Last month, assistant professors of Biology Jon O’Brien, PhD and Andrew Stewart, PhD, traveled with six biology research students to the Midwest Ecology & Evolution Conference (MEEC) at Miami University, Ohio. MEEC is an annual conference run by and for undergraduate and graduate students conducting research in the areas of ecology and evolution. Three students presented posters and one student gave an oral presentation based on research conducted at Canisius.
From Stewart’s lab, Andrew Bieter ’17 presented a poster on how specific dietary components affect Drosophila (fruit fly) survival. Kyle Samson ’17 presented his work on the scaling of body size components in response to artificial selection in Drosophila.
From O’Brien’s lab, Michelle Baskins ’17 presented a poster on the impacts of didymo (a nuisance aquatic organism) on invertebrate lipid composition and food web dynamics in freshwater streams. David Kerling ’17 gave an oral presentation on the impact of triclosan (a common ingredient in antibacterial soaps) on the composition, function and resistance of epilithic biofilms, a group of stream microorganism.
The Canisius students represented the college admirably, engaging students and professors alike, while discussing the research they completed over the past year. The students also benefited from seeing the research being done by their peers. Students return with a renewed enthusiasm for getting back to work in the lab next year with more experience and additional results of their continued collaborations with their research mentors.
Submitted by: Sara Morris, PhD, associate vice president, academic affairs
