Author: Christie Williams

Undergraduate Academic Advising Services are being Offered Fully Online via Zoom or Phone

The Undergraduate Academic Advising Center (UAAC) is committed to serving our students.  All academic advising services for undergraduate students are being provided remotely via phone and Zoom. Academic advisors are available as usual during normal business hours and appointments can be scheduled via GradesFirst or over the phone.

For all scheduled appointments, you must be in front of a computer with Internet access.

  • Phone appointments: Please call the main number (954-262-7990) at your appointment time
  • Zoom appointments: Please check your NSU email for the invitation link before your appointment time
  • Walk-in advising sessions are also being conducted remotely during normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST). Please call the main number (954-262-7990) to be added to the walk-in queue.

For more information, contact ugadvising@nova.edu

NSU Academic Diving Program Leads the Dive Industry in Proper Equipment Disinfecting

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the way many businesses operate, one industry has been faced with raising new standards.  That industry is the diving industry.  With thousands of dive shops, dive resorts and dive vessels in the world, each one is now having to face whether their rental scuba equipment is being properly disinfected when issuing to multiple divers.  And the diving industry turned to the NSU Academic Diving Program (NSUAPD) for its legendary equipment disinfecting protocols.

“When the Coronavirus started to impact dive centers and resorts, we were asked by several groups in the dive industry to share what our disinfecting protocols were,” states Tec Clark, Associate Director for Aquatics and Scuba Diving.  “That’s because the NSUADP has equipment disinfecting protocols that are incredibly unique in the industry.  We have used these protocols since our inception, all with the desire to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our NSU community of divers and scuba students.”

In 2012 NSU President Dr. George Hanbury appointed diving industry expert Tec Clark to create the NSU Academic Diving Program. Today, the NSUADP is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors’ (PADI) third largest Educational Institution issuing over 350 certifications annually.

Clark continues, “The problem with the majority of scuba equipment rentals in the industry, is that they are fresh-water rinsed, then issued to another diver.  That’s not good enough because this is life-support equipment that engages with our respiratory tracts.  In fact, there are four mouthpieces on a regular set of scuba diving equipment.  And with a program as big as ours we ensure that no student could ever get sick from using our gear.”

As the requests from key players in the diving industry rolled in, Clark created a video to highlight the products and protocols used by the NSUADP.  The video entitled Disinfecting Rental Scuba Gear has been applauded by the dive industry and many are adopting the methods used by the NSUADP.

 

The NSU Academic Diving Program is one of the nation’s largest university dive training programs.  The NSUADP teaches courses from Snorkeling through Scuba Instructor at NSU’s Fort Lauderdale campus.  Founded in 2012, the NSUADP is a PADI Educational Institution and a DAN Training Facility.  Courses are available both recreationally and for academic credit.  For more information contact tclark@nova.edu.

 

Halmos Mathematics Faculty Publishes Article on Pattern Formation

Evan Haskell

Halmos Mathematics Professor Evan Haskell, Ph.D. recently published an article entitled, “Pattern formation in a predator-mediated coexistence model with prey-taxis” in the scientific journal Discrete & Continuous Dynamical Systems – B. With his co-author Jonathan Bell, Ph.D. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the paper investigates one scenario involving a prey-taxis by a prey species. It studies a system of three populations involving two competing species with a common predator. All three populations are mobile via random dispersal within a bounded spatial domain Ω, but the predator’s movement is influenced by one prey’s gradient representing a repulsive effect on the predator. The paper proves the existence of positive solutions and investigate pattern formation through bifurcation analysis and numerical simulation.

NSU Researcher Part of Team to Document Fish Migration in the Deep-Sea

If you are looking for some science news that isn’t COVID0-19 related, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has got you covered!

Scientists have, for the first time, documented seasonal migrations of fishes across the deep seafloor, revealing an important insight that will further scientific understanding of the nature of our planet.

The study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology and led by NSU and the University of Glasgow – analyzed more than seven years of deep-sea photographic data from West Africa. It linked seasonal patterns in surface-ocean productivity with observed behavioral patterns of fishes at 1,500 meters.

You can read the full press release ONLINE. Also enclosed are high-res photos to use with the story. For the photo of the fishes, here are the identifications of each:

(a – b) Grenadiers; (c – d) Halosaurs; (e – f) Eels; (g – h) Cusk Eels; (i) Brotulids; (j) Tripod fish; (k) Snail fish; (l) Morid cod; (m) Portuguese dogfish; (n) Eelpout

We all could use a little break from COVID-19 news, and this scientific discovery may just be the ticket!

Halmos College Research Group Announces Publication of a Special Issue of Frontiers in Marine Science

The DEEPEND Consortium is excited to announce the publication of a special issue of Frontiers in Marine Science, focusing on the results of their research over the past 5 years. The special issue will be titled: “Deep-Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in a Highly Impacted Water Column: The Gulf of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon.” It begins with a description of DEEPEND, including the overall aims, approaches, and rationale for studying the patterns and processes of the oceanic Gulf of Mexico as related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster, followed by a detailed methodology paper, data from which the bulk of DEEPEND studies were derived.

Overarching topics in this 16-paper special edition include:

  • Pelagic community abundance and distribution (encompassing microbial biota, pelagic crustaceans, cephalopods, and fishes),
  • Time-series analysis (encompassing petrogenic contamination, assemblage structure, and population genetics),
  • Environmental drivers,
  • Taxonomy (new species discoveries), and
  • Trophic interactions.

These research papers also encompass cross-cutting themes of biodiversity, connectivity, behavior, diel vertical migration, carbon flux, the biological pump, anthropogenic impact, and the epipelagic zone as nursery habitat for both shallow- and deep-living taxa.

