The academy celebrates the study of sciences in the state. The action-packed schedule will feature lectures, poster sessions, awards and a plenary
speaker. 
ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA -- More than 500 faculty, undergraduates, teachers and high
school students from across the state will flock to Winthrop University on April 16
for the South Carolina Academy of Science annual meeting.
The packed schedule will feature lectures on topics in the fields of cellular biology,
field biology, molecular biology, medicine/pharmacology/health, chemistry/biochemistry,
math computer science, physics and astronomy in Kinard Hall. In addition to these
lectures, there will also be poster sessions in Richardson Ballroom.
Hot topics for these discussions include heavy metal concentrations in Donax claims found in Myrtle Beach, the effects of natural versus artificial sweeteners
on anxiety and depressive symptoms in rats and bioremediation-reduction of hexavalent
chromium, which you may have heard of in the Erin Brockovich case.
Governor's Awards for Excellence in Science will be distributed in the afternoon to
standout participants.
A conference highlight is plenary speaker Dr. Prakash Kara from the Department of Neurosscience at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Dr. Kara's talk will focus on how and why neurons talk to blood vessels in the brain,
based on insights gleaned from high-resolution imaging.
The South Carolina Academy of Science, founded in 1924, strives to aid and improve the development of science and its studies
in the state.
For more information on the conference's presence at Winthrop, contact Heather Evans-Anderson,
president-elect of the academy and Winthrop associate professor of biology, at 803/323-2111
or evansandh@winthrop.edu.
