Presentations at scientific conference open Radford researchers' new year

SICBart-logo

To ring in their new year, 12 Radford University students gave talks or presented posters at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) January 3-7 in Portland, Oregon.

"The event was a showcase for the neat stuff happening here at Radford University," said Associate Professor of Biology Jason Davis. "It was a real highlight to see these aspiring researchers and scientists so engaged at a transnational conference."

SICB furthers research, education and public awareness in the areas of organismal, functional and evolutionary biology and encourages interdisciplinary cooperative research that integrates across levels of biological organization.

"The event was a showcase for the neat stuff happening here at Radford University," said Davis. "It was a real highlight to see these aspiring researchers and scientists so engaged at a transnational conference."

SICB furthers research, education and public awareness in the areas of organismal, functional and evolutionary biology and encourages interdisciplinary cooperative research that integrates across levels of biological organization.

"Sharing with the scientific community is a key component of scientific research and discovery,” said Davis. “The Radford students were able to get commitment and validation from people who are doing cutting edge work. They realized they are part of a big community and could feel the excitement of being a scientist at a high level.”

Mandeep Kaur and Caitlin Linville, both senior nursing majors, made a joint presentation titled “Super-fly! The effects of Vespa Amino Acid Mixture on endurance, mortality, metabolic and mitochondrial function in Musca domestica.” It was co-authored by Davis. 

Sarah Hebert presents at 2016 SICB annual meeting

Sara Hebert, who presented on amphibian diversity and the occurrence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Las Piedras watershed of the Madre de Dios region of Peru, was one of 14 Radford students and seven members of the 2015 RARE expedition who presented at the recent SICB event in Portland.

During the four-day international conference of scientists at the undergraduate and graduate levels, nine other Radford students made poster presentations in sessions focused on cellular and biochemical physiology, invertebrate physical biology, stress, behavioral ecology: habitat and animal behavior: status, spacing and aggression.

Poster presentations were made by:

  • Caitlin Annear ’15, who presented on vigilance behavior in green and red macaws in response to anthropomorphically generated sounds on the Las Piedras River in the Madre de Dios region of Peru.
  • Alex Atwood, who presented on the effects of Royalactin on the growth rate, mortality rate and lifespan of Aedes aegypti. Davis co-authored.
  • Manuella De Carvalho presented on using bacteria-killing assay to test immune system efficiency in birds. Davis, Caughron, Hamden and Deluca co-authored.
  • Emily Guise ’15, who presented on the ecologically relevant effects of trenbolone on Gambusia holbrooki, co-authored by O’Brien.
  • Sara Hebert, who presented on amphibian diversity and the occurrence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Las Piedras watershed of the Madre de Dios region of Peru during the dry season, co-authored by Davis, Caughron and Assistant Professor of Biology Matt Close.
  • Diego Kendall, who presented on the biogeography of nutrient preference in tropical wasp species.
  • Hanna Mitchell, who presented on the creation of software to effectively organize the fungal taxonomy to classify any unidentified species collected in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon, co-authored by Davis, Instructor of Mathematics and Statistics John McGee, Caughron and Associate Professor of Biology Tara Phelps-Durr.
  • April Tingle and Diamond Cooper presented on the effects of handling on immunological stress in adolescent rats, co-authored by Hayes and Redmond.
  • Jessi Basham presented on the effects of obstacle geometry and magnetic fields on the streaming motion of neotropical ant species. Davis and Caughron co-authored.
  • Brooke Blevins presented on the microbial ecology of passerine nest boxes in relation to environmental and nest constituent factors, co-authored by Davis and Caughron.
  • Skyler Carrell, presented a study of the relationship between social patterning and relatedness in Anelosimus eximius, co-authored by Davis and Caughron.

Led by Davis and Assistant Professors of Biology Joy Caughron and Sarah Redmond, the Radford contingent was supported by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS).

"OURS is a such a unique campus asset,” said Davis. “They make it possible for us to bring our undergraduate research to the national stage."

Jan 20, 2016