USC senior Bear McCreary was inspired to write a symphony about the 1928 collapse of the St. Francis Dam after touring the site with his geography class.

"I was very moved by the story of how the dam fell and killed 450 people," said McCreary, who is majoring in music composition.

"It was very powerful imagery for me. I knew the moment I stepped onto the old dam that I had to put this story to music and words. My goal was to write about a singular moment in Los Angeles history."

In mid-April, McCreary won first place in the arts category for his orchestral piece, "The Collapse of Saint Francis," at the third annual USC Undergraduate Symposium for Scholarly and Creative Work.

Five other entries took first-place prizes in the categories of humanities, life sciences, social sciences, professional and applied disciplines, and physical sciences, mathematics and engineering.

The projects were presented to a panel of judges on April 18.

The symposium gives undergraduates a unique opportunity to display their research and creative efforts, said Joseph Hellige, vice provost for academic programs.

"This is one of those events that showcase the kind of university and community we are," said Hellige, who co-sponsored the symposium with Cornelius Sullivan, vice provost for research. "Our mission is to encourage new knowledge and reach out to undergraduate students."

Traditionally, research projects are launched at the graduate level, but USC encourages scholarly and creative work for students at all levels.

"This is something that really sets USC apart from other universities," said Alexander Jun, assistant director of undergraduate programs, who helped coordinate the symposium. "An opportunity to present research balances out what students learn in the classroom and takes them to a new level. It also provides great practical experience for students who want to go on to graduate school."

This year 125 students were involved in 89 submissions. First-place winners took home $500, and second-place winners received $250.

Each undergraduate project had a faculty sponsor whose role ranged from principal investigator to honors program director to mentor.

Ina Murdock-Santos and fellow students Annie Babcock, John Reifler, Kelle Leber and Ryan Gahagan won first place in the humanities category for their research on a priceless mosaic that was donated to the university decades ago and was once displayed in a Roman villa.

The group’s goal was to discover methods used to restore an ancient relic and provide a site explaining these procedures to the public.

"It was really awesome research," said Murdock-Santos. "We’ve been studying the mosaic all semester, trying to pin down where it came from and when it was created."

The other first-place winners, their majors and categories were:

Life sciences – Thuzar Shin, gerontology, for research on Alzheimer’s disease and the development of intervention strategies for combating the disease.

Physical sciences, math and engineering – Lindsey Bruesch, physics and astronomy, for laboratory investigations of Europa’s sodium atmosphere.

Professional and applied disciplines – Jennifer Manuel, psychology, for her research on the development of trust among virtual team members from different organizational cultures.

Social sciences – Adam Choppin, international relations, for his studies on the ongoing civil war in Sudan and how its oil industry has raised the stakes in the conflict.

The judges also recognized three presentations for their interdisciplinary focus. The three winners in this interdisciplinary category were: Marissa Schleicher; Aaron Roethe; and Kimberly Shapiro, Phuc "Sam" Nguyen and Kara Springer.