Science students present research at conferences

More than a dozen students accompanied three faculty members to the Nebraska Academy of Sciences meeting at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. Another graduate student, Jennifer Balmat of Chadron, delivered a presentation at the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America meeting in Rapid City, S.D.

Students presenters in Lincoln were Erica Colbert, senior, Cheyenne, Wyo.; Alula Mazengia, senior, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Ben Puffer, senior, Hot Springs, S.D.; Joe Reedy, sophomore, Vale, S.D.; Kathryn Score, senior, Elgin, Neb.; Cole Vejraska, senior, Hay Springs; Kodi Young, graduate student, Crawford; and Jesse Zwiebel, senior, Gordon.

Dr. Mike Leite, a CSC science faculty member who accompanied the students to Lincoln, said 512 students and faculty from Nebraska high schools and colleges registered for the conference. He said the event provided a great opportunity for the students to experience presenting to groups.

Much of the research focused on northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota’s varied geological features. Three of the projects were funded by the NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium.

Topics addressed by the students were the identification of subtle structural features in the Black Hills-Pine Ridge region; controls on geomorphology of streams flowing off the Pine Ridge; assessing the feasibility of monitoring nitrates and phosphates in Chadron Creek; determining the pathways of calcium ions by examining naturally occurring hot springs of the Fall River; and the vertebrate trackways created by creatures that roamed the Toadstool Park area more than 23 million years ago. Another presentation involved genetics and the staphylococcus bacteria.

In addition to Leite, the trip to Lincoln was led by Dr. Ann Buchmann and Dr. Wendy Jamison. Other students who attended the conference were Riley Machal of Gretna, Adam Neumann of Fort Calhoun, Amanda Waddle of Ericson and Lane Walter of Omaha.