Texas A & M - Commerce Chapter activities

1996-2005

Upcoming activities

The 4^th Annual Sigma Xi Student-Faculty Research Forum was Thursday, April 21, 2005.

Recent activities

Three dinner meetings have been held in the 2004-2005 academic year. The first speaker, in Fall 2004, was Dr. Derek Harter of the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, who spoke on robotics. The second speaker, February 24th, was Dr. J.K. Crain, Head, Department of Industrial Engineering and Technology talked about "LED Light Displays." The third speaker, in Spring 2005, was Dr. Frank Miskevich of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, who spoke on stem cells.

The first activity for the 2003-2004 academic year was the 3rd Annual Sigma Xi Student-Faculty Research Forum.

The first event of spring 2003 was a dinner talk on February 19, 2003 with after-dinner talk by Dr. Anil Chourasia, Associate Professor of Chemistry at A & M University - Commerce, who spoke on "Science, technology and society".

The Second Annual Sigma Xi Student-Faculty Research Forum was held on April 24, 2003; abstracts were due by Tuesday, April 1, 2003.

The second event of Fall 2002 was a dinner talk on December 5, 2002 by Dr. Pat Bagley (Head, Department of Agricultural Sciences) in the Rayburn Room of the Memorial Student Center. Dr. Bagley spoke on "Animal Human Interrelationships;" he has written a book on related topics, and recently created a new capstone course on Animals and Society.

The first event of the Fall 2002 semester was a dinner talk on Thursday, October 24 at 6pm in the Rayburn Room of the Memorial Student Center. The speaker was Dr. Roderick Heelis, who spoke on his research in space physics. Dr. Heelis is Cecil and Ida Green Honors Professor of Physics and director of the Center for Space Sciences at UT-Dallas. Details are available at the Campus Calendar.

The First Annual Sigma Xi Student-Faculty Research Forum (which took the place of what would have been the 9th Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Forum) was held on Thursday, April 11, 2002.

The first meeting of the Spring 2002 semester was Thursday, February 14, 2002. The speaker was Dr. Jena Hamra, Department of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, who spoke on "Stress, opioids and the immune system." For more information, such as an abstract for the talk, go here.

The only meeting of Fall 2001 was a dinner meeting with after-dinner talk by Dr. Finnie Murray, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who spoke on "Math and Science Education", namely the new campus-wide initiative. Visit the web page for more details about the talk, and the dinner, including price, RSVP date, et cetera.

The 8th Annual Sigma Xi Student Research Forum was held April 19, 2001. Later that day, we also had a 6:30pm dinner meeting, with talk given by Dr. R. N. Singh (Sociology).

Our first activity for Spring 2001 was a dinner meeting on February 28 at 6:30pm; the speaker was Dr. Howard Richards. Details are available here.

Activities in 2000
The last dinner meeting of Fall 2000 was Thursday, December 7, 2000, at 6:30 PM. Our featured speaker was Dr. Byron Housewright from Agricultural Sciences. Details were posted here.

A dinner meeting was held Wednesday, November 1, 2000, at 6:30 PM, with featured speaker Dr. Amy Smith from Psychology and Special Education. Details are available here.

The first organized, "official" activity for Sigma Xi this fall was a dinner meeting on Wednesday, September 27, 2000. Dr. Patrick Nganga spoke on "Sensitivity of climate proxies to changing environmental conditions, Lake Turkana, Kenya". Some details are posted here.

While not a Sigma Xi event per se, a clinic/conference featuring some nationally-recognized researchers in the discipline of winter foraging was hosted by A&M - Commerce on Friday, September 15, 2000. For details, go here.

The summer was, as usual, a quiet time for Sigma Xi activities. The 7^th Annual Student Research Forum was held Thursday, April 20. For more information, go here. A few days prior to that, the All Sciences Picnic was held.

A dinner meeting was held Wednesday, April 5, 2000 at 6pm. Dr. Brian Wilsey (Department of Biological and Earth Sciences) spoke on "Global changes in the carbon cycle and plant-grazer interactions". For more details, go here.

Sigma Xi sponsored an essay competition for both university students and area high school students. The contest deadline was March 31, 2000. More information is available here.

Dr. Keith West of the A & M - Commerce Department of Physics spoke on "Variations of Ion Composition in the Low-Latitude Topside Ionosphere" at a dinner meeting Thursday, February 24, 2000 at 6pm. For details of the talk, go here.

Activities for 1999
The last scheduled meeting for 1999 was a dinner meeting, Thurday, December 9 at 6pm in the Rayburn Room of the Memorial Student Center. The speaker was Dr. Rick Kreminski, Mathematics at Texas A & M University - Commerce, who spoke on an introduction to the mathematics of the pricing of options. For more details about the talk, including a title and abstract, go here.

A dinner meeting was held November 4, 1999 at 6pm. The speaker was Dr. Paul Thacker, Sociology and Criminal Justice at Texas A & M University - Commerce. For more details about the talk, including a title and abstract for the talk (as well as the dinner charge), go here.

The first activity for the Fall 1999 semester was a dinner meeting at 6pm on Thursday, September 30; the speaker was Dr. John Weinstein from the Department of Biological and Earth Sciences. Go here for details.

The 6^th Annual Student Research Forum was held Thursday, April 15. For more information, including links to listings of all talk and poster titles, go here.

