Catawba College’s Tau Eta Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, the national biological honor society, inducted 17 members at its annual induction ceremony April 17. The inductees will be lifetime members of Tri-Beta.
At the ceremony, graduating seniors who are members of the society were also recognized and received their honor cords. Dr. Carmony Hartwig, visiting assistant professor of biology, presented the keynote entitled, “Bad Air: The Malaria Burden.”
Members inducted include Christopher Bolick of Asheville; Faron Brazis of Salisbury; Martha Clay of Lansing; Juliana Conte of Hampton, Ontario; Michelle Eisenman of Brunswick, Ohio; Christopher Koehler of Burlington; Adam Kurdi of Chapel Hill; Matthew McConnell of Salisbury; Namrata Pahwa of Salisbury; Abby Pennington of Blacksburg, Va.; Erica Pippen of Durham; Mary Podgorak-Largo of Salisbury; Ashton Pryor of Salisbury; Chia Thao of Salisbury; Tabitha Turenchalk of Sheffield Lake, Ohio; Peter Wesselman of Charlotte; and Amber Williamson of Lexington.
Eight Tri-Beta members received Buxton Baranski Biology Honors medals for conducting significant biologically related undergraduate research and presenting their work at a regional or national conference. They were Clay, Conte and Podgorak-Lagro, as well as Olivia Myers of Lexington; Frank Villa Hernandez of Salisbury; Linda Castillo-Murillo of China Grove; and Thomas Benton of Salisbury.
New Tri-Beta student leadership for the 2014-2015 academic year included Paul Fry, president; Titus Hunt, vice-president; Elijah Wittum, secretary; and Johnathan Boles, treasurer. The faculty advisor for the society is Dr. Jay Bolin, assistant professor of biology.
The Tau Eta Chapter of Tri-Beta was founded at Catawba in 1992. The society is dedicated to improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research.