Eastern Polisci-Economics student Tess Candler presents her work to members of Congress at Capitol Hill in Washington DC

The Council on Undergraduate Research is national non-profit organization. The goal of the group is to cooperate with legislators and universities in order to encourage undergraduates to assist their professors with research, and to conduct their own. One of the cornerstone events of the organization is its annual Posters on the Hill event that meets every spring on Capitol Hill, Washington DC. The purpose of the event is to gather students from undergraduate programs around the country in one location to present their independent research. These are not your typical presentations though. Rather than explaining research in an academic setting to professors and fellow students, the undergraduates who attend Posters on the Hill have the unique honor of presenting to various members of Congress.

Hundreds of applicants request to attend the prestigious conference every year, but only sixty are accepted. This year, Eastern's own Tess Candler was selected as one of the few people to present at Posters on the Hill. Needless to say, her presence at this event is indicative of the quality of both Eastern Connecticut State University, and its Political Science and Economics departments. In the Fall, Tess submitted her application for the conference to the Council on Undergraduate Research. The application required an abstract on her research idea, her history with academic presentations, and a letter of recommendation from her advisor. In March,

Connecticut Representative Joe Courtney shares some moments to chat and pose with Eastern's Tess Candler during her work in DC.

Tess was informed that her application had been accepted.Tess, along with her advisor Professor Courtney Broscious, traveled to DC together to attend the conference where she presented her research on environmental policy. Specifically, her research project aims at identifying the determinants of environmental policies that conservatives support. Tess' research found a negative correlation between conservative support for environmental policy and bills that directly increase the size of government, hinder businesses, or decrease states' rights. Tess hopes this research will prove beneficial to legislators attempting to pass environmental policy.

While at the conference, Tess presented her work to an audience of legislators, academics and students from different corners of the country. Perhaps the most exciting dialogue Tess had during her time in DC was that with Connecticut's representative Joe Courtney. Tess had a personal conversation with the state representative about the importance of undergraduate research.

Tess' experience is just another example of an Eastern success story. She noted that she had a great experience at the conference, and enjoyed meeting plenty of academics and representatives of congress. Any student who is interested in undergraduate research should reach out to their academic advisers.