From Camden to Columbus: The Transformative Power of the Conference Trip Course

Written by

Kyra Miller

Photographs by

Kyra Miller

Myo and Alan, two senior biology students who were enrolled in the Fall 2025 Conference Trip course

Attending a national conference can be a transformative experience for undergraduate researchers. Attendance at this type of event exposes students to different learning environments and professional settings that cannot be experienced in a classroom alone.

From abstract writing to presentation preparation to networking with industry professionals, conference attendance can introduce students to a variety of new skills and practices that prepares them for their life outside of their undergraduate journey. Whether students pursue advanced degrees out of college or decide to dive directly into industry, the readiness skills students learn from conference prep and presentation are transferable and transformative.

National conferences are a chance to share your research, connect with scientists and mentors from across the country, and see the future of STEM up close. This monumental impact is the reason why Dr. Kwangwon Lee, Professor of Biology and Director of the E3-STEM Institute, developed the Conference Trip course, which launched in Fall 2025.

Open to all STEM undergraduate students currently involved in research under a faculty mentor, the Conference Trip course offers students a cost-free opportunity to attend a national conference. Conference attendance and presentation, which can be life-changing, typically cost students thousands of dollars to attend, creating a huge barrier for students, especially low-income and first-generation students, to overcome.

Through the Conference Trip course, tuition from the course was reinvested to cover associated attendance costs (flights, hotel stays, registration costs), ensuring that students could focus on what matters, not how to pay for it.

The national conference that students attending during the Fall 2025 semester was the NDiSTEM Conference, hosted by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). The NDiSTEM conference is the nation’s leading multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM conference, bringing together students and professions from all cultures/communities and all STEM disciplines.

Ten students made up the inaugural Conference trip cohort, all junior and senior students who are currently involved in research through their undergraduate program. All students developed abstracts and poster presentations and submitted their projects for presentation at the conference; in total, four students were accepted to present at the NDiSTEM conference.

Two of the four presenting students, Myo Thinzar Htin Aung and Alan Rozenblit, were particularly moved by the opportunity to present their work at NDiSTEM, the course giving them each a chance to attend and present at their first national conference. Although they both have presented at internal Rutgers-Camden events, their conference presentations signify their first presentation to the external, professional community.

Myo, a senior undergraduate student majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry, current conducts research in Dr. Lee’s lab, studying the effects of artificial sweetener on circadian behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster. While her pursuit of a biology degree was initially motivated by a dream of medical school, her research and conference experience has led her in a different direction.

“This is an experience that you can never get out of [the classroom alone]. You can go to class and do the research, but presenting at the national conference will be something very different […] and it is very life changing.”

~ Myo Thinzar Htin Aung

Once on a path to medical school, having the opportunity to present her research and network with industry experts at the NDiSTEM conference changed Myo’s career trajectory. Inspired by the dedication and confidence of the experts she met through her research and at the conference, Myo is now hoping to pursue a Pharmacology Ph.D., exploring the actions and interactions of drugs and drug targets within organisms.

For Myo, not only was the presentation portion of the conference a memorable experience but so was the student mentoring program offered by SACNAS. Through their SACRED Mentoring program, Myo was paired with a professional mentor, who currently works as a university faculty member. This relationship, coordinated by SACNAS, gave Myo the opportunity to discuss her academic and career goals with someone who has been in her place, providing much needed support and encouragement.

Research has shown that mentored students are more likely to be retained in STEM and pursue graduate degrees than students without a professional mentor. This relationship can be especially meaningful for underrepresented students enrolled in STEM degrees and can be especially meaningful. Even following the conclusion of the structured mentorship cycle, Myo and her mentor remain in touch, their relationship extending beyond the short-term design of the program.

Alan Rozenblit beside his displayed poster at the NDiSTEM Conference in Columbus, Ohio

For Alan, the conference also represented a professional milestone. As a current senior and undergraduate research in Dr. Nir Yakoby’s lab, Alan is studying gene regulation and morphological difference in fruit flies.

Throughout his academic journey, his research and post-graduate goals have grown and evolved, leading to his current plan to pursue a Ph.D. program in cancer biology. In high school, Alan had initially contemplated the idea of going to medical school, an ambition shared by many undergraduate biology students. Torn between med school and graduate school, Alan attributes his actualized career trajectory to Dr. Lee and his promotion of undergraduate research pathways.

Alan’s time at the NDiSTEM conference was a chance to develop his STEM expertise and heighten his confidence as a STEM researcher. Through various conference workshops and academic sessions, students had the opportunity to connect and converse with other student and professional attendees, learning more about new and niche research interests. This opportunity to network with a wide range of professionals, according to Alan, was the most rewarding part of the conference trip experience, allowing him to strengthen his oral and scientific communication skills.

Outside of general conference workshops and academic sessions, Alan’s opportunity to present his student research project presented a uniquely rewarding opportunity. Conference presentations, whether in the form of a poster or podium presentation, strengthen contextual communication skills as well as problem solving skills. Conference attendees and presentation judges, all of whom come from different academic backgrounds, have the opportunity to ask presenters all kinds of questions, introducing presenters to new ideas and driving them to think about their projects in different ways.

“I loved the opportunity to mingle with others, to go out of my comfort zone […], and realize that we are all in this together. We all love science […] and want to see each other succeed.”

~ Alan Rozenblit

Other unique and rewarding aspects of the NDiSTEM conference, according to Alan, include their cultural representation and presentation, as well as their resources for first time conference attendings. Starting off each conference day with performances by various groups — including a mariachi band and an American Indian dance team — the gathering immersed attendees in multicultural celebrations and traditions, empowering students to bring their whole selves to their STEM fields. Not only this, but SACNAS provides first time attendees and presenters, who are frequently students, with tips and a toolkit on how to navigate the event. These resources help to reduce the barriers to participation and ensure that all participants can have a meaningful and engaging conference experience.

It wasn’t just the SACNAS preparation material that gave students the opportunity to make the NDiSTEM conference their own. It was the Conference Trip course, taught by Dr. Kwangwon Lee, which allowed students to fully participate and engage professionally in the national STEM conference.

Designed with undergraduates in mind, the Conference Trip course was designed with intention, broken up into three different sections: pre-conference preparation, conference participation, and post-conference reflection. The division of the course in three sections allowed students to prepare for and reflect on their conference experience in a structured and sincere way.

“This course isn’t just about travel. It’s about belonging in STEM, growing as a scholar, and sharing your voice with the world.”

~ Dr. Kwangwon Lee