Southeastern students participate in science workshop at
Press Release Date: 9-9-2011
Patricia Pace, Sushma Ale, and Judith Zounon, are pictured in the OU lab with Dr. Bradley Stevenson.
DURANT, Okla. – Three Southeastern Oklahoma State University students participated in the new undergraduate workshop on Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology held recently at the University of Oklahoma.
Judith Zounon, a senior biotechnology major from Benin (Africa), Patricia Pace, senior biology major from Howe, Texas, and Sushma Ale, from Nepal, and a 2011 Southeastern biology graduate and current Master’s of Technology student, attended the workshop organized by Dr. Bradley Stevenson, OU assistant professor in the Department of Botany and Microbiology.
In addition to learning scientific techniques and facts, the participants were exposed to what it is like to be graduate students, which helped them in considering the pursuit of a Ph.D. or master’s degree.
Despite the extreme summer heat, the students visited outdoor sampling sites, including the Norman landfill, to collect microbe-filled samples for laboratory analysis.
Zounon, Pace and Ale grew and tested bacteria using OU lab resources, and listened to guest lecturers from OU, Oklahoma State University, and the Noble Foundation speak about their research projects.
The students also prepared their results for presentations and reports and recorded their impressions on the course blog on-line.
The Southeastern students lived near the OU campus and took field trips to such locations as the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History and the Kessler Farm Field Laboratory.
All three students said they were extremely grateful for the opportunity and learned much from the experience.
Stevenson said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better group of students. Everyone worked really hard, but was eager to learn.”
One of the main research topics was the isolation and characterization of novel microorganisms from the Norman Landfill Research Site, managed by the United States Geological Survey. The students focused on microorganisms that degrade the many compounds found in groundwater contaminated by the landfill.
Students’ housing, food, laboratory fees, plus a small cash stipend, were provided by Oklahoma’s National Science Foundation EPSCoR Educational Outreach program and the University of Oklahoma.
“Students from all of the regional universities in Oklahoma were invited to apply for the program,” said Dr. Nancy Paiva, Southeastern contact for the outreach program.
“Southeastern was fortunate to have three applicants accepted,” she added. “For this first trial year, funds limited the number of participants to 10. This is exactly what some of our science majors need to help them decide if a graduate research career is right for them.”