The USF College of Arts and Sciences Department of Chemistry held its annual Raymond N. Castle Student Research Conference in early March.
The Castle Conference includes a competitive poster session for both graduate and undergraduate students. (Photo by Guy Dayhoff)
The conference, which is organized largely by students, showcases both undergraduate and graduate student research with the intent for “young scientists to develop the necessary communication skills to excel in the future.”
“The Castle Conference is an exciting event in the life of our chemistry department,” said Dr. Chavdar Slavov, assistant professor and faculty advisor for the conference. “[It’s] a wonderful opportunity for the students to showcase their work, exchange ideas with their peers, and get feedback from faculty other than their supervisors. I particularly enjoy the passion with which students discuss their research projects and talk about their plans to reach new grounds.”
Dr. Raymond N. Castle served as a distinguished research professor with USF in 1981. Both he and his wife, Ada Castle, were strong advocates for the chemistry department and sponsored the Castle Lecture Series, bringing in numerous prominent scientists for lectures on campus.
First-place winner Julian Melendez, graduate student, accepting his award for his talk,"Improved Polarizable Force Field for Modeling Mg2+ Binding to Proteins and Nucleotides," from conference organizer Sarah Dietrich. (Photo by Guy Dayhoff)
A prolific researcher, Castle was internationally recognized as the father figure in heterocycle chemistry and the department holds this student-led symposium in his honor.
Guy Dayhoff, NSF fellow and chair of the organizing committee for the conference, said this is an annual tradition that the students look forward to each year.
“The intention of the Raymond N. Castle Student Research Conference is to promote professional development, scientific acumen, and to carry on Dr. Castle’s legacy of academic excellence,” Dayhoff said. “The conference enhances the student experience here at USF by allowing students to participate in, attend, or help organize, a full-scale professional research conference annually, without ever needing to leave campus—a tradition that is now in its 21st year!”
“For me, the most exciting part about the conference is seeing the growth of students year after year, both as presenters and as organizers. Plus, learning about all the ongoing chemistry-related research being conducted here at USF and at nearby universities is really cool,” he said.
The conference also included a keynote presentation by Dr. Marilyne Stains, a professor from the University of Virginia’s Department of Chemistry who specializes in discipline-based education and research. She presented on, “Exploring General Chemistry instructors’ rationales behind their assessment practices,” and provided an overview of how external influences may affect assessment practices and student learning.
Dr. Sherrise Bryant, associate professor of instruction, stopped by the conference with her son Mark Bryant. (Photo by Guy Dayhoff)
Students Dianna Kim, Briley Humphrey, Ali Amy, Julian Melendez, and Paul Orndorf each won first place in their sessions for their research talks.
Sihao Li won first place in the graduate student poster session and Nickolas Schoenberger won first place in the undergraduate poster session.
All winners received an award as well as a cash prize of $200 from funds donated to the department.
More about this year’s student presenters, judges and speakers may be viewed on the Castle Conference website.