Three Linfield College students earned top awards for research presentations at the annual Murdock College Science Research Conference Nov. 4-5 in Spokane, Wash.
Twenty-two Linfield students and five faculty members attended the conference, joining peers from 31 institutions across the Pacific Northwest. Students competed in a variety of categories, including oral and poster presentations.
Senior Megan Schwehr won best oral presentation in the life sciences for her talk “Exploring GABA Receptor Circuitry in Zebra Fish Lateral Line.” She was tops among 17 presentations in her category.
Co-authors and presenters senior Tyler Griffin and sophomore Clara Prentiss earned a best poster award in the Ecology/Evolution/Biodiversity section for their presentation “A Functional Ecological Comparison of Three Sponge Species from the Lower Florida Keys.” Their winning poster was one of two chosen from 48 entries in the category.
The conference provides a valuable opportunity for Linfield students to share and discuss their work with others from around the region, said Chad Tillberg, associate professor of biology.
“Our students aren’t just excellent presenters, they’re also engaged audience members,” he said. “By watching the talks and reading posters of other students, they see the application of the concepts and methods from their own coursework. Students leave the conference energized about science.”
Each fall, the M.J. Charitable Trust and a different Northwest private college or university co-host this conference. The conference focuses on sharing and advancing new knowledge in the natural sciences created or discovered through collaborative faculty-student research.
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