Author: Christie Williams

Chemistry Club has Banner Term

This fall has been a very active semester for the Chemistry Club, housed at Halmos College. In November, they celebrated National Chemistry Week with Chemistry Club members as well as Halmos College faculty and staff.

During that week, the students traveled to the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, where they made slime with the kids. On Tuesday, the American Chemical Society presented how chemistry is applied to everyday life with the Chemistry in a Box activity. This was followed by the most well-known day in chemistry: Mole Day!

Mole day, October 23, commemorates Avogadro’s Number (6.02 x 1023), which is a basic quantity used in chemistry. Mole Day was created to foster interest in chemistry. Colleges and schools around the world celebrate Mole Day with various activities related to chemistry and/or moles. The Chemistry Club, in collaboration with Tri Beta (the Biology Honor Society), entertained all who walked by with fun activities, snacks and prizes.

The week wrapped up with a speaker event. The Chemistry Club was proud to present Halmos faculty member, Dimitrios Giarikos, Ph.D. to present his research in biometals. The title of the presentation was “Using Biomass Modified Algae for a Solution to Heavy Metal Pollution; an Example in the Alaskan Marine Environment”. This fit with this year’s National Chemistry Week theme of “Marvelous Metals”.  Students interested in joining Chemistry Club can contact Halmos faculty member Jessica Brown, Ph.D. at jbrown3@nova.edu.

Halmos College Chemistry faculty Jessica Brown, Ph.D. and Beatrix Aukszi, Ph.D. are the Chemistry club advisors.

 

 

NSU University School Students – Lending a Hand

Lending a hand has taken on an entirely new meaning in Alicia Anania and Micaile Smith’s science classes. The teachers have joined forces to teach their students about the human body. Their goal was to make it more relatable. The dynamic duo is now taking their lessons several steps farther.

Instead of just teaching anatomy from a book, they’ve incorporated 3-D printing at the NSU University School Media Center to show students how to produce prosthetic human hands. Students are learning about the movement and functionality of the hand while, at the same time, gaining a greater understanding and empathy for those who need prosthetics.

The USchool students will soon meet with military veterans who have faced a hand amputation following combat. Students are also working with e-NABLE to establish a donation pathway. They are determined to give back, providing prosthetic hands to veterans and children in underdeveloped countries around the world.

“Through this project, we’ve seen amazing growth in our students’ understanding of how locomotion happens,” said Smith. “We’re now starting to study legs and movement in animals like sea turtles.”

Anania pointed out, “They take great pride in knowing that someone’s life will change with these prosthetic hands. They’re looking at ways to cushion them to make them more comfortable, too.”

This is more than a lesson in anatomy. Smith explains that mastery in coding and other STEM-related skills is essential to creating hands that move on command. Both teachers and the NSU University School community are looking ahead to the development of limitless teaching opportunities at the school’s Center for Innovation now under development. For more information about the Center for Innovation kindly contact Dr. Susanne Marshall at 954-262-3014 or msusanne@nova.edu.

Halmos Biology Faculty Featured on Telemundo in Ongoing Series

On November 12, Halmos College faculty member Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D. was interviewed by Telemundo for a series of segments called “Amenazas Escondidas” or Hidden Threats on the show “Al Rojo Vivo”. On that episode  Torruellas Garcia discussed the types of bacteria found on showerheads.

On November 29, Torruellas Garcia, focused on bacteria on toothbrushes. Her research on both topics was conducted with Halmos College undergraduate biology major, Annette Mathew, who also appeared on the show.

 

Halmos College Faculty Publishes Review on Plants and Animals ‘Gone Wild’

This fall, Halmos College Biology faculty member Eben Gering, Ph.D. was the lead author for the paper, “Getting Back to Nature: Feralization in Animals and Plants” in the highly respected and widely read journal, Trends in Ecology & Evolution. The article brings together experts in animal behavior, plant genetics, and evolutionary theory to examine how feral organisms evolve after escaping into the wild.

From weedy rice to feral hogs – formerly domesticated crops, pets, and livestock are now ubiquitous worldwide. Nonetheless, their evolution is poorly studied. The new article addresses this gap by synthesizing information from disparate species, and by outlining future research avenues. This work can ultimately illuminate adaptive evolution, while enhancing our understanding of domestic organisms we rely on for food, labor, and companionship. Included in the paper is a video showing the evolutionary forces that shape feral gene pools and traits, and featuring illustrations provided by teen artists at REACH, a community art center in Lansing, Michigan.

NSU Alumni Takeover Night at the Florida Panthers

Enjoy an afternoon of NSU alumni networking with unlimited food and drinks before watching the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers game!

