WKU News

Nearly 80 research projects by WKU students and faculty members were presented recently at 98^th annual Kentucky Academy of Science meeting.

Twenty WKU undergraduate and graduate students received awards for their oral and poster presentations during the Oct. 19-20 meeting in Richmond. (More: The 2012 program is available online.)

Dr. Nancy Rice, associate professor of biology, was a member of the 2012 symposium panel discussion on “Engaging Students in Global Health Research.” Dr. Rice’s topic was “Integrating Undergraduates in Substantive Global Health Research Projects: Lessons from Kenya,” which provided information on WKU’s Partners in Caring: Medicine in Kenya program.

Steve Hume, director of Process Science at Kentucky BioProcessing in Owensboro, presented a lecture on “Cytokines: Expressions, Purification, and Evaluation of Its Secretion Mechanism.” KBP specializes in the production of therapeutic protein candidates including monoclonal antibodies, anti-viral proteins, and vaccines using tobacco as the production host. Hume is pursuing a master’s degree in chemistry from WKU.

Since 1913, the Kentucky Academy of Science meeting has provided a venue for Kentucky’s scientists and student scientists to publicly present their research. Approximately 800 individuals attended the 2012 meeting co-hosted by Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College.

WKU undergraduate and student award winners in the student research competitions included the following:

Undergraduate Oral Presentations

Cellular And Molecular Biology

• Third place: Charles Coomer, a senior biology major from Louisville, Classification of Bacteriophages using Polymerase Chain Reaction: An Alternative to Complete Genome Sequencing

Geography

• First place: Ryan Difani, a senior meteorology major from Pocahontas, Ark., A Case Study of a Rare Long-Track EF-3 Tornado in Eastern Kentucky
• Second place: Emily Yates, a junior meteorology major from Brentwood, Tenn., March 9 Hawaii Kona Low System Case Study
• Third place: Ellen Green, a Gatton Academy student from Henderson, Karst Stormwater Regulation under the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water Acts

Geology

• First place: Michael Powers, a senior geology major from Bowling Green, Melt Inclusions in Olivine in the Martian Meteorite NWA 5789: Methods, Bulk Composition and Evolution
• Second place: Charles Hancock, a senior geology major from Frankfort, Identification of Metamorphic Grade and Characterization of Gold Deposits from the Rochford Formation of Southwestern South Dakota

Undergraduate Poster Presentations

Ecology and Environmental Science

• First place: Melissa Smith, a Gatton Academy student from Guthrie, Does ecology promote sexual dimorphism in the Pecos pupfish (Cyprinodon pecosensis)?

Microbiology

• First place: Donna Williams, a sophomore biochemistry major from Bowling Green, A Tripartite Association Between an Insect, an Endosymbiont and a Parasite

Graduate Oral Presentations

Agricultural Sciences

• Third place: Dan Sandor of Bowling Green, Cultivar, Mowing Height, and Herbicide Effects on Bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon, Suppression in Tall Fescue, Schedonorus phoenix

Cellular and Molecular Biology

• Third place: Julia Freeman of Eddyville, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms linked to Essential Hypertension in Kasigau, Kenya

Chemistry

• Second place: Jason Young of Owensboro, The Synthesis and Characterization of Some Thallium Cyclopentadienide Salts

Computer And Information Sciences

• First place: Elizabeth Tyrie of Glasgow, A Streamlined Utility for Universal DTI Analysis building on the Medical Image Processing and Visualization (MIPAV) application

Ecology and Environmental Science

• Third place: Kevin Tewell of Bowling Green, Landscape genetics of the marbled salamander, Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst), in a nationally protected park

Geography

• First place: Gilman Ouellette of Hawley, Pa., Reconstructing Climate Change in the Caribbean to Address Water Resource Issues on Karst Islands
• Second place: Jeremy Young of Bowling Green, Teleconnective Influences on the Strength of Post-tropical Cyclones in the United States

Geology

• Second place: Rachel Bowles of Bowling Green, A comprehensive analysis of the relationship between ostracode shell chemistry, pore morphology, and host water chemistry in Bahamian lake systems: to build confidence in the use of ostracodes as paleoenvironmental indicators

Health Sciences

• First place: Chandra Pranav of Bowling Green, Therapeutic Role of Natural Coconut Oil in Experimental Ulcerative Colitis

Microbiology

• First place: Shawn Smiley of Bowling Green, Genome Assembly and Syntenic Analysis of Clostridium scatologenes ATCC 25775

Psychology

• Second place: Tara Holaday of Bowling Green, Habituation to the fear of pain and death: A significant link between physical abuse and self-injurious behavior

Zoology

• Third place: Emily McIntire of Indianapolis, Evaluating Personality and Leadership in African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

Contact: Bruce Kessler, (270) 745-4449.