CONWAY, Ark. (April 6, 2015) – Sophie Knorek ’15, a biology major from Marshall, Michigan, presented a research poster about her project titled "Characterizing the diaphragm of deep-diving beaked whales (Mesoplodon spp.)” during Spring Break at the 2015 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Marine Mammal
Symposium (SEAMAMMS) in Virginia Beach, Va.
The meeting was attended by more than 130 people, and there were 19 oral presentations and 30 posters.
Hendrix biology professor and department chair Dr. Jennifer Dearolf accompanied Knorek.
“Despite being in Arkansas, I am able to have some of my research students work on projects that focus on breathing muscles in cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) thanks to marine mammals stranding networks in North Carolina, Virginia Beach, and New Jersey. In order to give these students a chance to see some
living marine mammals and/or interact with other faculty and students that study them, I have taken my students to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Marine Mammal Symposium (SEAMAMMS),” said Dearolf. “It is a small meeting and extremely supportive of students. The majority of the oral and poster presentations are
by undergraduate and graduate students. Thus, this year, I was able to take Zofia, and she was able to chat with other students that have similar interests in the marine environment and conservation.”
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. This year, Hendrix was named the country’s #1 “Up and Coming” liberal arts college and #8 in the nation for “Best Undergraduate Teaching” by U.S.
News and World Report. Hendrix is featured in the 2015 Fiske Guide to Colleges, Forbesmagazine's list of America's Top Colleges, the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, and the latest edition of Colleges That Change
Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.