5Q – Page 5 – The Gatton Academy News

[New Year, New Staff] Meet Residential Counselor Laura Huff

September 1, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Staff, Student Life | No Comments

With the start of a new year at the Gatton Academy comes several new personalities to the staff. We are excited about these passionate and dedicated individuals who have joined our team. They come to us from different parts of the country with a host of varied experiences. Over the last few weeks, the staff has had a chance to get to know each other. It’s now your chance to meet the new faces behind the Academy. Each day this week, we’ll profile a new staff member.

Academy Avatars sat down with each new staff member to post ten questions in hopes of getting to know them better. Avatars came up with five questions that we asked each person. Each Avatar also posed five unique questions of their own choosing to ask as well.

Up next is Residential Counselor Laura Huff.

Interview by Sydney Combs, Academy Avatar

1. Why did you decide to join the Gatton Academy staff?

I had been part of the Gatton Academy staff for two years as a night clerk before applying for a residential counselor position. I decided to go for the position because I wanted to stay with the Academy after graduating college. I love working here and love the atmosphere. It seemed like the perfect fit for me.

2. Where did you attend college and what subjects did you study?

I attended Western Kentucky University and studied English with a concentration in creative writing. I did droadcasting as a minor and did most of the Asian Studies courses as well as studied Japanese for the last three years of my college education.

3. What are you looking forward to the most about the coming school year?

I’m looking forward to getting started and getting into a routine first of all. I’m also looking forward to getting to know not only the girls on my floor but the other students as well.

4. What do you think makes the Gatton Academy a unique educational experience?

There is no other high school in Kentucky like Gatton Academy. It’s a place where students from all sorts of different places, backgrounds, and cultures can come together and work toward their dreams. They learn more about the world, especially being on a college campus, where the atmosphere is entirely different.

5. What contributions do you hope to make to life at the Gatton Academy?

I hope to bring together people from different groups and different floors and to introduce some new things to the students that they may not have otherwise tried.

6. Do you have any unique hobbies?

I watch a LOT of Japanese dramas. In the past three years, I’ve seen over 250. They’re just so addicting and so many new ones keep coming out.

7. If you had a couple of hours to waste in an airport, what would you be doing?

Since I rarely travel, airports are a novelty for me. Whenever I do somehow get to be in an airport, I love just walking around looking at the stores and the strangely expensive things they sell there. It fascinates me that you can buy so much stuff in an airport.

8. What clubs are you interested in starting or sponsoring this year?

I think I’m going to be the Japanese Culture Club sponsor this year, but other than that, I’m free. If anyone has a club for which they need a sponsor, then come see me.

9. Why did you choose to major in your field?

I chose Creative Writing because I got to write. Writing stories is something I’ve done since childhood when I learned how to write, and it was all I had ever wanted to do up until I got in college. Things have changed a bit, but I still love writing and loved being able to just sit in class and write a random story.

10. In a fierce battle, who would win: Unicorns or Zombies, and why?

Hmm…unicorns have the advantage of being alive and faster, but zombies are already dead and develop superhuman strength to rip things apart once they are undead. Definitely zombies that would rip apart the unicorns.

By Corey Alderdice

[New Year, New Staff] Meet Residential Counselor Ian Oliver

August 31, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Staff, Student Life | No Comments

With the start of a new year at the Gatton Academy comes several new personalities to the staff. We are excited about these passionate and dedicated individuals who have joined our team. They come to us from different parts of the country with a host of varied experiences. Over the last few weeks, the staff has had a chance to get to know each other. It’s now your chance to meet the new faces behind the Academy. Each day this week, we’ll profile a new staff member.

Academy Avatars sat down with each new staff member to post ten questions in hopes of getting to know them better. Avatars came up with five questions that we asked each person. Each Avatar also posed five unique questions of their own choosing to ask as well.

Up first is Residential Counselor Ian Oliver.

Interview by Brandon Kerr, Academy Avatar

1) Why did you decide to join the Gatton Academy staff?

I knew coming out of college I wanted to work with students in a college environment. Having attended a residential high school for gifted children myself, the Gatton Academy seemed a natural fit.

2) Where did you attend college and what subjects did you study?

I attended college at Clemson University (in South Carolina) and studied Physics and Astronomy.

3) What are you looking forward to the most about the coming school year?

