Faculty and Student Research

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 09:00:45 +0000

��ݮ��Ƶ fosters intellectual curiosity, encourages critical thinking, inspires civic engagement and promotes a global perspective. A public teaching institution offering quality programs in the liberal arts and sciences with complementing professional studies curricula, we are grounded in our founding principles of academic excellence and educating all in a diverse and welcoming community. ��ݮ��Ƶ State develops the knowledge, skills, and character essential for students to reach their full potential and become responsible leaders in society. We contribute to the economic, social, and cultural vitality of the region.

Undergraduate Research 2015:

Robert Haluska ’17 – BIOLOGY

Matthew Pegorari ’09 – BIOLOGY

Zachery Lancto ’15 – MATH
Jessica Young ’15 – MATH
Rachael Fountain ’15 – MATH
Jacob Goodreau ’16 – MATH

Anthony Rascati – ECONOMICS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Susan Cody – COMMUNICATION

Christine Andrews – MOVEMENT SCIENCE

Ruby Metz – BIOLOGY

Faculty Scholarship 2015:

Joseph A. Camilleri, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Psychology Department

Catherine E. Johnson, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Nursing and Allied Health

Shirley Acquah, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Communication Department

Heidi Bohler, Ed.D. – Assistant Professor, Movement Science, Sport and Leisure Studies Department, Physical Education Teacher Education Program

Sophia Sarigianides, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of English

Karen Works, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science

Christopher T. Gullen, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Communication Department

Megan S. Kennedy, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Education Department

Michael Filas, M.F.A., Ph.D. – Professor, English Department

Andrew W. Habana Hafner, Ed.D. and Floris Wilma Ortiz-Marrero, Ed.D. – Assistant Professors, Education Department.

Zachary Carlson

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:57:11 +0000

��ݮ��Ƶ History Professor Mara Dodge admits she was a bit dubious when her student Zachary Carlson wanted to write about the rise and fall of Fall River, Mass., spanning a 100-year period, all within a 30-page research paper. His idea was to compare the experience of Fall River’s textile fortunes with the four Massachusetts mill towns of Lowell, Lawrence, New Bedford and Holyoke, and she was concerned whether he could present the research in a concise and compelling way in that amount of space.

She needn’t have worried.

Not only did the junior history and political science double major receive an A+ on the paper, “he succeeded beyond all my expectations,” she said.

The research paper served as a launching pad of sorts for Carlson, who was invited by Dodge to revise his paper into a manuscript worthy of being submitted to an academic journal. This is only the second time she has asked an undergraduate student to take that extra step. In the spring semester, Carlson worked eight hours a week on his paper, which involved conducting lots of additional research, interviewing scholars and visiting the Fall River Public Library collections and other repositories.

Dodge also invited Carlson to serve as an intern this past spring for the Historical Journal of Massachusetts, a peer-reviewed journal published twice a year by ��ݮ��Ƶ State’s History Department.

Carlson chose the topic of his research paper because he has lived in Fall River most of his life and his ancestors worked in the textile industry there. The ancestors on his mother’s side of the family were unskilled workers who immigrated to Fall River from Ireland in the mid-1850s at a time when the city was��industrializing. His ancestors, including some on his father’s side of the family, worked as weavers, loom operators and as general laborers.

Through his research, Carlson concluded that “Ultimately the fall of the industry was connected to mill owners’ failure to capitalize on advancing technology, along with overproduction and competition from the south.”

“The history of Fall River, though mostly forgotten, is a proud history. The people of the city worked hard and turned their community into one of the world’s leading textile communities,” Carlson said. “This was built on the backs of the hardworking laborers, such as my ancestors. I feel great pride in that fact.”

Carlson presented his research, titled “Spindle City to Forgotten City, A Story of a Century, 1865-1965” at the 22^nd annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Massachusetts in April.

After graduating from ��ݮ��Ƶ State, Carlson plans to attend law school and ultimately teach at the collegiate level.

