Geology/Environmental Science Major receives Scholarship

Ashland University junior Mitch Ramsey has been selected to receive a $1000 Central OhioMineral, Fossil, Gem, and Jewelry Show Scholarship.  This scholarship is offered to a deserving student of the earth sciences. It holds an annual minimum of $1,000. This Gem and Jewelry Show is an annual show held in the spring in Columbus, Ohio, and its purpose is to educate the general public and promote the encouragement of careers in the earth sciences.

Job Outlook Bright in the Sciences

A new report from Change the Equation.org finds that the job outlook is good for individuals with a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) background. Their analysis of online job postings and unemployment data in the past 3 years finds that across the STEM fields, job postings outnumbered unemployed people by almost 2-to-1, while overall, unemployed people outnumbered job postings by well more than 3-to-1.  For healthcare occupations that require STEM training, there were 3.2 jobs per unemployed person.

"Our analysis of online job postings and unemployment data shows similar patterns across every state," said Linda Rosen, CEO of Change the Equation. "For their own economic vitality, states must put in place policies that help workers get retrained with STEM skills, offer incentives to students to master STEM knowledge, and focus on the pipeline--beginning in elementary school--to create a robust supply of STEM-adept citizens."

The "STEM Help Wanted" Vital Signs report is available at the organization’s website at www.changetheequation.org/stemdemand.  Change the Equation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative that is mobilizing the business community to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning in the United States. 

Kettering labs and classrooms undergoing renovations

With the growth of the Chemistry and Biology programs as a consequence of adding the new Dwight Schar College of Nursing and HealthSciences, additional renovations are being made to Kettering Science Center this summer.  Demolition of old classroom and laboratory spaces began on May 7th and will be completed prior to the start of fall classes.  The $1.4 million project will provide a completely renovated Analytical Chemistry laboratory, a new Microbiology laboratory, three new research laboratories to support faculty-mentored student research in Chemistry, Biology, and Geology, and relocation of the Geology teaching laboratory and microscopy room.

Two Biology majors co-author a new research paper on lens protein evolution

Jackie Skiba and Amy Drossman

Biology majors Amy Drossman ('11) and Jackie Skiba ('10) recently published a portion of their undergraduate research in the journal PLoS One.  Their project, mentored by Professor of Biology Mason Posner, provides new insights into the function of a protein involved in preventing diseases as diverse as Alzheimer's, cancer and lens cataracts.  The Ashland University research team collaborated on this newly published work with scientists from the National Eye Institute and Miami University of Ohio.

The Antarctic toothfish was used to study
how a human protein could be modified
to better prevent disease

The protein at the center of this new paper, alpha crystallin, is a member of the small heat shock protein family, which is used in most tissues of the human body to prevent the clumping of proteins that could lead to multiple types of diseases.  While most research on these protective proteins is done in mammals like mice or humans, the Ashland University research team used six species of fishes to examine how alpha crystallin has evolved to function at different body temperatures.  This unique approach allowed the researchers to identify small changes in the protein that increased its protective ability.  Similar changes engineered into human versions of alpha crystallin could potentially enhance the body's ability to protect itself against disease.

Amy and Jackie previously presented their findings at an international vision research meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2010.  Amy is currently attending the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago and Jackie is working as a quality control technician in the coffee division of the Smuckers Corporation.

Area High School Students Learn About Environmental Science at AU

After her presentation, Dr. Melissa Schultz, College of Wooster, addressed
a series of great questions from area high school students.

In mid-April, the Environmental Science Program hosted 59 high school students from programs at Ashland High School, Black River High School, and Hillsdale High School.  These students and their teachers were on-campus for the annual "Lunch and Lecture" for science students.  This year's presenter was Dr. Melissa Schultz, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the College of Wooster, Wooster, OH.  Dr. Schultz presented a talk titled "Clean and Happy Fish (And the Other Effects of Consumer Products on Non-Target Organisms)."

Dr. Schultz’s area of research is the fate and transport of consumer products in the environment. Personal care products in general are widely introduced into aquatic environments via releases from municipal waste water treatment plants (WWTP).  The presence of these chemicals in the tissues of fishes downstream from WWTP supports the idea that these facilities are serving as a point source. The impact of these pollutants on the lives of downstream organisms is only partly understood, and is an important area of current study.  Regional differences in the impact of these pollutants depends on frequency of human use, the transport distance and behavior of specific chemicals in nature, and local and regional human population size.  This talk discussed the origins and what is known about the impact of some consumer products on downstream organisms.

The goal of the "Lunch and Lecture" is to encourage interest in science and open up new ideas for career tracks for high school students to consider.  Other recent speakers in the high school series have included Dr. John Chick, Director of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (invasive Asian carp and the Great Lakes) and Richard Moseley, Retired Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Areas and Preserves (the history, diversity, and mission of Ohio's preserve network).  The "Lunch and Lecture" is a part of the community-wide AU Environmental Lecture Series, just about to start up its 21st year!

Chemistry Students and Faculty Present Papers at National ACS Meeting

The Spring 2012 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) was held in San Diego, California from March 25-27, 2012.  Among those in attendance were AU Chemistry Professors Rebecca and Perry Corbin and chemistry students Mei Li and Anna Falls, who presented results of their research and scholarship. 

Both Anna and Mei presented posters on their research on polymer synthesis with Dr.Perry Corbin.  The title of Anna’s poster was "Synthesis and Characterization of Eight-Armed Calixarene-Core Polylactide Star Polymers", and Mei's title was "Synthesis and Characterization of Four- and Six-Armed Calixarene-Core Polylactide Star Polymers".  This research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.  In addition to these research presentations, Dr. Rebecca Corbin presented a poster on a new course she has developed for AU’s Core Curriculum, titled “Development of an energy-themed chemistry course for non-science majors.”

Dr. Perry Corbin stated that “attending and presenting research at an ACS meeting is not only an excellent opportunity for students to participate in a professional scientific conference/exposition, but it also offers the opportunity to hear cutting-edge research presentations from some of the top scientists from around the world.”  This year’s meeting theme was the “Chemistry of Life”.  This theme was highlighted in the opening plenary session that featured presentations by Nobel laureate Roger Tsien, National Medal of Science winner J. Craig Venter, and the prominent chemists Laura Kiessling and Samuel Stupp.

Marine Biology class makes it to North Carolina

You can follow the exploits of our marine biology class (11 students and 3 faculty) as we explore the outer banks of North Carolina over the next three days on Twitter at #aubio412.