Category: SharkBytes

NSU Musical Ensembles and Drumline Perform at the Celebration of Excellence and other Functions

NSU’s Celebration of Excellence held on February 29, 2020, featured the fabulous musical performances of Canta Sempre, the Pistris Ensemble, and the NSU Drumline. Canta Sempre is a vocal ensemble established by Shark Talent Scholars. The Pistris Ensemble is a chamber music ensemble from the Department of Performing and Visual Arts (DPVA). NSU’s Drumline was established in August 2019. DPVA music majors, Razor’s Edge Shark Talent Scholars, and other Razor’s Edge Scholars are a part of this exciting group.

Ethic Bowl 2020: Promoting Deliberation and Ethical Practice in Healthcare

The physician assistant team, the 2020 Ethics Bowl Spirit Award winners.

The College of Health Care Sciences hosted the 16th annual Ethics Bowl Competition on Thursday, February 27, 2020.  This annual interprofessional experience brings students together from different health care professions to engage in thoughtful deliberation about current ethical issues in healthcare.

Seventy-four students, faculty coaches, faculty judges, and staff moderators participating from the following professions:

  • Physician Assistant
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Anesthesiology Assistant
  • Nursing Ft Lauderdale
  • Pharmacy
  • Nursing Palm Beach
  • Medical Sonography

Teams practiced together for many weeks with the hopes of winning the Ethics Bowl trophy. It was a close competition, but the Nursing team from the Palm Beach campus won the final round and took home the gold medals. Physical Therapy earned silver medals this year and the Physician Assistant program rocked the house with a large and boisterous group of faculty and students adorned in costumes waving homemade signs.

The practice of ethics is the systematic, reasoned deliberation regarding values and the appropriateness of choices that are made in the ever-changing circumstances of personal and organizational life. Health care ethics specifically focuses on matters of health, life and death that arise from the complex relationships among medicine, science, technology, and society.  Some of the cases the student teams considered involved the opioid epidemic, organ donation, and a young girl with AIDS.

 

Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Sends Hope and Positivity to its Students and Alumni

The faculty and staff at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ) created two videos with messages of hope and positivity for their students and alumni. The goal of the videos was to remind them that their Fischler family is here for them during these unprecedented times. To view these videos, please visit FCE&SCJ’s You Tube Page here.

Additionally, the college connected with its alumni to share their stories of how they’re positively impacting their community, students, or patients despite what’s going on in the world. FCE&SCJ is highlighting some of their stories on the college’s Facebook Page, which can be found here.

Bindu Mayi Wins Professor of the Year STUEY

Bindu Mayi, Ph.D., M.Sc., professor of microbiology, won the Professor of the Year Award at the 22nd Annual NSU Student Life Achievement (STUEY) Awards presented at a virtual ceremony on April 23. For those unfamiliar with the STUEY Awards, the event was created in 2000 to honor the people and organizations that best exemplify the NSU Core Values of academic excellence, student centered, scholarship/research, integrity, innovation, opportunity, diversity, and community.

“I am honored to receive this award, and I am grateful to be recognized for something I absolutely love doing,” said Mayi, who enjoys interacting with her students. “My congratulations to the winners in the other categories and to all the nominees. It is a privilege to be counted among them.”

In addition to her dedication to her students, Mayi has been a valuable asset to NSU and the South Florida community during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the past few months, Mayi has been a go-to expert for many media outlets and has been featured in the Sun Sentinel, on Local 10 News, and in many other publications and news programs.

While the event is traditionally held in true Academy Awards style with photographers, festive receptions, and speeches, this year’s virtual ceremony reminded the NSU community that despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the university would continue to function smoothly.