I’m looking forward to getting to know the students and see what you do with the opportunity you’ve been presented. I’ve heard and read a lot of amazing things students have done in the past or are working on now.

4) What do you think makes the Gatton Academy a unique educational experience?

I don’t know of any other school that provides so much support and autonomy in allowing students to pursue their academic interests.

5) What contributions do you hope to make to life at the Gatton Academy?

I’d like to be a valuable resource for the students, and maybe share some outside experience.

6) What’s your favorite type of foreign food?

Burritos. Burritos count as foreign right?

7) If you could travel to any country, where would you go, and why?

England. A lifetime of English sentiment means traveling to England always feels like coming home.

8) How did you first find out about the Academy?

Representatives from the academy were at a residential life conference I attended.

9) What is your favorite TV show/movie?

I’m not much of a TV/Movie guy, but probably The Daily Show for TV and Grave of the Fireflies for movie.

10) If you could have any animal as a pet, which would it be, and why?

I was asked this the other day in an icebreaker and answered “Goliath Frog,” but honestly I think I dog is pretty hard to beat.

By Corey Alderdice

[New Year, New Staff] Meet Study Skills Coordinator Keely P’Pool

August 30, 2010 | 5Q, Academics, News, People, Staff, Student Life | No Comments

With the start of a new year at the Gatton Academy comes several new personalities to the staff. We are excited about these passionate and dedicated individuals who have joined our team. They come to us from different parts of the country with a host of varied experiences. Over the last few weeks, the staff has had a chance to get to know each other. It’s now your chance to meet the new faces behind the Academy. Each day this week, we’ll profile a new staff member.

Academy Avatars sat down with each new staff member to post ten questions in hopes of getting to know them better. Avatars came up with five questions that we asked each person. Each Avatar also posed five unique questions of their own choosing to ask as well.

Up next is Study Skills Coordinator Keely P’Pool.

Interview by Krysta Waldrop, Academy Avatar

1. Why did you decide to join the Gatton Academy staff?

I am very excited to be a member of the Gatton Academy staff this year, and I am looking forward to working with and interacting with all the students. I am a firm believer in gifted education and feel that gifted students should be given academic opportunities that will challenge them and enable them to maximize their potential. Knowing these values are incorporated into the mission of the Gatton Academy made me want to become a staff member so that I can contribute my knowledge and expertise in hopes of helping every student at the Gatton Academy be successful.

2. Where did you attend college and what subjects did you study?

I am actually an alumnus of Western Kentucky University. I have a variety of degrees from this university and am also currently working on my second Masters degree from Western. I graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Criminology. I also have my Master’s degree in Elementary & Gifted Education from WKU. I am currently finishing up my Specialist degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education, and I am starting work on my second Master’s this fall in Library Media Education.

3. What are you looking forward to the most about the coming school year?

One of the main components I have missed most from my teaching career is interacting and working with students. I enjoy collaborating with students and watching them learn and be successful. I also enjoy learning about my students and forming positive academic relationships with them. Last year I worked at The Center for Gifted Studies and missed the interaction with students. So, now that I am at the Gatton Academy I am excited to once again work with students and do what I can to ensure that they will be successful.

4. What do you think makes the Gatton Academy a unique educational experience?

I think the main thing that makes the Gatton Academy a unique educational experience is that it allows gifted students from all across the state to interact and learn from each other in an environment that is extremely beneficial for them. It’s a completely different learning experience when you come from a classroom where you are the only gifted student to an environment where every student around you is gifted. The Gatton Academy experience allows gifted students to form a camaraderie among themselves because they understand each other. The educational experience is so much better when you share it with people who enjoy learning as much as you do, and that is the atmosphere that the Gatton Academy provides.

5. What contributions do you hope to make to life at the Gatton Academy?

I hope to make many positive contributions to life at the Gatton Academy. Among these contributions I hope to bring a supportive environment for all of the students I will be working with during the study hours. I also hope to show the students that I truly care about them and their academic success by making myself available as much as possible to meet their academic needs, whether it be proofreading a research paper, helping students review for an exam, or scheduling tutors for students who need some extra help in their classes.

6. Have you often worked with young adults in past jobs? (Also, if yes, what/who inspired you to work with people in that age group?

