Eight Belmont members of Alpha Chi National Honor Society, led by faculty sponsor, Dr. Mélanie Walton, assistant professor of philosophy, presented on their academic research at “Transcending Boundaries: The 2016 Alpha Chi National Convention” in Washington DC. The three-day convention featured more than 300 student presenters representing all academic and artistic disciplines and culminated in a gala awards banquet with a keynote presentation by the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Sonia Nazario.
Presenters included:
- Samantha Gould: “Technological Screen Exposure’s Affect on Danio rerio’s Development,” whose research presentation won the Convention’s award for the best work in psychology
- Juliana Ireland: “Smoking among Low-Income Pregnant Women: The Problem and the Solution”
- Adam James: “Effects of Probiotic Fermentation on Antioxidant Activity in Blueberries”
- Zara Latif: “The Link between Obesity and Parkinson’s Disease”
- Amber Lowe: “The Effect of Mood Priming and Extraversion on the Perceived Pain of Spending Money”
- Jeanette Morelan: “Exploring Community Development through Arts Education and Sport Coaching in South Africa”
- Julia Wermuth: “What’s in a Word?”
- Miranda West: “The Effects of Nicotine on Parkinson’s Disease”
Founded in 1922, Alpha Chi is the oldest and most prestigious Greek society at Belmont, and membership in the society is Belmont’s highest academic honor awarded. Membership is by invitation, only, as determined by faculty endorsement of the quality of character and intellect of junior and senior students ranking academically in the top 10 percent of the University as determined in the fall and spring semesters. Alpha Chi’s mission is to promote academic excellence and exemplary character and to honor students who achieve such distinction.
