The HESTEC science symposium was held earlier this week, and the REU program was pleased to host one of the three featured speakers, Dr. Susan Golden. Dr Golden discussed why pond scum might be able to, if not save the world, fly a few planes. Turns out that cyanobacteria are a good candidate for producing biofuels, and Dr. Golden, thanks to her work on one particular organism, has a good idea of what its genetics are like, making them promising for genetic modification.
Dr. Golden was followed by two other distinguished speakers, Drs. Eloy Rodriguez and Robert Curl, both of whom were taking about very small scales (organic chemicals) that might have very big impacts.
The Science Symposium also features a student research poster competition, and this year, the Department of Biology’s winner was an REU student, for the second year running!
Kristen Hopperstad (center) received a plaque and a laptop computer for her ongoing research with Dr. Brian Fredensborg (left). The day was, as the photo suggests, all a bit of a blur.