A dinner meeting was held on Wednesday, January 27, at 6pm in the Rayburn Room in the Memorial Student Center. The after-dinner speaker was Dr. Jim Marshall, from the University of North Texas. Dr. Marshall spoke at 7pm on the periodic table, with demonstrations, in a lecture in the Hall of Sciences, room 133. His presentation was attended by local public school students and teachers as well campus students and faculty.

Activities in 1998
The last meeting for 1998 was a dinner meeting, on Wednesday, December 9, in the Rayburn Room in the Memorial Student Center. The after-dinner speaker was Dr. John Harrison, Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences. Dr. Harrison's general topic dealt with on-site (residential) wastewater treatment facilities, current trends and future developments.

The first dinner meeting for the fall semester occurred on Wednesday, November 4 in the Rayburn Room of the Memorial Student Center, beginning at 6pm. The after-dinner speaker was Dr. S. C. Sharma from the University of Texas at Arlington; speaking at 7pm. More information (such as an abstract for the talk, the menu, etc) was posted here.

The Fifth Annual Student Research Forum was held April 9, 1998. More information is available here.

Bernard Greenberg (Biology Dept, University of Illinois at Chicago) was our visiting lecturer this year; he spoke on Wednesday April 1 and Thursday April 2. More details are posted here. The lecture was videotaped; contact any of the officers if you wish to view it.

Our last actual meeting was a dinner meeting, Tuesday, March 24. The speakers were Dr. Don Cawthon (TAMU-C Agriculture) and Dr. Mathew Kanjirathinkal (TAMU-C Sociology). More information is available here.

Sigma Xi sponsored a live videoconference, titled International Space Station: Open for Business, from noon until 2pm on Thursday, February 26. This was also taped; if anyone is interested, contact Rick Kreminski. Some details of the program are available here.

Another dinner meeting occurred on Thursday, February 12, 1998, at 6:30pm in the Rayburn Room of the Memorial Student Center. The speakers were Joan Echols (retired, Dept of Earth Sciences, TAMU-C) and Deuard Worthen (Optics Manufacturing, a Raytheon Systems Company, Dallas; formerly Texas Instruments). Titles and abstracts of their talks, and more information about the dinner details, are available here.

Activities in 1997
Our only dinner meeting of the Fall 1997 semester was held on Thursday, October 30, in the Rayburn Room of the Sam Rayburn Memorial Student Center on the TAMU-C campus. The dinner began at 6:30pm, and included two speakers giving 20-minute talks on their research, Dr. Deej Heath (Dept of Mathematics, TAMU-C) and Dr. Paul Thacker (Dept of Sociology, Social Sciences and Criminal Justice). More information is posted here.

The TAMU-C student members of the American Chemical Society (ACS) sponsored the annual ALL SCIENCES PICNIC this year, along with help from the Math clubs as well as some publicitiy help from Sigma Xi. The picnic was scheduled from 5pm-7pm or so, Thursday, September 25, at the Commerce City Park.

Sigma Xi sponsored a videoconference on May 8th from 1pm-2:30pm: Undergraduate education to meet societal needs in the 21^st century, with participants such as the director of the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education, and at least one congressman. More information is posted here.

Sigma Xi cosponsored a videoconference on May 1: International space station - engineering the future. Go here for more details. The videconference was taped if anyone is interested; contact Rick Kreminski, 886-5947.

The Fourth Annual Student Research Forum was held April 17, 1997.

The last dinner meeting was held Wednesday, April 2 at 6³⁰pm. After dinner, two talks were given. The first speaker was Dr. David Kee of TAEX (Texas Agricultural Extension Service); the second was Dr. Warren Koepp of the Department of Mathematics at Texas A & M - Commerce. Go here for details.

On March 12 the chapter sponsored a visit from Dr. Margaret Bayer, of the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Dr Bayer is a Sigma Xi designated Visiting Lecturer, and her talk was titled "An excursion to the Land of Polyhedra; or, What do mathematicians do, anyway?" Go here for information about the visiting lecturer program in general; or here for an abstract of her talk. If interested, you can view the lecture on videotape; contact any of the officers.

Activities in 1996
On Monday, November 25, 1996 at 6pm there was a dinner meeting, along with two talks. The first speaker was Dr. Marvin Eargle, of E-Systems/Raytheon. The second was Dr. Bart Goddard, of the Department of Mathematics at Texas A & M - Commerce. Go here for details.

Dr. Louis Jacobs, a paleontologist at SMU, spoke on Tuesday, November 5, 1996 at 4pm in the Hall of Sciences. (He spoke earlier in the day to an attentive audience at A. C. Williams School in Commerce.) An abstract for his afternoon talk at the University is available here. If anyone is interested in viewing the lecture on videotape, contact any of the officers.

Our first event for 1996-1997 was the annual All Sciences Picnic.

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The organization was fairly dormant during the summer of 1996. Beginning in spring 1996 (part of 1995-1996), activities were posted on this web site. The spring picnic was held May 4, 1996; if interested, click here for some information.

The Third Annual Student Research Forum occurred April 18, 1996

On March 21, 1996, a dinner meeting featured talks by ETSU faculty: Dr. Chip Fox spoke on plate techtonics and Dr. Italo Simonelli spoke on interacting particle systems.

On February 8, 1996, the chapter sponsored a visit by Dr. Arch Johnston of the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, which is based at the University of Memphis. Click here for some details.