Marion Holmes, Ph.D. student, gives a talk about research she presented at the Ecological Society of America meeting last summer in Portland, OR.
By MC Tilton
PACE Writer
Environmental & Plant Biology students and faculty gathered on Sept. 22 for the 11th annual Graduate Student Research Symposium.
The symposium featured a talk from Ph.D. student Marion Andrews Holmes on the organization of second-growth forest floors and 10 poster presentations on topics ranging from the flammability of American chestnut burs to the grain biomass of rice.
“Most of our graduate students attend different national and international scientific meetings during the year—mostly during the summer—to present their work,” said Dr. Ahmed Faik, Associate Professor and Graduate Chair of Environmental & Plant Biology. “We want to give these students the opportunity to show their work to people in the department.”
Proma Basu, Ph.D. student, discusses her research poster with Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hermsen. Basu presented her research at the American Society of Plant Biologists in Hawaii in June.
Ph.D. student Proma Basu said the opportunity to be part of the symposium prepares for her future plant biology career.
“It’s helpful to exchange research techniques with your peers and see what they’re doing, and it’s great to get feedback from professors who attend and may have questions you haven’t explored in your research yet,” Basu said.
M.S. student Daniel Wolf agreed that the presentation practice students get at the symposium is invaluable.
“You’re presenting your work to a community that you feel comfortable with, and it makes it much easier to present at national conferences,” Wolf said.
The research featured at the symposium was presented at summer conferences including the Botanical Society of America, American Society of Plant Biologists, Ecological Society of America, and the Phycological Society of America.
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