Tag: Halmos College of Arts and Sciences

Biology Student Wins Congress Attendance Grant

This July, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate biology major Camryn Pajon won a Congress Attendance Grant for the joint American Society of Microbiology and the Federation for European Microbiological Society (FEMS) meeting in July. Her work, which examines how changes in spatial structure affect the ability of bacteria to coexist, is sponsored by the Army Research Office. Her ultimate goal is to understand how to disrupt interactions between coexisting bacteria so as to facilitate their treatment in the clinic.

Pajon works with HCAS faculty member Robert Smith, Ph.D. FEMS provides grants for European and non-European early career scientists to support their attendance at the World Microbe Forum. The American Society of Microbiology, with more than 30,000 members, including researchers, educators and health professionals, is one of the largest life science societies in the world.

Students design social media campaign for Guy Harvey Research Institute

During the Winter 2021 semester, undergraduate Communication students in COMM 4300: Social Media Theory and Practice had the opportunity to put their social skills into action and design a strategic social media campaign for NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute. Each winter, the course, offered through the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, partners with a real-world client seeking to solve a problem or take advantage of an opportunity with its social media presence.

“The best way for students to learn how to conduct a bona fide social media campaign is by partnering with a real client with a real need, and we were excited to have the chance to work with Dr. Shivji and the Guy Harvey Research Institute,” said Whitney Lehmann, associate professor of communication for the Department of Communication, Media, the Arts. “Dr. Shivji had a very clear, strategic vision for the GHRI’s social presence, and it was an invaluable learning experience for students to work with him and his team to design a unique and effective campaign tied to their organizational goals.”

Students kicked off the semester by conducting an initial client interview with Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., professor for the Department of Biological Sciences and director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center. Following the interview with Shivji and Tyler Plum, the GHRI’s social media manager and a master’s student in the Department of Biological Sciences, the undergraduate students conducted an audit of the GHRI’s social media presence and presented Shivji and Plum with proposed objectives, strategies and tactics tied to priority audiences and organizational goals. Campaign deliverables included new social media branding, a social media manual, targeted Twitter lists for networking with members of the media, and a revamped YouTube channel for archiving and curating GHRI video content.

“Working with Dr. Lehmann and her students was not only tremendously informative for us in terms of learning better strategies for social media platform construction and use, but it was also a pleasure interacting with the impressively creative undergraduates,” Shivji said. “The end result of this campaign is a vastly better social media platform for the GHRI to disseminate our work.”

For more information about the B.A. in Communication program, COMM 4300: Social Media Theory and Practice and other courses offered through the curriculum’s Strategic Communication concentration and minor, click here.

Follow the Guy Harvey Research Institute on social media @nsughri, the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences @nsuhcas, and the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts @nsu_dcma

Halmos Faculty, Students Publish Article on Bacterial Inhibitors

Growth characteristics of Yersinia pestis wild-type (wt) and ΔyscF strains on MOX agar incubated at room temperature (RT) or 37°C for 48 h. Colonies of the wt are seen growing on MOX agar incubated at RT but not at 37°C, the temperature at which type III secretion is induced (top). Colonies of the ΔyscF strain, which does not have a functional type III secretion system, are seen growing on the MOX agar incubated at RT and at 37°C (bottom).

Several bacteria use needle-like structures called type III secretion systems (T3SS) to avoid our immune systems by injecting toxins into our cells and causing disease. If the T3SS is blocked, then these bacteria cannot cause the infection, making these structures an attractive target for new antibiotics.

Written by undergraduate students and Halmos College of Arts and Sciences biological sciences faculty member Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D., this paper discusses a new method developed in Garcia’s lab to detect inhibition of bacterial type III secretion systems by small molecules. This method may be useful for screening additional small molecules that target bacterial T3SSs to potentially be used as new treatments for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections.

Undergraduate students (now alumni) co-authors on this paper include Sukriti Prashar, Miguel Portales Guemes, Poorandai Shivbaran, Eugenia Jimenez Alvarez, Christopher Soha, Samir Nacer, and Michael McDonough.

