Skip to content
Genomics Education Partnership logo
Contact Us
Genomics Education Partnership logo
Contact Us
Home » Regional Node Event

Regional Node Event

DMV Regional Node Journal Club Series (2024-2025 Academic Year)

Paper discussions were facilitated by Matt Wawersik, Christy Fleet, Natasha Minkovsky, and Melinda Yang. Node leader Matt Wawersik organized the events and typically five to seven GEP faculty participated in each session.

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

Community-building opportunities. The pedagogy journal club structure gave us a chance to discuss things we were trying at our own institutions, as well as challenges we were running into.

What lessons were learned from challenges in the planning or execution of the event that might be helpful for others planning events?

Initially, we were disappointed to not have more participation from the node, but those who did attend found that the group was helpful. Having the monthly online journal club didn’t take nearly as much effort as organizing an in-person event, and still allowed us to maintain community, so for us, it was a sustainable option.

Pennsylvania Regional Node Meeting – May 23, 2025

Tess Cherlin (2025–2026 Curriculum Committee Chair) ran the workshop. There were 14 attendees total, with 9 PA node members along with one member each from the Midwest, MN/IA/Dakotas, and PNW nodes and 1 non-member. Participants were oriented to the R programming language and Posit (Rstudio in the cloud). Through guided modules and sample data, participants gained hands-on experience using the Rstudio workspace and coding in R. Of note, participants used code to manipulate data, create tables, and generate customizable graphs.
A number of participants voiced they would like to continue working with R to develop curriculum for their classes. Tess has implemented weekly R Office Hours throughout the summer for faculty to come together to ask questions, share ideas, and create materials for their courses (everyone is welcome!).
Thank you to Jenni Kennell and Kellie Agrimson, the Regional Node organizers, and PA Node Leader Leming Zhou for helping to organize the event.

Midwest Regional Node Meeting – May 8, 2025

The schedule for the meeting:

  • 6:00-6:10pm: Welcome and introductions
  • 6:10-7:10pm Student Talks took place in two Breakout Rooms
    • Breakout Room #1, Moderator: Jennifer Mierisch
      • Trinity Bray, Loyola University Chicago
      • Olivia Coyne, St. Mary’s University
      • Serena Singh, Loyola University Chicago
      • Mackenzie Rogers, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
      • Michael Quinlan, Loyola University Chicago
    • Breakout Room #2, Moderator, Sarah Justice
      • Hailey Borreson, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
      • Neel Patel, Loyola University Chicago
      • Marie Dvorak, University of St. Francis
      • Katherine Slavik, Loyola University Chicago
  • 7:10-7:30pm: Node Business and Social Time for Faculty and Students

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

We used breakout rooms for 2 groups of student presentations and that worked well.

What would your node do differently based on your experiences?

We did not stipulate that presentations should be PowerPoint and in the future I would for the sake of being able to see details of projects better.

Southeast Regional Node Meeting – March 28, 2025

Logan Cohen (a graduate student at The University of Alabama) gave a keynote address and eight undergraduate students gave short presentations on their research.
A big thank you to all the speakers as well as Cheryl Bardales for organizing the symposium and John Stanga for stepping in to facilitate on the day of the event when Cheryl couldn’t attend due to an emergency!
Photos from the Minnesota, Iowa, Dakotas Regional Node Meeting

Minnesota/Iowa/Dakotas Regional Node Meeting – November 22, 2024

Guest Speakers included:

  • “Unlocking Secrets of Microbial Evolution in the Deep Sea and Deep Time through Genomics” – Dr. Rika Anderson
  • “Unlocking Hidden Risks: How Protein and Genetic Markers Can Predict Heart Disease in People Living with HIV” – Dr. Sandra Safo
  • “Gene Loss and Relaxed Selection of Plaat1 in Vertebrates Adapted to Low Light Environments” – Dr. Danielle Drabeck
  • “Exploring how Genetic Counselors Shape Healthcare and Research” – Elena Fisher
  • “Evolution and Biomedical Implications of Structural Variants in Humans” – Dr. PingHsun Hsieh

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

This is the second significant event that we have planned for the MN/IA/Dakotas Node. This time we created larger and more frequent breaks in between talks and poster sessions than the first time planning. It felt so much less stressful, and more organic conversation was held between students and faculty during these breaks. We also scheduled an hour-long lunch and hour poster session; it was the perfect amount of time.

