Florida Genetics 2013 Awards Four Poster Presenters

During the Florida Genetics 2013 symposium, students and postdoctoral associates submitted 115 abstracts and posters into the competitive poster contest. Two poster sessions were held over the course of the two-day event and judges evaluated each poster and presenter on content and visuals, presenter interactions, and the ability to answer questions about the project and its significance.

Judges for this year’s contest included UFGI faculty Lauren McIntyre, Rolf Renne, David Oppenheimer, Akito Kawahara, James Maruniak, and Jianping Wang.

Winners were awarded in the Student and Postdoctoral categories, each being presented with a $250 award. In addition, there were two Honorable Mention awards in the Student Category, each receiving $125.

This year’s winners are:

Best Poster, Postdoctoral Associate

Andre S. Chanderbali
“Gene co-expression networks exhibit limited conservation across flowering plants”

Best Poster, Student

Brian Rossmiller
“Gene therapy with self-complementary recombinant adeno-associated virus in a model of retinal degeneration based on mutant rhodopsin”

Poster Honorable Mention, Student

Juan J. Acosta
“Demographic events shaping evolutionary history and genome-wide genetic diversity of Pinus taeda and Pinus elliotti”

Poster Honorable Mention, Student

Xiaofei Liang
“An oxylate decarboxylase gene functions in the early infection processes of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum”