At this year's Beacon Conference for Student Scholars at Two-Year Colleges, Yudi Pardo won the Outstanding Presenter Award in the Math and Science category for his project, "Molecular Genetic Engineering of Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC6803 to Produce a Biological Solar Panel."
"It was an honor to participate and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to present my research at a conference and be able to share my research with others," Pardo said.
The Beacon Conference, founded in 1993 at SUNY Rockland, is the preeminent scholarly competition for students at two-year colleges in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Nine RCC students were selected to participate alongside students from colleges in five states. With the help of their mentors, the students submitted papers in eighteen categories ranging from science to social justice to art.
"All of the students who presented at the conference are to be commended," said Professor of Science Dr. Thomas Butler, who with several other faculty, coordinates Beacon activities at the College. "They demonstrated a high-level of scholarship and academic excellence."
According to a statement on its website, the goal of Beacon is to "recognize, celebrate, and showcase the achievements of outstanding two-year college students in academic research and writing."
After reviewing the papers, the conference committee invited the top three students in each category to present their papers in front of a judge and audience at the conference.
Pardo's paper initially caught the attention of the Beacon committee for its originality, serious research, and the quality of the writing.
His oral presentation at the conference impressed the audience with the clarity and fluency of his delivery and the knowledgeable answers he gave to the judge's questions.
He has been working on his original research for over a year as an independent study-learning contract. He will be continuing this project at RCC for another year.
The goal of his research is to create a more efficient solar panel using genetically engineered photosynthetic bacteria.
Pardo's mentor, Dr. Kristopher Baker of the Science Department, was extremely pleased that he won, and hopes to see more student participation at future conferences.
"The quality of the papers [submitted from RCC] was as good as it always has been, but the lack of participation [in the finals] really hurt us," he said.
Next year's conference will to be held at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, PA.
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