[Faculty] Congratulating Winners of CALES Research Showcase Presentation Awards!

Mon Apr 27 06:00:00 MST 2026

Dear CALES Community:

Join me in congratulating the winners of the 2026 CALES Research Showcase Presentation Competition Awards!

We will be honoring these wonderful students and postdoc during the CALES Research Showcase<https://research.cales.arizona.edu/research-impact/annual-research-showcase> on Thursday, April 30th, 2026 from 10am - 2pm at the Student Union Grand Ballroom.

We hope that you can attend their presentations, participate on the concurrent oral presentation sessions, and visit all 65 posters in the poster session.

Oral Competition (plenary session 10:15 am to 11:15, Main Stage)

Natalia Gradza-Valdez, Undergraduate Student, Major: Veterinary Sciences
Presentation: "Understanding the Role of Wild Suids in Mycobacterium bovis Transmission in Multi-host Systems: A Systematic Review"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Liliana Salvador, Assistant Professor, School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences

Simran Singh, PhD Student, Major: Environmental Science
Presentation: "Improving Virus Detection Methods for Safe Water Reuse"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Luisa Ikner, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science

Dr. Alan Cervantes-Perez, Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Plant Sciences
Presentation: "Hooked hairs: The hidden cell type key for nutrient-limited and drought conditions during early plant development"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alexander Bucksch, Associate Professor, School of Plant Sciences

Poster Competition (will receive awards at main session 10:15-11:15 am, then will present at poster session 12:35 pm to 1:55pm)

Lily Yu, Online Undergraduate Student, Major: Environmental Science
Presentation: "Quantifying Flash Flood Warning Thresholds in Pima County, AZ"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Martha Whitaker, Associate Professor, Department of Hydrology & Atmospheric Sciences

Nguyan Dang, MS Student, Major: Applied Biotechnology GIDP
Presentation: "Assessment of the Attachment Strength of Salmonella enterica on the Surfaces of Various Types of Commercial Tomatoes"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Sadhana Ravishankar, Professor, School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences

Dilini Lanka Wickramasinghe, PhD Student, Major: Environmental Science
Presentation: "Zinc stress responses in desert tobacco: linking physiological and spectral traits for dryland phytomining"
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alicja Babst-Kostecka, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science

Congratulations to our valued trainee researchers and their mentors!

See you at the showcase!

Cheers,

Zelieann

[The University of Arizona block 'A' logo.]
Zelieann R Craig, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean for Research & Graduate Studies

Associate Professor, School of Animal & Comparative Biomedical Sciences (ACBS)

College of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences (CALES)

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

Bioscience Research Laboratories

Office: 355 Laboratory: 323

1230 N Cherry Ave Tucson Arizona 85721

(520) 621-8082

zelieann at arizona.edu

she/hers/ella

[Integrity, Compassion, Exploration, Adaptation, Inclusion, Determination]<https://www.arizona.edu/purpose-mission-values>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.cals.arizona.edu/pipermail/faculty/attachments/20260427/4248fc0c/attachment-0002.htm>