UHV biology students present research at state capital conference

Katie Timmins, left, a Victoria senior biology major, presents her research about aquatic slime mold that she found in her personal aquarium and analyzed during the fall semester to Stanley Roux Jr., a University of Texas at Austin professor of molecular biosciences and the conference’s keynote speaker. Timmins was one of six University of Houston-Victoria undergraduate biology students who attended and presented research on Saturday during the Capital of Texas Undergraduate Research Conference in Austin. Other students who attended the conference were Tyler Muschalek of Edna, Jessica Fischer and Melissa Dean of Victoria, and Elvis Egwu and Elijah Osasenaga of Nigeria. Their research focused on dietary topics, including how rotifers metabolize carbohydrates in comparison to humans’ metabolism, how pufferfish metabolize fat and sugars, and why pufferfish carry their fat deposits around the liver. Attending the conference with the students were Gen Kaneko and Hashimul Ehsan, UHV assistant professors of biology.

The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.