Students participate in LSU research conference

An oral presentation by Varun Amin, a senior from Lake Charles, placed second in the life sciences division. His project was “Analysis of Gene Expression Data from Primary B Cells Infected with Epstein Barr Virus During the Transformation Process.” He conducted his research at Duke University and was mentored by Dr. Jason Anderson, a lecturer of biology at LSMSA.

MyChel Robinson, a senior from Mansura, was awarded second place in the math and physical science division. Her project was “GUMBOS: Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts.” She conducted her research LSMSA, and her mentor was Dr. Isiah M. Warner.

Other LSMSA presenters were:

Alexis Cambridge, a senior from Slidell, presented “Using Diatoms as a Bio-Indicator of Water Quality” in the life sciences division.

Camille Loy, a senior from Terrytown, presented “Generation of Cystic Fibrosis Neutrophil Cell Lines for CF Research and Drug Screening,” in the life sciences division.

Grace Yuan, a senior from New Orleans, presented “Characterizing Adhesion Strength of Thin-film Systems with Opto-Acoustic Microscopy,” in the math and physical science division.

The LSU Undergraduate Research Conference is organized annually by the LSU Office of Strategic Initiatives. It is designed and managed by OSI as a regional single-day conference for undergraduate researchers in STEM and humanities and social sciences disciplines.

Students participate in three components of the conference – excite, explore and experiment. The excite component is a keynot address renowned faculty who have been instrumental in developing undergraduate research programs; the explore component is an activity which addresses a current topic or provides a networking opportunity; and the experiment component is student research presentations in a poster or oral competition.

The key note speaker for the conference was Dr. Christopher Impey, a university distinguished professor of astronomy, associate dean of the College of Science and Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor at the University of Arizona. He presented “Water Worlds: The Search for Habitable Exoplanets.”