MSU students honored at annual Academy of Sciences conference

Author: Kathleen Forman

Mississippi State University students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received high placement in competitive presentations at the annual Mississippi Academy of Sciences Meeting.

The 86th annual meeting included competitions for both graduate and undergraduate students in both oral and poster presentations. In the Agriculture and Plant Science division, eleven out of twelve total awards were given to MSU students.

Emily Tucker of Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP) in food science, nutrition and health promotion and senior biochemistry major, placed first and Stephen Schade, recently completed undergraduate student in microbiology and graduate student in food science, nutrition and health promotion, placed second in the undergraduate poster presentation. With spring 2022 being his first semester of graduate school and the majority of his research conducted during his time in undergraduate school, Schade was permitted to compete in the undergraduate division. Grace Umutesi, graduate student in food science, nutrition and health promotion, placed third in the graduate poster presentation.

Tucker, Schade and Umutesi were also recognized in the Millsaps Undergraduate Scholars Symposium "Honoring Excellence in Science in Mississippi," held at the meeting. Dr. Ramakrishna Nannapaneni, research professor in food science, nutrition, and health promotion served as their Undergraduate and Graduate Advisor for the above three students.

At the conclusion of the conference, eleven total MSU students placed in the top three for their perspective divisions. Listed by division below, winners include:

• Josiane Argenta, weed science graduate student, placed first in the graduate oral presentation.
• Lovepreet Singh, agronomy graduate student, placed second in the graduate oral presentation.
• Varsha Singh, weed science undergraduate major, placed third in the graduate oral presentation.
• Sadikshya Poudel, agronomy graduate student, placed first in the graduate poster presentation.
• Ranadheer Reddy Vennam, agronomy graduate student, placed second in the graduate poster presentation.
• Karina Beneton, agronomy undergraduate major, placed first in the undergraduate oral presentation.
• Augusto Dubou Serafim, agronomy undergraduate major, placed third in the undergraduate oral presentation.
• MaKeriah Hampton, senior natural resource and environmental conservation major in the College of Forest Resources, placed third in the undergraduate poster presentation.

MSU faculty were also well represented with two faculty members serving on the executive board for the MS Academy of Sciences. Gurpreet Kaur, assistant research professor with the MAFES Delta Research and Extension Center, serves as the chair of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences' Division of Agriculture and Plant Sciences. Raju Rangappa, assistant research professor with the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, serves as the vice-chair for the organization.

To learn more about the College of Agriculture and Life Science, visit www.cals.msstate.edu.

Date: 2022-05-27