April 17, 2017
Senior biology major Timothy Legg of Mutual was selected to represent Northwestern Oklahoma State University at Research Day at the Capitol held recently in Oklahoma City.
Twenty-five undergraduate students representing 19 Oklahoma colleges and universities presented competitive research posters at the Waterford Hotel and met with members of the State Legislature at the State Capitol during the annual event, which is designed to raise awareness of the outstanding research that is taking place at Oklahoma’s colleges and universities.
Legg’s research focused on antibiotics titled, “Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Bothrops moojeni venom.” His research took two months and was used to determine the effectiveness of whole snake venom as an antimicrobial, documented the effectiveness of venom on each of six medically important bacterial species, and researched possible mechanisms of action to focus future research.
“I chose my research topic for many reasons,” he said. “First, I recognized the impending disaster brought about by humanity’s squandering of the miracle of antibiotics and realized how valuable new sources could be. Second, I wanted to shed some light on the vast number of human lives saved every day by snake venom (well over 40 million and counting), in hopes of raising conservation awareness and ensuring the phrase ‘The only good snake is a dead snake’ is never again uttered.”
Legg was excited after finding out he received the opportunity to represent Northwestern. He saw it as a chance to network with other student-researchers and learn about the types of research taking place at other universities. He believes any student interested in furthering their higher education should participate as much as possible in events that provide real world experience and challenges.
“I encourage each and every student who hopes to attend a graduate or doctoral program to participate in as many research opportunities as possible, be it Ranger Research Day, Oklahoma Research Day, or Research Day at the Capitol,” he said. “Such programs help you develop skills critical to your higher education and career aspirations. In some cases, you can even make money doing them!”
Legg said his favorite part about being a student at Northwestern is the genuine care and interest the professors take on for each of the students’ lives that can only happen at a university like Northwestern.
“Northwestern has helped me live my dream by leveraging some of Oklahoma’s very best natural science professors to deliver a thorough college education that prepared me for the rigors of a physician assistant graduate program,” he said.
“I would like to thank Dr. [Aaron] Place and Dr. [Venkata] Moorthy for their advice and guidance during my research project. I would also like to thank them, Dr. [Cynthia] Pfeifer-Hill, and Dr. [Cornelia] Mihai for keeping their courses as challenging as possible. Your adherence to rigorous standards ensure that each of us leave Northwestern prepared not only for a graduate or doctoral program, but also for life.”
Research Day at the Capitol is sponsored by Oklahoma EPSCoR, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and the National Science Foundation.
For more information on Northwestern’s biology and natural science programs, contact Dr. Steven Maier, professor of physics and chair of the Department of Natural Science, at (580) 327-8562 or sjmaier@nwosu.edu.
CONTACT FOR RELEASE:
Ali Gavitt, University Relations Specialist
apgavitt@nwosu.edu, 580-327-8480
Timothy Legg was selected to represent Northwestern Oklahoma State University at Research Day at the Capitol recently held in Oklahoma City. He presented his research on antibiotics.
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