Posted on Dec 5, 2006

A group of Murray State University science faculty and student researchers recently participated in the 92nd annual meeting of the Kentucky Academy of Science. More than 600 students and faculty from across the state attended the 2006 meeting. Two MSU faculty members in the department of biological sciences earned special recognition at the meeting. Dr. Terry Derting, professor, received the Distinguished University Teacher Superlative Award of the Kentucky Academy of Science. The award is given to a teacher who has made not only a significant contribution to science teaching, but also to research at the college/university level in Kentucky. Dr. Robert Martin, also a professor, was selected to open the symposium with his talk, “One Long (Continuing) Argument: Some Modern Developments in Evolutionary Biology.” Martin is the author of the recently published book, Missing Links: Evolutionary Concepts and Transitions Through Time. Undergraduate and graduate research students from MSU gave presentations in four areas of science, earning awards in two categories. Courtney Thomason from Collierville, Tenn., and Tiffany Hedrick from Fairview, Tenn., who conduct undergraduate research with Derting, gave oral presentation on the effects of human activities on the health of wild small mammal species in fragmented habitats. Thomason received a first place award in physiology and biochemistry for her study on “The Effects of Diet and Social Stress on Humoral and Cell-mediated Immunity in Peromyscus leucopus.” Maggie Grosser, a graduate student from Maysville, Ky., who researches with Dr. Tim Johnston, a professor in the MSU department of biological sciences, presented her work on environmental factors affecting the diversity of bacteria species in the Ledbetter Embayment of Kentucky Lake in the microbiology section. Graduate student Prasanna Kudimvscula of India won first place in the chemistry section for her oral presentation of the use of an alga, Cladophora glomerata, as a cheap and effective way of removing arsenic from drinking water. Among the undergraduate presenters in the chemistry section, Shannon Logan of Hopkinsville, Ky., a research student working under Dr. Terry McCreary, associate professor of chemistry, won the fourth place award for her presentation, “Iron (III) Ferrocyanide (Prussian Blue) as a Burn Rate Modifier in Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant.” Annette Fowler of Murray and Suresh Nune of India, both of whom conduct research with Dr. Bommanna Loganathan, assistant professor in chemistry, also gave presentations. Loganathan serves as the secretary of the chemistry section of the Kentucky Academy of Science.