State College of Florida student wins award at Tiny Earth Symposium
![State College of Florida student Magnolia Valdez and Associate Professor Eric Warrick. [SUBMITTED PHOTO]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/07/22/NSHT/ghows-LK-8e457eac-f5ba-7e6b-e053-0100007fd70a-0f3c708f.jpeg?width=660&height=350&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Magnolia Valdez, a biotechnology major at State College of Florida, earned third place at the 2019 Tiny Earth Annual Poster Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin. Tiny Earth is a global network of students and instructors dedicated to discovering new antibiotics from soil and creating engaging laboratory coursework. Approximately 125 participants from 41 colleges and universities attended the Symposium.
Valdez received a monetary prize and certificate in recognition for her poster, titled “Going to the Beach for a Solution: The Isolation and Extraction of Compound(s) from the Exiguobacterium Species.” SCF Associate Professor Eric Warrick was also recognized at the Symposium for his role in mentoring Valdez. Valdez and Warrick also presented the poster at the Association of Southeastern Biologists in April.
The poster features research based on soil samples collected from Indian Beach in Sarasota. The search for new microorganisms with antimicrobial properties is important as a growing number of bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics.
— Submitted by Jamie Smith
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