Student researchers Chelsea Hiltner ’18, Mark Leonard ’19, and Analiese Schadler ’18 represented Saint Mary’s at the 2018 Scholars at the Capitol in February. The event brought undergraduate students from 16 private colleges to the Capitol to highlight their research projects ranging from philosophy to mechanical engineering.
Hiltner, a biology pre-physical therapy major with a criminal justice minor, and Leonard, a biology major, jointly presented a project they worked on the previous summer as interns. Their project looked at regions in southeast Minnesota with and without the invasive Japanese barberry shrub and sought to analyze the difference in deer tick populations relative to the presence of the invasive species by using drag cloths and trapping small mammals.
Schadler, a biochemistry major, presented a separate poster on her thesis project she worked on for three semesters, which analyzed the impact that the herbicide atrazine has on a specific enzyme in the livers of mice and how it is detoxified in mice.
Hiltner and Schadler will both present their projects at this year’s Celebration of Scholarship on April 27. Schadler will also present her findings at the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Annual Meeting in San Diego this April.
Caption: Mark Leonard ’19 and Chelsea Hiltner ’18 speak with Dr. Todd Reinhart.