ASU Tri-Beta Chapter Named Outstanding in District 2, Advances to Nationals

SAN ANGELO, TX - Angelo State University's Epsilon Sigma chapter of the Beta Beta Beta (Tri-Beta) national biological honor society was named the Outstanding Chapter in District 2 for the 2025-26 academic year and also garnered several other prestigious awards while hosting the recent Tri-Beta South Central Regional Convention in Cedar Hill.

The South Central Region is composed of two districts. District 1 includes colleges and universities in Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma while District 2 encompasses all of Texas. The award for Outstanding Chapter in District 2 is based on the number of student research papers submitted for presentation at the regional conference, number of members attending, chapter history results, paper and poster presentation results, and number of chapter officers serving official functions.

"I can't express how incredibly proud I am of our Tri-Beta students," said Hannah Jones, biology instructor and faculty advisor. "They earned a variety of awards attesting to all their hard work and dedication to achieve success for themselves, our Tri-Beta chapter and the ASU Biology Department. These students worked tirelessly for months to prepare their research for presentation, while also assisting in planning and hosting the Tri-Beta Regional Convention. This was no small feat, yet these successes are just a small sample of all the great work these students do. I'm confident they will continue accomplishing great things and making us proud."

The ASU chapter will now compete for the Lloyd M. Bertholf Award as the top chapter in the nation at the Tri-Beta National Convention May 27-31 at Florida State University. ASU has won the Bertholf Award a record eight times, more than any of the other 600-plus chapters in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Also at the regional convention, Angelo State biology students delivered oral or poster presentations of their research projects in several different sessions - and won the following awards:

• Zandria Stanfield of San Angelo - 1st Place in Organismal and Ecology Section
• Aramide Oladiran of Midland - 2nd Place in Organismal and Ecology Section
• Daniela Childress of San Angelo - 2nd Place in Molecular Section
• Lela Faison of Christoval - 3rd Place in Molecular Section

Additionally, Elizabeth Escobar of San Angelo won the Chapter History Award for the ASU chapter's scrapbook entry in the Outstanding Chapter History competition.