The fourth annual Biology and Chemistry Research Seminar was a huge success Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. The seminar was held in the Copenbarger Presidential Dining Room, 102 students came in with notepads, ready to listen, learn and retain information.
The seminar began with a word of prayer by Lisa Hernandez, chair of the department of the natural and mathematical sciences, thanking God for the students and the study of His creation through the sciences.
One guest speaker and five student speakers individually discussed and shared their research projects in the span of two and a half hours. Each speaker shared their studies and results in about 15-minute segments.
The guest speaker for this year’s seminar was Morris Maduro, associate professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside. He shared his recent research about cells.
Most of the student speakers conducted their research and studies during the summer of 2011.
They all included slides in a powerpoint presentation to show and explain how they had conducted their own personal experiments and the results they found.
“I wanted to do an American Heart Association fellowship for undergrads,” Vanessa Hlebowski, senior biology major said.
Hlebowski’s study was all about heart research where she studied and researched at Loma Linda University in Redlands during summer 2011.
Hlebowski mentioned she was able to conduct this research all by the grace of God because of her ability to do this project in such short notice and so little time.
Another student speaker Cleophas Rwemera, chemistry major, researched mainly about reaction and causes of DNA damage. During his presentation he discussed the techniques used for his experiment and how long the research took.
“My research was eight weeks,” Rwemera said.
Rwemera mentioned his research took place at Clemson University.
The other three students who shared their research and studies were Samantha Waskel, junior biology major, Ryan Oliverio, senior biology major and Edith Waskel, junior biology major.
All provided numerous slides and thanked science professors, the university they had performed the study at, and other lab students who aided them with their projects.
The last speaker was Bonjun Koo, associate professor of environmental science, who organized the seminar.
Koo shared what a huge success this seminar was with a record breaking number of students to attend, 102 to be exact. He has high hopes for next year’s seminar.
“Next year, hopefully, we can have a day-long seminar so more students can participate … It’s really great to add to the resume,” Koo said.
The seminar closed in prayer with Bruce Prins, associate professor of biology.
