On Oct. 29, Oswego State senior Manna Job was announced as the winner of a Sigma Xi award in the section of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Honor Society, is an international honor society of science and engineering, and one of the oldest and largest scientific organizations in the world, according to Sigmaxi.org. Research students are able to be inducted into Sigma Xi, so long as they meet a certain GPA requirement and have a faculty recommendation. Job was inducted her sophomore year at Oswego State.

The winners were chosen from a number of science and engineering students from across the country who attended the 18th Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Conference that was held on Oct. 26 and 27 in Burlingame, California.

“This was an annual conference for Sigma Xi, and the student conference was part of the main conference,” Job said. “About 125 students from various parts of the country took part in the conference. This was a poster session, which lasted about three hours.”

Participants were judged on their scientific hypothesis, use of the scientific method, explanation of the research and significance of the objective of the research presented.

Job’s winning research was on the effects of a broadly used chemical on local freshwater mussels. Job began this research when assistant professor Poongodi Geetha-Loganathan was a guest speaker in her genetics class sophomore year.

“This particular project was brought up by Dr. Poon because she wanted to assess the effects of a broadly used chemical and its implications on the development of local freshwater mussel species,” Job said. “I found this topic to be very interesting and highly significant since we are constantly exposed to this chemical as well, and this study will essentially help us understand the adversities of this chemical if present.”

Job started this research project with her brother Jerome Job, who had been a biology student at the time but has since graduated, under the guidance of Poongodi. This semester, Job was joined by another biology student to take her brother’s place.

“This semester, Natasha Lafrance, a junior biology major, joined the project and has been a great addition to our lab,” Job said.

Job was one of four Oswego State students to have presented at the Sigma Xi conference. The other students included Bianca Fernandez, Asya Kadic and Jack Marcucci, all of whom presented research findings from working with the biological sciences’ faculty.

“It was a beautiful experience, as I met a lot of my fellow peers who were presenting their own research,” Kadic said. “Here we were, presenting in a city, coming from all different backgrounds in the name of science. It was a very motivating, exciting and a rewarding experience.”

While the subject matter on which the students presented differed, many agreed that faculty support was instrumental in the success and advancement of their research.

“I began to talk to Dr. Artemenko [assistant professor in the biological sciences] about her research on cell migration and found that her studies paralleled with my interests in the biology field,” Fernandez said. “Because of her personality, work ethic and her research focus on cell movement, I was immediately interested in working with her. I began to conduct research for her lab and have enjoyed learning about cellular biology ever since.”

The conference allowed students to practice presenting their research and meet with peers to see what others in their field are working on. The conference was followed by a banquet at which the awards were presented.

In addition to Job’s personal work for her research and poster presentation, the local chapter of the international research honor society accepted a Sigma Xi Chapter Program of Excellence Award at the conference.

“It was a huge conference, and I wasn’t expecting to win anything,” Job said. “I was very happy for my mentor because she puts in a lot of work, so to be able to represent her and Oswego is very exciting.”

Each winner was awarded with a free membership in Sigma Xi for a year,  monetary award, certificate and a medal. All participants were also able to receive constructive criticism from the judges on how to further their studies and continue to improve their work. Job said she appreciates the Oswego State faculty she has worked with and the opportunities she has been granted that helped her get to where she is today.

“I want to emphasize how thankful I am to be part of such a great department that has highly dedicated and devoted professors that go above and beyond to further their student’s skills,” Job said. “The encouragement and guidance that I received through Dr. Poon as well as other professors is truly appreciated.”

Photo provided by Manna Job