Daniel Montoya is a senior pursuing his bachelor’s of social work at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in the city of Azusa, California. Montoya is currently the Vice President of the Latin American Student Association, an ethnic organization at Azusa Pacific University that offers a forum for fellowship, education, and dialogue to encourage the appreciation of cultural diversity. He is currently an intern serving individuals living with chronic homelessness and severe mental illness. Montoya also provides mentorship as a TRiO: Upward Bound Academy leader to first-generation high school students surrounding professional development, academic success, and emotional wellness. A proud Azusa native, Montoya takes pride in his community and has a passion for serving his local school district demonstrated through his mentorship opportunities and previous tutoring experience through the AVID program. Following the completion of his BSW, his goal is to further his education and pursue a master’s of social work. 

Research focus: Daniel is researching chronic homelessness among families with young children in Los Angeles County, California. His research will examine the effectiveness of the supportive housing model and will make recommendations for how government and civil society institutions can best promote stability and flourishing for families as they transition out of homelessness. 

While many choose to turn a blind eye to the growing homeless crisis in the greater Los Angeles area, Montoya decided to use his college education to make a difference. He was recently awarded the Hatfield Prize by the Center for Public Justice (CPJ) to conduct research on the reintegration of families who have experienced chronic homelessness and are living or have lived under the permanent supportive housing model. Montoya will receive a $5,000 grant to fund his research under the guidance of faculty advisor Anupama Jacob, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Social Work. Findings from their semester-long research project will publish in a public policy report by the CPJ. Montoya and Jacob are the first social work team from APU to receive the Hatfield Prize.

“I am blessed with the opportunity to conduct research and develop a report that will positively impact social policy in support of chronically homeless families,” Montoya said. “As a first-generation college student, APU has given me the chance to make a difference within my community while developing research skills.”

Within his field internship as a social work major, Montoya gained valuable experience working with homeless individuals, many affected with mental illness. While working with clients in the field, he learned more about the supportive housing model – affordable, subsidized housing that provides on-site services to promote stability, dignity, and long-term independence. The services are designed to build tenancy skills and connect people with community-based health care, treatment, and employment services.

“I want to help change the perceptions and attitudes of society toward the homeless. Every individual experiencing hardship has their own unique story, and the Lord has given them the right to change the course of their lives,” Montoya said. “With the increase of our homeless population within the city of Azusa from 23 in 2015 to 321 in 2019, I hope that my research sets the stage for how our community can begin addressing chronic homelessness.”

The prize is annually awarded to three faculty-student dyads from Council of Christian Colleges & Universities schools. Recipients conduct research on social policy that impacts the well-being of children, families, and communities while integrating their faith to the issue they choose to study. “I’m excited for what this prize means for Danny and our social work program,” Jacob said. “Our students are doing extensive social impact research in their classes, which is rare for undergraduate students. This award shows the high level of research we’re conducting within the program.”

Text courtesy of Anupama Jacob. Please visit https://www.apu.edu/media/news/release/27249/ to view the original article.

Alyssa Bley may not be your typical scientist. But what is a typical scientist?

“I feel a little insecure at times about science,” Bley said.

And yet, Bley, a Talawanda graduate, came one step closer to achieving her dream of a career as a scientist when she was awarded a Miami University Undergraduate Summer Scholarship in 2019. She conducted research in David Berg’s Aquatic Biodiversity and Conservation Laboratory, which brought opportunities beyond what she could have imagined.

Although Bley always had a love for science and animals, her academic journey started at Butler Tech in the School of the Arts where she pursued Theatre during her junior and senior years of high school. When it was time for her to start thinking about going to college, she turned her focus to science, as a biology major.

She hasn’t looked back since, but the path has not been easy

During the second semester of her first year of college, Bley found out she was pregnant with her son. She finished out the semester and decided to take the following semester off.

“The flexibility of the Regionals helped a lot,” Bley said.”Being able to do online classes helped me get back into the routine of going to school.”

After taking invertebrate zoology with Berg, Bley began working in the ABC Lab and Berg encouraged her to apply for a USS. The highly competitive awards are given to a select group of Miami students based on the quality of their research proposals. 

With the assistance of doctoral student Steven Hein, she identified a research topic: determining multiple paternity (the number of males contributing sperm) in broods carried by female mussels. The subject of interest was the Texas hornshell, an endangered species found in the Rio Grande and its tributaries in New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico.

