The second annual Missouri Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (MOLSAMP) Conference was March 8-10 in Jefferson City, Missouri.

MOLSAMP encourages minorities to enter STEM fields and works to ensure their successful academic retention and graduation. This conference serves as a forum for undergraduate students from the Missouri State LSAMP alliance institutions to present their research and receive professional development on STEM related topics.

About the conference

Four students from Missouri State University presented at the conference.

• Teresa Aguayo
• Anthony Grate
• Vanessa Morales
• Karina Sewell

Students were accompanied by Drs. Kyoungtae Kim and Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi and Missouri State MOLSAMP graduate assistant Deborah Ehie.

Grate, wildlife biology major, won the best poster presentation. He researches fertility patterns in alligator snapping turtles. Dr. Day Ligon is his adviser.

“I was surprised that I placed first,” Grate said. “I was happy to see that hard work and my interest was worthy of an award.”

Grate liked this conference for more than just presenting. One thing he enjoyed was learning more about soft skills that academic conferences can sometimes leave out.

Another benefit was meeting other minority students in STEM fields.

“We must ensure minorities are in STEM fields,” Grate said. “Many minorities are qualified and capable of fulfilling jobs in the STEM work place. More people working the right jobs means things get done faster and more efficiently.”