BEMIDJI, Minn. – The ninth annual Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference at Bemidji State University will showcase the varied works of nearly 160 students during presentations, performances, exhibits and poster sessions on Wednesday, April 16.

The conference begins with an 8:15 a.m. continental breakfast in room 100 of Memorial Hall, leading into an 8:40 a.m. opening ceremony featuring a keynote address by Native American land rights activist, environmentalist, economist, politician and author Winona LaDuke entitled “Climate Change, Peak Oil and Food Security: Challenges and Strategies for this Millennium.”

Following the address, student presentations and performances will be held from 10:30-11:50 a.m. and 1-2:20 p.m. in Bridgeman Hall and Hagg-Sauer Hall. These will see more than 90 students make nearly 80 presentations on a vast array of topics, including: youth suicide in Beltrami County; the analysis of aspartame in commercial soft drinks; human rights photojournalism; a study of male voting patterns in dual-gender elections; and negadecimal arithmetic.

The presentations will include a pair of performance abstracts, including a journey through the land of the number six and a character analysis of a bilingual girl.

Poster sessions, which enable participants to explain their work in a display setting, will be held in Bridgeman Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with students at the posters from 11:55 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. A total of 21 displays will represent the work of 51 students on a diversity of topics ranging from an evaluation of algae as a biodiesel feedstock to a display of original puppets.

Other activities during the day include a senior art exhibit in the Touché Gallerie in the Hobson Memorial Union from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Ceramics Club exhibit and sale, Scandinavian Room, Hobson Memorial Union from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; and the Beaver Film Festival, Beaux Arts Ballroom, 7 p.m.

The conference’s closing celebration will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the American Indian Resource Center on the BSU campus.

All components of the Student Scholarship and Creative Achievement Conference are open to the public at no charge.

More information on the conference is available by contacting the Academic Affairs Office, located in Deputy Hall on the Bemidji State University campus, at (218) 755-2915.