The Xi Chapter of the Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) biological honor society will be hosting the Northeast 4 District Convention at Wittenberg University on Saturday, April 18, at the Barbara Deer Kuss Science Center.
The convention welcomes students and faculty from across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio to present research. The event features oral and poster categories, awards for the best molecular/cellular and ecological/organismal presentations, and a keynote address.
“We look forward to welcoming participating universities and their representatives,” said Kunal Chatterjee, assistant professor of biology at the University. “Wittenberg students have a strong history of excellence at TriBeta, previously taking top prizes in oral and poster categories in both cellular/organismal biology, as well as ecological fields. This is a premier opportunity to showcase our undergraduate research.”
The Xi Chapter of TriBeta at Wittenberg is one of the oldest in the nation, established in 1923. Any student who is a member of TriBeta is eligible to present.
This year’s keynote address will take place at 2:30 p.m. in Bayley Auditorium and be given by John Ritter, retired Wittenberg professor of geology. Ritter taught courses in environmental science, environmental geology, geomorphology and hydrology, and geographic information systems (GIS) from 1990 to 2025 at Wittenberg. He also helped establish the environmental studies and environmental science programs and directed both for many years. The title of his address is “Groundwater Variation at Cedar Bog: Monitoring the Most Critical Variable in Sensitive Wetland Systems.”
Most recently, his research with students focused on maximizing ecosystem services public green and blue spaces provide. A longtime member of the Board of Supervisors of Clark Soil and Water Conservation District, Ritter also serves on the Board of Directors of the Springfield Conservancy District (SCD). He continues to partner with each, as well as with local environmental organizations, including Clark County Park District, Tecumseh Land Trust, and B-W Greenway. He is currently the secretary-treasurer of the SCD.
During his time at Wittenberg, he was the recipient of several awards, including the Omicron Delta Kappa Excellence in Teaching Award, CASE Ohio Professor of the Year, Excellence in Community Service Award, and the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching. Additionally, as a Fulbright Scholar, he served the University of West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, where he worked on developing a geohazards GIS for northern Trinidad.
The Xi Chapter of TriBeta recently partnered with NDMP, a global non-profit formerly known as Be The Match, on a tabling and swabbing event. NDMP’s mission is to find cures and save lives by helping patients with blood cancers find an unrelated blood stem cell donor. Every year, 18,000 patients are diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancers or other diseases for which a blood stem cell transplant may be their best or only hope for a cure. Many of these patients will use an unrelated donor from a global database. As present, there are more than 9 million total potential U.S. donors on the NMDP Registry, yet many struggle to find a match.
The two groups came together on campus on April 7 to host the event in the Hobson Atrium inside the Kuss Science Center. At this event, members of TriBeta offered an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to join the NMDP registry of potential donation matches. Simply swabbing one’s cheek and filling out a short questionnaire allowed participants to join the registry.
April 16, 2026
On CampusWelcoming the region's top student researchers
Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta) biological honor society hosts regional convention on campus, April 18
SHARE THIS!
About Wittenberg
Wittenberg's curriculum has centered on the liberal arts as an education that develops the individual's capacity to think, read, and communicate with precision, understanding, and imagination. We are dedicated to active, engaged learning in the core disciplines of the arts and sciences and in pre-professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Known for the quality of our faculty and their teaching, Wittenberg has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any four-year institution in the state. The university has also been recognized nationally for excellence in community service, sustainability, and intercollegiate athletics. Located among the beautiful rolling hills and hollows of Springfield, Ohio, Wittenberg offers more than 100 majors, minors and special programs, enviable student-faculty research opportunities, a unique student success center, service and study options close to home and abroad, a stellar athletics tradition, and successful career preparation.
