Ashland University science alumna presents on her career in veterinary science

Ashland Science alumna Nichole Olp (Biology '10) earned her DVM from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and is now practicing with the Bigger Road Veterinary Center.  Dr. Olp was on campus recently to talk with our pre-veterinary science students about preparing for and getting into vet school, and her experiences as a practicing veterinarian.  She provided excellent advice and a great sense of the challenges and rewards of veterinary medicine.

Two current pre-veterinary students are planning a new pre-vet student club.  Contact Mason Posner if you would like to learn more.

Dr. Nichole Olp (4th from the right) after speaking with Ashland Science
pre-vet students

Highlights from our recent AU Science alumni social

This past November we hosted our first AU Science alumni social at Uniontown Brewing in downtown Ashland and had a great evening catching up with a number of alums.  Check out some photos from the night and be on the lookout for an announced date for our next social this Spring.

Faculty Mason Posner and Soren Brauner with Ken Kearney (Bio '05),
Mack Taylor (Geo '15) and Jennifer Bjelac (Bio '15). That's Tyler McFarland (Bio '18)
and Rod Michael in the background. 

Becky and Perry Corbin with Alison Biro (Tox '15)

Marie Southerland (Bioch '12), Paul Hyman,
Meghan Reese (Bio '16) and Dolly Crawford

Chanel Bluntschly (Bio/EVS '17) with Patty Saunders and friend

Steve Zody (Geo '86) with Ken Kearney (Bio '05)

How do I find an internship?

The holiday break is a perfect time to search for summer internships.  One of the benefits of pursuing a career in science is that many of these internships are paid.  How do you search for these opportunities?  Here are some suggestions:

Summer Research
on Lake Erie

• Use the Summer Research Internships label on this blog to read about past AU students and their internship experiences.  This can give you an idea of where AU students have gone in the past and the value of their internships.
• If you have not attended one of the Tri-Beta or ACS sponsored student internship nights look for those in the future.  These are great opportunities to hear directly from your fellow students about their internship search process and their internship experience.
• There are several local internship opportunities that our students often take part in.  Charles River Laboratory here in Ashland recently posted their summer internship application site, the OARDC in Wooster is a great site for agriculture science related internships, and Lubrizol in Cleveland hires summer interns in Toxicology and Chemistry.
• We send out text alerts about biology and toxicology related internship opportunities.  You can sign up for those here if you are not getting them already.
• You can search for NSF-funded internships at this site.
• Use this job/internship board from Texas A&M to find field biology related opportunities all over the country.

Another option for getting summer lab and field experience is to take a summer field course, which often also includes research experience.  Check out options at Stone Research Laboratory on Lake Erie for both classes and for paid research internships.

Ashland Toxicology majors spend summer internship at the Lubrizol Corporation

This is the second summer in a row that Ashland University Toxicology majors have spent their summer as paid interns at specialty chemicals producer Lubrizol in Northeast Ohio.  The Product Safety and Compliance department where they worked is managed by one of our Toxicology alumna, Karen Jordan '00.  Here is a report from one of those students, Abigail Culver, pictured to the right with fellow Tox major Jordin Vidmar.

During the summer, I was one of two Toxicology Interns at The Lubrizol Corporation in Wickliffe, Ohio. The Toxicology team is a small group within the Product Safety and Compliance department so I actually had the opportunity to work with different teams and learn more about their areas of work. Most of my time, however, was spent working on a project with the Toxicology team. The main goal of this project was to determine ways to improve their reproductive toxicity testing strategies and to find an easier way to classify chemicals as a reproductive hazard. For this project, I spent a lot of time data mining and pulling information on chemicals with reproductive studies. Once I collected all of the data, I had to restructure it in order to analyze possible trends that might lead to classification. I also had the opportunity to work on a small project with the Hazard Communication team to update reproductive classifications on their chemical log. I looked for discrepancies between their classifications and the Global Harmonizing System classifications, and then read through studies to decide whether or not reproductive classification should be adopted. During my time at Lubrizol, I also had the opportunity to shadow people from other departments and learn more about the chemical industry which was a really eye-opening experience. This internship showed me the non-laboratory side of Toxicology as well as gave me real-life applications of topics that I have learned about in classes. I learned so much during my time there and had the opportunity to meet so many new people. I am so grateful for my experience and would recommend this internship to anyone interested in Toxicology!

