On May 14th, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, hosted a luncheon to present awards to outstanding student researchers. SoMAS’ Jessica Dutton and Marianne McNamara received awards.
Sigma Xi elects members based on their research potential or achievements and the society’s mission is to provides a supportive environment for interdisciplinary research. Sigma Xi officers Nicholas Delihas of the Department of Microbiology; Harvey Lyman of the Department of Biochemistry; Frank Roethel and Larry Swanson of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences; and Alan Tucker of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics were in attendance to honor the student awardees.
During the luncheon, SoMAS professor Larry Swanson lectured on water and the importance of water conservation. Later, introducing the awards presentation part of the program, he explained the priorities of the Stony Brook chapter of Sigma Xi. “Unlike other Sigma Xi chapters, who spend organization money on high profile guest lecturers, we prefer to pass the money directly on to the students,” he said.
Marianne McNamara, a Ph. D. student working in Darcy Lonsdale’s lab, received the Sigma Xi Travel Award. The Travel Award is a monetary award of up to $250 to defray travel expenses to a professional meeting at which the applicant is highlighting a paper or poster. She plans to use the award this summer to attend the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland. There she will present a talk entitled “Shifting ctenophore abundance and the implications for larval bivalve mortality in Long Island, New York, estuaries.”
Jessica Dutton, a Ph. D. student working in Nick Fisher’s lab, received the Award for Excellence in Research, which includes election to membership in Sigma Xi and a one-year waiver of dues.
Dutton studies the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on metal accumulation in marine fish. Her research explores the effect of water chemistry, growth rate, ingestion rate, and prey choice on a fish’s metal uptake and retention.
Dutton is proud to be inducted into Sigma Xi. “It’s great honor to be joining the membership of a research society with such distinguished members,” she explained, “There are some 200 Nobel Prize winners among the organization’s 60,000 members.”
Excellent in Research Awards
- Alexander G. Chamessian, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Hailong Chen, Chemistry
- Juah Chung, Chemistry
- Jessica Dutton, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
- Wei Hu, Computer Science
- Carey Kim, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Younjoo Lee, Chemistry
- Liang Luo, Chemistry
- Engin Ozoivici, Biomedical Engineering
- Salma B. Rafi, Chemistry
- Ce Shi, Chemistry
- Yuan Bi, Chemistry
- Hongun Zhou, Chemistry
Travel Awards
- Saly-Elizabeth Matthew; Rama Vinayagasundram, and Uma Vinayagasurdaram (joint) Division of Allergy Rheumatology School of Medicine
- Marianne E. McNamara, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
- Lisa Prazak, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Rik Sarkak, Computer Science
- Mijin Son, Biochemistry and Cell Biology
- Jessica Stanton, Ecology and Evolution
- Gary Y.H. Teng, Chemistry
- Ian J. Wallace, Anthropological Sciences
- Lauren Wickstrom, Chemistry
- Eliza Woo, Ecology and Evolution
- Fen Zhang, Chemistry
