10th Annual joint UND-NDSU Northern Plains Biological Symposium to be held on Grand Forks campus

Kate Menzies

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

3-28-2013

Campus Unit

College of Arts & Sciences

Abstract

What: 10th Annual Northern Plains Biological Symposium brings presentations on ongoing biological research at the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State in Fargo. The presentations will be given by graduate and undergraduate students from both universities.

Who: University of North Dakota and North Dakota State biology students and faculty

Where: UND Badlands room in the Memorial Union

When: 9a.m. to 3:40 p.m., Friday, April 12

This year's conference covers a large breadth of biological topics including : Mitochondrial DNA variation in Eastern North Dakota populations, how anthropogenic chemicals and temperature influence gene regulation in amphibians and reptiles, next generation DNA sequencing, and seed bank effect on Native Prairie reconstructions.

The Northern Plains Biological Symposium was started in 2004 by graduate students from NDSU. They recognized that many students at UND, NDSU and other regional institutions have mutual research interests, but tended to work in isolation and never really communicated amongst each other. As a result, even though there might be some good research going on at NDSU, people at UND were likely unaware of, and vice versa.

NDSU students started the NPBS as a forum for those from regional institutions to share their work, which would hopefully foster communication and collaboration among researchers in the region.

Traditionally, most of the participants have been graduate or undergraduate students, so the conference has also served as a valuable tool for professional development. From the beginning, UND students were active participants and traveled to Fargo to take part in the meeting in 2004, 2005, and 2006. After NDSU had hosted the conference one or two times, the idea was discussed that the symposium should alternate between NDSU and UND, with hopes of the meeting turning into an annual tradition. UND hosted the symposium for the first time in 2007.

The Northern Plains Biological Symposium presents an opportunity for students and faculty from both universities to come together share their current research, network, and build future collaborations between biology departments at the universities. This event is open to the public.

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