“The best part about attending ��ݮ��Ƶ is the fantastic faculty here has helped me��identify my passions and what I want to do with the rest of my life” Carlson said.

Meghan Tessitore

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:54:37 +0000

Only one year into her college experience as a criminal justice and sociology double major at ��ݮ��Ƶ, Meghan Tessitore already felt challenged in a good way. And enriched.

As an honors student in those majors, she has reaped the benefits of living in honors housing, being the first to register for classes, and enjoying smaller class sizes. Plus, she has the opportunity to learn from honors faculty like Gretchen Konrad, Vanessa Diana, and Glen Brewster.

“Being a part of the honors program has absolutely helped to enrich my college experience,” she said.

And there’s more.

During her first year, Tessitore got to expand on an assignment she wrote for her honors Introduction to Criminal Justice class. The result was a research project she chose to pursue on the many misconceptions about how addiction works and how it affects those with drug problems.

“After learning more about this topic my own opinions and assumptions about addiction have changed, and I decided that I want to use this new knowledge to help those who suffer from addiction,” she said.

The basis for her research was a book from her Criminal Justice class titled, “Chasing the Scream,” by Johann Hari. After each section of the book, students were asked to research a topic that interested them.

“I chose to research different studies conducted on addiction, specifically ones that offer new insights into how addiction really works,” she said. “My research focuses on how addiction is more psychological than physical.”

Vanessa Diana, English professor, who served as Tessitore’s project mentor, said her student researched social, legal, and biological perspectives on addiction, demonstrating that an interdisciplinary understanding of this complex problem is necessary to finding treatment solutions.

The opportunity to engage in a research project her freshman year added to her already top-notch experiences at ��ݮ��Ƶ. Tessitore presented her research at the 22^nd annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Massachusetts in April.

“Presenting their work in these professional venues gives students the opportunity to develop professional communication skills, to network, and to learn about the latest developments in their fields,” Diana said.

Even though she is early in her undergraduate studies, Tessitore is already looking beyond her ��ݮ��Ƶ State experience.

“I would love to have a career that involves reforming the drug laws that we currently have in place as well as helping with the recovery and rehabilitation of those who are addicted to drugs,” she said.

Keri Jung

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:52:40 +0000

The 2016 Eastern Colleges Science Conference, at which undergraduates from up to 30 colleges and universities present their research, turned out to be a pretty cool venue for ��ݮ��Ƶ senior biology major Keri Jung.

Not only did she present a poster on “Carbaryl Toxicity on C6 Astrocytes” at the April conference, she was one of a number of participants to win a poster award among 130 presenters.

What was so special about Jung’s research is that she took a topic and made it her own. Specifically, she is the first to characterize astrocyte cell death as a result of carbaryl exposure. For the uninformed, this is important stuff.

Her independent research project focuses on how pesticides, such as carbaryl, affect neuronal support cells called astrocytes. Jung was the one to come up with the idea to test pesticides, said Robin White, ��ݮ��Ƶ State assistant professor of biology. While carbaryl is found in a number of household products, it is also used by the food industry on fruits and vegetables.

In the lab, Jung introduced carbaryl to the astrocytes, and used a fluorescence microscope to confirm that the pesticide did indeed kill the astrocytes. The health of astrocytes is important because they play a key role in normal brain function, Jung noted.

“It is important to know how pesticides affect the brain so that proper food safety regulations can be put into place,” she said. “I have always been interested in how pesticides work, but more importantly, how can or do they affect other aspects.”

Jung, who has worked with White since the summer of 2014, has “really taken ownership of her work,” White said.

“She has learned and honed her technical skills, in addition to her ability to design experiments,” White said.

Jung presented her research at the 22^nd annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Massachusetts in April and the ��ݮ��Ƶ Celebration for Undergraduate Research and Creative Work in May.