Other nominees representing the KPCOM with distinction were

  • Student of the Year – Regina Zambrano
  • Executive of the Year – Hilda De Gaetano, D.O., M.S.
  • Alumni of the Year – Carisa Champion, D.O.
  • Graduate Organization of the Year – American Medical Women’s Association
  • Corporate Partner of the Year – Werner Kahn Studios

NSU Student Recognized as United Way National Volunteer

Samantha Rodriguez

April is National Volunteer Month and United Way of Broward County is celebrating by featuring volunteers who have gone above and beyond to make a difference in their community. One of those volunteers includes NSU doctoral candidate, Samantha Rodriguez. Samantha is a student in NSU’s Clinical Psychology program and serves as Coordinator of the First Responder and Research and Training program. At United Way, she is a volunteer trainer for the monthly Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) program offered to local law enforcement agencies.

CAHSS Doctoral Student Named First Full-time Ombudsman at University of Alabama at Birmingham

Alicia Booker, M.A.

Alicia Booker, M.A., doctoral candidate in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) was named the first full-time University Ombudsman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In her position, Booker works with faculty, staff, mentored graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Previously, Booker served as the Associate Ombudsperson at University of Cincinnati.

Prior to coming to NSU to earn her doctoral degree, Booker earned her master’s degree in Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management from Southern Methodist University where she is also adjunct faculty. She is a member of the International Ombudsman Association and the International Facilitators Association.

NSU’s College of Pharmacy-Palm Beach Hosts First-Ever Virtual Pinning and Awards Ceremony

The NSU College of Pharmacy-Palm Beach Campus hosted their Pinning and Awards Ceremony for the Class of 2021 via Zoom. This annual event celebrates the end of the students’ classroom study before they leave campus to enter a full year of experiential learning, also referred to as Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) or rotations. In attendance were students, their friends and families, as well as administration, faculty, and staff of the College.

Dean Michelle Clark, Ph.D., addressed the students, encouraging them to be a Shark while on APPEs and demonstrate what it means to have that “NSU edge”, while maintaining balance in their personal lives. Guest speaker, Victoria Scott, Pharm.D., clinical manager at Wellington Regional Medical Center, emphasized the importance of professionalism. She also reiterated the value in networking and the impact that involvement in professional organizations will have in advancing the role of the pharmacist. Others sharing their remarks were student leaders, Louis Schobel (’20) and Mahalia Sanon (’21).

The program ended with an Awards Ceremony that recognized students from the Class of 2021 for their academic achievements, determination, professionalism, and SharkSpirit, along with high performing leaders from sanctioned professional organizations of the College.

“Transitioning a major event like this into a virtual platform was not an easy undertaking, but the Pinning and Awards Ceremony is a pivotal achievement in pharmacy school and the students have earned the right to celebrate this milestone. Cancelling the event was not an option.” said Rochelle Nappi, Ed.D., the assistant dean of the college in the Palm Beach.

Link to video on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NSUCOP/videos/877257062686686/

NSU Doctoral Student Makes a Difference in the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis

Crystal Chavez, doctoral student in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), has shown that one person can make a difference! After having selected and studied the Flint, Michigan, water crisis as a case study in a class taught by Robin Cooper, Ph.D., Chavez became determined to take action. She started with an education campaign and contacted organizations in Flint, including Trinity Baptist Church. She learned much from them about the situation, including about a donation of The Water Box from rap artist Jaden Smith. Delivered in June 2019, this allowed residents to fill up jugs of water from a portable filtered water system, but even more water was needed.

Chavez decided to launch a Go Fund Me page and was able to raise enough money to buy over 40,000 bottles of water to ship to Flint. She decided to travel to Flint to help hand out the water and meet the team from Trinity Baptist Church. On the day of distribution, there were lines of cars already wrapped around the church equal to ten long city blocks. She hopes to make a second trip to Flint with more water.

According to Chavez, “My studies at NSU have given me a greater purpose for the type of work I was born to do.  This will be a part of my legacy in this life.  I am grateful to Nova, Dr. Cooper, and the people of Flint for helping me realize that the gifts I want to give the world are the gifts of love, kindness, compassion, and generosity.”

Halmos Student and Faculty Publish Sea Grass Article in Conjunction with USGS

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.

Counseling Association Newsletter Publishes two Articles by NSU Students

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.

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