2007 Biological Sciences and Psychology Undergraduate Research Symposium

Hosted at Washington University in St. Louis

The URS in the Biological Sciences & Psychology was held Nov. 2-4 at Washington University. More than 85 faculty and students participated in the weekend Symposium that featured 46 student research poster presentations and 17 student research oral presentations.

Dr. Pamela Trotter, Associate Professor & Robert W. Beart Chair in Chemistry from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL presented one of the plenary lectures on Saturday entitled “Beyond Bread and Beer: Using Yeast to Probe Metabolism and Compartmentation in Cells”. On Sunday morning, Dr. Ursula Goodenough, Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis presented the second plenary lecture entitled “The Evolution of Sex.”

Besides the presentations and conversations about research, participants had fun competing in teams of 5 or 6 to build the tallest tower out of noodles and marshmallows, attended lunchtime discussions about grad school and careers and explored the fantastic City Museum on Saturday evening. Check out the pictures from the Symposium below.

Event Photos

This team built a very stable tower on a hexagonal base of noodles and marshmallows.
The St. Louis Gateway Arch as seen out one of the windows in our hotel.
One of the two teams of faculty built the second tallest tower as seen in progress here. Hands-on learning!
One team's creation - not the winner, but an admirable effort.
The completed hexagonal tower wasnt the tallest, but was the most stable. Too bad they had to destroy it just minutes after creating their masterpiece.
The first poster session on Saturday set up in the beautiful atrium of the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center on the medical school campus.
Shirley Bradley from Hope College discusses her research with one of the other students.
Dr. Mary Ellen Biggin (pink shirt) and Dr. Pamela Trotter (center) lead the group of 5 students from Augustana College.
One of the St. Olaf students found himself in one of the many mazes of the City Museum...he eventually crawled out of the tunnel labyrinth.
Consortium Director Karen Nordell Pearson climbs out of one of the many tunnels of the City Museum. Good thing she's not claustrophobic!
U fo C faculty member Sean Crossin and Consortium Program Assistant Marlene Field peer out of one of the many 'windows' in the dark cave section of the museum on their way up to a several stories tall spiral slide. Fun!

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