Last Saturday, 35 Wagner College undergraduates participated in the 68th annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference, held this year on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie. They gave eight platform presentations and 20 poster presentations of their empirical research — sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs.
The conference was attended by 350 participants from 16 institutions of higher education, mostly undergraduates in the physical, chemical, biological and social sciences. The general consensus, in part evidenced by the standing ovation during the banquet/awards ceremony, was that the conference was well received.
“I thank every Wagner College student who participated in this conference,” said biology professor Donald Stearns, the college’s ECSC coordinator for many years. “For many, it was the first time they had presented their research in the context of a scientific meeting.”
Five Wagner students won excellence awards for their presentations:
- Noura Hassan (Economics major, Chemistry minor)
- “Pilot Study of Science Apathy Intervention in Public Elementary Schools on Staten Island” (platform presentation)
- Faculty research mentors: Dr. Jennifer Lauria (Education), Dr. Valeria Stepanova (Chemistry)
- Carrie Holt (Physics major)
- “Missing High Energy Afterglows of Gamma-ray Bursts” (platform presentation)
- Research mentors: Drs. J. Racusin and D. Kocevski of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Anthony Spano & Brandon Kocurek (Microbiology majors)
- “Use of Morphological Techniques to Detect and Analyze Listeria monocytogenes in the Optic Tectum of Adult Zebrafish” (poster presentation)
- Research mentor: Dr. Christopher Corbo (Biology)
- Melanie Krongold (Microbiology major)
- “Composite gel electrophoresis resolves large human lung glycoproteins (mucins) that control lung inflammation” (poster presentation)
- Research mentor: Dr. Ronald Schnaar, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Salma Metwally (Biopsychology major)
- “Phototactic Responses of the Water Flea Daphnia magna to Different Light Intensities of 520-nm and 690-nm Light” (poster presentation
- Research mentor: Dr. Donald Stearns (Biology)
Thanks to Interim Provost Jeffrey Kraus and the Provost’s Office for funding the college’s participation.
Next spring, the event will take place on the campus of Niagara University. We encourage Wagner students who are beginning empirical research projects now to present their findings there next year. For more information about the conference, please go to www.ecsc1.org.