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ASU Students Win Awards at State Science Conference

March 28, 2011

More than 30 students and faculty represented Angelo State University at the 114th annual meeting of the Texas Academy of Science (TAS) earlier this month at St. Edward’s University in Austin, with four biology students winning honors and awards for their research presentations.

ASU graduate students Wesley Brashear and Marie Tipps each won $1,250 Student Research Awards for their research proposals. Brashear’s project is titled “Influence of Genetic Relatedness on Space Use Patterns in Ringtails, Bassariscus astutus” while Tipps’ project is titled “Investigating an Unusual Population of Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat in West Texas Using Morphological and Molecular Data.” Brashear’s faculty mentor is Dr. Robert Dowler, professor of biology, and Tipps’ faculty mentor is Dr. Loren Ammerman, associate professor of biology.

Also, ASU undergraduate student Candace Frerich and graduate student Jason Strickland each won awards for their oral research presentations. Frerich tied for second place for Best Oral Presentation of her research project “Genetic Analysis of the 5’utr of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus.” Her faculty mentor is Ammerman. Strickland won third place in the Graduate Oral Presentation category for his project “Phylogeographic Variation in the Cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus, Using AFLP and Venom Protein Profiles.” His faculty mentors are Ammerman and Dr. Kelly McCoy, head of the ASU Biology Department.

Also at this year’s meeting, Dr. Ned Strenth, ASU professor of biology, wrapped up more than 15 years as manuscript editor for the Texas Journal of Science, and Dr. David Marsh, professor of biology, co-coordinated the judging of all undergraduate research oral and poster presentations for the fourth consecutive year.

Additional ASU students and faculty also presented research projects in geology, chemistry, earth science and biology. In all, more than 590 scientists from dozens of universities statewide attended the annual TAS meeting that included more than 200 undergraduate and graduate research presentations and posters.

The Texas Academy of Science is one of the oldest and most respected science organizations in the state. Its purpose is to promote scientific research among the colleges and universities of Texas, to promote undergraduate research and to enhance the professional development of its members.