First Poster Presentation a Winner for Grad Student

12/01/11 Portland, Ore.

It is not often that a graduate student gives their first poster presentation at a conference and comes back a winner.  

That is what happened, however, to Leslie Slasor at the American Chemical Society meeting in Denver, Colorado.  

Slasor, a masters graduate student in Oregon Health and Sciences University’s Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems, won a Certificate of Merit for her poster presentation titled “A Spectral Fluorescence Study of Crude Oil Degradation.”

Working with her advisor, Joe Needoba, Ph.D., an OHSU professor, Slasor’s research results found that persistent components of crude oil in the water accommodated faction (WAF) could be tracked using fluorometers that are modified to specific wavelengths. The results will help enhance in situ instruments for detecting and tracking future crude oil spills.  

The certificate of merit recognizes members of the American Chemical Society that are making their first presentation at a national meeting in the Environmental Division. Twenty-five volunteers served as judges, and Slasor’s presentation was judged to be of high quality toward the efforts of the Environmental Division to better understand and protect the environment.  

Slasor received her B.S. in Chemistry from Eastern Kentucky University, where she studied Forensic Chemistry and contributed to Organic Chemistry and Computational Biochemistry research.  She is currently working on research that involves the spectral fluorescence study of crude oil in seawater.  

Written by Jeff Schilling