Contact: Maridith Geuder
Three Mississippi State science students are receiving regional recognition for their university research projects.
Seniors Joy Barksdale of Pascagoula and Kristen Chambers of Starkville, along with freshman Maggie Corley of Yazoo City, recently presented reports on their work at the Southeast Regional Undergraduate Research Conference. Barksdale is a microbiology and physics double major, while Chambers and Corley are majoring in chemistry.
They were among more than 30 students from four Southeastern states on the program of an American Chemistry Society/Student Affiliates' meeting at Kennesaw (Ga.) State University.
"This was an excellent opportunity for students who are undergraduate chemistry researchers to interact professionally with those involved in other research programs," said associate chemistry professor William P. Henry, who accompanied the group.
Barksdale, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Barksdale, has worked in collaboration with chemistry professor Bill Wilson on a project titled "Correlation of the Crystallization of Equine Serum Albumin with the Second Viral Coefficient." The research was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Corley, the daughter of Brian Corley and Margaret Tyer, also worked with Wilson on another NASA-supported project titled "High-Throughput Method for Studying Protein Interactions."
Chambers, the daughter of Drs. Janice and Howard Chambers, was investigating the iron chelation of propyl gallate. With support from the United States Department of Agriculture, she collaborated with Henry and professor Tor Schultz of the MSU Forest Products Laboratory.
"These students should be proud of the quality of their work and of their presentations at a major regional gathering," Henry said.
In addition to the chemistry department, MSU participation in the meeting was supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and the ACS Student Affiliates. Debbie Beard and Svein Saebo are faculty advisers for the MSU affiliates chapter.