Want to know more about research and experiments? The Student Research Symposium is an event where Biology and Chemistry students at EMU present their summer research. This year’s event was held in the Suter Science Center where many gathered and listened to speakers as they talked about their experiments and experiences during their summer research..
Roumany Sefin was the opening speaker who presented “A Novel, Highly Sensitive, Rapid, and Cost-Effective Test for the Early Detection of Cancer.” Following Sefin, Ruth Abera & John Meier, presented, “The Effect of Zingerone on Bactrocera jarvisi (Diptera: Tephritidae).” Adesola Johnson then presented her study, “Investigating the Role of Retinoic Acid on Podocyte Development.” Next, Madelynn Hamm & Maria Longenecker presented their research, “Tracking Flight Patterns of Black Soldier Flies in Queensland, Australia,” followed by Meredith Lehman who presented, “Investigating Zeolites as Anticancer Drug Delivery Systems.” To conclude the symposium, Will Bartel & Ethan Neufeld presented on “Synthesis of Pheromones of the Banana Spotting Bug.”
The presenters displayed their passion and enthusiasm about their summer research despite their experiments taking several hours and weeks of dedication. Many of the presenters made new connections, friends, and gained new experiences as they traveled and worked on their research.
Marciella Shallomita, a senior Neurobiology & Mathematics major, was an audience member at this year’s symposium but knows what it’s like being a presenter as well. Shallomita was part of the Summer Research Symposium last fall and did research with Dr. Jeff Copeland from EMU with the Kauffmann Miller Grant. Shallomita says her research was split into both UVA and EMU due to her professor doing some research with a lab in UVA, along with her partner Sarah Deputy. Shallomita gave a presentation with the Deputy on their preliminary research findings and experience as a whole for their research seminar. Although the symposium was a formal presentation Shallomita and Deputy tried to lighten up the presentation with interesting fruit fly larvae locomotion paths. With the help of a research advisor for Shallomita and Deputy, along with this year’s researchers, it made the process less stressful as they prepared and presented their summer research. Shallomita’s and Deputy’s research was on the behavioral effect of serotonin transporter loss of function in fruit flies. The research consisted of using larval-stage fruit flies and looked at the behavioral effects of feeding, locomotion/movement, and sleep cycles. In addition, mostly at EMU, they used qRT-PCR methods to measure the relative amounts of mRNA produced by the different strains of fruit flies.
The Kauffman-Miller grant is supposed to be for 6 weeks, however, because of their professor having his research with UVA for 10 weeks, they did about 8 weeks of research over that summer. Shallomita enjoyed the environment of togetherness amid competition within the lab that she was part of. Although Shallomita took a break this summer, she says It was nice to sit back and listen to all the amazing research that her fellow classmates have done. Knowing the process of preparing for the symposium and doing this summer’s research, Shallomita was able to resonate with them and just fully enjoy their presentations.
The Student Research Symposium is a great way to showcase all the amazing things that students in the sciences are doing over the summer. Although it can be stressful to prepare for, it is a good experience for the presenters and the listeners.