The article, titled “Novel Disk Diffusion Assay on Magnesium Oxalate Agar To Evaluate the Susceptibility of Yersinia pestis to Type III Secretion System Inhibitors” was published in June 2021 in the ASM Journal Microbiology Spectrum. Learn more

Halmos Assistant Professor Participates in STEM Education Virtual Workshop

Santanu De

Santanu De, M.Sc., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, was selected among top 20 applicants to participate in a competitive STEM Education Professional Skills Virtual Workshop organized by the Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) STEM Resource Hub of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The workshop was titled “Designing competitive research questions for grant proposals.”  Representing NSU in the team of faculty members from multiple institutions across the U.S., De contributed to the following efforts:

  1. Using a gap analysis to identify the focus for future research grant proposals,
  2. Using a SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) analysis to identify the best route for answering research questions for future grant proposals,
  3. Designing specific and answerable research questions,
  4. Identifying potential sources of baseline data, and
  5. Building a research plan around the proposed research questions

De’s research interests include STEM education, pedagogy, reproductive physiology, developmental biology, cell biology, and protein biology. He is a member of  the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS), an editorial board member of several journals including The American Journal of BioScience, and faculty adviser of  NSU’s Med-ED student medical organization.

Halmos Event Delves Into Conflict and Assassination in Haiti

Ernst Vincent

Roland Joseph

The Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) and the Department of Humanities and Politics (DHP) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) hosted an event titled “Understanding the Conflicting Political Context of the Haitian President’s Assassination.” This event provided the opportunity for information and discussion regarding recent and historical perspectives on the events leading up to the assassination.

The event was coordinated by Elena Bastidas, Ph.D., faculty in DCRS. Bastidas welcomed the speakers and guests. Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., faculty in DCRS and Ransford Edwards, Ph.D. faculty in DHP were the facilitators. The speakers were two doctoral candidates in DCRS, Roland Joseph and Ernst Vincent.

Roland Joseph is a member of the Research Committee on Non-killing Security and International Relations at the Center for Global Nonkilling. He worked as a journalist and political analyst in Haiti for radio stations and newspapers such as Radio Evangelique Hosanna FM, Radio Ephphatha FM, and Journal le Matin for more than 15 years. He coordinated and led training sessions on peace, non-violence, nonkilling, and conflict resolution at Centre caribéen pour la non-violence globale et le développement durable (Caribbean Center for Global Non-Violence and Sustainable Development). Roland received his bachelor’s degree in political in Haiti; and his master’s degree in peace and conflict studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Ernst Vincent is working on his dissertation, which focuses on the conflict between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He is a pastor and a theologian. He received two master’s degrees from NSU, one in organizational leadership and one in conflict analysis and resolution. His research interests include the defense of human rights, race and ethnic relations and religious studies. Vincent is the current president of the Haitian Pastors Conference.

Halmos Faculty Combine Art, Science in Presentation

For the past four years, Halmos College of faculty have been engaged in interdisciplinary efforts to combine science and art at NSU through a program where undergraduate art students visit the microbiology lab to learn how to use bacteria as “paint” and agar plates as their “canvas” to create agar art.

In June 2021, Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D., and Katie Crump, Ph.D., from the Department of Biological Sciences; Kandy Lopez Moreno, M.F.A., from the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts; and former NSU visiting professor Veronique Cote, M.F.A., presented their poster titled, “Creating an Interdisciplinary Curriculum within the Undergraduate Arts and Sciences Through Agar Art,” at the 2021 American Society for Microbiology’s Conference for Undergraduate Educators.

In their presentation, they shared the agar art curriculum including learning outcomes and assessment tools and discussed the benefits of integrating science into the arts. They have written a manuscript of their work that was submitted for publication in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education and is currently under review.

