CONWAY, Ark. (April 5, 2019) – On Friday, March 29, and
Saturday, March 30, Hendrix College hosted the 103rd meeting of the Arkansas Academy
of Sciences (AAS). This meeting marked the fifth time the College has hosted
this gathering of scientists from Arkansas and neighboring states, and the
first time since 2005.
This year’s meeting included more than 270 participants from 27
institutions of higher education and organizations including the National Park
Service, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the Arkansas Academy of
Computing. It featured over 150 scientific presentations across eight different
disciplines, including Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Ecology,
Engineering, Geosciences, Mathematics, and Physics. View
a selection of event photos
At Saturday’s business session, Dr. Todd Tinsley ’98, associate
professor of physics at Hendrix College, was elected vice president of AAS. The
meeting also included recognition of the best undergraduate and graduate oral
and poster presentations in each discipline. Seven Hendrix students won
presentation awards:
- Jacob Belding ’19 won the award for best Undergraduate Poster
Presentation in the category of Chemistry for his poster titled, “Design and
Optimization of a Low-Cost, Arduino-Controlled Fluorometer,” on work he did
with coauthors Dr. Julie Gunderson ’06 and Dr. William Gunderson, both Hendrix
College faculty.
- Lauren Dwyer ’20, Brianna Kelly ’19, Hannah Moore ’19, and
Sesalie Satterwhite ’20 won the award for best Undergraduate Poster
Presentation in the category of Biology – Medicine, Molecular & Cellular
for their poster titled, “Papillary Thyroid Cancer Cells Display Differences in
Drug Sensitivity that are Dependent on Extracellular Matrix Composition,” on
work they did under the supervision of Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09.
- Allison Monroe ’19 won the award for best Undergraduate Oral
Presentation in the category of Ecology and Organismal Biology for her talk titled,
“Biodiversity of Hymenoptera Across Sky Islands of Arkansas.” The talk
highlighted work she did with coauthors Oliver J. Kuhns ’21, Sierra C. Hubbard ’20,
Reynol Rodriguez ’19, Dr. Maureen R. McClung ’01, Dr. Matthew D. Moran, all of Hendrix
College, and Hendrix alumnus Dr. Michael W. Gates ’92 of the Smithsonian
National Museum of Natural History.
- Harrison Russell ’20 won the award for best Undergraduate Poster
Presentation in the category of Physics for his poster titled, “Quantitative
Binding of Divalent Metal Ions to DNA Hairpin Loops,” on work did also with
coauthors Dr. Julie Gunderson ’06 and Dr. William Gunderson, both of Hendrix
College.
Another 27 Hendrix students presented their scientific research,
including:
- Nathan Andress ’19, Michaela Edwards ’19, Amber Melcher ’19, and
Brock Sullivan ’19, who presented the poster “Chemokine Secretion Varies
Significantly in Papillary and Follicular Thyroid Cancer Tumor Cells” for work
with co-author Sarah Glass ’19 under the direction of Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09 (Hendrix
College).
- Cole Stanton ’19, Keith Taylor ’19, Sarah Gilmour ’19, and Moira
Moore ’19, who presented the poster, “Integrin Signaling is Required for
Collagen-Mediated Tumorigenicity of Papillary thyroid Cancer Cells” for work
with co-author Jonny Jenkins ’19 under the direction of Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09
(Hendrix College).
- Kirstyn Baker ’21, who presented the poster “Development of a
modified Michaelis-Menten Langmuir kinetic model for supported lipid bilayer
formation” with co-authors Robbie Kiss ’20, Jackson Bridges ’19, and Dr. Peter
Kett (Hendrix College).
- Jackson Bridges ’19, who presented the poster “Investigating the
role of a critical vesicle concentration in the formation of supported lipid
bilayers” for work with co-authors Kirstyn Baker ’21, Robbie Kiss ’20, and
Dr. Peter Kett (Hendrix College).
- Hayden Criswell ’20, Reece B. Mitchell ’20, and Shawqi Musallam ’19,
who presented the poster “Organocatalytic pericyclic reactions: catalyst
reactivity and substrate scope” for work with co-authors Evan Glassford ’20 and
Dr. Heidi A. Dahlmann (Hendrix College).
- Henry Dana ’19, who presented the poster “Water adsorption on
polyhydroxylate microspheres as a function of relative humidity using an FTIR
spectrometer equipped with a flow cell” with co-authors Cayman Botner ’20,
Rebecca Parham ’21, Karen Morris ’21, Hailey Hayes ’19, Megan Cassingham ’19,
and Dr. Courtney D. Hatch ’00 (Hendrix College).
- Hailey Hayes ’19, who presented the poster “Water adsorption on
polyhydroxylate microspheres as a function of relative humidity using a quartz
crystal microbalance” with co-authors Rebecca Parham ’21, Karen Morris ’21,
Henry Dana ’19, Cayman Botner ’20, Megan Cassingham ’19, and Dr. Courtney D.
Hatch ’00 (Hendrix College).
- Sierra Hubbard ’20, who presented the poster “Surveying
variability in cyanide production of white clover (Trifolium repens) across an
urbanization gradient in Little Rock, AR and Memphis, TN” with co-authors
Savannah Draud ’19, J. Tristian Wiles ’21, Caralee Shepard ’20, Dr. Joyce
Hardin (Hendrix College), and Dr. Adam C. Schneider (Hendrix College).
