糖心Vlog传媒

Students to present STEM research at national conference

Two 糖心Vlog传媒LR students were recently added to the list of researchers who will present their work at the Emerging Researchers National Conference in Washington D.C. Feb. 20 through 22, 2014.

Dolapo Odeniyi and Saad Azam were awarded travel awards that cover airfare, hotel, meals, conference registration, and other conference-related expenses. Lafayette DeRamus鈥檚 representation at the conference was announced in November. All three undergraduate students are members of the University Science Scholars Program, which is facilitating the students鈥� attendance at the ERN Conference.

Azam鈥檚 first place win at Arkansas INBRE Conference

Azam, a聽Donaghey Scholar with a double major in chemistry and biology, serves as president of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR chapter of American Chemical Society. He will present on “High-Throughput Electrochemical Characterization of Fuel Cell Catalysts.” 鈥淭his trip will not only increase my visibility in the academic community, but also give me the opportunity to share and advertise my hard work and dedication that I have invested in this research,鈥� Azam said. His research stems from a prestigious 10-week summer internship at the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Lab and was funded, in part, by the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium based at 糖心Vlog传媒LR. The results from his internship were presented at Caltech and recognized by electrochemists from around the world. Azam performed similar work in the lab of Dr. Tito Viswanathan when he returned to 糖心Vlog传媒LR this fall, developing catalysts for fuel cells. It helped propel him to a first place win in the Chemistry Division of the Arkansas INBRE conference in Fayetteville in October. 鈥淚 have been blessed with the opportunities that have been given to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 would like to thank 糖心Vlog传媒LR and all my mentors for providing me a platform to do cutting-edge research.鈥�

Odeniyi鈥檚 inspiration: my research and my professor

Odeniyi, who is both a McNair and Donaghey Scholar and also a double major in biology and chemistry, expects to graduate in May 2014. 鈥淚 was directed to Dr. Lirong Zeng [assistant professor of biology], my faculty advisor, through a summer program in 2012 called Advancing and Supporting Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative II,鈥� said Odeniyi. 鈥淚 gained so much through working with Dr. Zeng, and enjoyed the research topic so much, that I decided to continue working with him,鈥� she added. According to Zeng, the research Odeniyi聽works on is part of a project funded by a United States Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) grant awarded to Zeng’s lab in biology. Odeniyi鈥檚 research is titled “Characterization of the tomato Rub1/Nedd8-conjugating enzymes SlUbc18/19 in plant immunity and development.鈥� She explained that these are the genes involved in rubylation, which regulates other cellular processes, such as immunity and growth, through the modifications of protein substrates. “In humans and animals, Neddylation/rubylation has been shown to be essential to the viability of many organisms, and deregulated Neddylation is responsible for some human diseases, such as cancers,” Zeng said. The third student presenter, DeRamus, is a junior physics and geology major whose research involves altering the variables of the solar cell to increase efficiency. Learn more about his research at聽student’s solar cell research accepted for D.C. STEM conference. Odeniyi and DeRamus are both Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholars, designed to increase underrepresented minorities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Learn more about the聽University Science Scholars Program and the聽Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholars program.