The Iota Omicron Chapter of The Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society at HBU hosted the 2022 Beta Beta Beta Biological National Honor Society South Central Regional Convention under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Ellis, Associate Professor of Biology and Program Coordinator for Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Dr. Curtis Henderson, Professor of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department. The HBU TriBeta Chapter won first place for Chapter History marking the third time HBU has won this award in the last six conventions.
Ten TriBeta chapters from across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas attended the convention held April 1 – 3 at the Mt. Lebanon Camp in Cedar Hill, Texas. This was the first Beta Beta Beta Regional Convention held in person since 2019, when the HBU chapter served as co-host, due to the COVID pandemic.
As host chapter, HBU chapter members were responsible for oversight of the convention, including organizing events, working the registration and check out process, providing gifts to the registrants, moderating oral presentation sessions, and other convention activities. Nearly 80 undergraduate students and faculty, attended the convention, with 33 students presenting their research.
Thirteen members of HBU’s Biology Club and TriBeta participated, including HBU Biology majors Ore Abejide, Kimia Bakhshandeh and Zainab Hameed, Erika Ortiz, and Lili Pham and HBU Biochemistry and Molecular Biology students Sebastian Calderon, David Kim, Mariana Orozco Segovia, Maria Puche, Shayan Qurashi, Stephenie Rogers, Davin Sanchez, and Julia Younis. Calderon, Avendano, and Pham served as regional president, vice-president and secretary, respectively, for this year’s convention.
Pham and Hameed completed the electronic scrapbook which won first place. Biology Honors Scholars Sebastian Calderon and Stephenie Rogers gave oral presentations on their independent research projects completed for the Honors in Biology program. Mentored by HBU Professor of Biology Dr. Jacqueline Horn, Calderon’s project focused on identifying the presence of E. coli in bovine fecal samples and Rogers focused on identifying antibiotic and phage combination therapy to treat microbial infections under Dr. Henderson’s mentorship. Dr. Ellis, Dr. Henderson and TriBeta underclassmen look forward to next year’s convention.
Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) is an honor society for students, particularly undergraduates, dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending the boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research.