February 15, 2020

BB&T Center
1 Panther Pkwy
Sunrise, FL 33323

Pick up tickets at 2:45 p.m. Alumni reception starts at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets

*** NSU Alumni Perks: Buy One Get One Free ***

Sunset Terrace located at the Sky Level

Price: $68.00

CAHSS Hosts Second Fall Au Café

The Department of Literature and Modern Languages in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) was delighted to host the second Au Café of the semester on November 4, 2019 at the UC lounge, 2nd floor. This Coffee and Conversation Hour provided a relaxed setting for French students and speakers to practice their language skills. Our French instructors, Maud Cassagnol and Shirley Santry, were present to help facilitate conversations. Speakers of all levels are welcome to Au Cafe! Coffee and pastries were provided.

Guy Harvey Research Institute Celebrates 20 Years

Halmos Faculty Member Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D. and Guy Harvey, Ph.D.

During November, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the NSU Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI). Housed in the Halmos College of Natural Science and Oceanography, GHRI specializes in pelagic fish conservation, or large open-ocean fish such as sharks, marlin and tuna. Their recent work focuses on satellite tagging and tracking, as well as genetic research, among other topics. They also led a team that has successfully decoded the White Shark genome, which could potentially have applications for human health research due to their low incidences of cancer and rapid wound healing.

“The work that’s being done at the GHRI is very cutting-edge, very high-level scientific research that’s had some tremendous results for the conservation of our oceans and the big animals that live there,” said Greg Jacoski, executive director of the GHOF. “I know there’s a lot of great research that the university turns out as a whole, but I think the work that is being done out of the Oceanographic Center and the Guy Harvey Research Institute specifically is some of the best going on in the world right now, and [NSU] should be proud of the work that’s being done there.”

NSU University School Students Accepted Into Prestigious Statewide Honor Bands

NSU University School is proud to congratulate several students in our Band program who have received acceptances into statewide Honor Bands, which are off-campus ensembles consisting of the most talented instrumentalists in a particular area or state. Selected from hundreds of applicants, these students will be able to work directly with college professors and other accomplished conductors in rehearsals and masterclasses to prepare for an annual concert in which they will have the rewarding opportunity to participate in.

Congratulations to these students for this outstanding achievement:

Broward All-County Middle School Honor Band:

Mikey Guerdon

Amanda Stewart

Florida All-State Middle School Honor Band:

Mikey Guerdon

Florida All-State High School Honor Band:

Peter Koltis

Florida State University Tri-State Honor Band:

Alexandria Uchuya

University of Miami Frost Honor Band:

Peter Koltis

Liberty Lapayowker

Breyanna Lehrer

Alexandria Uchuya

Brian Zhi

AAUW-NSU, Halmos College, and MEEC Team Up to Build PACE E-STEAM

Eight students from the PACE Center for Girls visited NSU for a session of the “E-STEAM (Exploring – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) Project for Girls”. This experiential learning initiative is dedicated to encouraging girls to pursue higher education and STEAM careers by way of mentorship, interactive activities, and academic success workshops. They started their day at the Marine Environmental Education Center (MEEC). There they built enrichment toys for Captain, the resident green sea turtle. Also participating in this event were NSU-AAUW volunteers Maureen McDermott Ed.D., and undergraduate students Haley Perkins and Nafisa Nazir.

In the afternoon they went to Halmos College Oceanographic Campus. Led by NSU-AAUW volunteer Melissa Dore, Ed.D., they visited the library, where librarian Jaime Goldman talked to them about 3D scanning and other technologies available in the library. Following this, they looked at deep sea fishes with Halmos College alumna Nina Pruzinsky and current MS student Natalie Slayden. After this, they learned about shark tracking from MS student Sydney Harned and corals from MS student Kyle Pisano.

The Nova Southeastern University branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW-NSU) has been collaborating with the Alvin Sherman Library and Broward’s PACE Center for Girls, a delinquency prevention/intervention program for adolescent girls ages 12-18 since 2008. Anyone interested in joining NSU AAUW or participating in the E-STEAM Project for Girls should contact Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D. (jg1511@nova.edu).

Halmos Graduate Student

In early November, Halmos College marine biology master’s student Jessica Schieber travelled participated in the 20th Anniversary Great White Shark Expedition in Guadalupe Island, Mexico. There the group used shark cages submersibles to view and take identification photos of the sharks. In the first day they saw 16 different white sharks, three of them that had never been photo-identified.

Ms. Schieber was one of two winners of the female student research opportunity funded by the host: Marine Conservation Science Institute (MarineCSI). Applicants for the trip needed to demonstrate understanding MarineCSI’s research techniques and how this trip would propel her career forward. MarineCSI offered this opportunity because “we feel women are under-represented in shark research. How many women in leading scientific roles have you seen on Shark Week or Shark Fest?”

Ms. Schieber is conducting her thesis research on the age and growth of yellow stingray with Halmos College faculty member David Kerstetter, Ph.D.

The Marine Conservation Science Institute (MCSI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded on the belief that focused research can make a difference in how we view and manage our marine resources.  MCSI is committed to promoting important issues in marine biology and fisheries and is currently involved in research projects around the globe dedicated to protecting and conserving marine resources.

 

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