After all of Jung’s classroom and research experience at ��ݮ��Ƶ, she has a couple of takeaways for future students. First, don’t feel overwhelmed or intimidated about conducting research because “all of the professors at ��ݮ��Ƶ are always willing to help and can tailor an independent research project based on your major and interests.”

And as important, independent research can help “make you a more competitive applicant when applying to graduate schools and other graduate programs,” Jung said.

Jung has her sights set on applying to veterinary college, all while she continues to work as an emergency/intensive care unit technician at a 24-hour animal hospital. She believes the research experience she gained in and out of the laboratory at ��ݮ��Ƶ State will give her an edge in the future.

“This experience has helped me not only gain laboratory setting experience, but also has helped me work on my public speaking skills,” Jung said. “Most importantly, it will make me a more competitive applicant when I apply to veterinary schools.”

James Scripter

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:50:06 +0000

Imagine as a senior in college you research heady stuff like determining how manipulation of specific proteins in neuronal support cells impacts their function.

Well that’s what ��ݮ��Ƶ biology major James Scripter got to study when he collaborated with Robin White, assistant professor of biology, in a spin-off of her doctoral work. White describes the research as “a very technically complex project.”

“James’s amazing laboratory skills have helped him be very successful.��In addition, he is incredibly knowledgeable about biology and asks great questions,” she said.

White’s research papers helped Scripter better understand the concept, which he admits took him quite a while to fully understand, as well as its importance. But once he grasped the meaning, Scripter was instantly hooked.

In his own words, this is how he explains the research: “In context, during development of the brain, migrating immature neurons rely on astrocyte precursor cells for guidance to their final destinations in the brain. These precursor cells, called radial glial cells, express high levels of a protein called brain lipid binding protein at the same time providing a scaffold for neurons to migrate across. In the structure of a neuron, there are axons and dendrites. Axons are the part of the neuron that passes the electrical signal to other neurons by chemical neurotransmitters. The dendrites are the opposite as they receive the signal from other neurons. In research, it is difficult to distinguish between an axon and a dendrite in a microscope, so we just call them neurites.”

Not surprisingly, Scripter never worked with neurons or astrocytes before this project, but he still found it appealing.

“The one thing that interested me the most is the fact that we were able to cause the neurites of neurons to grow longer by just adding a piece of DNA. That’s just unbelievable,” he said.

From Scripter’s results, he found a statistically significant increase in neurite length. That means in cases like spinal cord injuries, or neuronal diseases, the length of neurites help in the healing process to reclaim those previous connections.

Scripter presented his findings at the 22^nd annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Massachusetts in April and the ��ݮ��Ƶ State Research Conference in May.

“It is incredibly important for students to present their work at conferences.��Oftentimes, we focus on the lab work, but being able to present and share findings is an important part of the process,” White said. “The students get the opportunity to improve their presentation skills and learn about other areas of research.”

After graduation, Scripter planned to find an entry-level job as a laboratory technician—or even better—an entry-level microbiology lab technician, in order to gain more experience before he decides that’s the career for him. Ultimately, he hopes to apply to graduate-level studies in microbiology.

Alecka Camp

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 01:46:58 +0000

��ݮ��Ƶ junior Alecka Camp believes she is like a typical college student when it comes to relying on—but also complaining about—social media.

She notes that apps like Snapchat, Yik Yak and others can eat away at students’ free time.

“If so many of us complain about social media, then why do we keep using it day after day? Why not just stop��using it?” she wondered.

With a reliance on social media seemingly increasing, Camp, a psychology major with a minor in communications, started questioning if it’s taking a toll on their��experiences as students, or worse yet, harming their psychological well-being.

Camp took her curiosity to the next level and began investigating the impact of social media on college students. Initially using an online survey, she conducted a study that examines links between social networking sites and social media applications and well-being. Specifically, she looked into the effects of social media apps accessed through a smartphone.

