![](http://cas.loyno.edu/sites/cas.loyno.edu/files/styles/body_featured_image/public/achievements/Thomas%20Lab%20NABT%202019%20Conference_0_0.jpg?itok=dAJOhE58)
Congratulations to Loyola University New Orleans Environmental Science and Biology students in Dr. Aimée Thomas’ research lab for successfully presenting their research at the 2019 National Association of Biology Teachers Professional Development conference in Chicago. They competed in the Undergraduate Mentored Research poster competition.
Katie Rompf, ENVB '20, placed 3rd in the competition for her research and was awarded a cash prize and a one-year membership in the organization. Her research focuses on the Brown Widow, Latrodectus geometricus, an invasive, venomous species of spiders whose population increases in urban and suburban habitats, including New Orleans. The Brown Widow secretes a neurotoxic venom that immobilizes prey by attacking the nervous system.
Group photo left to right: Mariana Kendall, ENVB '20, Chloe Dupleix, BIOL '20, Aimee Thomas, Sofia Giordano, ENVB '20, and Katie Rompf, ENVB '20.