Winners announced at Penn State Beaver's annual undergraduate exhibition

Every friendship has a story.

"It started with Dungeons and Dragons."

"They shop together at Goodwill."

"They bridge the ocean between them with video chats."

"Their bond goes beyond owner and pet."

Senior communications major Brooke Doerfler captured four such friendships in words and images for an independent study in photography this semester. Then she entered that collection in Penn State Beaver’s annual Undergraduate Exhibition on Thursday and walked away with a first-place prize in the creative activities category.

She followed that up with another first-place prize in social science, for a study on Instagram.

“It’s overwhelming,” Doerfler said. “I definitely didn’t expect that.”

The undergraduate exhibition is supported by a committee of faculty, administrators and staff and chaired by Senior Instructor Irene Wolf. It allows students, with the backing of a faculty adviser, to showcase their research, outreach and creative work.

This year’s winners are:

Arts and Humanities

• Shaelyn Barchie for "Bridal gowns" — Faculty adviser: Alexander Regina

Creative Activities

• First place, photography: Brooke Doerfler for "The Story of Us" — Faculty adviser: Cathy Benscoter

• First place, video: Anthony Pappas for "Music Video" — Faculty Adviser: John Chapin

Outreach Scholarship

• Katrina Stanley, Rachel Cummings and Kayla Pecina for "Salvation Army" — Faculty Adviser: Angela Fishman

Social Science

• Brooke Doerfler for "Instagram and You: Following the lifestyle you want" — Faculty Adviser: Alexander Regina

University Libraries Award for Information Literacy

• First place: Leigh Kilpatrick for "Research on whether age influences opinion on the death penalty" — Faculty Adviser: Mari Pierce

• Honorable mention: Katrina Stanley, Rachel Cummings and Kayla Pecina for "Salvation Army" — Faculty Adviser: Angela Fishman