Ashland Science students intern at OARDC

Three Ashland University Science majors spent their summer interning in research laboratories at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, the agricultural research campus for Ohio State University. Here is some news from one of those students, Biology/Toxicology/Environmental Science major Shelby Reutter.  Shelby is also one of our Choose Ohio First scholars.

"Over this summer I was an entomology intern at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, specifically the Horticultural Insects Research Laboratory working under USDA Research Entomologist Christopher Ranger and alongside his technician Jenny Barnett and another undergraduate student. The main focus of study in the lab is ambrosia beetles, which are a non native invasive species that attacks ornamental trees and other types of stressed trees. I assisted in a few different field experiments throughout the summer."

Shelby describes examining how the ambrosia beetles infect trees that are flood damaged or exposed to frost.  She also gained experience using analytical chemistry tools like High Performance Liquid Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS) to measure levels of chemicals in soil, and learned how to tell the difference between multiple species of beetles that farm fungi on local trees.

Check back for news on the other two students who did research at the OARDC this summer.

Four AU students receive Ohio EPA Scholarships

Four AU science students were part of a group of 21 environmental science and engineering students who have been awarded scholarships to study at Ohio colleges and universities through Ohio EPA’s Environmental Education Fund. Since 2006, a total of 20 AU science students have been awarded this scholarship. 

The AU students receiving the $2,500 scholarships for the 2018-2019 academic year are: Biology major Emily Nicholls of Mt. Vernon; Biology and Toxicology major Hayley Nininger of Centerburg; Biology and Environmental Science Major Tyler Theaker of Bellville; and Biology and Toxicology major Jordin Vidmar of Wadsworth.

All of the AU students selected are involved in environmental research projects.  This year, Emily Nicholls will continue her field studies using is a combination of field sampling and aerial photography to compare the quality of a marsh dominated by invasive reed canary grass with that of a marsh with a diverse native plant community.  Tyler Theaker is studying the Sora and Virginia Rails, birds that inhabit emergent Wetland plant communities such as that of the Black Fork Wetlands.  He is analyzing feather samples to determine whether these birds are picking up toxic lead from lead shot accumulated from previous hunting.  Hayley Nininger and Jordin Vidmar are collaborating on a project to develop a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method to extract organochlorine, organophosphate, and pyrethroid insecticides from sediments.   They plan to sample AU’s Black Fork Wetlands later this year.


The funding for the scholarships comes from civil penalties collected by Ohio EPA for violations of air and water pollution control laws. The scholarship program is administered by the Ohio Academy of Science.
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Life Science Education Major worked at Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute this summer

Calum Watt is studying to become a high school science teacher.  For the past two summers he has been working in the Training and Education Department at a cancer research institute in Nashville, Tennessee.  Here is Cal's report from this summer.

This summer I’m working my second summer at Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA down in Nashville, TN. As a Life Science Education major, I was placed with their Training and Education Department for the second year in a row. Being back with these highly skilled individuals was great, as this summer I ran a course from development through production and facilitated those classes. It was a fantastic internship! 

Some facts about Sarah Cannon: 

• It's the only company with a standardized cancer navigation network. 

• Out of 48 new cancer drugs to hit the market, 37 of them had come through Sarah Cannon at some point. 

• Sarah Cannon is a global company with roots in Nashville, it has clinics in Denver, London, Kansas City, and many other eastern cities. 

• Sarah Cannon is the largest private oncology research company in the country, rivaling most universities.