A Western Connecticut State University psychology student won first place in the behavioral sciences category of the recent Sigma Xi Northeastern Regional Research Conference held at the university.
Three other WCSU students were recognized as research scientists and engineers from around the Northeast gathered at Western for the annual regional meeting of Sigma Xi, an honor society whose members promote excellence in scientific investigation and cooperation among the disciplines.
About 300 people attended to view student research and hear from renowned scientists on this year’s topic: “Mathematics as a unifying force in research and innovation.”
WCSU psychology major Piper Darling won first place for her work on how men and women analyze spatial problems, such a plotting a path to a destination.
Maura Gissen, also a psychology major, took third place for her work on how eye movement patterns affect spatial problem-solving. Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Bernard Gee was the mentor for both Darling and Gissen, as well as a co-author of the research.
Robert Dolan, mathematics major, earned a third-place recognition for his work on calculating the optimal height at which floating switches of various shapes sit in water or other liquids. His computer code is now being used by a Connecticut manufacturing company. Dr. Lydia Novozhilova, assistant professor of mathematics, was a co-author of this work.
Kristin Altemose, majoring in chemistry, developed a method to detect trace amounts of pharmaceutical chemicals in waterways and drinking water sources. Her work could help drug companies improve the efficacy of medicine by determining how much is retained by patients and how much is excreted. She earned a third-place recognition. Chemistry Professor Dr. Yuan Mei-Ratliff is a co-author of this work.
Dr. Theodora Pinou, WCSU professor of biological and environmental sciences, is president of the WCSU Sigma Xi chapter and served as the official conference organizer. Jackson Laboratory was a key supporter of the event. The conference featured three keynote lectures and more than 100 research projects in the fields of mathematics, computer science, life and physical sciences, genomics/personalized medicine, behavioral sciences, and engineering. “The members of Sigma Xi are nominated and elected by their peers, and represent the finest teacher-scholar role models world-wide,” Pinou said. “I wanted to bring them to Western so the community could hear from them, but also so that these scientists and their students could see what the university offers. It was a great success.”
Kavita Ramanan, Ph.D., Professor of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, who spoke on “The power of randomness.”
Adam Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The Jackson Laboratory, who discussed “Probing the dark matter of the genome to identify the causes of asthma.”
Kent Holsinger, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, who spoke on “People, proteas, and evolutionary process: What’s math got to do with it?”
Two Sigma Xi members were also honored during the day-long program: Dr. Howard Russock, WCSU professor emeritus in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, for his 40 years of service to Sigma Xi and continuous support of the WCSU chapter; and Dr. Kestas Bendinskas, editor of the American Journal of Undergraduate Research, professor of biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York-Oswego, for his role in founding the Northeastern Regional Meeting since 2006.
Sigma Xi is the honor society of research scientists and engineers. It is an international multidisciplinary group whose programs and activities promote the health of the scientific enterprise, reward excellence in scientific research and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among scientists in all fields.
For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.