General Information

8th Annual Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium

This year’s conference will be held at Hand Chemical Lab (Room 1144) on the campus of Mississippi State University. Hand Chemical Laboratory was originally constructed in 1961-62 at a total cost of approximately $1.6 million. It houses both the Department of Chemistry and Mississippi State Chemical Laboratory, both of which have maintained a strong tradition dating back the earliest days of Mississippi A&M College and continuing to the present. The original renovation project was slated to cost $2 million; however, an additional $14.4 million in state funds were added to the original grant turning the Hand Chemical Laboratory into a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility.

To enter Hand Chemical Lab, use the middle door that is indicated on the map for parking. You will take the stairs or elevator up one floor to the first floor. From the stairs, you will see a giant tv screen on the wall on your right. Take the right next to the elevator and head all the way down to the end of the hall. Room 1144 will be the last door on the right.

Addresses to the conference center and conference hotels are given below.

Hand Chemical Lab
Room 1144
310 President’s Circle
Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762
(662) 325-3584

Conference Hotel
La Quinta
982 Highway 12 East
Starkville, MS 39759
(662) 270-4100

Monday’s Banquet
MSU Bull Barn
115 Cedar Lane
Starkville, MS 3959

Conference Hotel#

La Quinta is the conference hotel available for the LAGRS meeting. The La Quinta is located is 2.6 miles from Hand Chemical Lab, which is about a 7-8 minute drive (see map above). La Quinta is conveniently located near the new Walmart Neighborhood Market. La Quinta includes free Wi-Fi, complimentary breakfast, outdoor swimming pool, and other amenities.

Parking Information#

Parking at the conference hotel is free, as is parking for guests at Hand Chemical Lab. To ensure that you do not get a ticket, please pick up a parking pass when you check in and park in the parking lots with the stars or along Morrill Road. The parking lots near Hand Chemical Lab require a parking pass and you will be ticketed if you park without a visitor parking permit. To enter Hand Chemical Lab, please use the middle door (noted by the arrow) and then go up one floor to the first floor.

Conference Internet Access#

Guests wishing to use the Internet during the conference are invited to join the “msuguest” wireless network. You will need to obtain the daily wireless guest password, which will be available at the registration table.

Sunday’s Welcome Reception and Poster Session#

Sunday night’s welcome reception and poster session will be held off campus at La Quinta’s Meeting Room. If the weather is nice, we may move the welcome reception outside in the pool area. We ask that those presenting a poster to be at or near their posters during the poster session (~1.5 hrs) to answer any possible questions that attendees or judges may have. Poster boards will be provided at La Quinta.

Monday’s Banquet#

Monday night’s banquet will be held off campus at the MSU Bull Barn. Parking is available at the MSU Bull Barn, which is located off of Highway 182. From the Hand Chemical Lab, take Hardy Rd to Lee Blvd. Follow Lee Blvd till the end of the road, turn left onto highway 182. Take a right onto the road right after power plant (on your right), and veer to the left side of the fork.

Monday after the Banquet#

After the banquet, we highly encourage all our attendees to continue networking and socialization with each other. Here is a list of places that you may want to go after the banquet:

• Fountain Bar, 700 University Dr
• Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern, 410 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr E
• Cowbells Sports Grill, 1545 St Andrews Ln
• The Klaasroom, 701 University Dr
• Blue 22 Soul Kitchen & Bar, 101 Hollywood Blvd
• Rick’s Café American, 319B Hwy 182 E
• Gringos, 700 University Dr
• Southern Billiards, 103 S Washington St
• Bin 612, 612 University Dr
• Rosey Baby, 300 S Jackson St
• Strange Brew Coffeehouse, 605 MS-12
• Many More

Local Restaurants for Lunch#

Here is a map of the local restaurants within a mile or so from campus that are great places to eat. The types of food at these locations include Italian, Cajun, Greek, BBQ, burgers, steaks, sandwiches and wings. There should be a restaurant for everyone to enjoy.

• Bin 612 – General Americana Style Foods

• Buffalo Wild Wings – Wings and Sports Food

• Bulldog Burgers – Specialty Burgers

• Harvey’s – Soups, Salads, Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pastas, etc.

• Mugshot’s Burgers – Burgers and other Sports foods

• Newk’s – Soups, salads, sandwhices, and pizza

• Old Venice – Upscale Italian Eatery

• Restaurant Tyler – Upscale Southern Style Cooking

• Rosey Baby’s – Crawfish and Seafood

• Starbucks- Coffee, light lunch options, and desserts

• Starkville Café – Southern style home cooking

• Stromboli’s - Mom and Pop Italian Eatery

• The Grill – Soups, Salad, Chicken, Steak, Fish, Pastas, etc.

• The Little Dooey – BBQ, Chicken, and Fish

For other Restaurant ideas for lunch or dinner you can visit: http://www.starkvillemenus.com/

Recording and Photography of Sessions and Posters#

Collaboration and collegial discussion of unpublished data is encouraged at the LAGRS meeting, but photography and recording of conference sessions is strictly prohibited. Attendees found to be recording sessions or photographing posters without the presenter’s consent will be asked to stop, and violators may be asked to leave at the discretion of the LAGRS board.

If you take pictures at the conference of your friends, students, or speakers and upload them on social medias, please use #LAGRS2018 so we can see all of your awesome pictures.

Conference Web Page and Additional Information#

Additional information can be found at the conference web page:

https://www.chemistry.msstate.edu/news/2018-w-lester-s-andrews-graduate-research-symposium/

For other questions, please contact Timothy Dowell (tjd162@msstate.edu), Jerrano Bowleg (jlb1692@msstate.edu), Becca Hill (rh1614@msstate.edu), Robert Lamb (rwl99@msstate.edu), Mrs. Reatha Linley (reatha@chemistry.msstate.edu), Dr. Todd Mlsna (tmlsna@chemistry.msstate.edu), or Dr. Dennis Smith (dsmith@chemistry.msstate.edu).

Acknowledgements#

We would like to thank Dr. John F. Hartwig for taking time out of his busy schedule to be our keynote speaker for the 8th Annual Lester Andrews Graduate Research Symposium. We would like to thank you for coming and participating in our symposium. We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Nick Fitzkee for giving us the template for the abstract booklet. Thank you to all our moderators, who gave lovely introductions and kept the sessions running on time. A special thanks to all our judges, Dr. Anne Gorden, Dr. Murrell Godfrey, Dr. Andrew Maverick, Dr. Santanu Kundu, Dr. Jason Denny, Dr. Eric Van Dornshuld, Dr. Nick Fitzkee, Dr. Steven Gwaltney, Dr. Todd Mlsna, Dr. Dennis Smith, Dr. Colleen Scott, Dr. David Wipf, Ganesh, and BZ. We would also like to give a special thank you to the office staff, Mrs. Sara Knighten, Mrs. Taylor Fultz, Mrs. Tonia Lane, Mrs. Kathy Johnsey, and Mrs. Reatha Linley, for helping us plan and organize this year’s symposium. Thank you to Dr. Eric Van Dornshuld and Dr. Jason Denny for revamping the judges rubric for the presentations.