Congratulations to Jenny McDowell and Gemma Cotton, two PhD students carrying out research within the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, on being awarded Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy (OCEM) Student Research Awards in the September 2014 round.
Jenny McDowell (right) is a forensic biology PhD student, whose award-winning research project 'An evaluation of the chemical and morphological changes to juvenile bone when exposed to a marine environment' is supervised by SJWRI Director Prof Richard Cannon, Prof Abby Smith of the Department of Marine Science, and forensics expert Prof Sue Black of the University of Dundee. Jenny's research looks at how juvenile pig bones decompose when placed in marine environments, as a means of understanding marine decomposition of human body parts in a forensic context.
Gemma Cotton of the Department of Chemistry, whose PhD research is co-supervised by Dr Carla Meledandri of Chemistry and Dr Don Schwass of the SJWRI, also won an award for her project 'Application of antibacterial silver nanocomposite materials for treatment and prevention of dental caries and periodontal disease'. This research looks at a novel way of using silver nanoparticles as a means of eliminating bacteria around dental fillings.
The OCEM Student Awards are presented biannually, and support novel student research projects in electron microscopy. The Awards cover up to 15 hours electron microscope usage and technical support time.
More on the OCEM Student Awards
Otago Centre for Electron Microscopy website
Dr Carla Meledandri lab website
Dr Don Schwass research profile
More on the collaboration between Dr Meledandri and Dr Schwass