Sarah Schlichte Presents at Buena Vista University's Thirteenth Annual Scholars Day

2017 May 1

Buena Vista University's (BVU) thirteenth annual Scholars Day was held Saturday, April 29. The event provided students from all disciplines an opportunity to present their best original research, academic posters, artistic creations and performances to their peers, professors and the public.

This year's Scholars Day event featured 63 presentations from 120 students, exploring topics from literature and business to science and history.

Sarah Schlichte, a senior biology major from Templeton , was one of the students who participated. Schlichte's presentation was titled "Sex Differences in Axonal Guidance Cue Expression of the Hypothalamus," and the project's abstract is as follows:

Sex differences in physical attributes and cognitive functioning have been clearly demonstrated, yet when it comes to brain structure not many differences exist. Instead sex differences in the brain may be identified at the molecular level, especially during development, when neuronal connections that govern behaviors are being established. To establish connections, guidance cues and neurotrophic signals work to ensure proper axon guidance. Located at the distal tip of the axon, growth cones take in attractant and repulsive cues to direct axon guidance. This leads to the hypothesis that a sex difference in guidance cue expression could lead to differences in cytoarchitecture or axonal connections between males and females. To determine if there is a sex difference in guidance cue expression, the amount of guidance cues including semaphorin, ephrin, nerve growth factor (NGF), netrin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and slit were examined in mice. To do this, hypothalamic and cortical tissue samples were collected at embryonic ages and examined for changes in gene expression using qPCR. Three guidance cues, BDNF, NGF, and ephrin, warrant further investigation, suggesting differences in gene expression between males and females could lead to differences in neuronal locations or connections within these developing regions.

The keynote speaker for the event was Adrienne B. Haynes, a 2010 BVU graduate, who is an attorney and business woman who specializes in helping entrepreneurs develop sustainable infrastructure and business practices. Haynes is the managing partner of SEED Law, a business law firm, and owner of SEED Collective, a consultancy. She is the founder of the nonprofit, the Construction Business Institute, and is active in both the Multicultural Business Coalition and Black Female Attorneys network. Haynes is also a member of the BVU National Alumni Association Board of Directors.

"This is a special event because it gives students' a real-life platform where they can showcase their success beyond exams and grades," said Dr. Steven Mills, assistant professor of Spanish and chair of the events committee who organized the event. "With a Scholars Day presentation, students take their hard work and form it into a new medium or method for discussion. They become experts on their topic and then stand in front of peers and become teachers about what they have done and how it adds to the greater corpus of knowledge in their field."

This year marked the first time Scholars Day and the annual Student Recognition Dinner - which was held later that evening - were combined.

"For the first time, those who presented as part of Scholars Day received an invitation to the dinner and were recognized alongside all the others receiving honors and awards for academic excellence," added Mills. "They deserved to be a part of the celebration of hard work and dedication."