Research Symposium

On April 24, 2001 the University of Louisiana at Monroe began what will hopefully be a long-lived annual celebration. Eighty-two student researchers presented their work at the First Annual Student Research Symposium in the Conference Room on the seventh floor of the University Library. With these eighty-two students, five of the seven academic colleges were represented as the day proved to be an ideal showcase for an outstanding group of scholars.

Of the eighty-two, sixteen students presented research that was supported by the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program at ULM. Including the Hughes awardees, the College of Pure and Applied Sciences had the largest number of students participating in the event with a total of seventeen undergraduates and eleven graduates.

Brian Keator's poster, "Preparation and Characterization of Propanil Degradation Products," won the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Award, College of Pure and Applied Sciences. View his poster in PowerPoint at this link.

Cody Bellard and Amanda Dillingham won the 2nd Place Undergraduate Poster Award, College of Pure and Applied Sciences. Project title: Overall Heterozygosity vs. MHC Variation in the Wild Turkey (Supervising professor: Dr. Ann Findley, Department of Biology). View their poster by following this link.

Melissa Bicking takes a moment to pose by her poster,
" Development of a Microsatellite DNA primer for the spotted sleeper, Eleotris picta." Melissa's supervising professor is Dr. Frank Pezold, Department of Biology.

Luke LeBas and Chancie Morace worked on 2 joint projects with Dr. Ann Findley and others. They are pictured here with one of their posters, "Extracellular Maintenance and Ultrastructural Integrity of an Intracellular Parasite," during the symposium.

Other Hughes awardees participating in the event but not pictured above include:

Chris Fenoli Project title: Preparations and analyses of naptho[r,s,t,] pentahene derivatives. (Supervising professor: Dr. Mark Arant, Department of Chemistry).

Lacy Ezell Project title: Environmental friendly control of the Chinese Tallow Tree. (Supervising professor: Dr. Charles Allen, Department of Biology).

Slade Smith Project title: Exploration of Enolate Diels-alder Reactions with Arynes. (Supervising professor: Dr. Mark Arant, Department of Chemistry).

David Pruett Project title: Novel Asymmetrical Diimino and Diamino Naphthyridines as Ligands for Biological Metals. (Supervising professor: Dr. Stephen Fox, Department of Chemistry).

Lukas Beebe Project title: Novel Symmetrical Diimino and Diamino Naphthyridines as Ligands for Biological Metals. (Supervising professor: Dr. Stephen Fox, Department of Chemistry).

Iveri Zhvania Project title: Preparation and characterization of nitroaromatic compounds related to 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT). (Supervising professor: Dr. Thomas Junk, Department of Chemistry).

Josh Maxey Project title: Taxonomy and Identification of the Functional Position of Isolated Fossil Shark Teeth by Comparison to Modern Shark Jaws. (Supervising professor: Dr. Gary Stringer, Department of Geosciences).

Chris Davis Project title: A Systematic Review of the Gobioid genus Dormitator (Family Eleotridae) (Supervising professor: Dr. Frank Pezold, Department of Biology).

Damien Lombardo Project title: Syntheses of substituted guanidines (Supervising professor: Dr. David Dawson, Department of Chemistry).

Christopher Waters Project title: Growth Chronology and Population Structure of Sports Fish in the Black Bayou Lake (Supervising professor: Dr. Peter Aku, Department of Biology).