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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE hosts regional undergraduate research conference

The 1st annual Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium, NURDS, was held on the University of New England's Biddeford Campus on March 27 and 28, 2009.

More than 200 undergraduate students from 39 different colleges and universities attended. Students came from as far south as New Haven, Conn., as far west as Burlington, Vermont and as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The conference was part of an National Science Foundation grant received by Markus Frederich, Ph.D., assistant professor of marine sciences, and was organized together with group of biology honors undergraduate students (Nathan Furey, Gale Loescher, Chelsea Martin, Travis Smith, Kelly Willard, and Emily Zimmermann) and biology graduate students (Andy Dutra, Dash Pappas, Jake Reynolds, Tom Siemens, Joseph Sungail, and Jay Williams).

Poster and oral presentations covered topics including biology, chemistry, physics, and oceanography. The symposium provided students with the opportunity to present their research projects, obtain feedback from their peers, and to engage in scientific discussions. Workshops exposed the conference attendees to the local intertidal fauna, AFM microscopy, epifluorescent microscopy, seal necropsy, and rat behavior experiments.

Several UNE undergraduate students presented their research. Talks given by Alexandra Panaitiu, Amanda Colton, Emily Zimmermann, Brittany Palm, Nathan Furey and Austin Hurst were among the presentations, providing a great representation of the high caliber undergraduate research performed at UNE.

The NURDS conference will be held again at UNE next year.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.