Tech’s chapter of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is hosting the Week of Biochemistry next week to promote the cross-disciplinary field of biochemistry and molecular biology.
ASBMB will hold a regional poster competition Monday in the STEM center where the biochemistry departments from other colleges will present their research posters.
“We’ve invited every college within a two-hour radius of Cookeville to join the event for the poster contest to present their on-going research posters,” said Sarah Reynolds, committee member of ASBMB.
“It’s not a national event yet, but we’re hoping to make it one,” Reynolds said. “We’re inviting other students from regional schools to form a more scientific community and that can help foster networking skills and also show what students are doing in their research.”
Jeffery Boles, chair of chemistry, said, “The Week of Biochemistry committee has been working diligently for months to organize these events and we are very excited to see results.”
This is the second year ASBMB has held the Week of Biochemistry. This year they added a keynote speaker from the Sigma Xi research organization to speak about STEM careers and the importance of mentors in every field, specifically STEM. Dr. Mark Hernandez will be speaking as a part of Week of Biochemistry Monday night in the Nursing Building Auditorium at 4 p.m.
“We tried to pick someone that would have an impact on not just chemistry or science majors, but every major,” Susannah Shissler, president of ASBMB, said. “While he is going to gear part of his topic towards STEM fields, he’s still giving information to any college student.”
Trivia night is Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Foster Hall, Room 201. Students will be able to compete against other teams, play games and answer questions about biochemistry. Movie night will be hosted in Foster Hall, Room 233, Wednesday night at 8 p.m. with the showing of “Ender’s Game.” During dead hour on Thursday, ASBMB will have an ice cream social in Foster Hall, Room 220.
Fab Friday is the last day of the weeklong event, and children up to fifth grade will be doing hands on simulations and activities geared toward computer programming.
“They’ll learn something about science or computer engineering while at the same time having fun with the computer models,” Reynolds, said.
The Week of Biochemistry is open for all students to attend. The guest speaker appearance is free and funded by the Student Government Association.
