Science Students Present Research at Regional Symposium

Beckman scholars join talented peers from top regional institutions

Two Holy Cross students participated in the second annual Northeast Beckman Scholar Symposium at Boston University on Feb. 26. Kathryn Kennedy and Peter Renehan, both members of the Class of 2012, presented scientific research projects they began last summer to scholars from Boston University, Tufts University, Brandeis University, Smith College, and Yale University.

The Beckman Scholars Program is a highly-competitive invited program sponsored by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. The program “provides scholarships that contribute significantly in advancing the education, research training and personal development of select students in chemistry, biochemistry, and the biological and medical sciences.” Holy Cross has received four scholarships which are being awarded over a three-year period. Emily Kinn ’11 received the scholarship last year, and the final scholarship will be awarded to a member of the Class of 2013 this year.

The event included a keynote address given by Thomas Kunz, a biology professor at BU. Kunz presented his research in the field of aeroecology, with a focus on developing technology to study the behavior of bats.

Renehan, who has been conducting his research alongside Joshua Farrell, Thomas E. D'Ambra associate professor of chemistry, presented his studies of compounds in the environment with an aim to find better ways to dispose of nuclear waste and aromatic pollutants. He is currently in the process of trying to use synthesized compounds to model the active-site of the enzyme 3,4-PCD, which is responsible for the degradation of catechol molecules in nature.

A chemistry major with an environmental studies concentration, Renehan is in the College Honors Program and the health professions advisory program. He will present his research at several upcoming conferences, including in August at the National Beckman Scholar Conference in Irvine, Calif.

Kennedy has been conducting research alongside chemistry professor Richard Herrick and spent part of last summer working with his collaborator, a crystallographer in Akron, Ohio. She has been growing protein crystals and is attempting to develop new methodologies for that process.

“The goal is to insert rhenium atoms into protein molecules such as lysozyme and ferritin, to learn about organometallic compounds and the potential rhenium has as an imaging agent,” said Kennedy.

“This [symposium] was definitely a confidence-building experience,” Kennedy says. “I had never presented my research in the form of a talk before, so this symposium was a valuable learning experience.”

Kennedy, a chemistry major in the health professions advisory program, will also be attending the national conference in August.

Both Herrick and Farrell say they have been impressed by their student researchers, both in the lab and on the stage.

“The talks by the students in general were very strong,” Herrick says. “I think both Peter and Kathryn did a fine job of explaining their work to the audience.”

“It was awesome to see that we as a school can stack up to some of the biggest names in research,” says Renehan. “I was extremely impressed by the results that the entire group of scholars presented as well as the charisma that they brought to their talks.”

By Dan DeConinck ’13

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