On Saturday, April 4, Barry University students took part in the Life Sciences South Florida (LSSF) 2015 STEM Undergraduate Research Symposium at Indian River State College. The symposium featured original research from undergraduate students from seven Florida colleges and universities.
Barry students presented two oral presentations and seven poster presentations. In total, there were 12 oral presentations and more than 30 poster presentations given by students from FIU, Nova Southeastern, BCC, Palm Beach College, FAU, and Indiana River State College.
Barry students Victoria Hoelscher and Johan Sanchez represented the university as award winners. Hoelscher, a junior double major in biology and chemistry, won second place in the oral competition for the presentation of her summer research project conducted at Stanford University. Sanchez, a junior biology and sports and exercise science double major, won first place in the poster competition for the presentation of his research conducted at Barry University.
Barry University joined FIU as the only the only institution represented by two winners.
This is the second time Barry has participated in the LSSF event which is in its third consecutive year.
Barry’s participating students were: KeiAuyndria Edwards, Hoelscher, Shanika Kingston, Kevin McCarty, Sanchez, Jessica Ricketts, Peter Rodriguez, Aarti Ragoonath, and Daria Vasilyeva.
In addition to its student participation, Barry provided five expert judges for the various competitions. The judges consisted of the following Barry University professors: Stephanie Bingham, PhD (BIO); James Haralambides, PhD (Math/CS); Peter Lin, PhD (BIO); Teresa Petrino-Lin, PhD (BIO); and Brenda Schoffstall, PhD (BIO).
Life Sciences South Florida is a consortium of 20 educational, economic development, and research organizations dedicated to nurturing the life sciences industry in South Florida.