Earlier this fall, more than 6,000 people gathered for the nation’s largest STEM diversity event of the year, the 2023 National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) conference, hosted in Portland, Oregon. Attendees, comprised of thousands of students and faculty engaged in professional development sessions, learned from motivational keynote speakers and experienced multicultural celebrations and traditions. Oregon State University was the presenting sponsor of the 2023 conference.
Associate Chemistry Professor Marilyn Mackiewicz (left) and Chemistry Professor May Nyman (right) posing for a photo before connecting with students.
Highlighting the event’s recognition of outstanding achievements, College of Science graduate student Jenna Bustos received a Student Presentation Award for her inorganic chemistry research and oral presentation skills. This year, 1,171 posters and oral presentations were delivered at the conference. Out of more than 100 graduate and undergraduate winners, Bustos was the only student from Oregon State to receive this award.
She spoke about Rhenium and Technetium-oxo speciation in organic media. Technetium-99 (99Tc) is a byproduct of nuclear fission that poses significant waste reprocessing challenges. She proposed that using various X-ray techniques in the lab to understand its chemical behavior in different solvents can result in effective nuclear waste remediation.
Bustos's journey took a pivotal turn at the 2019 SACNAS conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she met Oregon State Professor May Nyman. This encounter opened up an opportunity for her to join the Nyman Research Group at Oregon State, where she studies the composition of rare radioactive metals, particularly actinides. Her work involves using small-angle X-ray scattering of these metals in solutions to understand the behavior of these elements.
This is a crucial step in managing nuclear waste and environmental contamination. Jumping ahead four years, Bustos now uses her research to make an impact on other students and contribute to the conference, the same place her research journey began.
The College of Science is thrilled to have had the largest presence of any other Oregon State college at the conference. This representation provided a meaningful opportunity to encourage diversity, equity, access and inclusion within the STEM community.
More than 40 Oregon State Science faculty, staff and students networked with potential students. SACNAS stands for Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and they coordinate the NDiSTEM conference every year.
“The sheer number of people in attendance surprised me,” said Kameron Kadooka, the director for equity, access and inclusion. “As someone who has spent most of my career working with diverse STEM students, it was amazing to see so many folks of color in one place all focused on STEM.”
Biology undergraduate Amari Carter (left) shares her poster presentation with Associate Director of Student Engagement Gabs James (center) and Kameron Kadooka (right).
More than 900 poster presentations were given on various topics ranging from salmon predators to inorganic chemistry solutions for real-world problems. Topics like these allowed attendees to learn about cutting-edge STEM research from universities around the world. Beyond the conference, SACNAS also offers different experiences such as webinars, learning about local chapters and exposure to mentoring and job opportunities.
“I think you have to attend to truly grasp the impact and importance of this conference – and the fun that is had! So many of our diverse students here in the college don’t get to see others that look like them doing science. SACNAS changes that,” Kadooka said. “SACNAS is an opportunity to find community, build relationships and networks and to learn that not only is it okay, but that it is an asset to bring your authentic self into the science that you are doing.”
If you are interested in joining the OSU SACNAS chapter, check out their Instagram page at @oregonstatesacnas.
Associate Chemistry Professor Marilyn Mackiewicz (left) and Citlali Nieves Lira (right), a chemistry undergraduate student exploring the conference.
College of Science Students
Understanding the Importance of School Readiness and the Journey to Education for Children in Latino Communities
Jimena Caballero Ignacio | BioHealth Sciences
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Predation of salmon by harbor seals in the Northern California Current
Amari Carter | Marine Biology and Ecology
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Controlling supramolecular assembly of M70 rings in solution
Makenzie Nord | Chemistry
Graduate Oral Presentation
Rhenium and Technetium-oxo Speciation in Organic Media
Jenna Bustos | Chemistry
Graduate Oral Presentation
Studies on the role of counterions in aqueous solution self-assembly of polyoxopalladate
Doctor Stephen | Chemistry
Graduate Oral Presentation
Interoceanic comparison of marine subsidy delivery along rocky coasts of Nova Scotia and Oregon
Zechariah Meunier | Integrative Biology
Graduate Oral Presentation
Stereospecific Acylative Suzuki? Miyaura Cross-Coupling: General Access to Optically Active a-Aryl Carbonyl Compounds and Computational Insight into the Origins of Stereospecificity
Abdikani Omar Farah | Chemistry
Graduate Oral Presentation
Other Students
Altered Hippocampal Activity in Mouse Model of Knee Pain
Angel Rose Villegas | Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering
Graduate Poster Presentation
Uncovering the elusive: evaluating the efficacy of eDNA in detecting Cascade torrent salamanders (Rhyacotriton cascadae)
Sophia Loureiro | Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
How can mussels increase habitat complexity and promote macroinvertebrate abundance and richness?
Rana Almassmoum | Marine Studies
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Oceanic Manta Ray Injury Index
Hunter Grove | Environmental Sciences
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Painting a picture of paintbrushes: using geometric morphometric analyses of Castilleja calyces to quantify diversity in the coastal California species complex
Lillie Case | Botany
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Thriving Together: A Multi-Habitat Approach for Coastal Restoration that Uses Both Oysters and Seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon
Carla Perscky | Environmental Sciences
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Native and non-native fish species facing instability in high-risk basin
Roberto Velez | Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences
Undergraduate Poster Presentation
Sleep Changes in Two Preclinical Mouse Models of Pain
Evan Martindale | Bioengineering
Graduate Poster Presentation
Developing a High-Throughput Screening Platform of Endometrial Cancer for Drug Discovery and Precision Oncology
Ines Cadena | Chemical Engineering
Graduate Oral Presentation
Incentivizing the Upcycling of Waste PVC by Tandem Hydrothermal Dechlorination and Catalytic Hydrogenation to Hydrocarbon Waxes
Scott Svadlenak | Chemical Engineering
Graduate Oral Presentation
Degradation of G-Type Nerve Agent Simulant with Phase-Inverted Spherical Polymeric-MOF Catalysts
Kimia Kiaei | Materials Science
Graduate Oral Presentation
Environmentally Assisted Cracking of 316L in Molten FLiNaK
Xavier Quintana | Materials Science
Graduate Oral Presentation
