Faculty & Staff News
This Thursday, April 30 webinar features Dr. Randy Katz, D.O., alumnus of NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.
With potential reopening plans on the horizon, Katz shares his insight on how local governments plan to return to normal operations.
Tune in at 2 p.m. this Thursday on Zoom https://nova.zoom.us/j/99346263865
NSU’s programs in Respiratory Therapy in the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences loaned eight ventilators to local hospitals in the Palm Beach area that may be short during the COVID-19 pandemic. Six ventilators went to Wellington Regional Medical Center and two to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. It is anticipated that healthcare facilities will need extra ventilators to manage patients during this pandemic and NSU has stepped up to assist their clinical partners. In addition to the loaned hardware, NSU has provided educational support from the Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences’ faculty.
COVID-19 positive individuals who experience severe symptoms of respiratory distress may require mechanical ventilation. As hospitals swell with patients testing positive and with difficulty breathing, respiratory therapists are on the frontline managing these patients and running ventilators. Not only are respiratory therapists essential to ventilator management, but they are one of the unsung heroes who put their lives on the line by being exposed to the Coronavirus through required close contact. As the pandemic has evolved the importance of respiratory therapists has never been more apparent.
Of course, the mechanical ventilation hardware is only one part of the execution of the mechanical ventilation intervention. Managing a ventilator is much more than turning a knob, it takes special education and training to operate ventilators effectively and safely. NSU’s Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences prepares students to fill that role and to address community needs. It is an intense and rigorous program that results in practitioners who can function in a critical care unit immediately upon graduation. It is an exciting and intriguing discipline that is knee-deep in the current pandemic.
As the need for ventilators increase, so does the need for experts to operate them. NSU’s programs in Respiratory Therapy are preparing these members of the critical care team to work on the front line. Learn more at www.nova.edu/respiratorytherapy.
The Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition program received candidacy for accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics on March 19. The B.S. in Human Nutrition program will now offer undergraduate students a professional outcome as nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered.
The decision followed an extensive peer review of self-study documents, as well as a site visit. The program will begin this new specialization option in the fall of 2020 by offering 15 seats to interested candidates. Students who enter the approved professional practice pathway will take specified courses and gain 300 hours of supervised experiential learning.
Joining the Future Education Model Graduate program for registered dietitian nutritionists, this second successful accreditation achieved by the KPCOM in two years highlights the Department of Nutrition as a unique provider of quality education and training in this field.
Professor Miguel Orta, from the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University, will take you through the step-by-step process of developing a business plan. While each business needs a unique plan, the basic elements are the same. The finished project is an operating tool to help manage your business, enable you to achieve greater success, and serves as an effective communication tool for financing proposals. You will learn:
Presented by the NSU Alvin Sherman Library and sponsored by SunTrust Foundation, these workshops are designed to inspire and educate you to become financially successful.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented situation for all of us. This workshop will show you the best practices for managing your money and preparing a budget. It will cover resources available to you during this time of crisis and tips for developing new healthy spending habits going forward. Please come prepared with your finance questions!
Presented by the NSU Alvin Sherman Library and sponsored by SunTrust Foundation, these workshops are designed to inspire and educate you to become financially successful.
This spring, Halmos Graduate student Erin M. Smith, with principle investigator (PI) Amy Hirons, Ph.D., co-PIs Dimitrios Giarikos, Ph.D. and Andre Daniels published an article entitled, “Heavy Metal Accumulation in Seagrasses in Southeastern Florida” in the Journal of Marine Biology and Oceanography.
Seagrass beds are among the most ecologically important systems in the marine environment. Seagrass environments also serve as critical habitat at some point in the life cycle of many species targeted for recreational and commercial fishing, as well as a major food source in the coastal ecosystem, with over 154 marine species known to feed on living seagrass. This provides a pathway for contaminants in the seagrasses to enter the marine food web. This study assessed the heavy metal concentrations in the three main seagrass species found in southeastern Florida seagrass beds.
The results show that the seagrasses in southeastern Florida waters do contain various concentrations of heavy metals. Higher concentrations of heavy metals were found during the wet season, while Zinc in seagrasses was at significantly higher concentrations during the dry season. The research detected that heavy metals were highest in leaves with attached epiphytes. Epiphytes in marine systems are species of algae, bacteria, fungi, sponges, and any other sessile organism that grows on the surface of a plant, typically seagrasses or algae. These epiphytes on southeastern Florida seagrasses contribute to heavy metals.
