6 PRIZES WERE CLAIMED BY NJCU STUDENTS.
NJCU students succeeded in winning the highest number of poster presentation prizes awarded to any institution at the 7th Annual Garden State LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation) Phase II-Northern New Jersey Bridge to the Baccalaureate STEM Research Conference.
NJCU presented 21 posters, encompassing work completed in summer 2015 by 39 NJCU students, 13 NJCU faculty, and three community college students. Students worked collaboratively on projects through NJCU’s Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geoscience, and Computer Science Departments.
The award-winning students, their projects, and their faculty advisors are:
--Christian Bojorquez, a junior biology major who worked with Dr. Allison Mass Fitzgerald, NJCU assistant professor of biology, on “How Does Restoring Oyster Reefs Alter Invertebrate Diversity in the Bronx River”
--Christina Faltas, a senior biology major who worked with Dr. Natalia Coleman, NJCU assistant professor of biology, on “Lead Toxicity in the Blood Brain Barrier,”
--Sandi Grace, a junior biology major who worked with Dr. Bumjung Kim, NJCU assistant professor of chemistry, on “Fabrication of Rubrene Organic Field-Effect Transistors Using Hexatriacontane (C36H74) as Dielectic Layer”
--Rebecca McGowan, a senior biology major who worked with Dr. Terry Kamps, NJCU assistant professor of biology, on “RNA Editing Analysis of Mitochondrial Encoded ATP Synthase Subunit Genes in Association with Programmed Cell Death”
--Walaa Chahine, a May 2015 graduate who majored in biology and worked with Dr. Reed Carroll, NJCU associate professor of biology, on “Role of Calcineurin in the Localization of CaMKII at Inhibitory Synapses”
--Na’Vonna Turner, a senior biology major who worked with Dr. Fitzgerald on “The Production of Byssal Threads by Geukensia Demissa under Food Limitations.”
The students’ research was supported by both the LSAMP Phase II from the National Science Foundation and NJCU’s Title V grant, Closing the Gap, from the U.S. Department of Education.
LSAMP is in its second phase and includes eight members: NJCU, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kean University, Montclair State University, Essex County College, William Paterson University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, and Rutgers University-Newark.
Bridge institutions include Passaic County, Middlesex County, Bergen County, Union County, Essex County, and Hudson County Community Colleges.
