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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE students host 1st Annual Northeast Undergraduate Research Development Symposium

The University of New England's Biology Honors students will be hosting the 1st Annual Northeast Undergraduate Research Development Symposium (NURDS) for all natural science undergraduate students in the New England region and Maritime Canada on March 27-28, 2009 at UNE's Biddeford campus.

Disciplines included in the symposium are biology, chemistry, physics, environmental sciences, and geo-sciences.

This National Science Foundation-supported conference promotes scientific exploration through peer collaboration.

Created, organized and run by undergraduate and graduate students, the symposium will provide a comfortable environment for students close to the completion of their research project to practice and obtain experience giving poster and/or oral presentations before an audience of peers.

Students that are in the midst of a project will have the opportunity to present a five-minute data blitz on their project plan including a hypothesis and any preliminary or incomplete data.  This is an excellent forum for students to get valuable feedback from their peers as well as develop meaningful scientific discussions between students from multiple universities.

In addition, hands-on workshops will be held to expose students to novel ongoing research in the life science field. The workshops include: harbor seal necropsy, sediment core sampling techniques on the Saco River, pharmacological effects on rodent behavior, epifluorescence microscopy techniques using toxic phytoplankton, and the ecology of invertebrates in the intertidal zone.

There will be more than 150 registrants from 33 different colleges and universities! 

For questions contact NURDS@une.edu, or check out the NURDS website www.nurds.org

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.