Survey participants were undergraduates from a liberal arts state university who completed a self-report survey that covered questions about whether the amount of time spent on Mobile Social Media Applications (MSMAs) is linked with mood, burnout and well-being. Camp created the questionnaire on SurveyGizmo, an online survey software tool.

Assistant psychology professors Rebecca Burwell, PhD, and Summer Williams, PhD, worked with Camp on her research. Burwell praised her for bringing a level of autonomy to the project by setting up the online survey on her own.

“Alecka has been very passionate about the topic…and has brought enthusiasm, energy, and insight into the project, and commitment,” Burwell said. “And a keen desire to better understand connections between MSMA’s and student well-being.”

Williams added, “Alecka combined her interests in psychology and communications to develop her ideas for her current research. She has great curiosity about mobile device applications and their connection, if any, to student health-related outcomes.”

Having just finished data collection, Camp presented her findings to date as an e-poster at the 22^nd annual Massachusetts Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Massachusetts in April.

That opportunity boded well for Camp, who described herself as “very quiet and soft-spoken” when she first started at ��ݮ��Ƶ State. That in-the-background persona meant she would avoid class presentations and not raise her hand in class—even if she knew the answer. Acknowledging that she needed to work on a having a comfort level with public speaking, Camp now feels that the conference presentation will help prepare her for her career.

“Every time I am faced with a bigger and bigger crowd to present to, I get nervous��beyond belief, but I end up pulling��myself together,” she said. “I think that my poster��presentation at the conference, while one of the��scariest presentations I’ve come to yet, will��absolutely prepare me for years to come.”

Anthony Rascati

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 17:30:56 +0000

��ݮ��Ƶ senior Anthony Rascati remembers watching a news story a couple years ago on CNN about the rise of hydraulic fracturing in the U.S. Figuring it was a hot and controversial topic, Rascati did some initial research on his own and found that in 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey discovered potential oil reserves underneath ��ݮ��Ƶ.

From there he decided to research and write his senior honors thesis on the subject of “fracking,” a type of drilling that uses pressurized liquid to extract oil or gas. The project came under the direction of Economics and Business Management Professor Hillary Sackett, Ph.D., in the fall of 2014.

His research included conducting a survey of all faculty and staff at ��ݮ��Ƶ State on their opinions about hydraulic fracturing. His ultimate goal is to present to the ��ݮ��Ƶ City Council his findings that the majority of those surveyed do not support fracking, and to recommend the council pass an ordinance to ban any future attempts at the practice.

“I put two and two together that this was an interesting and relevant topic to study because it could have
a direct impact on the ��ݮ��Ƶ community,” said Rascati, 21, who is majoring in Criminal Justice and Economics. “I didn’t want to just write a large research paper, turn it in and walk away. I wanted it to have a lasting impact.”

Sackett believes that extra effort makes Rascati a standout student, and one who is a perfect candidate to take advantage of research opportunities for ��ݮ��Ƶ State undergraduates.

“Anthony sees something out in the real world and thinks how he can apply what he knows to solve this
and turn it into an action,” Sackett said. “He’s thinking long term and outside of himself and the goals of this single thesis project.”

His research was presented in April at the Northeast Regional Honors Conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He is also waiting to hear if his abstract on the topic will be accepted for presentation at the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association meeting in June in Newport, R.I.

As an undergraduate, Rascati is grateful that ��ݮ��Ƶ State provides such research opportunities, noting there’s a “common misconception that large research projects only take place in graduate school.”

For Sackett, engaging undergraduates in research should be a part of their experience.

“It’s all about being able to have students come up with the question they want answered and train in methodology of the disciplines and be able to present and communicate this to a wide variety of people,” she said. “That is so core to ��ݮ��Ƶ’s mission of a quality education.”

Hillary Sackett, Ph.D.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT

��ݮ��Ƶ professor of economics, Hillary Sackett, Ph.D., has many interests in her writing and research, including ecology, food and farming systems.

