Last Friday, rather than getting an early start to the weekend, student Lucy Walsh was talking about lead isotopic ratios in minerals and glasses from large, explosive volcanic eruptions that occur in Greece.

In more common terms, Walsh spent her Friday talking about how volcanoes can form without melting and mixing the earth’s upper crust, allowing volcanic material to bubble up and spew onto the planet’s surface.

Nearly 700 undergraduates like Walsh flooded Mary Gates Hall Friday, showcasing their findings at the 12th annual UW Undergraduate Research Symposium held by the university’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP).

Some student researchers showed their research in poster format. Others gave 10-minute presentations that were moderated by experts in their field of study.

For many undergraduates, working on research with their mentors through the URP was their first research opportunity.

The URP helps hundreds of students find a match for their interests so they can have a rewarding time studying what they are interested in, said URP Director Janice DeCosmo.

Alongside her mentor Christian Sidor, senior Rachel Simon studied the oldest dinocephalian (vertebrates distantly related to mammals) fossils from Tanzania. She said having the hands-on research experience was great and that the work that is being done by undergraduates is, contrary to popular opinion, significant.

“We’re contributing to science knowledge and making history,” Simon said. “Professors are going to be talking about this in classrooms and lecture halls someday.”

Senior Yecelica Valdivia presented her research on food politics in Puget Sound in a session moderated by urban design and planning professor Dennis Ryan.

By mapping foodsheds in the region and looking at maps of developing food-system alternatives such as farmer’s markets, urban farms and dumpster-diving locations, Valdivia took a closer look at who should get rights to food in order to form a solid idea of food sovereignty.

For most students at the symposium, the research they perform is an integral supplement to their classroom education.

Senior Harpreet Dhaliwal, who studies biology, said his research led him beyond the books.

“The most rewarding part of my research experience has been to be able to apply textbook concepts in genetics and molecular biology that I would have only had the chance to read about in classrooms,” Dhaliwal said. “Today, I’m actually performing these assays myself.”

Jennifer Harris, associate director of the URP, said before the event that she was excited to see students and their presentations. Building up to a finished product is hard work, she said, and the symposium served as a sort of celebration for that dedication.

Senior Min-Tih Lai has been studying how different materials respond to electromagnetic radiation. He said his research will hopefully extend into studying electromagnetic near-field properties with nanoscale resolution.

“I feel like one of many,” Lai said of his research presentation at the symposium. “It’s great to see that there are so many other projects going on.”

Reach reporter Vivian Luu at news@dailyuw.com.