Nearly three hundred participants gathered at the Main Campus of The University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, August 7 to celebrate scientific research in the South Texas region.  The daylong COS Research Conference brought together undergraduate and graduate students and faculty from UTSA and surrounding universities to reconnect and foster new relationships.

“This conference was hugely successful for the college and exposes the great research conducted at UTSA to the surrounding scientific community,” said Associate Dean for Research, Andrew Tsin, Ph.D.

Participants learned about the programs at the university through poster and oral presentations, and tours of the laboratories and facilities.  More than one hundred posters hung in Ballroom 2 at the University Center III representing all six of the college’s academic departments.

Karl Klose, Director of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases delivered an inspiring keynote address about effects of the Vibrio cholera bacterium.

More than a dozen different educational institutions from across Texas were represented at the conference along with members of the Alamo Chapter of Sigma Xi and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Six undergraduate students received awards for their poster presentations.  Jessica Briscoe for biological sciences, Micah Spears for computer science/mathematics, Obehi Etinfoh and David Babinski for physical/chemical/material sciences, and Nicole Franco and Sean Vargas for the best SACNAS poster.  In addition to plaques, each of the winners received a year’s membership to Sigma Xi.

“I think we met the goal of sharing the great work our students and faculty are doing here at UTSA.  What we have to do now is carry the momentum from this conference through the entire academic year,” said George Perry, Ph.D., dean of the College of Sciences.

With the success of this event, college and university organizers plan to host an expanded event in August 2010.  For more information about the event, visit the conference Web site: www.utsa.edu/cos/research_conference.

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Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi is an international, multidisciplinary research society whose programs and activities promote the health of the scientific enterprise and honor scientific achievement. There are nearly 60,000 Sigma Xi members in more than 100 countries around the world. Sigma Xi chapters, more than 500 in all, can be found at colleges and universities, industrial research centers and government laboratories. The Society endeavors to encourage support of original work across the spectrum of science and technology and to promote an appreciation within society at large for the role research has played in human progress.  For more information, visit the Alamo Chapter Web site.

SACNAS
SACNAS is a national society with a 36-year history of supporting minority scientists and science students. The society is comprised of over 20,000 members, partners, and affiliates from a diversity of disciplines, institutions, ethnic backgrounds, and levels along the educational trajectory. SACNAS members are dedicated to giving back through mentorship, peer networks, and professional development, and to engaging in science research and leadership of the highest caliber. The organization and its members are committed to encouraging minority students and scientists to advance to their utmost capability.  For more information, visit the SACNAS Web site.