After earning her doctoral degree in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Resource Economics with a concentration in environmental and natural resource at Michigan State University, Sackett has conducted research and teaches on environmental and experimental economics.

Sackett has given talks on sustainable farming and the future of sustainable food labels. Based on recent travels, Sackett also lectures and writes about the sustainability changes facing China. In spring 2015, she will offer a study abroad course in China.

She is an advocate of undergraduate research opportunities at ��ݮ��Ƶ.

“I would urge students looking at public institutions in Massachusetts to consider ��ݮ��Ƶ because we are so dedicated to the teaching mission that undergraduate research is a really natural component of that,” she said.

Anthony Rascati ’15
ECONOMICS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Anthony Rascati likes the cozy setting of ��ݮ��Ƶ State where students aren’t treated like a number.

“I feel I can approach any professor at any time with questions. My professors all know me by first name,” said the Criminal Justice and Economics major.
“At ��ݮ��Ƶ, I don’t feel overwhelmed like you might at a larger school.”

Besides taking classes and working on research projects, Rascati interned at the ��ݮ��Ƶ City Hall Law Department in the spring of 2014. His responsibilities included conducting research and summarizing general laws for the city’s attorneys.

That experience, coupled with his research projects in economics, has laid the foundation for him to attend law school after graduation. Currently, he is considering several law schools, including Michigan State University and Villanova University.

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Christine Andrews

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 16:30:48 +0000

As a ��ݮ��Ƶ junior, Christine Andrews attended her first-ever national conference in Orlando to present her research findings on the relationship between academic and exercise motivation in kinesiology undergraduates. She likened the experience at the meeting to “being a kid in candy store.”

“There is no other way to describe it. I found it amazing as
an undergraduate to come from ��ݮ��Ƶ State and go to a conference with all these other schools from across the nation,” said the 22-year-old senior. “We were able to communicate and network with other students and professors and learn about new technology.”

Andrews will have another opportunity to showcase new research when she once again attends the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting, this time in San Diego in May. The Movement Science major will present a poster on her findings on adherence to a strength-building program stemming from her senior seminar in exercise science with Melissa Roti, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the ��ݮ��Ƶ State Exercise Science Program.

“We worked hard over the years to give our students opportunities to maximize their professional readiness for graduate school or a job working in their field,” Roti said. “I never had these options when I was an undergraduate. Students get a lot more out of these hands-on experiences.”

Andrews’ research project had her developing a one-on-one exercise program for Claudia Moore- O’Brien, assistant director of marketing at ��ݮ��Ƶ State, as part of Roti’s senior seminar on the topic “Community Fitness Partners Program.” The goal of the project was to work with Moore-O’Brien over an eight-week period so that she not only learned exercises that would strengthen her upper body, but also how to increase her self-confidence in order to stick with a program. Moore-O’Brien, who suffers from polio, has partial paralysis in her right leg and full paralysis in her left leg.

At times, the project called on Andrews to be creative in working with her subject. Besides having Moore-O’Brien work with weights, Andrews came up with a new way to improve her shoulder’s range of motion by hitting balloons back and forth to each other—an effective alternative to traditional exercise routines.

Samantha Corcoran, a senior in exercise science, is Andrews’ co-author on the abstract and poster that will be presented at ACSM.

Andrews credits her experiences in a pre-practicum last year at a local YMCA and the knowledge gained in sports psychology and other classes at ��ݮ��Ƶ State with her successes related to the ACSM conferences.

After graduating in May, Andrews plans to attend graduate school to study athletic management or nutrition, goals that were formulated by her undergraduate research and presentation experiences.

“It really says a lot about ��ݮ��Ƶ and how much the school wants to help students succeed. We are all working hard and our success is also about how much we put into the school and what we get out of it.”

Professor Melissa Roti
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MOVEMENT SCIENCE

When Melissa Roti, Ph.D., is not teaching exercise science or concepts of nutrition classes at ��ݮ��Ƶ, she relishes her involvement as president-elect of the New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.

