A visitor at last year's Mount David Summit studies chemistry research by Madeline Weber '08 and professor Jennifer Koviach.

The eighth annual Mount David Summit, Bates College's annual celebration of student academic achievement, begins at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 3, in Perry Atrium, Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk).

More than 280 students are participating in this year's summit. In concurrent sessions throughout the afternoon at Pettengill Hall, participants present research posters, short talks, panel discussions, a photography exhibition and film screenings.

The Mount David Summit and related events are open to the public at no cost. For more information contact Kerry O'Brien at kobrien@bates.edu or 207-786-6065.

The summit will culminate in a concert by the Bates College Modern Dance Company at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

The Mount David Summit is an opportunity for Bates students to share recent research, service-learning and creative work. More than 100 research posters represent work in Asian studies, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, Chinese, economics, education, environmental studies, history, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, politics, psychology and public health.

Festive and informative, the event draws a large crowd of students, faculty, staff, and parents. It provides first-years and sophomores a chance to test their presentation skills in a supportive environment, and gives more advanced students the chance to explain their individual research to a wide audience. Broadly multidisciplinary, the summit shows the depth and expanse of scholarship among Bates students.

Here's a look at some summit presentations, held in Pettengill:

-- Student filmmakers will screen work, made in theater department courses, in a course at the Maine Media Workshops, as senior theses and on location in Bolivia;

-- Sociology students will discuss their research on healthcare, education, legal and political systems;

-- Two politics students will lead a discussion of civic activism;

-- Students in the course “Mapping and GIS” will present posters on a range of topics analyzed with global positioning technology, from changes in local playgrounds over time to climate change, land use and population studies.

The event title "Mount David" is borrowed from a Bates landmark: the wooded rocky outcropping at the corner of Mountain Avenue and College Street.

See a full summit schedule.