|
|
|
Print this article 
Undergraduate Students to Engage in Toxicology in
Salt Lake City
 |
Undergraduates have the opportunity to meet with academic program directors during the SOT meeting |
An increasing number of undergraduate students are attending the SOT Annual Meeting and presenting papers, which is a positive indicator of SOT efforts to “build for the future of toxicology,” an important objective in the SOT Strategic Plan. Researchers with undergraduates in their labs are encouraging abstract submission and attendance. Two awards are available to provide travel support for these students, and their posters will be marked with ribbons so you are encouraged to stop by and discuss the work of these young scientists. Adrian Nanez, Chair of the Committee on Diversity Initiatives and an alumna of the Undergraduate Education Program, reports that the committee has selected 45 undergraduates and 8 advisors of undergraduates to participate in the program this year. Thirty-six are students from groups who are underrepresented in the sciences, and 13 come from institutions that receive low amounts of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) funding. The program for these students begins Saturday night, March 6, with introductory toxicology lectures by José Manautou and Nathan Cherrington.
 |
Joy Cavagnaro organized the 20th Anniversary Tox Squad from students who distinguished themselves in the opening session of the 2009 CDI Undergraduate Program. |
Two awards are available to provide travel support for these students, and their posters will be marked with ribbons. You are encouraged to stop by and discuss work with these young scientists. The Pfizer Undergraduate Student Travel Award is presented to 5 impressive students after the Education Committee does the difficult task of selecting the top from the group of outstanding applicants. The recipients this year are Annie L. Carlton, Bates College; Alisha Chitrakar, Saint Peters College; Megan Culbreth, North Carolina State University; Chang Woo Lee, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Sharon Ochs, Wright State University.
The Perry J. Gehring Diversity Student Travel Award goes to an undergraduate or graduate student who attended SOT in the last three years as a participant in the Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students. Nygerma Dangleben is the recipient of this Endowment Fund Award this year. She is currently a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, and attended the undergraduate program in 2006. Honorable mention designates are Sherine Crawford, an undergraduate at Medgar Evers College, and Ebany J. Martinez, a graduate student at the University of New Mexico.
Anyone at the meeting who has been involved in the undergraduate program at any time is invited to the networking reception at 8:00 PM, on March 6, which will include recognition of the Gehring award recipient and a memorial moment for Mary Kanz, who served on the program leadership team for many years.
On Sunday, any undergraduate student registered for the meeting is invited to participate in the Undergraduate Education Program. Additional toxicology presentations, information about success in graduate school, and the opportunity to meet with academic program directors are part of the schedule that day. Students who were funded by the Undergraduate Program also have sessions on Monday, including a special poster session in the Exhibit Hall. Many SOT members, including committee members, presenters, toxicologist mentors, and graduate student peer mentors have generously volunteered their time to encourage these students to consider a career in the biomedical sciences.
|
