TSU students traveled to Tennessee Tech University to participate in the 131st Meeting of the Tennessee Academy of Science. There, the students competed in oral and poster presentations and came home with a bevy of awards. Photo courtesy of Dr. Fulya Baysal Gurel
TSU wins big at 131st Meeting of Tennessee Academy of Science By JOAN KITE TSU participates every year and this year’s 131st Meeting of the Tennessee Academy of Science was on Nov. 6, 2021, at Tennessee Tech University. TSU students competed and fared well winning five first place, five second place and two third place awards. First Place Winners were Krishna Neupane in the Agriculture 1 Oral
Presentation, Aaron Felts in the Botany and Cell & Molecular Biology Oral Presentation, Sabrina Wadood in the Health & Medical Sciences Oral Presentation, Madhav Parajuli in the Agriculture Poster Presentation, and Aria McElroy in the Geology & Geography Poster Presentation. Professor Dr. Tom Byl was McElroy’s advisor for her project. “Pretty amazing for a sophomore
UNDIES, From page 25
As it turns out, the soil behind the Farrell Westbrook Complex, also known as “The Barn,” proved to be healthy, replete with the bacteria bacillus, which loves to feast on cotton underwear. When the students located the underwear they had buried six weeks before, they dug up strips of elastic and cotton, former memories or their comfortable cotton selves. The less the cotton, the healthier the soil. “I was pretty impressed with the degradation,” Dr. Sutton said. “I was surprised that the soil was that healthy.”
considering the competition,” Professor Dr. Byl said about McElroy and her entry. Second place winners were Sandhya Neupane for the Agriculture 1 Oral Presentation, Tobenna Aniume for the Agriculture 2 Oral Presentation, Sadiya Aras, for the Health & Medical Sciences Oral Presentation, Anju Pandey for the Microbiology Oral Presentation, and Grayson DeLay for the Agriculture Poster TAS, Continued on page 44
“In the experiment, I was really surprised that it was decomposed as much as it was,” said environmental student Aria McElroy. “I had learned about what soil does in class, but to see it up close from beginning to end was really interesting.” Some of the students learned other invaluable lessons such as taking detailed and accurate notes. One pair of underwear was lost on the campus grounds. “Dr. Vanags takes incredible field notes,” Dr. Byl said. The students learned that if you are going to lose a pair of underwear, you may not want to do it so close to the President’s House.
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