PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (March 17, 2022) – Six Prairie View A&M University students clinched winning placements in the 17th annual Texas A&M University System Pathways Student Research Symposium. This year’s student research competition involved more than 800 undergraduate and graduate students from all TAMUS institutions. Texas A&M University hosted the two-day research showcase symposium, which allowed students to increase the visibility of their research and network with students and faculty.
In the poster presentation competition for undergraduate students, PVAMU swept the Agriculture & Natural Resources category by taking first, second and third place.
- 1st place: Faith Isabelle, Senior, Agriculture major, The Effects of Nitrogen Rate on the Growth of Green Malabar Spinach (Basella alba L.) in Sandy Loam Soil in Southeast Texas, Mentors: Peter Ampim, Ph.D., and Eric Obeng, Ph.D.
- 2nd place: Lenaye Palmer, Senior, Agriculture major, Analyzing the microbial population on the fresh produce collected from the community garden, Mentors: Laura Carson, Ph.D., and Addisie Geremew, Ph.D.
- 3rd place: A’naya Ware, Senior, Agriculture major, Morphological and phytochemical diversity of grain-type industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa), RISE mentor: Aruna Weerasooriya, Ph.D.
Ware is supported by the Faculty-Research and Innovation for Success and Excellence (RISE) program, and Isabelle and Palmer are supported by USDA NIFA funding. Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., PE., MBA, vice president for the Division of Research & Innovation, established the RISE program to strategically invest in the university’s high-priority areas of research and innovation clusters.
“For six PVAMU students to be selected as winners in the Poster Presentation Competition is phenomenal,” said Rajan. “I am extremely pleased with the performance of the three undergraduate students who swept the Agriculture and Natural Resources category. Their awards speak to the awesome mentoring of the outstanding research faculty members.”
The Faculty-RISE program enables faculty researchers to expand and sustain their research through external grants and contracts while mentoring students to become the next generation of experts. R&I is funding more than 100 PVAMU students this academic year.
PVAMU’s Office of Graduate Studies funded 24 student researchers to attend and participate in the Pathways.
“I am happy to share that several of our students took home awards for poster and oral presentations,” said Farrah G. Cambrice, Ph.D., associate dean of Graduate Studies. “Our students represented PVAMU proudly, and our office is delighted that we were able to support student researchers. The Office of Graduate Studies remains committed to supporting such efforts, and we are proud of all the Pathways student research participants.”
There were separate categories for undergraduate and post-graduate posters and oral presentations. Three PVAMU graduate students were also winners. Their categories and placements include:
Engineering & Computer Science
- 2nd place: Layla Ogletree, Engineering and Computer Science master’s student, Fabrication of Thin Film Nanocomposite Forward Osmosis Membranes for the Treatment of Produced Water
- 3rd place: Faryal Fatima, Engineering and Computer Science master’s student, Poultry Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment with Membrane Technologies
Humanities
- 3rd place: Quinesha Bentley, Sociology master’s student, Black Trauma: The Impact of Desecrating Black Historical Markers and the Racist Effects on the Black Experience
For the complete list of TAMUS Pathways winners, click here.
By Karen B. Cotton and Michael Douglas
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