Dr. Lisa Ellis, Assistant Professor of Biology, and 16 students from the HBU Department of Biology, attended the 2019 Beta Beta Beta South Central Regional Convention in Cedar Hill, Texas on April 5-7, 2019. This regional meeting included TriBeta biological honor societies from universities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. HBU TriBeta served as co-host for the event, inviting Dr. Tom Iliffe from Texas A&M Galveston as the keynote speaker. He discussed his identification of new animal species found during his cave diving expeditions across the world. Three HBU students, Tristan Hernandez, Daisy Lopez, and Julia Ta, presented their research projects at the 2019 Beta Beta Beta South Central Regional Convention. Their faculty sponsors for the research were Dr. Agnieszka Czopik and Dr. Lisa Ellis. Also at the convention, HBU TriBeta won the first place award for Chapter History (Scrapbook). Tri Beta historians, Katherine Chu and Erika Ruiz, accepted the honor for their hard work, creativity and dedication in chronicling the group’s activities throughout the year.
The HBU TriBeta chapter will host the 2020 regional convention. Sponsors Dr. Agnieszka Czopik and Dr. Lisa Ellis, along with the officers and students in HBU TriBeta, will serve as the host chapter for Beta Beta Beta South Central Regional Convention in Cedar Hill, Texas in 2020. Approximately 20 chapters from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas attend the event, with nearly 75 student presentations. HBU TriBeta look forward to planning and hosting this event.