What would your node do differently based on your experiences?

To send many reminders to register before the deadline! I kept having students register late and then that messed up my lunch numbers. I had to negotiate with Sodexo a few days before to add on more meals.

Southeast Regional Node Meeting – November 22, 2024

Highlights of the symposium included:

  • 13 undergraduate presentations, where students shared their unique research projects and findings.
  • 10 graduate student presentations, which demonstrated advanced research methodologies and discoveries.
The keynote address, delivered by Logan Cohen, provided an inspiring discussion of the opportunities available to students after completing annotations in their genomics research. As the Director of the Advanced Research Lab, Logan Cohen’s insights set the stage for the symposium’s focus on original student research. The final presentation, delivered by graduate student and member of the Advanced Research Lab Bethany Lieser, offered a look at their research on translation start sites, emphasizing why “Methionine is the Guy” in protein synthesis.
The symposium showcased the work of students and faculty while highlighting the connections among universities within the node. It provided a valuable opportunity to share research and encouraged future collaboration in the field of genomics.

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

I had someone else (non-GEP but tech person) running the session as the host. This freed me up from the stress of breakout rooms, etc. Having a keynote speaker before and another speaker after the student talks worked well. The support of the node leaders and GEP staff were essential.

What would your node do differently based on your experiences?

Start planning sooner, but be prepared for a lot of last-minute work since most registrations arrive at the very last minute.
Group photo from the Fall 2024 Midwest Regional Node Meeting

Midwest Regional Node Meeting – September 28-29, 2024

The two day event included research talks from undergraduates, implementation talks from faculty, and a discussion around curriculum and GEP resources.
The keynote presentation from Dr. Saoirse Foley focused on the creation of a new model organism database called Arachnobase. The keynote presentation from Dr. Rob Denton focused on the unique reproductive mechanisms of unisexual salamanders. The meeting wrapped up with a planning session for future Midwest Regional Node events.

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

We had a nice mix of student talks and faculty implementation talks. We reviewed things from the National meeting, which was great for those in the node that were unable to attend. We had two faculty talk from Marian University about their genomics-related projects, which contributed to good conversations throughout the meeting.
Group photo from the Fall 2024 Rocky Mountain Regional Node Meeting

Rocky Mountain Regional Node Meeting – September 27-29, 2024

Attendees arrived Friday evening after driving 3–5 hours and some of us had an informal social gathering to reconnect. Zeynep and GEP member Amanda Stahlke spent most of Saturday training the attendees on the gene annotation system that they and a couple students have developed for the four species of tamarisk beetles that are the subject of their research. Node members had previously been introduced to the process at our virtual regional node meeting in the spring, but this was the first time that anyone outside of CMU had had the opportunity to carry out annotations using the resources that Zeynep and Amanda have developed with the help of Wilson Leung. Zeynep and Amanda based their annotation process on the Pathways project and there were multiple lively discussions about whether or not certain components of that process are appropriate for the research questions that are the basis of the underlying science project.
Ultimately, attendees finished the day with a solid grasp on the underlying science and the basics of the annotation process, while Zeynep and Amanda used the feedback to make changes to the process and to clarify the annotation results that will be necessary for them moving forward. Everyone subsequently enjoyed an evening at a local restaurant where we were able to socialize and unwind.
On Sunday morning, the group was given a tour of the Palisade Insectary of Colorado Department of Agriculture by its director Dan Bean. The tamarisk beetles are just one of many biocontrol agents that this agency has helped develop and employ as part of Integrated Pest Management programs in Colorado and the American Southwest. We learned about some of the biocontrol successes and visited the rooms where some of the insects are being raised for future releases. After that, everyone quickly visited a farmer’s market down the street and then hit the road to go home.

