The 50th annual meeting of Beta Beta Beta, Southeastern Region, was held in Columbia, South Carolina, April 18-21, 2007 hosted by the University of South Carolina. Twenty-one chapters from Districts 1 and 2 met jointly with the 68 th annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists and other affiliate societies.

Among the highlights of the meeting were the many excellent research papers and posters presented by undergraduate students from universities across the Southeastern United States. Each year the research paper and poster presentations are judged and awards presented to students with the most outstanding presentation. The Frank G. Brooks award, named in honor of the first President of Beta Beta Beta, is given in recognition of the best paper presentation and the John C. Johnson award, named in honor of the first Vice President of Beta Beta Beta, is given for the best poster presentation.
For the past 6 or 7 years, Florida Tech has won many research awards at the Southeastern Regional Meetings and this year was no exception. Five students from Florida Tech attended the meetings in Columbia and all gave presentations that we could be very proud of.

The following students presented papers on their undergraduate research:

Caroline Bauer, Retinal form and function in juvenile tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Research mentor: Michael Grace

Lyssa Boyer, Study of Soybean Lipoxygenase Type-1 under non-physiological conditions. Research mentor: Mark Novak

Ryan King, High-speed videography demonstrates adaptive significance of infrared imaging by pit vipers, boas and pythons. Research mentor: Michael Grace

The following students presented a poster on their undergraduate research:

Britney Pennington, The regulaton of mitogen activated protein kinase phosphorylation during starfish oocyte maturation and fertilization. Research Mentor: David Carroll

Erica Wales, Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) predation on non-native fish species. Research mentor; Jon Shenker

And the Results:
Ryan King won 3nd place in the Frank G. Brooks award for the best paper at the meeting. Florida Tech's Sigma Psi Chapter of Tri Beta also won the Travel Gavel award for most delegate-miles traveled to attend the meeting. (5 students and their Chapter advisor traveled 933 miles round trip by car).  All of the students performed very interesting research, and all gave excellent presentations of their research to diverse audiences.

For Florida Tech's Sigma Psi Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, 2006-07 was another great year; the awards, the field trips, the speakers program, the Haunted Lab and other activities enriched the lives of our students, the faculty and the University. We want to thank this years E-board for a job well done and look forward to our new E-board and new activities next year!