I taught fourth grade for two years at Oakland Elementary here in Bowling Green, even though those students are a little bit younger than the “young adult” category. I also taught a class at SCATS last summer called Nazi Germany & the Holocaust, which I taught to gifted middle school students. As far as my fourth graders, I have always wanted to teach and work with students, so I truly enjoyed working with students at that age especially when I was able to teach them content where they had to think critically about their problem solving. Concerning the SCATS students, I attended both SCATS and VAMPY when I was younger and knew that I wanted to teach a class at SCATS at some point. Nazi Germany and the Holocaust is a topic of interest for me, and I have traveled to some of the concentration camps in Europe. It was great to teach a topic to students who were interested and wanted to learn about a subject matter that I am passionate about.

7. Do you have any advice to give to the students that would have helped you at our age?

My advice for students would be to experience as much as you can (traveling, meeting new people, taking interesting classes, etc.) whenever you can because life is too short not to enjoy every moment. As far as academics, my advice would be to work hard and stay focused, even though there will be times when all you want to do is watch TV, relax, and hang out with friends. Hard work does pay off in the end, and it is totally worth it to do well the first time and enjoy your accomplishments.

8. What was your favorite subject in high school?

My favorite subjects in high school were history (because I had an AMAZING AP History teacher) and math (I took AP Calculus my senior year).

9. What has been the most memorable place to which you have traveled?

This is a really hard question because I am an avid traveler. I have been to 48 states (still need to go to Alaska and Hawaii) and 18 countries. If I had to choose I would say the most memorable place I have been to would be a tie between Ireland, Italy (Venice), Australia, and France (Paris).

10. Is there anything else about you that you would like the staff, students, or parents to know?

I would like everyone to know that my main goal is for every student at the Gatton Academy to be successful. I am available and willing to help the students in any way that I can and am more than willing to meet with students whenever they need me. Some interesting facts I guess would be that I am from a military family, I love to travel (which is obvious from the answer I gave in the above question), and I used to train horses when I was younger.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Michael Phillips Develops Code for WKU Chemistry Research

August 12, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments

Michael Phillips (Marshall, ’11) is spending two months of his summer working full-time on a research project in the WKU Department of Chemistry under the direction of Dr. Matthew Nee.

Phillips has worked independently to code and test a computational kinetic model of reactions that occur when light hits snow and tracking the associated compounds. Through this project, Phillips has helped set up future experiments in Dr. Nee’s lab while gaining an enriched programming acumen, and learning lessons about chemical kinetics and modeling. Along with this project, Phillips has also been assisting a graduate student in building a temperature-controlled infrared sample cell.

Phillips is one of eleven students from the Gatton Academy’s class of 2011 who received a Research Internship Grant from the Academy for this summer. The Research Internship Grants are available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students during summer research experiences.

Recently, we caught up with Phillips in his Snell Hall lab to get a picture and see how his summer research was going:

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

I’m collaborating with Dr. Nee on a project in which we are studying the chemical reactions that occur when light hits snow. Specifically, I am programming a kinetic model that shows the approximate concentration of each molecule at any given time. This program will be a very good gauge to use during lab work to determine if the kinetic model is accurate.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

The part that I am enjoying the most about this summer experience is getting to see some of the highly mathematical and computational portions of chemistry.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

Most of my friends are staying home this summer. They are going to the drive-in, hanging out, and just having fun. Others are going to GSP and beginning to understand the college experience. I have already had a taste of the college experience and am now going on to experience what it is that professionals in academia do outside of the classroom.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I am currently discovering the possibilities that my summer research experience could lead to. Although, the skills that have been learned and applied will be necessary for any research project in the future.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

I plan on furthering my education to being a professional theoretical physicist. Not being able to observe all of your work, it is frequently helpful to create computer models of what you want to observe and running simulations. The skills I have been applying in this project match perfectly with those required for such a task.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

I am looking forward to furthering my education in physics while taking University Physics II next semester. I also can’t wait for my friends to return to campus from their summer breaks.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Josh Song Studies Chemical Engineering at Vanderbilt

August 10, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer | No Comments

When Josh “Moose” Song (Warren, ’11) met Vanderbilt University’s Dr. Kane Jennings in the summer of 2007, he probably didn’t realize just how important the relationship would become.

From that first summer, when Song was a student in Dr. Jennings’ “Introduction to Nanotechnology” class at the Vanderbilt Summer Academy, Song has kept the lines of communication open with Dr. Jennings. This summer it is paying off.

Song has spent two months this summer performing Chemical Engineering research under Dr. Jennings’ guidance. Recently, Dr. Jennings wrote an update on Song’s summer research, gloating about his progress. “Josh is having a terrific experience in the laboratory. He is addressing a key hypothesis we have developed relating to water and ion transfer into superhydrophobic polymer films. I expect that in three more weeks, he will have enough results to make a conclusion regarding the hypothesis, which will help us immeasurably. The quality of his experimental work to date is outstanding,” he wrote.

Song is one of eleven students who were awarded the Gatton Academy’s Research Internship Grant this summer. The grant is available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students in research opportunities.

Song paused from his research recently to answer some questions:

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

My research explores the use of super-hydrophobic films as protective coatings. In this application, we take advantage of how a simple spray of water (such as rain) entirely cleanses glass surfaces. More specifically, I am conducting research to explore the possibility of regaining the super-hydrophobic behavior after an event that causes its deterioration, such as the addition of ethanol into the water solution that is in contact with the film.

To characterize this behavior, I performed contact angles, surface tension, and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements. Contact angles are the simplest way to observe surface properties of the films: the higher the contact angles, the more hydrophobic the film. Surface tension measurements helped us to visualize the difference between various solutions of certain ethanol percentages. Lower surface tensions will cause the super-hydrophobic behavior to break, while relatively high surface tensions will maintain the super-hydrophobic behavior. Lastly, EIS measurements give more detailed information about the surface than simple contact angle measurements. EIS can give much more insight into how the varying amounts of ethanol are interacting with the super- hydrophobic film.

Through my research, I was able to discover that super-hydrophobic behavior cannot be recovered even when only relatively small amounts of ethanol are added to the solution. Even 0.5% Ethanol seems unlikely that the film’s super-hydrophobic characteristics can be recovered. As I continue the research smaller percentages of ethanol will be explored and hopefully we will be able to see that some behavior can be recovered through the removal and diluting of ethanol from the solution at even lesser amounts of ethanol.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

Vanderbilt has a great program for talented youth called Vanderbilt Summer Academy and the university has done a great job of making me feel at home and allows me to interact with peers my age who have interests similar to mine. I have attended this program twice before, and it is a truly wonderful experience. The staff has also been very friendly and I am thankful that I am able to spend my summer doing something productive yet still enjoyable.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

I think most high school students spend their summers doing things that, while entertaining, they cannot speak of with pride, saying that they helped make something happen. This summer, not only have I done research, I also helped Western Kentucky University’s Center for Gifted Studies organize the Summer Camp for Academy Talented Students and the Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth. I think that while it may have been a summer more taxing and challenging than most, I will be able to look back and say that I was able to do things that I could never have done during the school year, and therefore I think that I have had a more productive summer than most.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I am definitely looking to use this experience to apply for a few competitions which include the Intel Science Talent Search and the Siemens Competition. I believe that any research opportunity would be a fantastic addition to any college application, and my relationship with Dr. Kane Jennings from the Chemistry Department of Vanderbilt University, which goes back to three summers ago, will benefit me for many years to come whenever I need information about undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate schools or various competitions or scholarships.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

Chemical Engineering is one of the largest and, still, fastest growing areas in the STEM field, and I have also become interested in it. I think this is a great opportunity for me to realize what Chemical Engineering is not only in class but in the lab during the graduate school years.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

I am thrilled to meet my friends again and it feels as if I’m almost looking forward to going back home. The Academy has a great community and everyone in the building is friendly and helpful. I am also excited to help the juniors become accustomed to life and share my knowledge and wisdom with them.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Sarah Schrader Splits Summer Between China, DNA Sequencing

August 2, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments

Sarah Schrader (Warren, ’11) is one of eleven recipients of the Gatton Academy’s Research Internship Grant for this summer.

Schrader has already characterized a unique phage through the course of the HHMI’s Genome Discovery and Exploration Program during the 2009-10 academic year. However, her phage has never had its DNA sequenced until this summer.

The research that Schrader is undertaking this summer is being managed around an eight-week intensive language study abroad trip with the WKU Chinese Flagship. Before departing for Chongqing, China, Sarah spent the first three weeks of summer re-isolating her phage’s DNA and preparing her samples to be sent off for DNA sequencing to a national laboratory.

When Sarah returns later this month, the DNA sequencing should be complete. With these results, Sarah will resume her research. If all goes to plan, by the summer’s end Sarah will have annotated a unique DNA sequence, which she will submit to the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s DNA sequence database, being listed as the first author of the submission.

