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Seniors gathered in Elings, Room 103, to give their final presentations for the biology seminar symposium on Friday, Nov. 21.

Professors and other observers listened to 17 presentations about multiple research topics. The symposium participants then took follow-up questions from the audience.

These presentations were used to show how much the students have learned during the past four years.

“Sharing and disseminating what you learned is a very important part of being a scientist,” Idit Hazan, professor of biology, said.

“This day is a chance for our seniors to share what they learned with the Grand View community and to feel like the true biology professionals they are becoming.”

This event is used as a stepping-stone for seniors to gain more experience speaking fluently about different topics in their field.

“We have heard from past graduates that the ability to present in such a manner is a huge advantage when they are in the workplace and need to present their work and research,” Hazan said. “Even though students get nervous before presenting, they feel very proud of their accomplishment at the end of the day.”

Luke Norris, biology senior, did his presentation on the effectiveness of supplements and said it was rather easy to do because of his interest in the topic.

“The easiest part for me was picking my topic because I thought it was very interesting and I fell in love with the idea,” he said.
Norris said although he experienced some difficulties along the way, in the end, the importance of his topic outweighed them.

“The hardest part was preparing for the speech,” Norris said. “At that point of the semester we had so much going on as seniors, and it just felt like there wasn’t enough time in the day to get everything done.”

“(The symposium) lets you take the role of a scientist,” he said. “This is where the last four years have gotten us, and now we get to show it off. You pick a question you want to answer, and you find a way to answer it.”

Marisa Heisterkamp, biology senior, agreed the hardest part was the speech.

“To be honest, there was nothing easy about putting yourself in front of people and sharing your knowledge,” she said. “It is extremely difficult to stand in front of your peers and professors and share what you know, especially since they ask questions to test your knowledge of the topic at the end.”

During the day students from a variety of majors were in attendance. This included biology seniors who will be taking the symposium next semester.

One of those students was Breanna Hickle, biology senior, who hasn’t taken the class yet.

“I came to watch the presentations because they were required for classes, but, also, it is nice to watch them to get a feel for how they are when I have to take senior seminar,” she said.

Hickle said she found that one topic, presented by Taylor Hance, was particularly interesting to her.

“It was interesting to hear about a cancer that Tasmanian devils can get through bites and how it’s harming their existence,” Hickle said.

Presenting a topic in front of a crowd might not be easy for many students, but Hazan said she has seen an improvement between this year and last year.

“Ever since we have started doing the presentations in the form of the full-day symposium, where biology, biotechnology and biochemistry majors, as well as non-majors, attend, the level of presentations has steadily risen since students are now presenting to a large audience and they want to do a good job,” Hazan said. “The topics of presentations have gotten more interesting and cutting-edge as students understand they need to show their peers something great.”

At the end of the day, students who presented said they felt this is what they needed to start preparing for their future in biology.

“The importance of this is the difference of being able to get people interested in your research or not,” Brie Winegar, biology senior, said.

“If you can’t present it so other people understand it, your findings won’t be published,” she said. “It forces you to become an expert on a topic and be able to teach someone else about it during the talk.”

Heisterkamp said this biology course has taught her something she can utilize forever.

“Finding something that is important to you, analyzing research and presenting your ideas is a part of life,” she said. “This class prepared me to do that with confidence.”