Biology Students Win National Research Awards
June 04, 2018
Three Angelo State University biology students won top prizes for their research presentations at the national meeting of the Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta) national biology honor society held May 30 – June 1 in Monterey, Calif.
Competing against students from Tri-Beta chapters at universities throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, ASU students won the following awards:
- Hunter Miears of Center Point won first place in the Microbiology category for his oral presentation of “Pigment Mutants of Staphylococcus aureus and their Response to Antimicrobials.” His faculty research mentor is Dr. Crosby Jones, professor of biology.
- Nicholas Evans of San Angelo won second place in the Microbiology category for his oral presentation of “Creation of a MEGA-Plate to Understand the Nature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.” Jones is also his faculty research mentor.
- M’Kayla Motley of Lamesa won second place in the Ecology category for her oral presentation of “A Preliminary Report on the Seed Dispersal Methods of Sclerocactus brevihamatus spp. tobuschii: An Endemic Cactus.” Her faculty research mentor is Dr. Bonnie Amos, professor of biology.
ASU’s Tri-Beta chapter also won first place in the Chapter History competition for its scrapbook entry.
Ten ASU Tri-Beta members attended the national meeting accompanied by Jones. The other attending students were Tyler Birk, Stephen Medrano, Marisa Negley, Angela Rollins, Morgan Seals, Marisa Thompson and Rose Wilhoyt. Birk and Rollins also made research presentations.
In April, ASU’s Tri-Beta chapter was named the Outstanding Chapter in District 2, which encompasses all of Texas, for the 2017-18 academic year. Thompson is the ASU chapter president and Jones is the faculty advisor.