SRU students' posters win first place at Sigma Xi conference

May 1, 2018

Three Slippery Rock University students presented posters that won first place at the Sigma Xi Regional Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference, hosted by Penn State Behrend in Erie.

Luke Szramowski, a senior mathematics major from Prospect, won first place in the physics, chemistry and mathematics poster category for his work, "Minimum Variance Linear Unbiased Estimators for Burr Type III Distribution." Woosuk Kim, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, was his adviser.

Annette Choi, a senior biology major from Chuncheon, South Korea, and Austin Shirk, a sophomore biology major from Elizabethtown, won first place in the cell and molecular biology section for their poster presentation, "Examining the Effect of Resveratrol Treatment on a Fruit Fly Model for TPI Deficiency." They worked with Stacy Hrizo, associate professor, and Martin Buckley, assistant professor, from SRU's Biology Department.

More than 200 students participated in the conference, sponsored by Penn State Behrend and the Northwest Pennsylvania chapter of Sigma Xi, an international, multidisciplinary research society. Students presented work in the STEM fields of biology, chemistry, engineering, environmental science, mathematics and physics, as well as humanities, social science and business.