Nine St. Mary’s College of Maryland chemistry and biochemistry students presented their original research at two national conferences in Orlando, Florida, this spring: the 257th National American Chemistry Society (ACS) conference and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) annual meeting, part of Experimental Biology 2019. The students presented on work related to their senior capstone projects (St. Mary’s Projects), other research they completed within the department, or as part of a summer research program.
Seven students presented posters at the ACS conference (from left to right in the photo): back row - Perry Conor (chemistry, ‘19) "Elemental, Phenolic, and Stable Isotopic Fingerprinting of Wines from the Chesapeake Bay Growing Region;" Randy Larsen IV (biochemistry, ’19) "Role of Cation Hydrophoboicity in Mineral-Assisted Membrane Formation;" Lynn Stevens (chemistry, ’19) "Characterization of Si(BIP)2 Complexes: Novel Material for Organic Electronic Device;" Amanda Siskey (chemistry, ’19) "Micro-Plastic Identification in the Anacostia River using Micro-raman Spectroscopy;" Serena Medor (chemistry ’19) and front row - Caitlyn Gerwitz (chemistry ’19) "Graphene Oxide- Polyethylenimine Lightweight Solution Processed Rust Barrier for Aluminum Copper Alloys;" and Sarah Connell (biochemistry, ’19) "Does a Targeted Intervention Utilizing Physical Manipulatives Help Students Better Answer Quiz and Exam Questions on Often Difficult Organic Chemistry Concepts?"
Two students presented posters at the annual ASBMB conference (from left to right in the photo): Ivy Antunes (biochemistry, ’20) "Progress Towards Development of an ELISA for Quantifying Avian CBG;" Pamela Mertz, professor of chemistry & biochemistry; Shanen Sherrer, assistant professor of biochemistry; and Kelly Healy (biochemistry, ’19) "Method Development for Identification and Verification of Protein Metal-binding Sites."
In addition to these excellent presentations which were all well received, the students also secured a number of travel awards to financially support their participation at the conferences including: Patrick K. Mahlon Memorial Chemistry Funds (awarded to all student travelers); ACS student chapter travel award (awarded to all ACS travelers); ASBMB student chapter travel award (awarded to Kelly Healy); Chemical Society of Washington’s student travel award (awarded to Sarah Connell); ACS Maryland Section student travel award (awarded to Randy Larsen IV); NanoSURE REU travel award (awarded to Lynn Stevens, NSF Grant#1757619); and the Myron G. Marlay Award for Science (awarded to Serena Medor).
Congratulations to these student researchers and their faculty mentors for a job well done!
