Chemistry and Nanoscale Science Graduate Students Contribute to the Success of the 16th Annual Graduate Research Symposium

May 16, 2016
Categories: General News

Students from the Chemistry M.S. program and the Nanoscale Science Ph.D. program made outstanding contributions to the 16th Annual UNC Charlotte Graduate Research Symposium, held on Saturday, April 2. Three Chemistry M.S. students (Jerrod, Flanagan (advisor: Dan Rabinovich), Billy Johnson (advisor: Jordan Poler), and Crystal Waters (advisor: Tom Schmedake)) along with two Nanoscale Science Ph.D. students (Zhiguang Cui (advisor: Terry Xu) and Meesha Kaushal (advisor; Michael Walter)) made oral presentations in the Physical and Natural Sciences sessions. Four Chemistry M.S. students (Erik Fink and Alexandra Hurst (advisor: Juan Vivero-Escoto), John Patterson (advisor: Dan Rabinovich), and Jessica Shott (advisor: Christopher Bejger)) plus five Nanoscale Science Ph.D. students (Dawn Marin (advisor: Michael Walter), Derek Peloquin (advisor: Tom Schmedake), Keming Ren (advisor: Michael Walter), Marissa Styron (advisor: Dan Rabinovich), and Drew Tobias (advisor Marcus Jones) made poster presentations. The presentations made by each of these students demonstrated that the students are working hard, enthusiastic about their research, and are receiving excellent mentoring from their faculty research advisors.

Students from both the Chemistry M.S. program and the Nanoscale Science Ph.D. program played a huge role in organizing the conference, demonstrating their excellence in leadership. Lizeth Hernandez (Chemistry M.S. (advisor: Dan Rabinovich)) chaired the Graduate Research Symposium Committee – a huge undertaking! Ellie Okwei (Chemistry M.S. (advisor: Jerry Troutman)) co-led the Logistics planning, and Katelyn Erickson (Nanoscale Science Ph.D. (advisor: Jerry Troutman)) co-led Registration and putting together the Program Book. Based on how well the conference ran, these individuals and their colleagues did a fantastic job.

The Chemistry M.S. students won most of the awards for the Physical and Natural Sciences Oral Session, and both awards for the Physical and Natural Sciences Poster Session. Congratulations to these students!

Billy Johnson: Second Place, Oral Presentation

Crystal Waters: Third Place, Oral Presentation

Alexandra Hurst: First Place, Poster Presentation

John Patterson: Honorable Mention, poster Presentation

Thank you to all of the presenters, organizers and judges for your contributions to an engaging and enjoyable conference.