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

  • Having a node leader and co-leader to divide up the work. Finding an Airbnb that was close to the event location.
  • Having participants carpool helped to keep the transportation costs low.

What would your node do differently based on your experiences?

  • Have coffee available throughout the whole day not just the morning 😉
GEP Regional Node Meeting Virtual

Midwest Regional Node Meeting – April 25, 2024

The Midwest Regional Node held a virtual Research Symposium for students involved in Bioinformatics research through the GEP on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Twelve faculty and nine undergraduate students were in attendance. The symposium included four research presentations from six undergraduate students. These presentations covered four different GEP projects: F-Element, Parasitoid Wasps, Pathways, and Puerto Rican Parrot. The symposium wrapped up with some time for faculty and students to socialize. The event was organized and led by Regional Node co-leaders Sarah Justice and Jennifer Mierisch.

The schedule of events and details of talks are listed below:

  • 6:00-6:10pm Welcome
  • 6:10-6:25pm Annotating rolled in Drosophila Species, Anna Pritchett, Marian University
  • 6:25-6:40pm Gene Annotation of ANO3 in the Puerto Rican Parrot, Delaney Hare and Mollie Hill, Marian University
  • 6:40-6:55pm The effects of sex, behavior, and age on an annotated novel gene G1-vHSPA5-B of Parasitoid Wasps, Katherine Muron and Jordan Nowicki, Saginaw Valley State University
  • 6:55-7:10pm Genomic Annotation of Drosophila willistoni Contigs 4 and 58, Zosia Bolde, Albion College
  • 7:10-7:45pm Wrap Up and Social Time

 

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

Due to a relatively low number of presentations (4), we were able to have students present to the entire group via PowerPoint on Zoom without separating into breakout rooms. This allowed for more questions from the entire group rather than hopping between Zoom rooms. The GEP provided all the technical support that was needed for the event.

What would your Node do differently based on your experiences?

We were hoping for more participation, so it would be good to identify why more people were not able to attend. We didn’t really have challenges in the planning or execution. We would like to promote the opportunity for students to socialize more in future virtual events.

GEP Regional Node Meeting Virtual

Pacific Northwest Regional Node Meeting – April 20, 2024

The Pacific Northwest (PNW) Regional Node had a virtual meeting on April 20th, 2024. The event included participants from four different institutions geographically spanning from southern Oregon to Southern British Columbia, in Canada! 

The event had two parts: student presentations and professional development for faculty. We had five student presenters: Taylor Evans, Amrit Singh and Dongliang Liu from the University of the Fraser Valley presented their annotation of F-Element projects. They were mentored by Dr. James Bedard. Alyssa Gerard from Southern Oregon University gave a presentation related to the Pathways Project, but focused on synteny analysis across multiple species. She was mentored by Dr. Nick Stewart. Natalie Sinclair, from Lewis & Clark College, walked us through her Pathways Annotation Report Form in a lab meeting style presentation and got very useful feedback from the other attendees to complete her annotation. She was mentored by Dr. Norma Velazquez. After presentations ended, the student attendees left and the professional development part of the event started. We invited Chinmay Rele, from The University of Alabama, to talk to the PNW Node faculty about micropublications and reconciliation. We learned about the microPublication pipeline in the Pathways Project and about the new plans for publications. Lastly, the Node faculty members stayed a few more minutes to brainstorm ideas for future events. We all agreed that student presentations are very valuable for the Node.

What worked well for your event that might help others plan similar events?

It is always great to hear students present their work. We organized the presentations by research project and we talked about having each student focus on what made their project unique as an annotation. This made each presentation different despite multiple presentations on the same research project. The presentations were very flexible in format, to decrease the barrier for student participation. We even included one “lab meeting” style presentation to get feedback from the group. There were good questions from attendees and great camaraderie and support for each presentation.

What would your Node do differently based on your experiences?

Invite more students that are not presenting to also attend.