That’s because she finds her participation in the organization is a benefit to her professional career as well as those of her students.
“I try and impart that involvement on my students as a resource for them to connect professionally,” said Roti, who has taught at ��ݮ��Ƶ State since 2003. “I have found many mentors through my association with ACSM.”

Roti is co-director of the Exercise Science program.

Christine Andrews ’15
MOVEMENT SCIENCE

Now in her fourth year at ��ݮ��Ƶ State, Christine Andrews fondly recalls the benefits of attending a small, affordable school.

“I like that you can walk across campus and no matter who you are you are going to find one person you know. It’s a nice, close-knit community,” said Andrews.

As she prepares to graduate in May, Andrews is currently in a four-credit, 20-hour-a-week internship at a personal training gym in Lexington. She is observing trainers and assisting clients one-on-one with exercise programs.

That experience dovetails nicely with the multiple classes she has taken under her Movement Science major and research projects that allowed her to present her findings twice at a national conference.

Andrews is considering graduate school in athletic management or nutrition—two areas that would fuel her passion in culinary arts and exercise science.

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Ruby Metz

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 16:30:04 +0000

Imagine using a small pair of tweezers to open up a tiny bag of potato chips while observing them under a microscope. That is how ��ݮ��Ƶ senior biology major Ruby Metz described aspects of her research that included accessing the embryos of zebrafish, which she conducted in the summer of 2014 at a laboratory at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Under the guidance of her ��ݮ��Ƶ State biology professor, Kelly Anne McKeown, Ph.D., Metz spent five weeks in a paid internship learning various research techniques on the zebrafish. The research was conducted on behalf of Gerald B. Downes, UMass biology professor, and McKeown’s one-time mentor during her doctoral work at UMass.

For Metz, 21, the opportunity to conduct research in addition to her classroom learning was a bonus to her undergraduate studies.

“It was excellent hands-on experience. These are the kinds of skills that will help build a quality resume,” Metz said. “This research allowed me to apply skills that I had learned about in my classes.”

Part of Metz’s research called for investigating the nervous system of the zebrafish to find what are known as neurotransmitters, called Gamma Aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. GABA is found in both humans and zebrafish.

In her five years at ��ݮ��Ƶ State, professor McKeown recognized that students needed basic laboratory skills in order to land jobs or be successful in graduate school after earning their undergraduate degree. During that time she designed a new course called Molecular Biology Techniques to help make students more marketable.

“It’s amazing that ��ݮ��Ƶ, being a liberal arts college, can provide these kinds of opportunities in the sciences. The university finds research important enough for undergraduates that they provide funding for them,” Metz said. “��ݮ��Ƶ is pretty dedicated to providing learning opportunities for students on campus and off.”

In addition, McKeown applied for and received a grant through ��ݮ��Ƶ State and the state to fund the research work at Downes’ laboratory.

“Through this work the students are learning all these different techniques that would be used no matter which research area they went into in the molecular cellular field,” she said.

Metz had the opportunity to present her findings on the zebrafish research at the Undergraduate Research Conference at UMass in April.

McKeown believes that besides the techniques they learn in the laboratory, undergraduate students could discover early on whether research and graduate school make sense for their future.

“If the students are at least thinking about grad school then this kind of research allows them a peek in the door,” she said.

Kelly Anne McKeown
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Kelly Anne McKeown, Ph.D., has been teaching anatomy and physiology as well as developmental and molecular biology at ��ݮ��Ƶ since 2010.

She got her higher education start in the sciences at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and physiology. Eventually, she earned a doctorate in molecular and cellular biology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

That is where her laboratory work with zebrafish, a freshwater fish, flourished and continues today. She
has used her connection with her former doctoral advisor at the University of Massachusetts to provide opportunities for her undergraduate students to conduct experiments on the zebrafish and learn laboratory techniques at that school’s labs.

