Wittenberg Students Present at Kentucky Academy of Science

2016 May 19

Four Wittenberg University students presented projects at the Kentucky Academy of Science 2015 annual meeting at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky.

Sabra Tomb, Heather Feese, Daniel Miller and Danielle Scott, all class of 2016 biology majors, presented at the meeting. Tomb earned first place in the botany undergraduate poster competition, and Scott took second for an oral presentation.

More than 800 scientists and students attended the meeting, and hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students from Kentucky and regional colleges and universities participated in the various research competitions.

Tomb, from Casstown, Ohio, presented a poster on soil fungi and seed germination of the North American dandelion after conducting summer research with Professor of Biology Matthew Collier and Professor of Biology Jay Yoder. This research has implications for dandelion control and germinating dandelions for study and cultivation purposes.

"I was chosen to do this because I received Wittenberg Student Development grants for summer research twice," she said. "I have worked with Dr. Collier for nearly two years on dandelion and heavy metal research. Both summers our dandelion seeds were slow to germinate so we brainstormed with Dr. Yoder this past summer and decided to try this experiment that I presented at the conference. We thought it might increase either the number of seeds that germinated, or the time it took for the seeds to germinate. We concluded that the presence of soil fungi increases the number of seeds that germinate, but not the time it takes for the seeds to germinate."

Tomb was judged on the presentation of her poster as well as her responses to questions asked by judges, all experts in the botany field.

"It was a new experience for me, but well worth the effort," she said. "I very much enjoy botanical research, so I am honored to have won first place in my category. It was a great experience. I learned a lot from the judges as I asked them questions about their careers and opportunities in the field. None of my research experience or my attendance at this conference would have been possible without Dr. Collier. He has been supportive of me and a great help in developing my skills as a biologist."

Feese presented on the topic of identification of a genetic modifier for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) using a fruit fly model.

"My project ultimately looked at how the abundance of a protein called SERF impacts the phenotypic severity of SMA," she said. "I helped to create various essays, which allowed for the comparison of multiple lines of flies with various SMA mutations," added Feese, who was part of a summer program at the University of Kentucky. All summer program participants were invited to present at the annual meeting.

"Overall, I think this was a great experience and would recommend it to every science major," Feese explained. "Not only was I able to share everything I learned over the summer with others, but I also had the opportunity to learn about other research projects that are currently being performed. My plan right now is to become a pediatrician, and so I really like learning about what research is being done to learn more about human disorders. We can always read about recent studies that have been published, but it is so much more interesting to hear about the research from someone that actually assisted with the study."

-Office of University Communications