Male mussels release aggregations of sperm cells into the water, which are filtered by a female and fertilize egg cells to create larval mussels. The larvae are then brooded by the females for several weeks before attaching to fish hosts, where they develop into juveniles before detaching and settling in river sediments to grow to adult size and reproduce. 

Research journey takes her to New Mexico

For 20 years, Berg and students in the ABC Lab have collaborated with scientists from the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish to conduct research focused on conservation of the Texas hornshell and other invertebrate species. 

As part of her nine-week summer research experience, Bley spent two weeks working in southeastern New Mexico, where she gathered adult and larval samples from the Black River. The rest of her summer was spent utilizing molecular genetic tools in the lab to extract DNA and determine the number of males that fertilized the offspring of individual female mussels. 

After completing the research, which is scheduled to continue through the spring of 2020, Bley plans to present it at Miami’s Undergraduate Research Forum and at a national conference. She will then submit a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

The USS opportunity will have taken her through the whole research process: selecting a topic; writing a proposal to fund the research; collaborating with faculty, graduate students and other undergraduates to conduct the research and analyze the data and submitting her results for peer-review, all steps required of a scientist. 

“Miami Regionals faculty collaborate with students in disciplinary research in order to provide students the opportunity to develop as scholars in the natural or social sciences, the humanities, fine arts, education or business,” Berg said. “With the USS, Alyssa and other Regionals students have been able to experience the thrill of discovering new knowledge as part of their Miami education.” 

Bley, who plans to head to graduate school and study biology or ecology, encourages girls who have a passion for STEM to “just do it.” Find your passion and work toward your dream; you never know where it will take you.

by Emma Price, student communications specialist, Miami Regionals

Please visit https://www.miamioh.edu/news/campus-news/2020/01/alyssa-bley.html to​ view the original article.

Katrina Lyon thought she might end up just cleaning test tubes when she signed up as an undergraduate to work in a scientific research lab at Montana State University.

Instead, she’s been working on real research to find out if black raspberries can help fight stomach cancer.

While two lines of experimentation haven’t shown benefit so far, Lyon said, a third did show promise that black raspberry extract can greatly reduce microbes that cause gastric cancer.

“It’s pretty great,” said Lyon, a 23-year-old senior from Illinois. Now, instead of her original goal of medical school, she wants to earn a Ph.D. so she can teach and keep doing research.

“I do love research,” she said Friday. “It’s inspiring. There’s a worldwide team of talented researchers working to end human suffering.”

Lyon is one of eight talented MSU undergraduates whose research work was showcased this past January at the Museum of the Rockies. MSU hosted its first “8×8 Student Innovation Road Show” on Jan. 30 at the Museum of the Rockies. 

Each student spoke for eight minutes to explain their work and what they’re discovering. The event is patterned after MSU’s 10×10 Innovation Road Shows that feature faculty members talking about their research and creative projects.

MSU prides itself as a leader in getting undergraduates opportunities to learn, not just passively from textbooks and lectures, but actively though doing hands-on research.

The Bozeman campus is ramping up to host the 2020 National Conference on Undergraduate Research this spring. It is expected to bring 4,000 students and faculty mentors to MSU March 26 to 28 to share and promote undergraduate research.

Lyon never planned to try research, assuming it was only for super, A-plus students.

“I never saw myself in a lab coat,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh no, they won’t want me.’”

But her adviser urged her to try, and she spotted a poster about professor Diane Bimczok’s research using “organoids,” three-dimensional cell cultures created in glass lab dishes to mimic human lungs, hearts or stomach tissue.

“I thought it was the coolest thing,” Lyon said. She emailed the professor asking for the chance to work in her lab and was accepted. For more than a year Lyon has been working with organoids to test the effects of berry extracts on pre-cancerous cells.

Lyon is so excited about it, she’ll sometimes go back to do more in the lab after working past midnight at Rosauers Supermarket, where she has a full-time job as a floor manager.

The difference between learning through research and textbooks, Lyon said, is that sometimes a student can be “book smart” but when they try research and lab results don’t turn out as expected, they feel they’ve failed.

“With research, you have to see it as ‘This didn’t work, but something else might,’” she said.

Also speaking at the museum event will be Lilianna Bento, 21, who grew up on a California dairy farm and is pursuing two degrees in crop science and sustainable food & bioenergy systems crop production.

Bento said she has been working to discover the source of herbicide contamination in organic grains. When glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, turns up in organic crops, it’s a big problem because that crop can no longer be sold as organic at a premium price, she said.