In the midst of all of this activity, Sarah managed to answer some questions about her summer research.

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

Last year I participated in the Genome Discovery and Exploration Course, which is a national initiative designed to engage college freshmen in authentic research. Another sub-goal of the program is to enhance the growing database of bacteriophage genomes available for researchers. Bacteriophage are viruses that infect bacteria, and, as deadly antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria become more and more common, researching them and their bacteria-destroying capabilities is quickly becoming more and more crucial. During the fall semester of the course, I isolated a novel bacteriophage from the environment. Over winter term, two phage discovered in our class were sent off to sequencing centers to have their genomes sequenced. The spring semester was spent using computer programs to annotate the genome, deciding where each gene started and ended and assigning putative functions to them. Since my phage was not one of those chosen to be sequenced, I decided to work independently this summer to complete its characterization at the genomic level.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

So far I have enjoyed the independence this experience has provided me the most. During my research last year, I was still trying to learn techniques and procedures and frequently had to rely on my instructors to guide me. Now, however, I already know how to use equipment I need and how to carry out important procedures and thus don’t have to rely on my supervisor as much, although he is, of course, ready and willing to help should I need anything.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

As soon as summer starts, many high school students flop down on the couch in front of the TV and don’t get up again until the next school year arrives. Even those that have jobs usually work as cashiers, babysitters, or store clerks, and while that is good work experience and a fair source of spending money, ringing up happy meals or chasing little kids around probably doesn’t stimulate their intellects a substantial amount. Some students do choose to go to a variety of different summer camps and programs, some of which do involve science-related subjects. These, however, are usually very structured and strictly supervised. I, on the other hand, have no idea what the results of my research will be and have control over my own schedule as I introduce the scientific world to a completely new if infinitesimal piece of knowledge.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I plan to use this experience as the basis for my entry to the Siemens Competition and Intel Science Talent Search in the fall and to supplement my application for the Goldwater Scholarship in the spring of next year. Considering the person who won the Intel Science Talent Search this year developed a cancer treatment that utilizes a light energy stimulated drug to kill off cancer cells and the winner of the Siemens Competition researched chemotherapy drug resistance, I’m not expecting much – as far as I know, bacteriophage can’t kill cancer. But they do have the potential to wipe out new menaces like drug resistant tuberculosis and multiple drug resistant staph, so I guess it’s worth a try.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

Although I’m not really sure what I want to do, I have been considering a career as a research geneticist. This project ties into that goal quite nicely as it involves the sequencing and annotation of a genome. I am sure that I want to major in biology, and, of course, this project also fits well with this goal.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

My first year at the Academy was amazing. The classes and professors were outstanding, as were my peers and counselors at Gatton. I was provided so many opportunities to grow as a scholar and a person, and I am truly grateful for them and everyone who worked so hard to give them to me. Right now I am most looking forward to my classes, but also to continuing my research and once again being immersed in the unique environment of Schneider Hall. Next year I know there will be even greater opportunities open to me, and I plan to seize as many of them as I can!

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Justine Missik Pulls Double Duty with Research Projects

July 29, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments

Rising senior Justine Missik (Boyle, ‘11) is having quite a summer! Justine is one of eleven recipients of the Gatton Academy’s Research Internship Grant, which is available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students during research experiences.

Missik split her award on two separate experiences. In the early summer, she traveled to Portland, Oregon to attend the Santa Fe Institute’s course on Exploring Complexity in Science and Technology from May 19 -21. This course directly benefits the research work that Justine is performing in theoretical systems ecology and network analysis while at the Gatton Academy with Dr. Albert Meier of WKU’s Department of Biology. Later this summer, she’ll be presenting this research at the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) Annual Meeting in Pittsburg, PA.

Before that meeting, Missik is spending the rest of her summer working with Dr. Stuart Campbell with the Department of Energy’s Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)–the world’s most powerful pulsed spallation neutron source. Missik is benefiting from access to world-renowned facilities and experts as she interns at ORNL. She is the first Gatton Academy student to perform research directly with the ORNL.

Justine recently took a break from her research work with the ORNL to answer some questions on her research experience.

