Four UVI students, Anna-Mai Christmas, Howard Forbes, Adrianne Crooke and Elisha Jno-Baptiste have been selected as the presenters of the top four posters in UVI's Fall 2008 Undergraduate Research Symposium. The symposium, held on Sept. 21, on the St. Thomas campus, showcased the research projects conducted by more than 50 young UVI researchers. Christmas and Forbes tied for first place and Crooke and Jno-Baptiste tied for second place.

Christmas is a junior. The title of her poster was "Determination of Nanomolar Concentrations of Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) in Aqueous Media by a Simple Colorimetric Method Using a Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cell Coupled to a UV/Vis Spectrophotometer." Christmas was mentored by Dr. Tawnya D. Peterson, from Oregon Health & Science University, and Dr. Steven Ratchford and Dr. Teresa Turner, both from the University of the Virgin Islands.

Forbes, a junior, was mentored by Dr. Thomas Zimmerman, of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of the Virgin Islands. Forbes’ work was on "The Influence of Red Mud and Stabilized Red Mud on Seed Germination and Plant Growth."

Crooke is a sophomore. Her research took place at the National Institutes of Health during the summer of 2008, where she worked along with UVI Biology Professor Dr. Paul Jobsis. The title of her poster was "Investigation into the Function of the Heart's Visceral Pericardium."

Jno-Baptiste's poster was entitled "Will Analyses of Complete Sequences from the Large Ribosomal Subunit (28S) Produce a Well-supported Phylogenetic Hypothesis for Relationships Among Scleractinian Coral Families?" Jno-Baptiste, a junior, was mentored by Dr. Sandra Romano, a professor at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Winners will receive special awards and honors at UVI's Spring Academic Awards Ceremony. "The Research Symposia truly embody the mission of the University of the Virgin Islands, and in particular, the creation of an environment that places the students at the center of their learning. Collaborative research with students and faculty showcases the very best of both student and faculty achievement," said Dr. Camille McKayle, dean of the Division of Science and Mathematics. "Many of these students will use the experience of presenting work and being critiqued to prepare them for other national presentations. UVI is proud of each of these students." This year there was a 29 percent increase in the number of students who submitted abstracts for the symposium.

UVI students participating in the research symposium have been supported by the Division of Science and Mathematics at the University of the Virgin Islands as well as by funding agencies including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. To learn more about the students' research, visit http://ecs.uvi.edu/ and click on Research Symposium.

From the "UVI Announces Fall 2008 Science Symposium Results", UVI News Release dated October 2, 2008.