Biology Undergraduates Excel at LSAMP Conference

The PUC Department of Biological Sciences was recently represented at the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Midwest Crossroads Conference at Indiana University in Bloomington by eight very talented and energetic students.

The LSAMP is a National Science Foundation sponsored program that awards stipends to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math undergraduates for working on a research project with a faculty mentor. This enables them to be involved in research, connect with faculty mentors, learn more about their chosen profession, and teaches them how to develop a project proposal and presentation. Our students presenting their research work included:ong:

April Komendat: “Compensatory response to reduced parental investment” (Mentor – Dr. Curtis Creighton).

Sandie Zlotorzynski: “The effect of resource limitation on lifetime reproductive success of male burying beetles (Nicrophorus orbicollis)” (Mentor – Dr. Curtis Creighton)

Sarah Parish: “Subcloning of the hepatitis B small surface antigen gene: a new technique in DNA vaccine development” (Mentor - Dr. Charles Tseng)

Aliciavidal Ruiz: “New technique for bacterial source tracking” (Mentor – Dr. Charles Tseng)

Marija Dobratic and Veronica Castellanos: “The role of actin-based motor proteins - non-muscle Myosin II in neuronal growth cone motility” (Mentor – Dr. Feng-Song Wang)

Amanda Frain: “GIRK2 N and C termini molecular biology” (Mentor – Dr. Radmila Sarac)

Anthea Saez: “Mobbing behavior of the carolina chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches: results of payback responses” (Mentors – Dr. Young Choi and Dr. Jeff Lucas, W. Lafayette)

All of our students did a great job at the conference and we are proud of their efforts.

Two of our students, Anthea and April, received the 2nd place awards in the poster and platform presentation categories, respectively, at the meeting. These are especially outstanding accomplishments at a meeting that drew participants from research-intensive educational institutions from across the Midwest. Way to go!