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

This summer I am working at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I am working on developing a user interface for numerical analysis code on protein dynamics. I will then use this to analyze some data.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

I have really enjoyed being at Oak Ridge and meeting people who work there. It has been a great opportunity to be able to work at world-class laboratory! I have also really enjoyed working on a project that I know will be useful to the scientists there.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

Most high school students don’t usually have the kind of opportunities for summer research that the Academy provides, so they aren’t usually involved in research projects. The Academy has provided me with the unique opportunity to work at Oak Ridge, which I would not have been able to do otherwise.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I’m not currently planning on using this project to enter any competitions, but I am sure the skills and experience I will gain will greatly benefit me.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

Though I’m not quite sure yet about what particular field I will want to work in, I know that I want to go into science. I also know that I enjoy working with computers, and this is useful in a variety of different fields. I also plan on continuing to do research. The experience I will gain this summer will help me with all of these things.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

In my second year at the academy, I am looking forward to being able to take more higher-level classes, such as Computer Science II and Discrete Math. I am also looking forward to continuing my research project from last year.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Ben Howard Studies Mathematical Modeling at WKU

July 21, 2010 | 5Q, News, People, Research, Students, WKU | No Comments

While most Gatton Academy students are spending time away from WKU’s campus this summer, Benjamin Howard (Rowan, ‘11) is still walking up the Hill each morning.

As a rising high school senior, Howard is performing mathematical and biological modeling research with Dr. Richard Schugart of WKU’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Howard was one of eleven students from the Gatton Academy’s Class of 2011 who received a Research Internship Grant from the Academy for this summer. The Research Internship Grants are available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students during summer research experiences.

Howard’s research builds upon a mathematical model that Dr. Schugart formulated. Ben is examining five differential equations that are a part of Schugart’s model and is analyzing the sub-model by conducting a steady-state analysis on it, estimating parameters within it, and using Mathematica to conduct simulations of the model.

Howard recently paused for a few minutes to answer questions about his summer research is going.

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

I am helping Dr. Schugart with a wound healing project. We are using mathematical models (equations) in order to try and predict if a wound will heal completely, heal partially, or not heal at all. Some of the different variables that we are using in our models are bacteria, macrophages, neutrophils, and oxygen.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

The part that I am enjoying the most is actually getting to participate in a real life application of mathematics.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

Most of my friends are spending their summer hanging out with each other, practicing whatever extra-curricular they like the most, working a job at a fast food restaurant, or doing GSP. While all of this is perfectly fine, none of it compares to being on your own for 8 or 9 weeks waking up every morning knowing that your task that day is performing mathematics. I don’t mean 50 algebra problems or 10 calc

problems. I mean research that could potentially benefit people’s lives.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I’m planning on presenting at a math and biology seminar in Tennessee in the fall, applying for the Siemens competition, and possibly presenting at WKU in the spring.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

I am planning on going into the medical field in the future. Since this research is dealing with wound healing it could benefit me when I apply to medical school in a few years.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

I am looking forward to spending time with my friends. The bonds made at the Academy truly are incredible. I am also looking forward to taking more sciences and getting away from the math a little. While I do like math, science is my favorite subject. I can’t wait to see what the upper level sciences have to offer.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Torey Gilkison Researches with the KY Department of Fish and Wildlife

June 22, 2010 | 5Q, People, Research, Students, Summer | No Comments

Victoria “Torey” Gilkison (Anderson County, ‘11) is spending the summer before her senior year near the water, but not in the same way most teens do.

As a rising high school senior, she is performing research with aquatic plants at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Center for Mollusk Conservation in Frankfort, KY under the direction of Dr. Monte McGregor, a biologist and researcher there.

Gilkison was one of eleven students from the Gatton Academy’s class of 2011 who received a Research Internship Grant from the Academy for this summer. The Research Internship Grants are available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students during summer research experiences.

Gilkison’s summer research builds upon the botanical research she did with Dr. Albert Meier of WKU’s Department of Biology during her first year at the Academy. Torey recently took some time away from her summer research with Dr. McGregor to answer some questions.

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

I am designing and building three separate aquaponic systems as a basis for my research. An aquaponic system is a way to use plant filtration to help improve the water quality for other organisms, in my case mussels, to live in. On top of noting the effect of the plant growth or presence on the mussel I will also be testing an all organic fertilizer to a regular fertilizer to see if this affects the mussel growth in any way.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

The part that I am most excited about this summer is the fact that I get to take part in hands-on research that could help Dr. McGregor in his research later on. I am also enjoying learning about all the different aquatic organisms including mussels and plants. There may be a point this summer when I will be able to go out into the field and assist Dr. McGregor in gathering plant or mussel species for his research.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

Most high school students either spend their time at home or out with their friends, they don’t get the opportunity to participate in research. Research is something that benefits a person for the rest of their life because it develops problem-solving skills. So the fact that I get to partake in research really prepares me for work that I am going to be doing in the future.

