Biology students win awards at Association of Southeastern Biologists conference

Two Furman University biology majors won poster session awards at the annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists. Jon Daniel ’25, who is on the environmental and conservation track, won the aquatic biology category, and William Johnson ’26, won top honors in microbiology.

Out of hundreds of posters and oral presentations, which were open to graduate students and undergraduates, scoring two wins across five categories is more than notable, said John Wheeler, associate provost for integrative science and professor of chemistry.

“I am never surprised but always thrilled to see our students perform at such a high level,” he said, adding that students’ success is directly attributable to The Furman Advantage.

Jon Daniel holds a gopher snake he found during the “Wild Semester” study away program in New Mexico in 2023.

Furman’s Erik Ching, interim associate provost for engaged learning, the Walter Kenneth Mattison Professor of History and director of undergraduate research, said, “Our biology students have an impressive track record of earning honors at ASB. In addition to this year’s winners, Furman students have won the award each year since 2021, including three times in a row by Skyler Fox ’22.”

Daniel, who last year won an ASB oral presentation award, presented findings from his research with Furman’s Alison Roark, professor of biology. They used sea anemones as model organisms for cnidarians, which include coral and jellyfish. Daniel studied how cobalt, a heavy metal and environmental pollutant, affects the symbiotic relationship between sea anemones and algae – each providing life-giving nutrients to the other – and how environmental stressors threaten vital ecosystems.

Johnson, a biomedical sciences and philosophy double major, delivered a poster on bacteria in urban streams – research he’s conducting with Furman’s Min-Ken Liao, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Biology, and Greg Lewis ’91, biology professor and department chair. They worked with Suresh Muthukrishnan, professor of Earth, environmental, and sustainability sciences; psychology major Morgan Soukhamneut ’26; biology major Andrew La ’27; and biology alum Owen Smith ’24, who laid much of the groundwork for the research including mapping sampling sites and lending assistance in the lab.

Johnson studied the different types of fecal bacteria in small streams in Greenville, South Carolina, across low- and high-socioeconomic neighborhoods. “We found that the E. coli bacteria were genetically different based on phylogroup frequencies, which could be from varying sources or differing stream conditions,” Johnson said.

Both Johnson and Daniel said the opportunity to present research at conferences is beneficial, and it always looks good on a resume. But participating in regional conferences like ASB is affirming in other ways.

Daniel said, “It’s one of the best ways to network with professionals in your field, and it helps you get noticed by future graduate schools. The experience gives you practice with presenting and communicating your research – critical for any discipline in the natural sciences. Personally, it gives me confirmation that the work I’m doing is interesting and important.”

Johnson said presenting at ASB helped him understand his own project better.

“It was really cool to hear more about what other people were doing,” he said. “I had a lot of professors from other universities come up and ask me questions I hadn’t really thought about before.”

Furman faculty attend ASB for other reasons. They serve as student presentation judges, workshop leaders and as part of the ASB leadership. In all, eight biology faculty attended the meeting in addition to 18 biology, neuroscience and sustainability science students.

“I enjoy sharing these opportunities with my undergraduate researchers so they can begin to see themselves as practicing scientists, not just as science students,” Roark said.

“The faculty are members of our own individual professional societies, and we attend conferences represented by thousands of scientists of our own disciplines,” Liao said. “These national and sometimes international meetings can be overwhelming to students. Luckily, we can take our students to this regional conference with 800-plus participants and more than 600 presentations. It’s student-friendly, and it’s all about biology. We learned so much and made meaningful connections.”

Meantime, Daniel will pursue a master’s in marine biology at College of Charleston after graduating in May, and he hopes to work on his Ph.D. after that. Johnson will continue to work with Liao and Lewis on the research to ready it for publication. He plans on enrolling in med school in 2026.