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A young woman wearing a blazer types on the keyboard of her laptop. Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels.
Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels.

Supporting research among underrepresented STEM scholars

MSU MoLSAMP research scholars take part in virtual alliance symposium.

June 2, 2021 by Ashley Lenahan

Advancing STEM research requires building connections between contributors. 

The 2021 Missouri Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (MOLSAMP) Undergraduate Research Symposium, which took place April 9-11, allowed participating STEM scholars to present their research and extend their networks.  

Eight students from the Missouri State University MoLSAMP program and First Year Scholars program participated in the symposium.

Three earned awards for their research presentations.  

Explore the Missouri State MoLSAMP program’s efforts 

The participants 

The students from the programs who participated at the symposium include:  

Dorian DeHart  

DeHart presented “Temperature and Discharge Monitoring of Springs and Streams to Approximate Water Drainage Basins in The Springfield Plateau, Missouri.”  

His faculty advisor is Dr. Mélida Gutiérrez, professor of geology.  

Ramona Gomez 

Gomez presented “Water Quality Analysis of the Springfield Plateau Aquifer.”  

Her faculty advisor is Gutiérrez. 

Mikala Meadows  

Meadows presented “Synthesis and Characterization of Oximates of Pt-group Metals.”  

Her faculty advisor is Dr. Nikolay Gerasimchuk, professor of chemistry.  

Vanessa Morales  

Morales presented “Plant Host Specialization by Bees and Implications for Conservation.”  

Her faculty advisor is Dr. Avery Russell, assistant professor of biology. 

Daniel Padilla 

Padilla presented “Synthesis of Tunable Mesoporous Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Biological Applications.” 

His faculty advisor is Dr. Adam Wanekaya, department head of chemistry.  

Kaylene Reyes 

Reyes presented “Transgressive Segregation of Leaf Shape in Grapevine.”

Her faculty advisor is Dr. Laszlo Kovacs, professor of biology.  

Judging 

Gutierrez and Drs. Kyoungtae Kim, associate dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS), and Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, assistant professor of electrical engineering, participated in the symposium as volunteer judges for the poster session.  

Dr. Steven Senger, associate professor of mathematics, also served as a panelist for the symposium’s breakout session on finding a work-life balance. 

Learn more about the undergraduate research symposium

The award winners 

Reyes earned 1st place for her presentation. She received a $200 award. 

DeHart earned 2nd place for his presentation. He received a $150 award. 

Morales earned honorable mention for her presentation. She received a $50 award.  

Congratulations, all! 

 

Filed Under: Biology, Chemistry, CNAS faculty, CNAS students, Geography Geology and Planning, Mathematics, STEM Tagged With: Adam Wanekaya, Avery Russell, Daniel Padilla, Dorian DeHart, First Year Scholars program, Kaylene Reyes, Kyoungtae Kim, Laszlo Kovacs, Melida Gutierrez, Mikala Meadows, MoLSAMP program, Nikolay Gerasimchuk, Ramona Gomez, Steven Senger, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, Vanessa Morales

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