Murdock College Science Research Conference

Give To SPU Biology

The Murdock College Science Research Conference features undergraduate research from universities around the Pacific Northwest. It is a great opportunity for you to learn from other student-researchers. The annual conference typically brings together over 300 students from 30+ colleges and universities around the Pacific Northwest.

Hosted annually each fall by different participating institutions, the Murdock Conference focuses on sharing and advancing new knowledge in the natural sciences that has been created or discovered through collaborative faculty-student research.

2025 Murdock Conference Attendees

The 2025 conference will be held in Vancouver, WA, Nov. 7 - 8, 2025. SPU will be proudly represented by the following students:

Oral Presenter:

Sheirbon, Ben. Repurposing Nucleotide Metabolism Inhibitors to Treat Gammaherpesvirus Infections. Research mentor: Dr. Tracie Delgado, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.

Poster Presenters:

Boswell, Farrah and Egger, Garrett. Exercise Intensity Correlates to Exertion in Novel Environments. Research mentor: Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.

Chang, Hannah. High Performance Electrolyte for Rechargeable Zinc Batteries with Co-Solvents. Research mentor: Dr. Dan-Thien Ngyuen, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Cheema, Sunny, Al-Tamimi, Ali and Singh, Gursagar. Beyond the Marine Norm: Salinity Tolerance in Freshwater-Adapted Sticklebacks. Research mentor: Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.

Delgado, Elizabeth. Simple tools, big effects: Load-carrying strategies and their impact on locomotor efficiency. Research mentor: Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.

Dillow, Isabella. Development of Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy Method for Quantifying Metals in Food and Environmental Aqueous Samples. Research mentor: Dr. Karisa Pierce, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Seattle Pacific University.

Elzinga, Elena. Foliar Chemistry of Western Redcedar (Thuja plicata) After Deer-Induced Damage. Research mentor: Dr. Ryan Ferrer, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University..

Kim, Naomi. Load,Tilt, and Efficiency: Sex Differences in Baby-carrying Kinematics. Research mentor: Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.

Nekesa, Jaria. Repurposing Disulfiram Against Antibiotic-Resistant Mycoplasma genitalium. Research mentor: Dr. Gwen Wood, Department of Medicine, University of Washington.

McFarland, Sam. Homology Modeling of Nine Classes of Two-Domain KIR-HLA Class I Complexes. Research mentor: Dr. Ben McFarland, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Seattle Pacific University.

Pier, Ayaka. Effects of Multitasking on Respiratory Exchange Rate. Research mentor: Dr. Cara Wall-Scheffler, Department of Biology, Seattle Pacific University.