NSU Alumna Brightens Library with Special Mural

Anh Nguyen, an alumna of NSU’s Art + Design program, returned to her alma mater this winter to paint an original mural for the fourth floor of the Alvin Sherman Library. Nguyen, better known by her artist name Annie Nugget, describes the mural, titled “Be the Sea,” as a portrayal of letting life go in order to connect with the things that feel meaningful.

“We can pursue almost anything in life, but it only makes sense to do what sparks a passion that can push potential,” she said.

Anh Nguyen

Nguyen graduated from the B.A. in Art + Design program in 2016 with a concentration in studio art. The major, housed within the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, also offers a concentration in graphic design and minors in studio art and graphic design.

In 2016, Nguyen also painted a shark-themed mural, titled “Realizing Potential,” for NSU’s University Center.

“The library was very excited to sponsor this opportunity, and Annie’s diverse portfolio gave her the edge to take on that huge wall,” said Associate Professor of Art + Design Kandy Lopez-Moreno. “As a professional artist, she also creates murals all over South Florida. I’m very proud of her!”

Learn more about NSU’s Art + Design major, including its concentrations and minors, here.

Students Deliver Center for Collaborative Research mural

Each year, the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences offers an opportunity to its ARTS 2100 students to collaborate with a campus department or office to design a potential mural for its walls. During the Winter 2020 semester, three students were chosen by the NSU Center for Collaborative Research (CCR) to paint their design for the new CCR lunchroom space. The selected design concept was created by Sara Kaldas, a studio arts minor, who collaborated with Samantha Rosenblum, a studio arts minor, and Gianna Allison, an art + design major with a concentration in studio arts.

Due to COVID-19, the mural painting was postponed to Winter 2021 and is now completed and on display in the CCR. Art + Design Associate Professor Kandy Lopez-Moreno, who supervised the project, said “The design is minimalistic and clean but at the same time, powerful! I’m very glad that this design was chosen.”

For more information about the B.A. in Art + Design program, including its concentrations and minors, click here.

Halmos Student Takes Her Research to Multiple Conferences

Emma Heineman, a political science student in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, presented her research at several conferences. Her paper titled “Women in States Legislatures: The Effect of Female Representation of State Abortion Restrictions,” focuses on the ways that female legislators influence abortion policy.

Emma Heinemann

The first conference she presented at was the Pi Sigma Alpha National Student Research Conference. This was her first experience presenting outside of NSU.

“The conference not only gave me the opportunity to showcase my work, but also provided me with the chance to network with other students, faculty, and researchers from across the country,” she said.

She had the opportunity to present as an undergraduate researcher at the Florida Political Science Association Annual Meeting, as well as at both the Undergraduate Student Symposium and the Annual Crossroads Humanities Student Conference at NSU.

“Before this year, research wasn’t something I ever saw myself pursuing, but the experiences I have had conducting and presenting my own research have sparked a passion that I hope to continue in the future,” she said. “It has allowed me to expand on the incredible opportunities I have had at NSU and has truly been one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience. I want to thank both the Department of Humanities and Politics and Dr. Edwards for the support they have provided me and look forward to continuing my research in the future.”

Halmos Duo Present at International Virtual College and University Seminar

Ismael Muvingi

Ismael Muvingi, a faculty member in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies, and Crystal Chavis, a doctoral student in the program, presented at the 9th International Virtual College and University Seminar whose theme was Developing and Enhancing Peace and Conflict Studies Programs.

Because it was virtual, the seminar was held from March 22 to April 16 rather than the normal three-day intensive format. This enabled scheduling of presentations and workshops at times that were most feasible for participants in different time zones over a longer time period.

Muvingi and Chavis presented on the lessons learned from delivering conflict resolution programs through a hybrid of platforms: residential, online and experiential. The Department of Conflict Resolution Studies has the longest experience and expertise in online course delivery in conflict analysis and resolution and there was high interest from participants on how to do online given the imperative of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muvingi is the faculty advisor to the African Working Group. His academic interests include human rights, African politics and transitional justice with a special focus on Africa.

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