Presenting My Poster at the NEEPS Conference

Author: Alivia DuLaney | Major: Psychology, Criminology, Sociology | Semester: Summer 2025 

With the grant funding I was able to attend the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychological Science Conference at Stockton University in Atlantic City, New Jersey and present my own research at the conference as a poster. Previous research I have worked on during my undergraduate career focused mainly on the field developmental psychology, and being able to meet and interact with experts in the field of evolutionary psychology broadened my understanding of the work that goes on in other areas. It was also an extremely eye-opening experience to be able to present research that I conducted entirely as an undergraduate and watch my amazing mentor, Dr. Mitch Brown, present some of his work as well. I was able to meet many other scholars in the field of psychology from all around the country and from other countries as well; this conference most definitely expanded my understanding of the field of evolutionary psychology from many unique perspectives.

Presenting my work at this conference opened up conversations with other scholars in the field as well as experts. I was very insightful to receive feedback regarding my research project, I talked to quite a few individuals, and I was able to develop as a scholar in the ways I can break down my own research topics into a general conversation and provide context. I was also able to talk to some awesome individuals that had ideas about how I could further develop my current study by maybe adjusting the sample of participants or adding in other scales or questions for addressing potential confounding variables. I was also able to talk to other students about their posters and research and learn more about research topics that I have no experience in such as the evolution of art culture or primate behavior.

I enjoyed how the conference was organized and how the talks for each session were paired well and shared some sort of topic of interest, this way it did not feel as though we were just going from topic to topic without consistency. I also appreciated that there were two Keynote Speakers, who were experience in the field of evolutionary psychology and well-published, that each gave talks during the conference. I honestly do not know of another setting that I would have been able to hear these people talk about their specialties; I particularly enjoyed what the first Keynote Speaker had to say regarding stigmas surrounding the field of research.

I would encourage in undergraduate student interested in research to make an effort to attend a conference like NEEPS, I was able to meet scholars from different countries and listen to experts talk about topics like mating preferences and predictive traits of musculature. I learned so much in a short trip and have taken notes that I will remember for years. My advice for any scholar attending a research conference is to be a sponge and take in every piece of information you can and to use the opportunity to network and meet people in your field with experience that is unique compared to your own.