Seagrass beds provide important habitat for a wide range of marine species. Especially important in south Florida is the impact these beds have on sea turtles and manatees.
Hirons and Giarikos are faculty with Halmos College. Daniels is with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) which is located in the NSU Center for Collaborative Research on the Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus.
Two graduate students from NSU College of Psychology M.S. in Counseling program recently wrote articles that were published in the Winter 2020 newsletter of the Florida Association for Multi-Cultural Counseling and Development (FAMCD) a division of the Florida Counseling Association.
An article by Bruce Steinberg titled “A Patchwork of Protections” covered the patchwork of civil rights that members of the LGBTQ+ community face in Florida due to a lack of protections at the state or federal level. An article by Alessandro Antonucci titled “Immigrants in Therapy: Unique Challenges, Extraordinary Resilience” discussed the challenges that immigrants and refugees face when settling and adjusting to life in a new country. Both articles emphasized the need for counselors to understand these issues while providing therapy to clients from diverse backgrounds.
Assistant Professor Justin Maki, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, encouraged his students to submit articles to the FAMCD newsletter.
“I’m very proud of both of these students and their contributions to the newsletter, as well as for representing NSU and the Department of Counseling,” Maki said.
To read the newsletter articles, visit https://bit.ly/2z1SM9Z.
Postdoctoral scholars comprise an invaluable component of global research communities, yet their support and training systems are poorly aligned with today’s job market. These issues are widely discussed in academia and in lengthy reports and op-eds; still, there is glaring lack of succinct, data-driven publications that provide clear and feasible corrective steps.
To address this deficiency, a team of 13 current and former Michigan State University (MSU) postdoctoral researchers co-authored the paper entitled “Academic ecosystems must evolve to support a sustainable postdoc workforce”. It was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution and outlines strategic reforms to better support the world’s growing postdoctoral workforce.
“The project sprang from several informal meetings among the study co-authors during overlapping postdoctoral appointments,” said Eben Gering, Ph.D. a former MSU postdoctoral researcher who is now an assistant professor in Halmos College and senior author of the paper. “From there, it continued to gain momentum as interest grew around the issue.”
Following intensive analyses of relevant literature, data and personal experiences, the group identified five overarching goals:
To achieve these goals, the group recommended progressive changes that target levels of organization ranging from principle investigators to broader communities that fund and support postdoctoral positions.
About half of the paper’s co-authors have moved on to diverse jobs around the globe. According to the team, the publication’s fruition illustrates two important points.
First, all stakeholders in postdoctoral success (including postdocs themselves) can advocate for reform to enhance the quality and productivity of shared workplaces.
Second, the authors note, progressive aspects of their home institutions ultimately facilitated their success in a collaborative research and writing process.
In addition to facilitating a high-profile publication, the supportive climate appears to have fostered an enduring network of interdisciplinary scholars. The team recently met again on Zoom to toast the final acceptance of the manuscript.
The Student Life Achievement Awards, affectionately known as the “STUEY’s,” is an annual celebration of NSU’s best in Academic Excellence, Student Centered, Integrity, Innovation, Opportunity, Scholarship/Research, Diversity, and Community.
In light of our “new normal”, the STUEYs ceremony will transition to a virtual platform.
Join us on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. EST in congratulating this year’s award winners by watching our virtual awards ceremony on nova.edu/campuslife/stueys.
This Year’s Finalists are:
Administrator of the Year
Alumni of the Year
Athletic Team of the Year
Co–Curricular Adviser of the Year
Corporate Partner of the Year
Executive of the Year
Graduate Organization of the Year
Professor of the Year
Regional Campus Student of the Year
Staff Person of the Year
Student Government of the Year
Student of the Year
Undergraduate Organization of the Year
On Wednesday, April 22 at 1:00 p.m. the Marine Environmental Education Center (MEEC) will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day with a live stream broadcast on Facebook. Created on April 22, 1970, the purpose of Earth Day is to celebrate the planet’s environment and raise public awareness about pollution. Join us for a webinar about sustainability and how we can become better stewards for our planet!
The MEEC was fostered from a partnership between Broward County Parks and Recreation and Nova Southeastern University. The facility is located on the historic grounds of the Carpenter House at Hollywood North Beach Park in Hollywood, Florida.
The site features our very own green turtle, as well as an interactive Interpretive Center with displays on topics from sea turtle conservation to marine debris. As well as offering live-streaming events on Facebook during this CONVID-19 period, they have a YouTube channel where children of all ages can learn about the marine environment of South Florida.
