Three Wagner College students won excellence awards for poster and platform presentations at the 77th annual Eastern Colleges Science Conference on Saturday, April 1, at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Wagner was one of 22 colleges and universities that participated in this year’s ECSC.
Excellence award winners were:
- Bridget Damon, a senior biopsychology major with a second major in environmental studies (research adviser: Prof. Donald Stearns). Damon received an excellence award for best poster presentation in behavior for her senior thesis research, “Behavioral Response of the Zooplankter Daphnia magna to the Chemical Presence of a Visual Predator (the Zebrafish Danio rerio).”
- Gabriella Goldschmidt, a senior biology major (research adviser: Prof. Christopher Marra). Goldschmidt received an excellence award for best platform presentation in biochemistry and molecular biology for her senior thesis research, “Calcium-mediated Modulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor Homologous Factor Induced Voltage-gated Sodium Channel Long-term Inactivation,” coauthored with Nomon Mohammad and Mitchell Goldfarb.
- Hasan Ibrahim a senior biopsychology major (research adviser: Prof. Sara Guariglia). Ibrahim received an excellence award for best poster presentation in behavior and neuroscience for his senior thesis research, “The Effects of Chronic Ethanol Exposure on Seizure Susceptibility in Planaria.”
Two other Wagner College students presented at ECSC’23:
- Gia Pecorella, a senior biopsychology major (research adviser: Prof. Jessica England). Pecorella gave a poster presentation titled “Online vs In-Person Learning: Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation, and Motivation in College Students.”
- Robert Tipaldi, a sophomore microbiology and immunology major (research advisers: Prof.s Christopher Corbo and Susan Briffa-Marabella). Tipaldi gave a platform presentation titled “Light and Immunogold Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis of Mast Cells in Adult Zebrafish Optic Tectum Upon Traumatic Brain Injury,” coauthored with Andras Bimbo-Szuhai, Ian Massaro, Ricardo Peguero, Tatyanna Ruiz, Alice Mashensky and Renato Gerena.
Funding for these presenters (to cover costs for registration, the awards banquet, and poster printing) was provided from a travel grant by the Eastern Colleges Science Conference.
During the ECSC board meeting that took place during the conference, Professor Marra (visiting assistant professor of neuroscience in the Department of Biological Sciences) was nominated and unanimously elected to serve as a board member.
Congratulations to all Wagner College participants!
