[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/biology.jpg” caption=”Pictured are the senior biology students who represented McMaster at the Ontario Biology Day. Noted in brackets are their faculty supervisors. Sonia Sharma (Atkinson); Anisha Sivagurunathan (Atkinson); John Morala (Baron); Jessie Carviel (Cameron); Jessica Jackson (Campos); Nathalie Arki (Chow-Fraser); Teegan Docherty (Chow-Fraser); Kathryn Harrison (Chow-Fraser); Leslie Malloy-Weir (Chow-Fraser); Heather Pankhurst (Chow-Fraser); Elizabeth Jamal (Forster); Jennifer Costantini (Golding); Kim Davis (Grover); Kanwaldeep Mallhi (Grover); Chitra Ramdular (Grover); Pinay Kainth (R. Gupta); Johanna Withers (Y. Li); Bill Mous (Quinn); Brian Jobse (Sheffield); Lorrie Beres (Stone); Katie Tchourliaeva (Weretilnyk); Leila Makhani (West-Mays); Zahra Nathu (West-Mays); Lisa Lan (Xu); Megan Szak (Xu).”]Twenty-five McMaster biology students presented a diverse range of research at the 18th annual Ontario Biology Day last weekend at Laurentian University.

They were among 74 students from six Ontario universities to give oral and poster presentations on the senior thesis and project work they undertook this academic year through the following courses: BIOL 4C09; BIOL 4F06 and MOL BIOL 4R09.

The students were accompanied by their faculty supervisors, as well as Pat Chow-Fraser, associate professor of biology, Kathy McIntosh, undergraduate assistant, and Wendy Burston, undergraduate promotions.

“Besides our strong showing, which even eclipsed the number of Laurentian delegates, we also distinguished ourselves in the diversity of our research, being represented in sessions on human biology, botany, limnology and fish biology, molecular biology, behavioural and conservation ecology, plant ecology and impact of habitat, and microbiology,” Chow-Fraser said.

McMaster student Jessie Carviel received an award for the best-student paper in plant sciences given for the first time by the Canadian Botanical Association for the Ontario Region. Her paper, Characterization of age-related resistance mutants in Arabidopsis, was co-authored by Robin Cameron, her thesis supervisor.

“We should congratulate all of the students who rose to the challenge and triumphed during this weekend,” said Chow-Fraser, “and to their supervisors and associated graduate students who provided a nurturing environment in which to do science.”

The Department of Biology at McMaster will host Ontario Biology Day in 2007.

Members of the McMaster community are invited to attend the Biology Undergraduate Symposium (BUS) on Thursday, April 7 when senior thesis and project students will give presentations on their research.

Click here for the presentation schedule. The opening address is scheduled for 9 a.m. and the post-BUS reception for students and their supervisors will be at 5 p.m.