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Lake Forest, Ill. – Eight Lake Forest College students presented undergraduate biology research at the 19th Annual Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates in Science, Engineering and Mathematics on November 7 at Argonne National Laboratory. Nearly 500 students, teachers, and scientists attended the symposium, and over 200 undergraduate students presented original scholarship, from colleges and universities across the nation.

“The Argonne Undergraduate Symposium in Science,” said Lake Forest College Professor of Biology Doug Light, “provides an excellent opportunity for students to share their scientific research with an extramural audience, obtain feedback from other students and scientists, and hone their presentation skills.”

The Lake Forest students’ research was performed at the College and at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

“Lake Forest’s biology department provides students with a broad background in modern biology, while fostering opportunities for in-depth research,” adds Professor of Biology Shubhik DebBurman. “Writing, public speaking, and technological communication are all part of what it takes to be a scientist. Given our research focus, the biology department takes seriously its responsibility to train students to effectively communicate the significance of their findings at regional and national scientific conferences.”

All eight students are preparing for scientific careers and plan to pursue a Ph.D., M.D., or graduate degree in health professions.

The following presentations were given by Lake Forest College students, along with other student co-authors and faculty sponsors:

• Daysi Vargas-Gonzales ’11 – “The Ends of a Fungal Sex Life: Finding the Telomere Length of Aspergillus Nidulans Sexual Spores” with research from Mithaq Vahedi ’08 (Professor Karen Kirk, biology)

• Alexandra Charron ’09 – “An Allele on Chromosome Affects C. Elegans Pharynx Muscle Morphology” with research from Elizabeth Pahomov ’11 (Professor Pliny Smith, biology)

• Jillian Olejnik ’09 – “Follow the Leader: Effects of Female Responsiveness on Mate-choice Copying” (Professor Anne Houde, biology)

• Melissa Schramm ’09 – “Plasticity in the Courtship Behavior of Guppies Poecilia Reticulata, in Different Social Environments” (Professor Anne Houde, biology)

• Daryn Cass ’10 – “Frontal Cortical Activity is Upregulated after Three Weeks Withdrawal from Repeated Cocaine Exposure?” (Professor Shubhik DebBurman, biology and this work was done at Rosalind Franklin University in Dr. Keui-Yuan Tseng’s lab.)

• Ray Choi ’09 and Alina Konnikova ’11 – “Insight from Yeast: Is Autophagy Involved in Degrading the Parkinson Disease Associated Protein Alpha-Synuclein in Cells?” with research from Julian McLain ’11 and Michael White’07 (Professor Shubhik DebBurman, biology)

• Michael Fiske 10 – “Investigating whether Serine Phosphorylation Contributes to Alpha- Synuclein Aggregation, Membrane Association, & Toxicity in Yeasts” with research from Stephanie Valtierra’08, Sara Herrera’05, and Michael White’07 (Professor Shubhik DebBurman, biology)

Lake Forest College is a national liberal arts institution located 30 miles north of downtown Chicago. The College has 1,400 students representing 45 states and 69 countries.

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