A group of students from Missouri University of Science and Technology won first prize in a student poster presentation at the 7th International Phytotechnologies Conference, held in Parma, Italy, last fall.

Mikhil Shetty, a graduate student in environmental engineering from Poona, India, presented the poster, titled “In-planta Solid Phase Sampling Devices,” and received the top award for the student-delivered research poster contest.

The poster was co-authored by Matt Limmer, a graduate student in environmental engineering from Oregon, Ohio, and Dr. Joel Burken, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering.

The conference featured more than 100 posters and had attendees from more than 45 countries representing six continents.

The S&T contingent, including Cailie Carlile, a junior in environmental engineering from Sedalia, Mo., were funded to attend the conference as part of a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to Missouri S&T. Using the NIEHS grant, S&T funded the International Phytotechnologies Scholars program that brought 22 students from eight countries to the conference to present their individual research and learn together.

“The scholars program is intended to utilize the conference as a unique learning experience for students studying phytoremediation in their studies,” says Burken, who chairs the program. “Students attending the conference coordinated their activities to meet self-established learning objectives and also interacted with the other students and attendees in a unique cultural and scientific exchange.”