KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� March 11, 2026 鈥� The 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Graduate Student Association will host its 15th annual Friday and Saturday, March 27-28, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 DeChristofaro Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, 120 Flagg Road, on the Kingston Campus.
The annual conference, known as Gradcon, is the University鈥檚 largest graduate student event of the year. It serves as a platform for academics, researchers, and practitioners to exchange ideas, present findings, foster collaboration, and to celebrate scholarly achievement and research excellence. The conference is open to all in the 溏心vlog免费B站 community and the public.
English Ph.D. candidate Olivia Thomakos, a member of the conference鈥檚 planning committee, says this year鈥檚 conference theme, 鈥淢any Paths, One Purpose: Researching for a Better Future,鈥� continues a focus on interdisciplinary work.
鈥淥ur graduate community needs to be in conversation with one another,鈥� she said, 鈥渁s we are all putting in effort to problem-solve, analyze, and engage with questions to improve our collective tomorrow. We invite people to attend to see the brilliance happening on campus, in the building, or even in the lab next door. The Grad Student Conference is an opportunity for connection and celebration of all that our graduate students have to offer at 溏心vlog免费B站.鈥�
The conference will feature guest speakers Steven Cohen and Paul Wolff III.
Steven Cohen (Pivots, Pitstops, and Potholes: Navigating the Windy Road through Graduate Education in Public Health, Friday, March 27, 11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Memorial Union) is an associate professor of public health at 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 College of Health Sciences. A social epidemiologist and applied public health demographer, Cohen studies the impacts of aging on health and health care delivery, socioeconomic and demographic disparities in family caregiving in the U.S., and associated impacts on caregiver health and quality of life. He is the principal investigator for the Rhode Island Caregiving Study and the Rhode Island Life Expectancy Project, which examines the social determinants of life expectancy and mortality in Rhode Island cities and towns. He also examines social factors and place-based characteristics associated with health in older adults. In his talk, Cohen will reflect upon his graduate school experience, including some of the challenges and redirections he faced in his own academic journey. The talk will emphasize the need for graduate students to be open throughout their careers to change and growth, often via unexpected experiences.
Paul Wolff (Living the Lab: Turning Campus Challenges into Real-World Solutions, Saturday, March 28, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Kirk Building), 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 new chief sustainability officer, is a lifelong “maker” with experience working in nonprofit, corporate, and higher education sectors with a variety of administrative, leadership, and academic appointments. He has spearheaded climate action planning, innovative curriculum development, and campus-wide sustainability initiatives at a variety of institutions. Wolff worked to reduce the distance between operations and academics with appointments at Bunker Hill Community College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while developing new sustainability degree programs and strategic engagement activities. Most recently, he served as full-time faculty and director of industry partnerships for the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Wolf has applied knowledge from interdisciplinary fields to pioneer a framework for using the campus as a testbed for innovation (i.e., 鈥榣iving labs’), a dynamic ecosystem that fosters human-centered collaboration to tackle real-world sustainability challenges. He is passionate about mentoring students, bridging communities of practice, and exploring new ways to make academic scholarship more accessible.
The conference will also provide 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate students with a platform to present their work via oral and poster presentations. Exceptional abstracts are eligible to receive a cash prize (ranging from $100 to $400) awarded by the . The has been extended to March 13.
鈥淭his is our way of giving back to the students who pour countless hours into their research and projects,鈥� said Dakota Hunter, a Ph.D. student in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences and a co-chair of the conference committee. 鈥淭he work that 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate students do matters, and it deserves to be seen and celebrated. We believe that amplifying graduate student research strengthens our entire academic community, and we can鈥檛 wait to see the innovative ideas and discoveries brought to the table.鈥�
The annual Graduate Student Conference affirms 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 commitment to fostering academic excellence, supporting emerging scholars, and promoting research that addresses local, national, and global challenges鈥攁nd also the GSA鈥檚 willingness to celebrate their members鈥� hard work and research in a fun way. Earlier this year, the GSA board even launched an upbeat and informative 鈥溾�� to bring community members together for lively discussion after hours; the next one will take place on March 25. While coffee will be the beverage du jour at this year鈥檚 Grad Conference, organizers say the program promises to be a similarly 鈥渨icked good鈥� time.
To learn more or register for this year鈥檚 Graduate School Conference, visit the Graduate Student Association鈥檚 . For further information, please email gsagradconference@gmail.com.