Biology students present at state conference

Lycoming College biology students and faculty members recently attended the 89^th annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science held at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford.

The following were presented during the event:

• “Monitoring Nutrient and Sediment Loads and Effectiveness of Farm BMPs,” a poster by Quentin Reinford, a senior from McAlisterville.
• “Biological response of two North Central PA Streams after the Flood of September 2011,” a poster by Fred Rogers, a senior from South Williamsport.
• “A Novel Pedobacter species Isolated from a Freshwater Creek,” a poster by Dillon Snyder, a junior from Montoursville.
• “The Assembly and Annotation of the Chryeobacterium halifense Genome,” an oral presentation by Thomas Sontag, a junior from East Norriton.
• “Purification of Flexirubin pigments from Chryseobacterium,” an oral presentation by Jordan Krebs, a senior from Roaring Spring, and Andrew Gale, a sophomore from Levittown.
• “Average-Nucleotide Identity protein-coding (ANIpc): Novel Gnomic-Based Method to Differentiate Bacterial Species,” a poster by Krebs, Gale and Sontag.

During the event, Dr. Mel Zimmerman, biology professor and director of the Clean Water Institute, presented the poster “Contributions of Lycoming College Clean Water Institute to PAFB Unassessed Waters Project 2010-2012.” He also presented the paper “Pennsylvania Unassessed Waters Initiative: Role of SRHCES in Protection of Headwater Streams in North Central PA Watersheds,” during the Marcellus and Utica Shale Gas Symposium special session at the meeting.

 Lycoming College is a four-year, residential liberal arts and sciences school dedicated to the undergraduate education of 1,400 students. Its rigorous academic program, vibrant residential community and supportive faculty foster successful student outcomes. Lycoming offers 36 academic majors and is recognized as a Tier 1 institution by U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1812 and located near the banks of the Susquehanna River in Williamsport, Pa., Lycoming is one of the 50 oldest colleges in the nation. For more information, visit www.lycoming.edu.