Jessica Meader and Amy Deveau showcase research at prestigious Posters on the Hill event in D.C.

Jessica Meader (Medical Biology, ’17) and faculty mentor Amy Deveau, Ph.D., associate professor and assistant chair in the Department of Chemistry and Physics, recently returned  from the 20th annual Posters on the Hill event, a selective poster session sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), which was held in Washington, D.C., April 19-20, 2016.

Meader’s poster, “Marine Natural Products from Maine Sea Lettuce Inhibit MRSA Growth,” was one of only 60 projects that were selected out of several hundred highly competitive applications from undergraduate students across the country. It was the result of a collaboration between Deveau and Kristin Burkholder, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biology, and involved work by UNE students Clay Bolduc, B.S. (Medical Biology, Pharm.D. ’19), Erica Lloyd (Medical Biology, '17), Zachary Miller-Hope, M.S. (Marine Sciences), assistant lecturer in the Department of Marine Sciences, and Fallon Weiss (Biological Sciences, ’16) as well as Brandon Williams, a class of 2016 biochemistry major at Wheaton College and a member of the Deveau Laboratory during two summers.

Posters on the Hill affords an elite group of students the opportunity to share their undergraduate research with members of Congress, congressional staff, federal government officials, academics and other researchers. It is an important opportunity for lawmakers to see how federal programs and dollars impact students and faculty and to learn about the value of undergraduate research. While in D.C., Meader and Deveau met with Maine Senators Angus King and Susan Collins as well as Representative Chellie Pingree.

Meader's presentation at Posters on the Hill was dedicated to the memory Brandon Williams.