Miami University

Students win honors at space biology meeting

Two botany students received awards at the recent meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, held in Montreal, Canada.

In an undergraduate competition, Nicholas Ruppel was awarded honorable mention and received a trophy and cash prize for his presentation, "A novel red-light-based photosensory system that mediates positive phototropism in Arabidopsis roots." Ruppel, a senior, works with John Kiss (botany).

Kazuyoshi Yamamoto received a certificate and cash prize for second place in the graduate competition for his presentation, "The effect of plastid mutations on gravitational tropism of roots, hypocotyls and inflorescence stems of Arabidopsis." Yamamoto is a second-year graduate student working in Kiss’ laboratory.

Kiss has recently received a three-year grant for $460,000 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study gravity perception mechanisms in plants on the International Space Station.

Date Published: 11/09/2000
Volume: 20   Number: 15