Topeka ? It was kind of a cerebral show-and-tell Wednesday in the Capitol as graduate students from Kansas University, Kansas State and Wichita State displayed a wide range of research projects.

While the research titles were difficult for laymen to decipher, the projects focused on real problems and challenges, such as obesity, teacher training, saving rural towns and how cities get rid of their garbage.

Research by Stephanie Wallio and Olivia Chang, students in KU’s psychology department, examined why some people are able to maintain physical activity as part of a weight-loss effort while others aren’t.

“Obesity is a national epidemic with huge costs,” Wallio said.

Working with people who were going through the KU Weight Control Research Project, the researchers found that a person’s level of self confidence and perceived barriers to weight loss could be used to predict the level of physical activity the person was likely to engage in. By intervening when the person perceives a barrier, researchers can help the person overcome it, Wallio said.

Danielle Barker, a Madison and Lila Self graduate student, was part of an intensive two-week chemistry and physics workshop for middle school science teachers.

Barker’s research showed that the teachers improved their knowledge and comfort level in teaching and conducting labs during the workshop.

“We wanted to increase teacher interest (in science instruction) in order to pass that on to students,” Barker said.

Other research projects displayed by KU:

¢ A morphine alternative for cancer patients by Arvind Chappa with the department of pharmaceutical chemistry.

¢ Imaging devices to track polar ice sheets by John Paden, department of electrical engineering and computer science.

¢ Race relations in Kansas by David Peavler, department of history.

¢ Roles of support brokers for individuals with disabilities by Luchara Sayles Wallace, department of special education.

¢ County governments’ response to globalization, loss of jobs and outmigration by Lori Weibold-Lippisch, department of sociology.

¢ Monitoring and measuring the hydrogeologic boundaries of the Kansas River aquifer by Brett Engard, department of geology.