A first-year graduate student from Houston, Tex. won the top poster award at a major science meeting in Mississippi.
Ismael Mayo, who studies biology, received the Best Poster Presentation Award at the Mississippi Academy of Science Annual Meeting. He won in the Agriculture and Plant Sciences division.
Mayo’s research focused on making ethanol fuel using modified baker’s yeast. His work looked at how different yeast strains can make ethanol more efficiently.
“We studied the fermentation rates of different strains of yeast cells,” said Mayo. “Our goal was to study the relationship between fermentation efficiency and ethanol production.”
Three professors guided Mayo’s research from the Department of Biological Sciences. They are Dr. Marta Piva, professor and interim chair; Dr. Jon Moreno, retired associate professor; and Dr. Debarshi Roy, associate professor.
Mayo said his mentors played a key role in his success.
“They saw that I had a desire to work in a lab and conduct research,” he said. “They have backed me and given me the opportunity to work in a lab environment.”
The research faced some challenges. Mayo said finding the right yeast strain was difficult. Growing enough yeast for multiple tests also took time.
Mayo believes his work could help create cleaner energy.
“This could be another viable and renewable method of creating ethanol,” he said.
He plans to continue his research. His team is working on more yeast experiments, including some related to cancer research.
Mayo hopes to work in microbiology or immunology after graduation.
“I want to contribute to research furthering our understanding of cells,” said Mayo.
