Michelle Ross, a senior wildlife biology major from Columbia, Missouri, and Liz Tidwell, a senior biochemistry major from Littleton, Colorado, received the Beta Beta Beta (BBB) Research Grant from the BBB national office to conduct research projects at Hastings College.
BBB is a national collegiate honorary society dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study. Each year, the national office supports undergraduate research efforts of BBB members across the nation through a scholarship-based grant program.
Members of Hastings College chapter of BBB have been awarded more than $13,000 in research money in the last decade.
“The support we receive from the national office of BBB facilitates student research at Hastings College, which is an essential component to a well-rounded education. We can talk about what makes a good research project, but actually being able to carry out that project is what prepares students for life after graduation,” said Dr. Amy Morris, chair of the Hastings College Biology Department and faculty sponsor for BBB.
Ross will work with Morris for her research project entitled “Determining the Effects of Atrazine on Danio rerio Embryo Development.” Dr. Amanda Solem, assistant professor of biology, is mentoring Tidwell in her project, “Do Non-coding SNPs change RNA structure to cause Disease?”
The seniors will present their completed research projects in April 2018 at the BBB conference.
An initiative to fund student research in biology at Hastings College was first funded by Hal Dittmer, a member of the Hastings College Board of Trustees. Projects since his initial funding have been a result of Dittmer’s willingness to foster a culture of research in biology on campus.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
