Five Prairie View A&M University students traveled to the 2017 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, and two among the top-ranked, undergraduate researchers were honored for their skills at Phoenix, AZ. This conference is the most substantial undergraduate research meeting in the country with more than 1,000 attendees.
The Cooperative Agricultural Research Center was proud of all the hard work the students exhibited. It was great to hear the University’s name called during awarding. Gabriel Phillips and James Fearon were winners in the chemistry poster division.
Phillips, a senior agriculture major in the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, presented Bioactives and Compounds of Industrial Interest in Egyptian Spinach (Corchorus olitorius L.) seeds. The project was conducted during spring and summer of 2016 and advised by Drs. Peter Ampim and Aruna Weerasooriya. His exploratory research revealed that Egyptian Spinach seeds contain several compounds with potential pharmacological and industrial uses.
Phillips stated, “Being selected for an award was incredibly validating because I feel as though my efforts are a major contributing factor to agriculture and it’s progression.”
Fearon advised by Drs. Laura Carson and Subhani Bandara for his research on Green Biosynthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Capsicum Annum Extract. Fearon’s research investigates extracts from plants to inhibit microbial growth to assist in food safety.
Other students who participated in the conference were Joseph Marshall, an advisee of Dr. Carson, and Ardawna Green and Jessica Watts who were both advised by Dr. Shaye Lewis. The student projects were funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Ali Fares, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research and Professor
(936) 261-5019
alfares@pvamu.edu