Best Presentation Awards

Presentations are judged on the:

  • scientific content based on the articulation of the problem, soundness of hypothesis testing, methodology, and analyses
  • oral and visual quality of the delivery
  • demonstration of confidence and depth of understanding of the material.

Oral Presentations

A panel of judges evaluate each speaker and determine a winner for the best oral presentation.

The winner of this award is announced following the Colloquium and receives a personalized certificate of recognition and a cash award (sponsored by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society).


2023 Best Oral Presentations

First Place: Ray Radick – "Characterizing invertebrate communities associated with the cryptogenic alga Chondria tumulosa in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawai‘i"

Second Place: Kerryanne Litzenberg – “Physiological effects of temperature on blood chemistry, metabolism, and metabolomic profiles of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus

Poster Presentations

A panel of judges evaluate each speaker and determine a winner for the best poster presentation.

The winner of this award is announced following the Colloquium and receives a personalized certificate of recognition and a cash award sponsored by The Charleston Natural History Society.

2023 Best Poster Presentations

First Place: Mikayla Sonnenfeld – “Understanding phytoplankton community composition in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA using a multi-method approach”

Second Place: Hannah Korper – “Spatiotemporal Prevalence of a Parasitic Dinoflagellate, Hematodinium perezi, in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, and the Water Column of the Charleston Harbor Estuary, SC, USA”

ABCs of Communication Award

A panel of judges evaluate student abstracts that have been rewritten for a fifth-grade audience.

Sponsored by Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum.

Winner: Jess Kusher - "Can we tell if Charleston’s water is sick from outer space?"