"Ath-ero-scle-rot-ic." Before the audience of a bathroom mirror, Vanessa Meuniot pronounces her problem word very deliberately as she rehearses a presentation on chicken metabolism. The UC Davis senior is one of 144 undergraduates who will present their research findings to faculty, administrators and students on campus at the university's ninth annual Undergraduate Research Conference Saturday, May 2. The conference acquaints undergraduates with the rigors of presenting academic research and encourages them to pursue careers in research and teaching. Some will make 15-minute presentations and then take questions for five minutes; others, who have prepared posters about their research, will talk individually with those who indicate an interest in the topic. Meuniot of Potter Valley will be participating for a fourth time. With ambitions of being a physician's assistant, she says she appreciates the opportunity to hone her presentation skills and get a glimpse of graduate education. "When you're able to explain your research to those who aren't familiar with the topic," she says, "it shows you have a mastery of your subject." Research topics -- representing more than 50 academic departments -- will include an analysis of emissions from a diesel bus, the use of needle exchange programs as an HIV prevention strategy, a multimedia arts presentation on St. Francis of Assisi and an index of tribal values for managing wetlands. The conference, free and open to the public, will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Freeborn Hall; presentations will follow at 9:15 a.m. in Wellman Hall.