Craig Wheaton won the first-ever Loren Hepler Gold Medal for PhD research excellence as the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry held the 3rd Annual Chinook Symposium for Chemistry and Biochemistry in early October.

The symposium and associated poster prize is held to recognize undergraduate and graduate students performing original research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Chinook Poster Prizes have been established at the undergraduate and master's levels, but new this year was the addition of the Loren Hepler Gold Medal for PhD research excellence. Two people gave presentations about their PhD research, with Wheaton winning the gold medal and Jeffrey Fischer placing second.

Judges for the annual contest included: Dr. Peter Dibble, Gary Knox and Jared Nieboer (Richardson Nutrition) for the Chemistry prize; Dr. Steven Mosimann, Dr. James Thomas and Sandor Dudas (ADRI) for the Biochemistry prize; Dr. Rene Boere and Dr. Brent Selinger for the PhD prize.

Following are the winners from the 3rd Annual Chinook Symposium for Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Chemistry – Undergraduate
First - Cassandra Churchill
Second - Shayne Rybchinski

Chemistry – Master's
First - Jennifer Przyblski
Second - Kevin Johnson

Biochemistry – Undergraduate
First - Mackenzie Coatham
Second - Michael Shields

Biochemistry – Master's
First - Evelina De Laurentiis
Second - Jessica Durand

PhD Presentations
First - Craig Wheaton
Second - Jeffrey Fischer