Rogers State University student Renee Morse-Heenan, a native of Foyil, recently attended Research Day at the Oklahoma Capitol and won an award for her ecology research presentation.
Morse-Heenan received a third place award for her scientific poster presentation about the effect of historical coffee cultivation on terrestrial snail communities in the tropical forests of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Craig Zimmermann, RSU assistant professor of biology, mentored her research. Morse-Heenan collected her research data in Puerto Rico last summer when she accompanied Zimmerman on a research trip to the island rainforest.
“Winning the award is great for her and great for the university. It is another indicator the RSU is moving forward,” Zimmermann said.
Zimmermann and Morse-Heenan will be returning to Puerto Rico this summer to continue their research and in August they will be presenting their research at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting.
Morse-Heenan is a senior set to graduate from RSU in December with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.
A total of 21 students from 15 schools were invited to the event. Research Day at the Capitol is a celebration of the excellent undergraduate student research that is conducted on Oklahoma’s college campuses. It is an annual event sponsored by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and the National Science Foundation.