Chapter Annual Reports

Local Chapter Activities
The Beta Delta Chapter of Sigma Zeta held an induction ceremony on April 21st, 2026, inducting ten student members and seven faculty members.

Other Activities or Comments
The Beta Delta chapter has acquired display space on campus to showcase history and accomplishments of the chapter.

Local Chapter Meetings
Hour-long officer meetings are held every week to plan and prepare upcoming events and activities along with the 2027 National Convention to be held at Concordia College. Additionally, in November, an induction ceremony was held and open to all members of the Gamma Gamma chapter. In addition, members regularly convene at events described below.

Local Chapter Activities
Sigma Zeta members of the Gamma Gamma chapter continue to be volunteers and leaders in Concordia Science Academy, the science outreach organization of the college. Members occupy several officer positions and have volunteered at multiple events such as STEM day at the MN State Fair, day-long classroom visits, and a large 400+ attendee event in collaboration with Fargo Parks. Science Academy also is involved in several other events throughout the year including regular visits to the local kindergarten. In addition, Sigma Zeta members have organized events to take Science Academy to other locations. For example, one of the Gamma Gamma officers organized a visit to the YMCA Day Camps in Duluth, bringing accessible science experiments to kids aged 5-12. Sigma Zeta members are a critical part of the science outreach, representing biology, chemistry, and physics.

Local Chapter/Member Accomplishments, Awards, Recognitions
The Gamma Gamma chapter has a significant presence on campus, applying for and successfully receiving funding from Concordia Student Government Association (SGA), Integrated Learning, and URSCA (Concordia College Undergraduate Research Scholarship and Creative Activity). Additionally, Sigma Zeta members are a vital presence in other campus organizations, including Concordia Science Academy, Society of Physics Students (SPS), Murie Ecology Outdoors and Wildlife (MEOW), Exotic Animal Care and Husbandry (EACH), Tri Beta, and the Elsie Welter Natural History Museum. Our chapter has also collaborated with other schools like MSUM for SPS networking and NDSU for a Bat Mist Netting and Bioacoustics Workshop. This bat workshop has carried over into ongoing research, in which Sigma Zeta members are involved. Sigma Zeta members assisted with running a specimen preparation workshop for students from Bemidji State University. The workshop was held at the Itasca Biological Station in Itasca State Park. Sigma Zeta members applied for and received funding for this workshop from SGA. Many of these students and others have been volunteering for specimen preparation for the Elsie Welter Natural History Museum. In addition, a Sigma Zeta member served as a mentor for a local 5th grader who was required to shadow a local professional. Gamma Gamma members also played a key role in an event run by American Association of University Women (AAUW) for an October workshop held for underrepresented youth in STEM.

National Convention Attendance
15 students from the Gamma Gamma chapter attended and shared posters and oral presentations at the National Sigma Zeta Convention. Attendance required travelling significant distances and missing several class days. Additionally, two national officers are Gamma Gamma members that are attending the convention. Since the chapter’s inception, Gamma Gamma has generally brought at least 10 students to participate in the National Convention.

National Convention Presentations
Seven posters, some with multiple authors and one talk with two co-authors presented. Several of these presentations were funded, in part, by Sigma Zeta research grants. All students that received grants are presenting at the conference.

National Accomplishments, Awards, Recognitions
At the 2026 Sigma Zeta National Convention in Indianapolis, Gamma Gamma members represented two posters that won their poster sessions, one oral presentation won. Additionally, Gamma Gamma received the founders cup and a member of our chapter was elected as Student Representative.

Other Activities or Comments
In collaboration with Science Academy, our science outreach model brings opportunities and a variety of activities including biology, chemistry and physics to a large range of people in our community. We also have ongoing collaboration with other higher education institutions in the Fargo-Moorhead area including NDSU and MSUM that do not currently have Sigma Zeta chapters.

Local Chapter Meetings
Our chapter meets approximately once a month during the school year, beginning in August and running through April.

Local Chapter Activities
Our chapter aims to have one activity per month. In August, we participated at our university’s Activities Fair, introducing the cabinet to new Sigma Zeta members, spreading awareness of our society on campus, and engaging in conversations with STEM majors of all years about science and math and who we are and what our chapter does here on campus. In September, we held the Sigma Zeta Picnic, inviting all science and math students, staff, and faculty to attend, fellowship, and enjoy good conversations about academic pursuits. In October, we held a biology-themed movie night, watching Jurassic Park and creating a space for students to come and study or work on homework in a group setting. In November, we held two events. The first was a new event – we held a field trip for a local elementary school. We had biology and chemistry classrooms, led by our SZ cabinet members with SZ members volunteering to work with the kids. At the end of the month, we held a Christmas decorating party to give members a space to pause amongst the business at the end of the semester and to come have fun and eat cookies. Our next event was at the beginning of March, when we held Kids College – an event where children from the community, ages kindergarten through eighth grade, registered and spent the morning or afternoon rotating through Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics classrooms, doing age-relevant experiments and hands-on practice at science. Our final event in April was the Sigma Zeta Awards Ceremony, where we invite a speaker to come and give an academic lecture, induct new SZ members, and recognize outstanding students, faculty, and seniors.

Local Chapter/Member Accomplishments, Awards, Recognitions
From the five science/math departments a part of the Shaw School of Math and Sciences, the biology and chemistry department’s outstanding senior, the senior selected for the Kenyon Award, as well as two of the graduating class’s student athletes are all members of Asbury’s chapter of Sigma Zeta Honors Society. Additionally, eleven senior members have been honored for graduating with honors, having maintained GPAs above 3.5 over their four years. Beyond that, three Sigma Zeta members had the privilege to present at the ACS 2026 Conference in Atlanta this past month, and ten new members were inducted at this semester’s Shaw School of Math and Science’s award ceremony.

Local Chapter Meetings:
2-3-23, 2:15pm – 4:00pm
11-17-22, 5:30 – 6:30pm
10-7-22, 5:30 – 6:30pm
9-9-22, 2:20 – 4:00pm

Local Chapter Activities:
Guest Speakers for various science related professions and graduate programs, Study/Social sessions for Science majors, Annual Science Fair judging, Field trips to local Medical Schools, Suturing lessons from local doctors and military representatives.

Other Activities: Our Research students attend the WBCSURC (student research conference) every spring, and we hold our own TMUSRC conference here on campus, as well.