Lee Students Present At Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference

Twenty-four students from Lee University’s Department of Natural Sciences, Department of Language and Literature, and Department of Communication Arts recently traveled to Milligan University in Elizabethton, Tennessee, to present original academic research at the 31st annual Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference.

The 17 students who presented in the STEM poster panels are Jadin Allen, Michael Baker, Emme Clowdus, Sallie Hicks, Hannah Joseph, Sydney Krueger, Annabelle McDaniel, Evan Moore, William Myers, Kevin Perez, Kati Pourfarzib, Sarah Pritchard, Ashley Shearer, Kinley Shelton, Ashtyn Stock, Shelby Stone, and Kelsey Towle. The poster presentations discussed isolation and genome annotation of novel bacteriophages as well as host range studies.

“This conference provided a valuable opportunity for our students to share their research with peers, faculty, and staff from other institutions,” said Dr. Lori West, assistant chairperson for the Department of Natural Sciences and a professor of biology. “Our department was able to take 19 of our students to participate, 15 of which are members of our SEA-PHAGES program. This program offers research experiences to first-year students, and it was amazing to see these freshmen step out and present the culmination of their research.”

The four students who presented in the literature/humanities oral panels are Meredith Block, Allie Elmore, Jacob Link, and Alia Serrano. The literary analysis papers were on topics such as Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie,” Elmer Rice’s “The Adding Machine,” Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” and Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles.”

“This was an invaluable opportunity for our English majors to present at a large conference and listen to other panels of students from a wide variety of regional colleges,” said Dr. Andrew Lee, professor of English. “I believe an experience like this prepares our students well for graduate school and their careers.”

The two students who presented in the STEM oral panels are Kayle Davis and Jacob Riggs. Their research papers evaluated the capacity of novel bacteriophages to infect host species distinct from those they initially isolated.

In the social science poster session, Sylvana Lipe, a McNair Scholar, presented her research on communication anxiety in transplant recipients.

Of Lee’s 24 student participants, Mr. Allen, Mr. Baker, Mr. Myers, and Mr. Perez won the STEM Award, and Ms. Block won the Humanities Award.

“Being able to present our research at this conference was an incredible opportunity to share all that we had worked on this academic year,” said Mr. Myers. “After presenting to a variety of audiences, my group and I were able to reflect on several lessons and skills that we obtained, such as effective communication, audience retention, and visual illustration. Winning the STEM Award made us very proud of the hard work and extra preparation that was put into our research.”

Lee students were accompanied by Dr. West and Dr. Joe Daft from the Department of Natural Sciences; Dr. Lee from the Department of Language and Literature; and Jennifer Turner, coordinator of the McNair Scholars Program.

Lee students were able to attend and present at this research conference thanks to generous funding from the Ells Grant.

For more information on Lee’s College of Arts & Sciences, visit leeuniversity.edu/arts-sciences/.

For more information on the Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference, visit milligan.edu/blue-ridge-research-conference/.