Select Bennies and Johnnies present research at the Minn. State Capitol

Two Bennies and two Johnnies recently presented their undergrad research at the Minnesota State Capitol on Feb. 25.

This event was sponsored by the Minnesota Private College Council with 15 schools from across the state being represented.

The four CSB+SJU students who presented research represented a wide range of disciplines including political science, computer science, biochemistry, biology and economics.

Scholars at the Capitol have invited students to share their undergrad research for several years.

Students from Minnesota private colleges are selected to share their knowledge and explore their futures, while connecting with other students, faculty, legislators and policy makers.

Roseann Baisley, an undergraduate research program manager, helped students prepare to present their undergrad research.

Baisley said she thinks this opportunity prepares students’ careers and sets them up for meaningful and active engagement in society.

“Scholars at the Capitol is more than just a poster session; it’s an experiential learning opportunity that connects students’ academic work with real-world audiences,” Baisley said.

Along with Baisley, Trisa Shaeffer, Senior Associate Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research & Scholars, helped coordinate the Scholars at the Capitol opportunity, supporting students as they prepared and finally presented their research.

Kendra Orbeck is a CSB senior double majoring in biochemistry and computer science.

Orbeck worked closely with professor Vijay Srinivas Tida and the computer science department to develop research focusing on the use of artificial intelligence for the early detection of breast cancer.

This research involved deep learning models to recognize visual patterns in mammogram images, using a dataset of medical images taken in real life clinical environments.

These models allowed Orbeck to evaluate how they were able to classify the mammograms as benign or malignant.

With this research focusing on the use of AI and explainable AI tools for medical testing, Orbeck explained that AI systems fail to fully describe how they arrived at its decision, often functioning as a “black box”, only showing the input and output of a problem.

In utilizing explainable AI tools, Orbeck hopes these models can address this issue by increasing a model’s visibility and allowing clinicians to fully understand and evaluate AI predictions rather than only accepting the generated output of information at face value.

“This experience has strengthened my commitment to ensuring that emerging artificial intelligence tools are developed and implemented in ways that are ethical and transparent, while strengthening the physician’s role and preserving the empathy that defines meaningful medical care,” Orbeck said.

In taking part in this event at the State Capitol, Orbeck had the opportunity to engage in conversations surrounding her research with a variety of audiences and speak with both legislators and breast cancer survivors.

“As a pre-med student planning to attend medical school, experiences like this reinforce how interdisciplinary research, especially at the intersection of medicine and technology, can be utilized to directly impact patient care,” Orbeck said.

CSB senior Lauren Sitzman has conducted independent biology research for the past three years, focusing on changes in monarch butterfly melanization and sexual dismorphism over time.

Sitzman previously presented this research this past September at Princeton University as part of their Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Scholars Program.

Sitzman’s research looked closely at the black area around wing veins which monarch butterflies use to thermoregulate on their migration journeys across North America and Mexico.

Butterflies were broken down between gender and whether they were eastern or western (determined based on their location relative to the Rocky Mountains).

Utilizing photographed museum specimens, Sitzman measured the percent black area on a monarch’s wings using the java-based program Fiji with the help of Dr. Kate Cary from the biology department.

Sitzman also quantified monarch sexual dimorphism in wing patterns, finding that eastern female monarch butterflies are increasing melanization over the past 120 years.

Sitzman connected with the University of Minnesota to access their insect collection to gather more specimens after running out of her original online specimen collection.

Sitzman said that this experience greatly impacted her.

“The opportunity to present at the capital reminded me of the importance of science communication. Science should be accessible to everyone, and I truly believe good scientists should be able to share their research to people without a science background,” Sitzman said.