WEST LIBERTY, May 7, 2018 — West Liberty University students Elliott Collins, Caleb Martin, Natasha Muhametzyanova and Lindsay Six attended and participated in the Alpha Chi National Convention in Portland, Ore., this spring.

From left, Lindsay Six, Natasha Muhametzyanova, Elliott Collins, Dr. Linda Cowan and Caleb Martin.

The theme of the convention was “Our Green Planet.” Three of the students participated in major-specific presentation categories and Elliott Collins participated in leadership activities as this area’s regional student-representative for 2017 – 2019.

• Martin, a senior in Biology, presented a poster entitled, “Identification of Plant and Fungal Extracts that Exhibit Antimicrobial Activity against Pathogenic Bacteria.” He competed in Molecular and Cellular Biology.
• Muhametzyanova, a senior in Public Relations, presented her paper, “The Struggle of Past, Present and Future in Sandra Cisneros’ Novel The House on Mango Street.” She competed in the category of American Literature.
• Six, a junior in Musical Performance and Education, presented “Interpreting Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen.” She competed in the category of Arts: Performance and Research.

“I thought it was an excellent opportunity. It gave me the chance to research my topic in a more academic manner and present it nationally, rather than just in the classroom,” said Six, who is from Follansbee, W.Va. “I’m now looking into graduate school for choral conducting so learning how to research music is important for me.”

None of the students who went on the trip had been to the West Coast before, according to Muhametzyanova, so traveling to Portland was especially interesting to the group.

“I enjoyed visiting Portland because it was so different. We toured the Portland Japanese Garden, an authentic Japanese garden that is out in the hills. We also shopped at the world’s biggest bookstore, Powell’s Books. It is amazing,” she said.

Students also had a chance to hear the keynote speaker, best-selling author Jeff VanderMeer, whose first novel, Annihilation, has been made into a movie released by Paramount Pictures this past February. 

Annually, the top 10 percent of WLU students, academically, both graduate and undergraduate, are invited to join the academic honorary.

With some 300 chapters and an active presence in almost every state, Alpha Chi actively promotes academic excellence, undergraduate and graduate research, campus academic dialogue, and civic engagement.

The WLU chapter of Alpha Chi, West Virginia Epsilon, holds inductions during the spring semester. All current members and Alpha Chi alumni are eligible to attend the annual convention, and present and/or submit a paper for scholarship and fellowship awards.

Dr. Linda Cowan escorted the group of scholars to Portland and coordinated their participation in the convention. Cowan also is the faculty sponsor of Alpha Chi along with Professor Dr. Melinda S. Kreisberg.

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