The lab she’s working in has been trying to determine whether contamination comes from herbicide drifting from a neighboring farmer’s field, or from rain and snow, or happens during shipping. So far, Bento said, they’ve been able to rule out shipping.

Bento said she may want to go into the field of weed ecology and herbicide resistance after graduation. “It’s nice to have some research experience,” she said, “before you go out and find a job.”

Natalie Sturm will give her eight-minute talk about research at the Food and Health Lab. Sturm has been working on growing food that is so full of nutrients that it can improve people’s health. She has been growing spinach under different conditions to find differences in nutritional quality.

“Research has played an immensely powerful and positive role in my undergraduate education,” Sturm wrote in an email. It has given her real world context for what she learns in class and made her a better problem solver and thinker.

“Undergraduate research has given me more opportunities, both during my time at MSU and into the future,” she said, “than I ever could have imagined.”

Other students presenting at the museum event will be Keith Fuge, Brianna Bull Shows, Miles Maxcer, Brenden Pelkie and Rachel Dunlap.

By Gail Schontzler 

Please visit https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/research-opens-doors-for-msu-undergraduates​/article_7cc8e79b-ff26-5c6b-be10-3c1d0fe167f4.html to view the original article. 

Most college students have apps on their phones. You might see Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok on a typical student’s phone. Three biology sophomores at Delaware Valley University are using something a little different. They’re sharing plant science data with a global network of scientists using an app.

In Student Research, a course offered through the University’s Experience360 Program, students are collecting data on plants using a small, handheld device that connects to an app on their phones. PhotosynQ, the app they’re using, immediately uploads their data to share with users all over the world. 

Researchers, educators, farmers and citizen scientists use PhotosynQ to collect photosynthesis-related data using a small handheld device that connects to the mobile and desktop apps. The PhotosynQ online platform allows over 4,900 users in 25 countries to share and discuss data. Using this wireless technology, plants can be studied in the field, non-invasively, and the information can be used to identify genotypes of interest.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of sugars. In the process, water and carbon dioxide are taken in and oxygen is released.

Students in the Student Research course work on independent research under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The semester-long course allows undergraduate students to get a taste for independent research. The course is used to prepare students for graduate-level research and their careers. Students choose topics that are of interest to them to pursue for a whole semester. Dr. Cynthia Keler, a professor of biology, coordinates Student Research, which brought together 20 students and their advisors this semester.

Dr. Elizabeth Skendzic, an associate professor of biology, is advising the students who are using PhotosynQ. Two of the students in the course, Ashlynn Masters ’22 and Brandon James ’22, studied three different pathways for photosynthesis (C₃,C₄ and CAM).

They measured plants to see what time of day photosynthesis activity was highest for the different types. Through the project, they learned about why certain plants respond better to dry and hot conditions. 

“I think it’s important that we are getting to do hands-on research instead of just reading a book,” said Masters, who wants to be a biologist. “This project opens the door for many research projects I could do in the future.”

James enjoyed being able to see the variety of projects people were doing around the world using PhotosynQ. 

“PhotosynQ allows you to look at all the different projects that are using the device worldwide,” said James. “This project allowed me to learn about plants and photosynthesis in a way that I wouldn’t be able to in class.”

After DelVal, James plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in research. 

“The Experience360 Program allows you to develop skills as an individual that you wouldn’t get to practice in a whole class of people,” said James. 

Colton Nester ’22 worked with hydroponic lettuce to find out if photosynthesis continues once the lettuce is harvested, packed and refrigerated. 

Nester said he enjoyed doing a project instead of just reading a textbook. 

“This project will help me build research skills as an undergraduate,” said Nester.

Being able to run research projects in the greenhouse is helping to get the students excited about research and is providing valuable experience for their futures. At the end of the semester, students present their research to the University and community guests. 

Student Research is one of the activities students have to choose from to fulfill their experiential-learning requirements. To graduate, students are required to complete and, reflect on multiple experiential-learning activities. Required activities are tailored based on the student’s major and desired career path. While junior and senior students often conduct research, the participation of freshmen and sophomores is on the rise.

The Student Research course is supported through the generous contributions of Bristol-Myers Squibb. Grant funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb allows students to do higher-level work by covering the costs of the equipment and supplies required for their individual projects. 

Text courtesy of Delaware Valley University

Please visit https://www.delval.edu/news/students-use-a-mobile-app-for-undergraduate-research to view the original article.