Students and Faculty Present Research at Science Conference

Science students and faculty presented their research at the Missouri Academy of Science (MAS) annual meeting April 15 in Jefferson City, Mo. 

Members of the Truman community presented six of the 12 papers at the chemistry program session.

Kelly Daniel, sophomore chemistry major from Columbia, Mo., and Eric Patterson, associate professor of chemistry, presented their paper titled “Computational Chemical Studies of the Hydrolysis of VX.”

Ashley Jay, junior chemistry major from Moulton, Iowa, and Patterson presented their paper titled “Neutralization of the Chemical Warfare Agent VX in Perhydroxide Solution.”

Joshua Kemper, junior exercise science major from Columbia, Mo., and Russell Baughman, professor of chemistry, presented their paper titled “Crystal and Molecular Structures of Organophosphorous Pesticides.”

Jennifer Serniak, senior biology major from Ballwin, Mo., and Patterson presented their paper titled “Oxidative Destruction of Chemical Warfare Agent VX.”

Amanda Turner, sophomore chemistry major from Rolla, Mo., and Christina Robinson, junior chemistry major from Brookfield, Mo., presented their paper titled “Examining the HIV REV-RRE Complex Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations.”

Jeremy West, sophomore chemistry major from St. Peters, Mo., and Baughman presented their paper titled “Crystal and Molecular Structures of Aromatic Charge Transfer Complexes.”

Two biology graduate students, Shauna Cooper from Salem, Mo., and Rachel Katz from Rutledge, Mo., also presented in the senior division of the MAS.

Cooper works with/for Scott Burt, assistant professor of biology. Her talk was “Effects of Forest Management on Small Mammal Community Demographics and Hantavirus Seroprevalence.”

Katz works with/for Peter Goldman, lecturer in biology. She had a poster titled “Floristic Analysis of Scotland County” and also presented a talk, “The Effects of Mowing vs. Burning on Grassland Nesting Birds.”