UMES students and faculty highlighted their latest work at the second annual Student-led Undergraduate Research Symposium Dec. 4. Hosted by the SANS Center for Student Excellence, the full-day event provides a platform for university researchers at all levels to showcase their investigations and findings. Over 50 high-quality poster and oral presentations were showcased, of which a group of high school students participating in a UMES Extension 4-H STEM Research Internship were able to engage in.
This year’s theme, Feeding the Future: Innovation & Resiliency in Agriculture, primarily focused on the school’s paramount charge of advancing agricultural practices and technology to support the needs of the region and beyond.
Fittingly, the symposium kicked off with a keynote session by Scott Raubenstine, vice president agricultural services at Perdue AgriBusiness, and Samriddh (Sam) Mudgal, brand manager, Disruptive Innovation, Perdue Farms. A morning panel on Equitable Food Systems and Community Resilience followed moderated by Sonya Whited, senior director of process engineering and sensory, Perdue Farms Innovation Center.
Oral research presentations preceded lunch followed by a poster session afterward. A second panel discussion led by Rylee Stocks, a junior biology major, highlighted current undergraduate research and experiential learning projects. Student recognition and awards concluded the day’s activities.
And the winners are:
First Place-Undergraduate Oral Presentation and Poster Presentation, Nandini Walia, Identification and Characterization of Soil Bacteria Producing Antifungal Metabolites Against Strawberry Pathogens.
Undergraduate Poster Presentation, (Second Place) Naya Diggs, Mosquito Farm and Salt Marsh of the Town Habitats in Somerset County, Maryland, and (Third Place) Neisha Jacobs, Preliminary Survey of PFAS in Household Drinking Water and Potential Drivers Across Maryland’s Lower Shore.
Graduate Poster Presentation, Rumita Limbu Sanwa, Alley Cropping in Maryland: Farmers’ Perspectives and Soil Greenhouse Gas Dynamics.
Faculty Poster Presentation, Dr. Aaron Persad, Experiment on the Effects of Microgravity on Fine Regolith.
Graduate/Faculty Oral Presentation, Ian Kalama, The Canopy and the Community: Quantifying the Disparity of the Urban Forest Benefits and Vulnerability in Maryland.
Three-Minute Thesis Competition, Sara Lahoff, Phytochemical Contents of Juvenile Ginger as Influenced by Cultural Management and Maturity.
Pictured below, clockwise from top left, are: Nandini Walia, Nayla Diggs, Scott Raubenstine, Sonya Whited, and Kausik Das, physics professor and director of UMES’ Center for Student Excellence introducing the guest presenters from Perdue. See more photos
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu., 410-621-3850.
Photos by Kara Nuzback, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, kanuzback@umes.edu.
