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May 12, 2000 Contact: WSU Student to Attend 50th Anniversary Meeting of Nobel Laureates PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University doctoral candidate Geoffrey Puzon of Bremerton has been selected to attend the 50th anniversary meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany. Nobel prize winners from around the world meet annually to discuss research issues. This year, the 66 participating laureates in chemistry, physics, physiology and medicine will include some 600 graduate students in their meetings, slated for June 26-30. Puzon was one of 36 students from U.S. schools selected by the Department of Energy to attend the meetings. His DOE sponsorship was awarded based on nominations by WSU President Samuel H. Smith and Puzon’s lead researchers Luying Xun, associate professor of molecular biosciences, and James Petersen, professor of chemical engineering. Puzon will spend June 25 in Washington, D.C., for briefings on DOE science programs and to meet the other DOE graduate students before leaving for Germany. "This will be a great opportunity to learn from the brightest scientific minds in the world," said Puzon. "I am very interested in others’ points of view -- how they achieve research goals, how they have moved their research forward. This will help me think of new questions and develop greater knowledge and analytical skills to apply to my own research projects. The other students, too, will have novel view points." Now studying environmental microbiology, Puzon earned a genetics and cell biology bachelor’s degree at WSU in 1995. As a WSU undergraduate, he studied at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia, in the Study Abroad program Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Puzon worked as a research technician for several years at the National University of Singapore, where he studied genetic mutations and oral cancer, and at WSU. His present research concentration is on bioremediation of groundwater contaminated with the heavy metal chromate. After completing his doctorate, he hopes to return to Southeast Asia and apply his expertise to bioremediation technologies and international environmental policy development, perhaps with the United Nations or the World Health Organization. A Bremerton native, Puzon is a graduate of O’Dea High School in Seattle. His parents are Leon and Patty Puzon of Bremerton. skh114-00
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