Check out this snapshot of what PC students have been up to under the direction of Dr. Evelyn J. Swain, assistant professor of chemistry:

• As American Chemical Society (ACS) student affiliate advisor, Dr. Swain has assisted the chemistry students with an outreach project. Every other week during the semester students provide science demonstrations and hands-on activities for the 3-4 year old students at the Gleamns/Laurens Head Start. These activities meet the missions of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Presbyterian College, to share our love of science with society while serving our community. Without these activities these students may not be exposed to science at a young enough age to excel in fields that require an early and deep appreciation of science.

•  As American Chemical Society (ACS) student affiliate advisor Dr. Swain has assisted the chemistry students in creating a Chemistry/Biochemistry Lecture Series. They will be sponsoring two speakers each semester. This September they sponsored a lecture by Brett Meredith, a Senior Materials Research Scientist at Michelin Americas Research Company (MARC) in Greenville, SC. In November they sponsored a Brew master lecture with Will McCameron, the President of Brewery 85 located in Greenville, SC.

• Over the past year Dr. Swain has mentored the following students on their capstone research projects. She will be mentoring another three students next year (Abby Waldron, Savannah Austin, Emily Phillips).
  • 2014-2015 Capstone Research
    • Christopher Downey – “Determining the Behavior of Glucose Transporters (HXTs) in  Saccharomyces cerevisiae Based on Predicted 3D Modeling Systems”
    • Jonathan Strickland  – “Determining the Functional Role of Glucose Transporter HXT1  in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Effects of HXT1 Overexpression/Deletion Combinations”
    • Harrison Daves -“ Glucose Transport Structure/Function Studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Studies of HXT4 Overexpression”
  • 2013-2014 Capstone Research
    • Lanie Brisben-“Probiotics in the Metabolism of Gluten”

• Christopher Downey and Dr. Swain attended the South Eastern Yeast Meeting at Vanderbilt University in March, where Chris presented a poster on their work.

• As Director of the Biochemistry Program, Dr. Swain has applied for program accreditation through the ASBMB (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) organization. When PC gains accredited status, Biochemistry majors will graduate with distinction from one of fifteen accredited (Biochemistry major) institutions in the country.

• The Chemistry Department has purchased molecular model kits for each biochemistry student to utilize in BCHE 307 and BCHE 308 as hands-on activities to facilitate learning structure/function relationships in biochemistry. Dr. Swain has created “build” assignments for students that are assessed for accuracy and are used for classroom discussions and activities. She will evaluate the practice and effectiveness of this curriculum and plans to publish the results in Journal of Chemical Education within the next three years.