Written by Jessica Ingram

 

VSU has been given the honor of hosting the 90^th annual meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science from March 29 to March 30.

 

Donald Thieme, assistant professor in the department of physics, astronomy and geosciences, said that the last time the Academy met in Valdosta was in 2000.

 

“The Academy is dedicated to the promotion of science education and the fostering of scientific research in the state of Georgia,” according to the Georgia Academy of Science’s website.

 

The main activities the Academy is involved in are the Georgia Journal of Science, the annual meeting, which is being held at VSU this year and the Georgia Junior Academy of Science

 

The event will include 102 oral presentation and 72 poster presentations.

The presentations are in eight different branches of sciences.

 

The meeting will also include guest speakers such as Dr. Paul Richard Carney, who will speak at 3 p.m. on March 29 in the Bailey Science Center Auditorium.

 

Students and faculty can attend the presentation free of charge.

 

Dr. Carney is a doctor at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida. His interest is in the field of medicine and biomedical engineering.

 

“I haven’t really heard of the meeting, or the Friday speaker, until now, but it sounds like it’d be interesting,” Brock Merchant, a junior chemistry major, said.

 

At the event, students are able to present their scientific research and meet with students and faculty from other parts of the state that have interests in the same field.

 

Barry Hojjatie, a professor in the department of physics, astronomy, geosciences and engineering, encourages students and faculty to attend the Friday seminar to hear Dr. Carney speak on “the advances in human brain medical imaging.”

 

“As the technical chair of the Georgia Academy of Science, I would like to encourage VSU faculty and students interested in science to attend the event because we have eight different sections related to all fields of sciences,” he said.

 

The eight different sections of science being presented include physical and life sciences, along with anthropology, philosophy, science education and history of science.

 

 

According to Thieme, the proposal for VSU as a location for the annual meeting was initiated by VSU faculty at the 2011 meeting in Gainesville, Ga.

 

The members of the academy voted on the location last year at the meeting in Kennesaw and decided to hold it in Valdosta

 

“I think that the main factor determining the selection of VSU as well as our prominent support and participation in the academy is that we are primarily an undergraduate teaching university,” Thieme said.

 

Thieme said that VSU has undergraduate students completing independent research making VSU more active than other universities in the area because they are more focused on grant-funded research or training for professions.

 

Thieme is serving as the local arrangements head for the annual meeting, and Hojjatie is the technical program chair for the Georgia Academy of Science. James Nienow, department of biology, also serves on the board as treasurer.