Biology Students Receive Honors at 60th Annual NJ Academy of Science Meeting

On Saturday, April 25 five Saint Peter’s biology students presented their research at the 60th Annual New Jersey Academy of Science Meeting held at Kean University in Union, N.J. and did an excellent job! Nathalie Staiger was awarded first place in the category of undergraduate poster presentation and outstanding poster overall. Nathalie was mentored by Dr. Frances Raleigh and Dr. Laura Twersky. Her poster was titled, “Quantification of Microscopic Zooxanthellae Algae Expulsion after Increased Temperature by Candy Cane Coral, Caulastrea furcate.”

The second place award for outstanding undergraduate poster presentation was awarded to Sherif Elkattawy, David Belloso and Zakee Conte-Smith. These students were mentored by Dr. Jill Callahan. Their poster was titled, “The Effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Virgin Coconut Oil Based Soaps on Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms.” Additionally, German Rojos, mentored by Dr. Frances Raleigh, gave a presentation titled, “Effectiveness of Natural Remedies to Inhibit Growth of Propionibacterium acnes, in Order to Reduce Acne Vulgaris.” Congratulations to this impressive group of students!