Gannon University to Host National Biology Convention

Gannon University's Theta Omega Chapter will host the National Biennial Convention of Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) biology honor society, June 4-8. More than 150 TriBeta members, students and faculty advisors from chapters throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, are expected to attend.

The convention will begin at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle State Park with a welcoming dinner and a screening of the documentary film, "Mysteries of the Great Lakes." Oral presentations and poster presentations will begin the following day while field trips for convention participants will take place June 6-7.

The 16 field trips will include Segway tours of Presque Isle State Park, sampling aboard Gannon University's 53-foot research vessel, the Environaut, hiking at Presque Isle, Erie Bluffs State Park and Panama Rocks, as well as kayaking and biking excursions.

The culminating awards banquet will be held on June 7 in the University's Yehl room with keynote speaker Larry Schweiger, the outgoing president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. Schweiger, whose daughter, Lauren, is a Gannon graduate, will deliver an address entitled "The Nature of Tomorrow: Biodiversity in a High-Carbon World."

This is the second time that Gannon University has hosted this convention. The first was in 1996. Gannon's Theta Omega chapter has won TriBeta's annual Lloyd M. Bertholf Award as the outstanding chapter in the country four times since 1962.

TriBeta's more than 670 chapters have the goals of improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending the boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research. Since the society's founding in 1922, more than 200,000 persons have been accepted into lifetime membership.

More information on the TriBeta convention is available here.