The 2008 UCI Libraries-Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Fellowships (LURF) have been awarded to six undergraduate students. The fellowships are co-funded by the Libraries' Nellie Ansley Reeves Award Endowed Fund and by the UCI Undergraduate Research Opportuities Program (UROP).

From left to right: Sheilamae Reyes, Jalili Eemaan, Matthew Alecock, Marie Grace Trinidad, Lisa Van Vu

The Libraries strongly support undergraduate research across all disciplines on campus. The LURF awards were established in response to the 2004 Task Force on Undergraduate Education recommendation that all undergraduate students participate in research and creative activities to broaden their understanding of their fields of study. The awards provide recognition and support to students whose research projects make significant use of library resources, demonstrate creative applications of research methodology, or focus on research about the scholarly information process. In addition to their faculty mentors, Library Fellows have the opportunity to work closely with a research librarian who is a subject expert in the relevant field of inquiry.

The six undergraduate recipients' projects reflect the diverse nature of research across the disciplines. The 2008 LURF recipients are Sheilamae Reyes (Sociology, Anthropology) for her project "Framing California's Proposition 187," Brian Walker (Literary Journalism) for "The Evolution of the 14th Amendment Through a Human Perspective," Marie Grace Trinidad (Public Health Policy) for "Evaluating the Efficacy of Hygiene Improvement Frameworks Using Existing Cultural Beliefs," Matthew Alecock (Criminology, Law and Society) for "California's Compassionate Choice: The Failure of California's Right to Die Legislation Despite Electorate Majority Support," Jalili Eemaan (Political Science) for "The Japanese Textbook: Controversial Changes in Rhetoric," and Lisa Van Vu (International Studies) for "The Learning and Motivating Power of Environmental Cinema."

Fellows shared the results of their research at the annual UCI Undergraduate Research Symposium in May and submitted their manuscripts for publication consideration in The UCI Undergraduate Research Journal, published annually by UROP.

The Nellie Ansley Reeves Award Endowment was established by the late Nellie Ansley Reeves, a generous supporter and friend of the UC Irvine Libraries, until her passing in 2000. For over 20 years, the Nellie Ansley Reeves Award endowment has funded prizes to UCI students to honor Nellie's wishes to involve students in the library.

For further information, please contact Cathy Palmer at 949.824.4972 or cpalmer@uci.edu.