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More than 130 individuals attended the fall STEM Lunch and Learn which featured student research presentations. Audrey Ordoñez, Xenia Esparza, and Michelle Mejia presented to a standing- room-only audience in the Whatley Foyer on November 6. Audrey presented her research on Salmon DNA Organic Semiconductors. Participating in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program (REU), Audrey worked over 10 weeks this past summer at East Texas A&M University with Dr. Heungman Park in the Physics Department. The REU program is funded by the National Science Foundation and is intended to provide research opportunities for undergraduate students from smaller universities and community colleges where they may not have access to such research. East Texas A&M runs REU programs in Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy every summer, and NTCC has a long-running history of students doing summer research in these programs. Dr. Drew Murphy, NTCC Professor of Chemistry, served as Audrey’s mentor. Xenia Esparza presented findings in her presentation titled “Some Noteworthy Parasites of Fishes from the Lower Ouachita River Watershed, Arkansas.” Afterward, Michelle Mejia presented her research titled “Some Parasites of the Northern Cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus (Reptilia: Ophidia) from Western Arkansas.” Both of these students are conducting their research, with Estefani Garcia, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Academic Cooperative course taught by Dr. McAllister at NTCC who serves as their mentor. These students traveled to Arkansas to collect specimens, many of which are novel and never before described in this area.

The Steel Country Bee, over the next seven weeks, will be asking local students questions about holiday wishes. This week’s question is: “If you could give something to someone or do something for someone for the holidays, what would it be?”

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