- Jacob Idec ’19, who gave the oral presentation “Explaining the
Diversity and Evolution of Color in Ants Using the AntWeb Image Database” with
co-author Dr. Brian Fisher (California Academy of Sciences).
- Jamie Johnson ’19, who gave the oral presentation “Wild game
consumption and greenhouse gas emission savings in the U.S.” for work with
co-authors Nathan Taylor ’18, Benjamin Zamzow ’18, and Dr. Matthew Moran
(Hendrix College).
- Tel Johnson ’20, who presented the poster “Effect of
multi-course prenatal steroids on fiber-type profile and enzyme activity in the
guinea pig rectus thoracis” with co-authors Judith Brown ’15, Julie Avery
(University of Alaska Fairbanks), and Dr. Jennifer Dearolf (Hendrix College).
- Robbie Kiss ’20, who presented the poster “Understanding the
role of flow rate and lipid concentration in the kinetics of supported lipid
bilayer formation” for work with co-authors Kirstyn Baker ’21 and Dr. Peter
Kett (Hendrix College).
- Dylan Mitchell ’19, who presented the poster “Design and
Implementation of 3D-Printable Optomechanical Components” with co-authors Ryan
Bullis ’20, Dr. William Gunderson (Hendrix College), and Dr. Julie Gunderson ’06
(Hendrix College).
- Karen Morris ’21 and Rebecca Parham ’21, who presented their
poster “Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements: Design and calibration of
a CCN analysis system” with co-authors Hailey Hayes ’19, Olivia Eddings ’21,
Megan Cassingham ’19, and Dr. Courtney D. Hatch ’00 (Hendrix College).
- Varenya Nallur ’19, who presented the poster “Restoration
Potential of Abandoned Wells in the Fayetteville Shale” with co-authors Dr.
Maureen R. McClung ’01 and Dr. Matthew D. Moran (both of Hendrix College).
- Krishna Patel ’21, who presented the poster “Biological and
ecosystem level changes from the addition of reservoirs to headwater streams”
with co-authors Margaret A. Young ’19, Brian Staley (University of Central
Arkansas), Danielle Braund (University of Central Arkansas), Dr. Maureen R.
McClung ’01 (Hendrix College), Dr. Matthew D. Moran (Hendrix College), and
Sally A. Entrekin (University of Central Arkansas).
- Kate Sanders ’20, who presented the poster “Creating a New
Molecular Phylogeny of Arceuthobium” with co-authors Jacob Idec ’19 and Dr.
Adam Schneider (Hendrix College).
- Caralee Shepard ’20, who gave the oral presentation “New state
records for the Texas frosted elfin (Callophrys irus hadros) and its host
plants (Baptisia spp.)” for work with co-authors Leah C. Crenshaw ’20, Natalie
E. Phelan ’20, Melissa Lombardi ’96 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), William
H. Baltosser (University of Arkansas at Little Rock), Dr. Maureen R. McClung ’01
(Hendrix College), and Dr. Matthew D. Moran (Hendrix College).
- JunHyeuk Shin ’20, who presented the poster “The roles for
specific chromatin environments in promoting dissociation of the FACT complex
from 3’ ends of genes following transcription” for work with co-authors Sydney
Ozersky ’17, Graham Harris ’18, and Dr. Andrea A. Duina (Hendrix College).
- Sofie Varriano ’19, who gave the oral presentation “The
synergistic relationship of bison grazing and arthropod herbivory in structuring
a tallgrass prairie plant community" with co-authors Luke H. Lefler ’19,
Krishna Patel ’21, Carolina Kirksey ’18, Adam Turner ’18, and Dr. Matthew D.
Moran (Hendrix College).
- J. Tristian Wiles ’21, who presented the poster “Behavioral
response of Carolina Wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) to songs altered to
escape masking effects of anthropogenic noise” for work with co-authors Spencer
M. Skaggs ’20 and Dr. Maureen R. McClung ’01 (Hendrix College).
- Margaret Young ’19, who gave the oral presentation “Estimating
cultural ecosystem services provided by the Buffalo National River using a
contingent valuation method” for work with co-authors Dr. Maureen R. McClung ’01,
Dr. Matthew D. Moran, and Dr. William Haden Chomphosy ’13, all of Hendrix
College.
On Friday night, Hendrix hosted the AAS banquet for meeting
participants with the welcome address delivered by Hendrix College President
William Tsutsui, and the keynote address “The Emerging Science of Complex Systems:
From Physics to Cities and Back Again” delivered by Dr. Luis Bettencourt.
Bettencourt is the Pritzker Director of the Mansueto Institute
for Urban Innovation, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, and Associate Faculty
and Special Friend of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He is also
External Professor of Complex Systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Prof.
Bettencourt received a doctorate in theoretical physics from Imperial College
(University of London) and held postdoctoral positions at Los Alamos National
Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of
Heidelberg. His recent accolades include an invitation to the White House
Frontiers Conference (2016), service on the President’s Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology working group on “Technology and the Future of Cities”
(2015) and the World Cities Summit Young Leaders network (2015), and induction
as Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences at the Frontiers of Science
Japanese-American Symposium (2014).
The local organizing committee responsible for hosting the
committee included Susan Ablondi, Dr. Heidi Dahlmann, Bobby Engeler-Young ’93, Dr.
Joyce Hardin, Dr. Brenda Houck, Dr. Laura MacDonald ’09, Dr. Maureen McClung,
and Dr. Todd Tinsley ’98.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix
College consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal
arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40
Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic
quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture
in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has
been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more,
visit www.hendrix.edu.