FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2006
Contact: Marle’ M. L. Murphy
(662) 329-7119

MUW mathematics and science majors garner honors at meetings
  
COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mathematics and science majors at Mississippi University for Women recently made strong showings at meetings respective to their areas of study.
   
Mathematics students garnered honors at the Louisiana-Mississippi section meeting of the Mathematical Association of America on the campus of Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., where 25 teams competed. The team of Johnny Bratan, Blair Vernon and David Wages placed 10th in the competition, and the team of Mary Hawkins, Johanna Rodriguez and Chris Willbanks placed 22nd.
   
The competition consisted of 15 problems from a set of 20 challenging mathematical problems including calculus, number theory, topology and probability. The students had a two-hour window to collaboratively find and submit solutions to the problems.
   
In preparation for this event, Dr. Dorothy Kerzel, Department of Science and Mathematics chair, and Dr. Jane Wenstrom, professor of mathematics, worked with the students for six weeks by creating practice problems from past competitions and review of previous mathematic coursework. 
   
Other faculty members accompanying the students were Tess Creel, instructior in mathematics; Dr. Bonnie Oppenheimer, associate professor of mathematics; and Dr. Shaochen Yang, professor of mathematics.
   
The meeting also included a student paper competition, keynote speakers and presentations by undergraduates, graduates and faculty.

MUW’s science students and faculty participated in the Mississippi Academy of Science (MAS) 2006 annual meeting in Vicksburg, where they experienced the professional side of science.

Science major Brandy Roberts represented MUW well by winning the award for best undergraduate presentation in the Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology division.

Her talk was titled “The Molecular Mechanism for the Unipolar Surface Expression of IcsA in Shigella flexneri,” which was based on her summer internship at MUW. She worked with MUW student Katreece Ellis in the laboratory of Dr. Lauren Brandon, MUW assistant professor of microbiology and genetics, this summer on a project involving the molecular mechanisms of Shigella pathogenesis.

Dr. Ross Whitwam, associate professor of biology, served as primary organizer of the students attending. Whitwam said various colleges across Mississippi are represented at the meeting. He added that the science department chooses to send the students to this meeting because “it is easy to get to and offers the students their first real experience of a science conference.”

Whitwam said the meeting gives students a chance to see what research has been done in the science world. Many graduate students give presentations at the meeting and students are able to learn more about what it means to be a science grad student and what research is involved throughout the process. In addition, the meeting gives students exposure to the thought of going to grad school and which schools are out there to pursue, he said.

Some MUW science majors do summer research internships on campus or at other universities of their choice. At the professional meeting, Whitwam said, these students present the research they have done in a 50-minute talk in front of other professionals. 

These students have the “beneficial experience of how to present research in a professional way to scientist.”

The students who presented such talks were Katie Grace Carpenter, Amarachukwu Imediegwu, Ryan Beatty, Brandy Roberts, Jeremy Whitten and Sidney Taylor.

Faculty members Jiben Roy, assistant professor of chemistry, and Michael Elioff, assistant professor of chemistry, also presented talks at MAS, and students Susie Baker and Katreece Ellis presented posters.

Dr. Dionne Fortneberry, associate professor of chemistry, served as chair of the chemistry and chemical engineering division session at MAS.

Other students and faculty who attended the meeting were Katie Brinkman; Juna’uh Allgood; Jessica Walker; Amy Newton; Desiree Jones; Bolanle Bukoye; Mary Oyeleye; Jahnavi Chatterjee; Ashley Garriga; Kristie Blair; Jessica Elmore; Jill Nagel, Dr. Marty Harvill, associate professor of biology; Dr. Lauren Brandon, assistant professor of microbiology; Dr. Supreetha Kumar, assistant professor of biology; Erica Schlickeisen Tietjen; instructor of biology; Jill Arnold, instructor of biology; and Dr.Carl Doumit, professor emeritus of chemistry.