

Juniors Ella Countryman and Mak Witucki took classroom marketing theory and applied it to actual campus programs. Their research on student participation in study abroad programs gave them hands-on experience that textbooks can't provide. "I've learned more with Professor Kelly La Venture than I have ever in any of my marketing courses because she lets us apply them hands-on," Countryman said.

The conference theme, "Create, Innovate, Inspire," encouraged students to explore topics across academic disciplines, art and design, and community impact. Each presentation demonstrated how small state universities can offer opportunities that larger institutions might not provide to undergraduates.

Why This Inspires

The keynote speaker knew firsthand what these opportunities could lead to. Dr. Christopher Waller, now a U.S. Federal Reserve Governor, graduated from Bemidji State himself. His message to current students was clear: "Just because you're at Bemidji, a small state school in northern Minnesota, there are things that it will offer you that you won't get at other larger, more well-known universities."

University President Dr. John L. Hoffman sees these presentations as launching pads for future success. "They are achieving at the highest level right here, right now," he said. "But this helps them to see that these achievements in college are just the start of even greater things to come."

The conference proves that meaningful research and real-world problem solving can happen anywhere students are encouraged to dream big and apply what they learn.