Halmos has two members on the issue’s editorial staff, Dr. Tracey Sutton (Lead Editor) and Dr. Joe Lopez (Contributing Editor). To learn more about DEEPEND’s Special Edition in Frontiers of Marine Science and to view the published articles, visit: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/10575/deep-pelagic-ecosystem-dynamics-in-a-highly-impacted-water-column-the-gulf-of-mexico-after-deepwater.

NSU University School Student Earns First Place in NSU’s Holocaust Reflection Contest

NSU University School is proud to congratulate Middle School student Reagan on earning first place for her “Holocaust Remembrance Essay” in NSU’s annual Holocaust Reflection Contest. Middle and high school students from across the state of Florida participated in the contest. Students selected a meaningful quotation or Holocaust survivor’s story that inspired them and submitted their reflections in the form of an original essay, poem, short film, or art piece. We are proud of Reagan for her exceptional work on her essay.

 

School Psychology Students Launch Self-Care Flyers

 

Offers tips for dealing with COVID-19 pandemic

What started out as a directed study project for School Psychology doctoral students Catalina Uribe and Catherine Ivey turned into an effort to spread awareness of self-care techniques during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ivey said the spread of COVID-19 made them reconsider what direction their work could go in instead of a directed study. Ivey said they decided to adapt a five factor self-care wellness model into flyers to share on social media. The flyers outline self-care activities that can be performed from home as people engage in self-isolation to help curb the spread of the virus.

Uribe said the goal with the flyers was to collect information backed by research and present it in a way that wasn’t daunting to the audience. As the project develops, Uribe and Ivey said they might create videos and use other social media channels.

“Some people don’t have strong support systems, especially students at the graduate level,” Ivey said. “That loneliness and isolation can be mentally crippling.”

 

The flyers are available on tumblr: https://feelgoodflyer.tumblr.com/.

Full story: https://psychology.nova.edu/news-events/2020/cop-feelgood.html.

Halmos Researchers Battle Coral Disease with Human Drug

What started as a coral disease outbreak near Miami in 2014 has since spread throughout most of the Florida Reef Tract as well as to some other parts of the Caribbean. The disease has been termed “Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.” Experts are working to determine the pathogen that causes the disease, but it is known to spread through the water, and most scientists involved in the collaborative efforts suspect it is bacterial because of how it responds to antibiotics.

Research collaborations among numerous agencies and institutions are following multiple pathways. These include genetic studies to identify the pathogen and to assess how corals respond physiologically, laboratory studies on transmission and progression rates, development of pharmaceutical products for treatment, and considerations for creating healthier environments for corals to heal. “I think there’s a lot of similarities between how we should be treating coral diseases and how we should be treating human diseases,” Halmos Research Scientist Karen Neely, Ph.D. said.

In a race to save the remaining corals, researchers have been treating already-infected coral colonies with a paste combined with amoxicillin. A Spectrum News crew accompanied the group during a day of field work at Looe Key Reef, one of the most coral dense regions in the Florida Keys. The video can be viewed online at https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2020/02/27/researchers-try-to-slow-disease-destroying-atlantic-reef.

“Most of the time, scientists and marine biologists spend a lot of time documenting declines of ecosystems. We’re actually some of the few that are lucky enough to be able to get out here and try to do something about it,” Neely said.

At Looe Key Reef, the scientists have saved over 800 corals. Additional work at eight other sites has brought the team’s tally of treated corals to over 1500. Other efforts by teams in Biscayne National Park and Southeast Florida bring the total to over 2000. Neely is unsure how the reefs would have fared if not for their intervention efforts. “We were out here a couple of weeks ago, and as we looked around, we realized everything here was either dead or had been treated by us,” she said.

Education Alum Named Superintendent of Bangs Independent School District

Joshua Martin, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice has been named the new superintendent for the Bangs Independent School District (Texas).

Dr. Martin has been a Texas educator for 18 years. In that time, he has served as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, and Special Programs director. Recently, he was Chief Academic Officer at Farmersville Independent School District, in Farmersville, Texas. In each of these roles, he has been driven to work towards finding and cultivating the best within his students by mentoring teachers and campus administrators to provide the best learning environments possible.

Dr. Martin’s projected start date is April 16. He earned his Doctor of Education in 2011 with FCE&SCJ.

 

Virtual Performances by FCE&SCJ’s Sociodrama Club, April 15 & 16

NSU’s Abraham Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ) will hold two virtual sociodrama performances in April.

Sociodrama is an educational technique that engages the audience with characters from the scene. The characters remain in their roles as they interact with audience members. Additionally, there are opportunities for audience members to “step into” the shoes of the characters.

Trigger Zone

Description: A powerful sociodrama that focuses on relapse prevention.

Date: Apr 15, 2020

Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/243272356

Stalking: Know it. Name it. Stop it.

Description: A sociodrama that aims to raise awareness of the characteristics of stalking and the ways to prevent it from happening.

Date: Apr 16, 2020

Time: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/111326079

These virtual performances are free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Here are a few steps for extra security. Please see the following instructions:

1. You must be ON TIME for these programs as the room will get LOCKED after 10 minutes.

2. If you are an NSU Student, you must identify yourself in the waiting room to the ROOM MONITOR with your name, course ID and CRN#  along with your NSU ID #

3. If you are a staff member or faculty, what department you are they with your title, and supervisor’s name)

4.Treatment Centers who have been invited are being contacted that they must identify the name of their organization/facility and their role/status.

 For more information, please contact Grace Telesco, Ph.D. at gt243@nova.edu.

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