Senior stands alone at Plant Biology and Botany Joint Conference
Released: October 3, 2007
Presenting at the Plant Biology and Botany Joint Congress in Chicago this past summer, the premier national meeting for plant biologists in North America, is an incredible honor. Even more incredible is being one of the only undergraduate students on the continent invited to speak. If you fit these qualifications, you can be none other than University of Wisconsin-Whitewater senior Gwynne DeBoer.
DeBoer, a Greendale/Franklin native, is a double major in Spanish and honors biology at UW-Whitewater. Her emphasis in biology is cells and physiology, but the area of study gaining her national attention is leaf polarity. She has been revolutionizing the way to date trees by discovering new characteristics of tree branch points. She attributes much of her success to a relatively new teacher in the biology department, Assistant Professor Robert Kuzoff.
"I was a new teacher in need of a teaching assistant this past year, and a colleague had recommended Gwynne for the job," Kuzoff said. "She accepted, and began helping in my "Intro to Biology" course. During the everyday happenings in the course, I spoke of the research I was doing and Gwynne's interest was piqued. She told me that if I needed any help with the project, she would be willing to do so."
The rest is history and one year and hundreds of hours of research later, DeBoer is well on her way to becoming an expert on leaf polarity and tree dating. She received first place for the best overall oral presentation in science and technology at both UW-Whitewater's undergraduate research day last spring and at the Beta Beta Beta National Biological Honor Society meeting. She is also scheduled to present at the National Beta Beta Beta meeting later this year.
When she's not discovering groundbreaking advancements in her chosen area of study, DeBoer enjoys hanging out with her friends and family and playing a little golf. She is currently interviewing at some of the top medical schools in the country, including Texas A&M, Wake Forest and Georgetown.
In respect to her overall experience at the conference, DeBoer said, "I was very surprised, honored and astonished by how many people wanted to hear more about my results. I never realized how everyone's scientific works fit in with each other and how my results can help others make advancements in their research."
- Kyle Kopplin,kopplinka01@uww.edu
