Third-year students in Belmont’s Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy Joseph Straatmann and Emilie Edwards were recently selected to present their research at the Tennessee State Capitol as a part of Graduate Week. Straatmann and Edwards presented their research project to state legislators, Tennessee college deans and the Nashville community. Other colleges represented included UT-Martin, UT-Knoxville, Vanderbilt and Austin Peay.

“The primary focus of this poster presentation was to highlight the work that graduate programs were doing across the state,” said Straatmann. “We met wonderful people from all the local universities and had a chance to talk about our research. Not only did we present our poster, but we were able to network with many individuals in the Nashville community and universities.  We received great feedback and tips for future research projects and how we can improve on what we’ve done.”

Straatmann has been impressed with the opportunities he has received within the School of Occupational Therapy since his arrival at Belmont over two years ago. “As a member of the Belmont occupational therapy program, I have had opportunities to present at numerous conferences here in Tennessee, national conferences in other states and even international conferences that pass through Nashville. Our program, as well as Belmont, does a great job of allowing multiple ways for students to become active members in the community.”