2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session T All Disciplines Ballroom
The First Annotation of the Gluamate and Glutamine Biosynthetic Pathways of Ammonifex Degensii
Ammonifex degensii is an obligate anaerobic chemolithoautotrophic (obtains energy from inorganic compounds and carbon from CO2)
bacteria isolated from a volcanic hot spring in East Asia in 1994. Ammonifex is the archetype of a new genus (ammonium maker).
Ammonifex degensii is an extremely thermophilic gram negative rod shaped bacterium with optimal growth occurring at 70°C and a pH of
7.5. The genome of Ammonifex degensii is 85% complete, funded by the Department of Energy Joint Genome Program. Saint Cloud
State University is part of a consortium of institutions that make up the Collaborative Undergraduate Genomic Annotation Team. SCSU
has undertaken the responsibility of using comparative genomics to identify the amino acid biosynthetic pathways. Glutamate is a amino
acid with a negatively charged R group. Glutamine has a polar uncharged R group. We hypothesize that these amino acids have
biosynthetic pathways in Ammonifex degensii, and that we will be able to identify the genes responsible for the synthesis of these amino
acids using a comparative genomics approach.
Presentation Index: T51
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Biological Sciences
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Pamplona, August
Kvaal, Christopher
Synthesis of Metal Ion Complexes from Bidentate N-Heterocyclic Carbenes
Metal complexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and their uses has been a popular area of research for organometallic chemists. In
this research, a silver metal complex of a bidentate NHC was synthesized and characterized by H1-NMR and IR spectroscopy. Several
different sterically hindered ligands were synthesized and then reacted with diethyl zinc, triethyl aluminum, and silver oxide to test for the
possibility of metal complexes of bidentate NHCs forming in solution. Attempts at forming zinc and aluminum complexes from bidentate
NHCs were unsuccessful possibly resulting from steric hindrance. An NHC containing two bulky substituents showed to be successful in
forming a metal complex when reacted with Ag2O. H1-NMR analysis suggests that the silver metal bonds to the NHC ligand at the
carbene carbon and the oxygen from an alcohol on one of the substituents forming the bidentate NHC metal complex.
Presentation Index: T52
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Chemistry
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Sandquist, Nathan
Schaller, Chris
Avoidance of Confrontation Relating to Personality and Gender
The purpose of this study was to see if personality and gender were correlated with avoidance of confrontation. My participants were
undergraduate psychology students from St. Cloud State. I had the participants take two different surveys. The first was the Big Five
Personality Inventory survey, (John, and Srivastava, 1999) which I was mainly interested in Agreeableness. The second survey was a brief
questionnaire looking at different actions to take in four different situations dealing with confrontation. After looking at previous studies, I
have found many supporting ideas why people act differently when faced with confrontational situations. According to Dallos (2003),
people that have attachment issues are more likely to avoid confrontation. In addition to that, children that have an available parent at most
times can deal with threats and distress much better than a child with unavailable parents. Basically, children follow their parent‘s
examples. Before attaining my results, I predicted females would avoid confrontation more than males. I also believed that participants who
scored higher on the agreeableness section of the BFI survey would end up avoiding confrontation more. Lastly, I predicted females that
scored less on Agreeableness compared to men that score low on Agreeableness would avoid confrontation more.
Presentation Index: T53
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Psychology
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Mills, Jeff
Illies, Jody
Translating Research in Education: A Paleoclimatology Example
The need for new learning strategies to help students understand ecology and evolution is essential in the secondary education curriculum.
The intent of this project is to help students understand evolution in the context of long term ecological and climate models. Diatoms are a
particularly useful indicator species of modern and past environments. They have been used to identify the degradation or pollution of an
ecosystem and have been the focus of study in this project. A classroom exercise has been developed to help students understand the
way in which these indicator taxa are used in paleo-oceanographic studies. Specific learning components of the exercise include a)
developing a classification technique for diatoms that is hands-on and visual for students, and b) looking at decisions made by scientists in
identifying environmental parameters. These components will help develop broader cognitive skills for the student in context of how
science classification is done, and understand the limitations and sources of debate concerning the quality of long term climatic and
environmental records.
Presentation Index: T54
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Department: Biological Sciences; Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Hoffer, Jeannette
Julius, Matthew; Pound, Kate
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 65
April 22, 2008