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

I am going to use my research work to enter into the Siemens Competition.

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

I hope to major in Botany. By doing this research it allows me to work with plants and to get a hands-on feel for whether this is really the area I want to be working in or not.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

I am looking forward to taking more specific classes that will get me closer to my major in Botany and choosing classes that will benefit me specifically for where I want to be in life.

By Corey Alderdice

Summer 5Q: Tina Stottman Studies Brain Trauma at UK Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center

June 8, 2010 | 5Q, People, Research, Students, Summer | No Comments

This summer, rising Gatton Academy senior Tina Stottman (’11, Bullitt County) is spending ten weeks exploring a research interest. Working full time at the University of Kentucky’s Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center with Dr. Kathryn Saatman, Stottman is studying experimental models of traumatic brain injury using rodent models of brain trauma to investigate cellular mechanisms of damage to neurons in the brain and evaluating treatments aimed at lessening cell damage.

Stottman received a Gatton Academy Research Internship Grant, which is a grant available to Gatton Academy students in the summer between their junior and senior years to support students during research experiences.

Stottman learned about the opportunity at the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center from 2010 Gatton Academy graduate Emily Hall, who spent the summer of 2009 working in Dr. Saatman’s lab. Emily too will return to Dr. Saatman’s lab this summer along with Justin Jatczak, also a recent graduate from the Gatton Academy’s class of 2010. The three Gatton Academy students will work alongside University of Kentucky scientists and researchers for the summer, gaining valuable laboratory and research skills.

Tina recently took a break from her research to answer some questions about how her summer experience was going so far.

1. Tell us a little about the project or program in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.

This summer I’ve been working in the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Lab. Our lab focuses on different aspects of brain cell death and axonal damage caused by traumatic injuries. We perform surgeries on mice in order to learn about what occurs in the brain after head trauma. So far, my tasks have included things such as cutting and mounting brain tissue, staining tissue to detect brain cell degeneration, and learning about the procedures performed on the mice.

2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?

I’ve really enjoyed working in a lab setting. This past year, I only had one course that required a lab, so at first I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up with everyone during research. Luckily, the people that I work with have been great at explaining different techniques and answering all of my questions. I’m doing something that I’ve never done before, so every day is a chance to learn something new! Now that I’ve been here for almost two weeks, I’ve actually come to love working on research in the lab, and the work day always seems to fly by.

3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?

Whenever I was at my home high school, summer was a time for me to just sit back and relax. For the most part, I can’t say that I did anything productive with my break. This summer, the situation is completely different. Every day, I get to spend time researching what I’m most passionate about. I’m walking away from this with an experience that will make me a competitive college applicant. Living on my own in Lexington has also helped me prepare myself for life after graduation, and as an added bonus, the people that I work with are amazing! How many high school students can say that they spent their summer getting paid to do what they love every single day?

4. Will you be using this research experience as a launching point for any particular applications, competitions, or scholarships?

Currently, I’m still looking for competitions and scholarships to enter with my research. I’ve had a few setbacks because I’m working with live vertebrae. I’m going to continue my search, and hopefully I’ll find some great competitions to enter this fall!

5. How does this research experience or internship fit into your educational and professional goals?

I haven’t chosen a specific career or major yet, so this research experience has given me a lot of insight into the physiology and neurosurgery field. Working in the lab will give me a head start for future research experiences during and after college. It will also look great on my college applications. Right now, I’m just trying to find a specific area to focus on, and this research experience is definitely leading me in the right direction.

6. What are you looking forward to the most about your second year at the Academy?

More than anything, I’m looking forward to meeting all of the new juniors. Last year, as I’m sure it is every year, we all formed a little family. I was sad to see the class of 2010 leave us, but I know that we’ll always share the bonds that we’ve made over the past year. I can’t wait to see what this new group of students will bring to the Academy. I met quite a few of them on interview day, and they all seem to be such amazing people with a wide variety of personalities and interests. I know that this new addition to our family will make it another great year to remember!

By Corey Alderdice

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