Registration is open!
The registration deadline for breakfasts and lunches will be April 7, 2026; after that date, you can still register, but you will not be counted for the breakfast or lunch. You can also register on the day of the event.
We look forward to seeing everyone on April 16, 2026.
4th Annual Interdisciplinary Biological Symposium Schedule
Durham Great Hall, South Ballroom, and Sunroom - Memorial Union
Thursday, April 16, 2026
| 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM | Network/Breakfast/Registration | |
8:45 AM - 9:00 AMSun Room | Welcome - Associate Dean Gustavo MacIntoshLiberal Arts and Sciences | |
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Sun Room | Keynote speaker - Dr. Wes Wierson"From Scientist to CEO"Founder and CEO of LEAH Labs | |
| 9:45 AM - 10:45 AM | Morning Poster Presentation South Ballroom and Durham Great Hall | |
Sun Room (Room 1) | Great Hall (Room 2) | |
| 10:45 AM | Baishali Chakraborty – Biomedical Sciences | Ella McGrath – Horticulture |
| 11:00 AM | Sai Sashyanth Ganesan – Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology | Hia Kalita – Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology |
| 11:15 AM | Sara Abdel-Mawgod – Veterinary Microbiology | Reyna Winders – Biochemistry Undergraduate |
| 11:30 AM | Oluwatobiloba Aminu – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology | William Agbemafle – Biochemistry |
| 11:45 AM | Vandhana Kandavelkumar – Chemical Engineering | Chunoti Changwal – Plant Pathology and Nematology |
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch - South Ballroom | Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) |
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Sun Room | Keynote Speaker - Dr. Isobel A. Scarisbrick"Engineering CNS Repair: From Molecules to Medicine"Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Professor of Physiology | |
| 1:45 - 2:45 PM | Afternoon Poster Presentations South Ballroom and Durham Great Hall | |
Sun Room (Room 1) | Great Hall (Room 2) | |
| 2:45 PM | Caleigh E. Grote – Animal Physiology | Parnal Joshi – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology |
| 3:00 PM | Alexandra Keller – Genetics and Genomics | Priyanka Banerjee – Computer Science |
| 3:15 PM | Morgan Vorwald – Genetics and Genomics | Matthew Healy – Bioinformatics and Computational Biology |
| 3:30 PM | Min Jung Kwon – Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology | Samira Aghaei – Chemical Engineering |
| 3:45 PM | Jahanara A. Sonia – Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology | Jiamao Yang – Veterinary Preventive Medicine |
| 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM | Break | |
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM
Sun Room | Keynote Speaker - Dr. Ruth Wagner"Achieving Health for All, Hunger for None: product creation, powered by innovative science & talented people"Vice President Vegetables R & D | |
5:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Sun Room | Closing Remarks - Associate Dean Carmen BainCollege of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Awards CeremonyStudent Oral Presentation - 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, people's choice | |
General Rubrics for Oral and Poster Presenters
Congratulations and thank you to all oral and poster presenters in the 4th Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Symposium. We hope this rubric will help you prepare for your presentations at the symposium, as these criteria will be used by our judges to score your talks and posters. Good luck!
| For Oral Presenters | For Poster Presenters |
| ORAL PRESENTATION AND VISUAL AIDS: logical flow from research problem, methods, results to overall significance/impact, legible and informative slides | POSTER CONTENT AND QUALITY: clear structure and visually effective, with well-articulated interpretation and conclusions |
| ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION: confident delivery, showing strong subject understanding, maintaining audience connection | ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION: confident delivery, showing strong subject understanding, maintaining audience connection |