SJU Science Students Present Research at Undergraduate National Conference
Story by: Tom Halasinski, Ph.D.
2005/2006 SJU SIgma Xi President

    Eleven students from our biology, chemistry, and physics departments presented the results of their research at the 20th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) held at the University of North Carolina at Asheville from April 6-8, 2006.
    Since 1987, Saint Joseph’s University undergraduates have been representing the University at the NCUR.  The NCUR is sponsored by an association of college and university faculty, students, and administrators interested in promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study and in enriching undergraduate teaching and learning by providing opportunities for students to experience firsthand the processes of scholarly exploration and discovery that characterizes academic life.
     This year NCUR hosted more than 1,900 presentations from about 2,300 student representatives from around 280 schools across the country.  From Saint Joseph’s University, six biology, two chemistry, two chemical biology, and two physics students presented papers.
     The students and mentors and their research topics included: Andrzej Latka ’09 (Dr. Piotr Habdas, Assistant Professor of Physics), Microscopy studies of the re-entrant glass transition; Hans Wheelersburg ’07 (Dr. Piotr Habdas) Kinematics of a sphere moving through non-newtonian liquids; Katina Do ’06 (Dr. Tom Halasinski, Assistant Professor of Chemistry) Spectroscopic investigations of the benzene-hydrogen peroxide complex in low-temperature matrices; Jacqueline Wesolow ’06 and Kathryn Saia ’06 (Dr. Mark Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Chemistry) Regulation of mammalian large-conductance potassium channels by heme; Ravi Pujara ’07 (Dr. Paul Tefft, Professor of Biology) Decreased permeability in soybean cyst nematode eggs treated with azetidine-2-carboxylic acid; Joshua Brody ’06 and Lisa Crescenti ’06 (Dr. Joseph Thompson, Assistant Professor of Biology) The contractile properties of the circular mantle muscles of cuttlefishes (cephalopod mollusks) change during growth; Marc Miller ’06 (Dr. James Watrous, Professor of Biology) Simulating cardiac pacemakers using R15, Epstein-Marder (EM), and Morris-Lecar bursting neuron models; Melissa Oliver ’06 (Dr. James Watrous) The role of conductance in long-term potentiation of a five cell neuronal network; Michael Fierro ’06 (Dr. James Watrous) Using SNNAP (simulator for neural networks and action potentials) to model the behavior of networked Morris-Lecar cells.
     Assembling 12 people from a variety of scientific backgrounds in two vans for a long drive is bound to stimulate a wide variety of discussions and in much the same manner the spirit of the NCUR is to bring together students from every academic discipline imaginable to build a multidisciplinary community of researchers, scholars, and artists to communicate and celebrate the results of student-mentor collaborations.  During this conference it was not at all uncommon to see a discussion between students majoring in music with biology majors or dance students attending chemistry presentations.
     In addition to the student posters and oral presentations the plenary speakers included Dr. Geraldine Richmond, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oregon.  Dr. Richmond lectured on her research in probing molecular structure and interactions at aqueous surfaces and interfaces.  In addition, as founder of COACh, an organization that aids women scientists, she also discussed the gender inequalities that exist within scientific fields of study.  Other plenary speakers included the ecological artist Mel Chin and Dr. IIan Stavans, the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College.

SJU students as they are about to leave Asheville, NC for the long drive back to Philadelphia (from left to right) Andrzej Latka ‘09, Hans Wheelersburg ‘07, Ravi Pujara ‘07, Joshua Brody ‘06, Melissa Oliver ‘06, Lisa Crescenti ‘06, Jacqueline Wesolow ‘06, Kathryn Saia ‘06, Marc Miller ‘06, Michael Fierro ‘06, Katina Do ’06 and faculty advisor Dr. Tom Halasinski, Department of Chemistry