Ruby Metz ’15
BIOLOGY

Ruby Metz just loves biology and learning of all kinds—a perfect combination for her experiences at ��ݮ��Ƶ.

The senior biology major made the most of her classes and relationships with faculty as she will soon embark on life after ��ݮ��Ƶ State.

“��ݮ��Ƶ has amazing faculty and staff who really care about students and their progress,” she said. “I was lucky to have the experiences I did and to find a close-knit, friendly community.”

Immediately after graduating, she plans to conduct online research for a company in Worcester that develops nutritional ingredients for supplement and personal care products. She is also interested in attending graduate school to earn her physician assistant degree. To prepare for that next phase of her career, Metz is looking into volunteering at a hospital to gain patient care hours.

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Robert Haluska

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2016 15:30:17 +0000

Biology Professor Robin E. White, Ph.D., tapped Robert Haluska at the end of his freshman year to work with her on an independent study research project looking at the effects of high-fat diets on alternative energy sources of the brain.

White felt Haluska was exactly the kind of exceptional student that could benefit from the university’s mission of providing research and other opportunities to undergraduates that might normally only be reserved for graduate students.

“He is hardworking and incredibly dedicated. One of the most important aspects of what I look for in a research student is not only that they are smart, but they really care about their project,” she said. “Showing up consistently and keeping up a high morale of research is really important and something that Rob has absolutely done.”

Still two years away from graduating with a degree in biology, Haluska’s resume so far could be mistaken for a more educationally experienced senior. Under the guidance of White, Haluska, 20, presented his research on how ketone bodies, energy sources from fat (rather than carbohydrates), affect the health of neuronal support cells called astrocytes, at the national Experimental Biology Conference in Boston in April.

For Haluska, getting to share his research with other students in the field of biology, especially at such a young age, will benefit him after college. “This opportunity means a lot to me. It will help with my resume and to get into a good graduate school to further my career in biology,” he said. “I want to apply what I am learning now for a job or graduate school.” Haluska learned about the university’s encouragement of undergraduates getting involved in research projects when he first toured the campus.

“That was a kicker for me to go here,” he said.

As a fairly new faculty member, White came to ��ݮ��Ƶ State because all of her attention could go to training undergraduates. As a mentor and an educator, supervising undergraduates who have the opportunity to showcase their research is a bright spot in her teachings.

“It’s incredibly exciting at this stage in my career to have trained a student and see him explain our work and watch him take charge and take ownership of it,” she said. “It’s really fun for me to know he understands the work and is invested in it.”

Robert Haluska ’17

BIOLOGY

As a middle school student, Robert Haluska discovered his interest in science. While other kids at the time were focusing on the educational basics, the future ��ݮ��Ƶ biology major saw his curiosity about astrology eventually narrow to biology and cells.

Now as a ��ݮ��Ƶ State sophomore, Haluska is making the most of the school’s opportunities for undergraduates for advancement in the sciences. Today he enjoys learning about cellular level biology. “��ݮ��Ƶ is small and cost-effective and degrees do matter here. I am looking for experiences where I can later apply my degree,” he said.

After graduation, Haluska is considering graduate school in the fields of genetics or medical research, or possibly an internship at a pharmaceutical company.

Robin E. White, Ph.D.,
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT

In 2013, Robin E. White, Ph.D., joined the ��ݮ��Ƶ biology faculty where she brings her passion for research in that field.

As a neuroscientist, White welcomes the opportunity to get students interested in research in topics that include how the nervous system functions generally and after events that involve trauma or disease. She imparts to students both historical research in biology and topics on the cutting-edge of the field.

Her current teaching courses include human biology and organismal neurobiology. Having the type of environment at ��ݮ��Ƶ State where the focus is on undergraduate students’ experiences in research lends itself to “more independence and a lot more knowledge about what they’re actually learning,” she said.

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