Senior Emily Shoaf (right) explains her Menkes protein research to Dr. Joyce Eastlund Gromko, music (left), while Shoaf's faculty mentor, Dr. Tami Steveson, biological sciences (center), looks on.

Undergrads dazzle at first research symposium

BGSU marked a milestone April 18 when the first Undergraduate Research Symposium was held. Though undergraduate research has been taking place all over the University for years, the symposium was the first formal event to highlight it.

Sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the symposium brought together about 35 student researchers and their faculty mentors for lunch and the opportunity to share their projects with one another and the campus community.

The student researchers’ enthusiasm was obvious as they discussed their work with visitors to the poster display in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The projects encompassed both the physical and social sciences, from astronomy to music education.

Based on the abstracts and presentations, Sigma Xi , the scientific research honor society, presented two book scholarships and two honorable mention awards. Winning the individual book scholarship was Ashley Fortress, a senior from Port Clinton, who conducted experiments with Dr. Kevin Pang, psychology, on the effects of exercise on the production of new neurons in the brains of mice. The team project award went to Asia Johnson, a junior from Sheffield Lake, Ohio, and her co-authors, Shannon Burt, Maegan Horinek and Logan McKnight, who worked with Dr. Lee Meserve, biology, to learn about the social behavior development of young rats whose mothers consumed small amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Earning honorable mention were Jenna Grado, a biology major from Weslaco, Texas, and Megan Seitz, a geology major from Bowling Green.

“All these students are just outstanding,” said Dr. John Farver, director of the undergraduate research office. “Their passion for their work is just incredible, and it keeps me inspired in my own work.”

Ashley Fortress, a psychology and neuroscience major who has been working with Dr. Kevin Pang, psychology, discusses her research with Dr. John Farver, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research.

That passion was evident in their descriptions of their projects. Fortress, for instance, explained that for many years, scientists had believed that people and animals are born with a finite number of brain neurons, which could not be altered. As those neurons die off with age, their diminishing numbers produce an accompanying decline in cognitive ability, and their loss is implicated in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

However, in her groundbreaking research with Pang, in which the numbers of neurons in the brains of mice who exercised were compared with those of sedentary mice, “we’re showing that new neurons can be produced,” and that exercise plays a powerful role in stimulating their production, she said.

“Seeing is believing. When we first saw this under the microscope, it was really breathtaking,” said Fortress, whose project was among several supported by the Office of Undergraduate Research this year. “I’m proud to be a part of this work.”

Another undergraduate project that had to do with aging but from an entirely different perspective was that of Jeannette Beal, a senior from Norwalk, Ohio, who is majoring in human development and family studies. In collaboration with Dr. Laura Landry-Meyer, family and consumer sciences, Beal looked at successful aging among transgendered women, or biological men who identify with the female gender. Successful aging, she explained, involves not only physical health but also the belief that life is worth living. Like many of the other student presenters, Beal has also participated in research conferences outside BGSU.

Grado's project, which merited honorable mention, involved searching out and identifying the types of algae in the Great Smoky Mountains. She traveled to Tennessee last summer as part of a National Park Service project, the All Taxa Biodiversity inventory, in which Dr. Rex Lowe, biological sciences, is heading up the algae portion. Grado’s project is “Populations of Frustulia from a ‘Place of a Thousand Drips.’”

Emily Shoaf, a senior from Prospect, Ohio, majoring in biology, has helped forward the research of Dr. Tami Steveson, biological sciences, into the localization of Menkes protein in pituitary cells. The protein is related to a rare and devastating childhood disease. Shoaf has been developing a new laboratory technique to examine the cells. “She did an awesome job,” Steveson said. “We’re looking to see how the protein functions in the endocrine system, which no one has really looked at before.”

From the social sciences, Alexandra Denney, a senior integrated science major from Troy, Ohio, studied how a science curriculum could be adapted for students with varying special needs. Her faculty mentors are Dr. Eric Myers, education and leadership studies, and Dr. Awad Ibrahim, educational foundations and inquiry.

Some of the seniors commented that it will be difficult to leave their projects when they graduate. But, as in the case of Shoaf, who plans to go to podiatry school, what they have learned—including the scientific process—will stand them in good stead.