Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
Charlotte Humes (’12) of Bardstown is performing research with Dr. Matthew Nee of the WKU Department of Chemistry where she is designing, constructing, and using a time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectrometer for the purpose of measuring energy and charge transfer in alternative energy materials.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.
I am working in the Chemistry department under the instruction of Dr. Nee. The lab in which I am working is home to a number of lasers, but unfortunately, most of them are currently not working. During this summer, I’m fixing a couple of the lasers with the intent of making them ready for use in fluorescence measurements.
2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?
I really enjoy the setting of research. Going home to see family during the summer is always nice, but the chance to spend part of my summer in a very independent, highly academic, environment is a great opportunity. It allows me to have a foretaste of what it will be like to live on my own.
3. What does research mean to you as a young person interested in STEM?
Research allows me to really become involved in a subject I love. It allows me to use my interests and curiosities as a springboard for ideas—I can pursue the questions I truly care about answering.
4. What do you love most about the Gatton Academy?
Everything! The Academy has provided me with an opportunity for which I am so grateful. Your experience at the Academy is what you make of it, and you have wonderful resources at your fingertips. It has allowed me to take courses that force me to think, has taught me skills (such as computer programming) I would never have been able to learn otherwise, and provided me with a community of so many amazing people.
5. How did you feel on your first day at the Gatton Academy? Now?
I was actually the first person to arrive on move-in day, and I remember being ecstatic to finally be there, practically skipping in to the dorm. Last year, going to the Academy felt like embarking upon an adventure; this year, it feels like coming home.
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
Benjamin Rice (’12) of Somerset is working with Dr. Phillip Womble at WKU’s Applied Physics Institute this summer, assisting in the development of a data analysis system for a project with Northrup Grumman.
1. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?
I enjoy the freedom the most. At my old high school, I would not have as much freedom that I do at the Gatton Academy.
2. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?
It is completely different. If I were at home now, I would probably be working, but instead I have the opportunity to do research.
3. What do you love most about the Gatton Academy?
My favorite part about the Gatton Academy is being able to take advanced classes that I would have not been able to take at my home high school.
4. What is your biggest Gatton Academy accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment at the Gatton Academy so far is making an A in physics 255. It was a very challenging class that really pushed me to my limits.
5. What do you aspire to achieve in the next ten years?
In the next ten years I plan to graduate from the Gatton Academy, graduate from the United States Naval Academy with a degree in aeronautical engineering, and become a NAVY pilot.
Since 2010, the Gatton Academy has offered students the ability to pursue summer research experiences through the Gatton Research Internships Grants (RIG) program. Made possible through the generous support of Mr. Carol Martin “Bill” Gatton, the program offers competitive grants to Gatton Academy students between their junior and senior years to support summertime research internships across the Commonwealth and the world. By providing a funding mechanism, the program directly creates new avenues for growth and exploration. Throughout the summer, we’ll share insights from students who are the recipients of our 2011 grants.
Alex Gutierrez (’12) of Mt. Washington is doing research in Dr. Kathryn Saatman’s lab at the University of Kentucky’s Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center this summer, researching mild (concussive) brain injuries.
1. Tell us a little about the research experience in which you are participating this summer that the Research Internship Grant is funding.
I am working with Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 or IGF-1, which is a natural occurring protein in the body that acts as a neurotrophic factor, inducing the survival of neurons after Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The lab I’m working at is working with the over-expression of IGF-1 in mice to see if the effects would be more beneficial than natural IGF-1, as the natural IGF-1 acts as insulin and is all around the body rather than concentrated in the brain like in the Transgenic mice.
2. What is the part of the summer experience you are enjoying most?
I love the fact that each trial is significant rather than a tedious repetition of an experiment in which the outcome is fully expected. Often talking with my peers, I find that they have lots of hypothesis on what they anticipate to happen with each experiment, however there isn’t one set answer and there have been times where the results are different than predicted.
3. How is this different from the way you think most high school students spend their summers?
I think very few high school students pass as undergraduates working with graduate students and post-docs in a research center, nor do I believe most high school students have had to intake a crash course on neuroscience.
4. What is your favorite Gatton Academy memory?
I would say everyday of Adventure Week. Just the feeling of being somewhere new and connecting to all these individuals from around the state, it sets you in awe. I also wasn’t very busy so there were plenty of heartfelt shenanigans such as singing on the balcony together with my friends and the obstacle group building place we went to. I still remember running up this one wall like a ninja so that nobody would have to lift me up.
5. What do you aspire to achieve in the next ten years?
Hopefully make it into medical school, settle in my new environments when I’m out of the Academy. I could even try to finish any of the novels I’ve had in my head a long time. When you’ve left your home at age 16 and experienced so many things you thought you’d never even see the light of, anything seems possible.
Daniel Dilger of Union, Luke Yap of Carrollton and Samantha McKean of Cecilia are working with Dr. Bruce Kessler, the Associate Dean of the Ogden College of Science & Engineering, to decrypt the notes released from the Ricky McCormick murder investigation.
In 1999, 41-year-old McCormick’s body was found in a field in St. Louis. Police found two encrypted notes in the victim’s pants pockets, which provide the only clues about the case.
The notes use a code based on numbers, letters and parentheses. The FBI’s Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) and the American Cryptogram Association have been unable to solve the code.
The Gatton group’s research will help develop a cryptographic analysis infrastructure to potentially break the code.
“We’re in the stage of trying to get strategies together based on reading cipher codes,” Dr. Kessler said.
Very little is known about McCormick aside from him being a high school dropout.
“Part of what makes the project so difficult is that we don’t know anything about Ricky McCormick’s personal life,” Dilger said. “There isn’t any information available like his writing style or family history that could help us guess at what he was writing.”
Those who knew him said he used the code many other times throughout his life, but no one could ever understand what it meant.
“We’ve got to get inside this guy’s head and figure out his language,” Dr. Kessler said. “So little is known about him anyway and it’s as if he just floated on the fringe of society.”
Dr. Kessler said decoding the notes could introduce new ideas about the case. There’s a chance McCormick’s death wasn’t even a murder.
The students researching are currently working on computer programs that could help them generate more information about the code.
“Since McCormick wrote the notes by hand the cipher is probably simple, but we don’t know what technique he used,” Dilger said.
The group’s research will continue into the fall semester, and the students hope to present their findings in a report at the Kentucky Academy of Sciences.
Six rising seniors recently participated in the NCSSSMST Student Research Conference in Maryland.At the Gatton Academy, students spend the months of the traditional academic year engaged in a variety of learning opportunities that both mirror and differ from traditional high school experiences.
Students at Western Kentucky University’s Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science find their academic year is often very different from that of traditional high school students. A full slate of college coursework, living away from home, and a host of research and non-traditional learning experiences fill the month of September to May. Perhaps even more unique, though, are the exploits of Academy students during the summer months in Kentucky and at locations across the globe.
Three out of five of the current Academy students and recent alumni have current plans to participate in an academic or career exploration during the months of June, July, and August that will take place across the world. More impressively, 85% of rising seniors are participating in a summer experience. Derick Strode, the Academy’s coordinator for research, internships, and scholarships expressed both the geography and educational experiences of these students will be wide-ranging.
“These summer experiences represent the broad scope of STEM interests that our students enjoy,” Strode said. “Gatton Academy students are performing research this summer in medical, chemical, national security, and computer science settings—just to name a few—that will shed positive effects on human lives in the not-so-distant future.”
A new emphasis of the summer learning experience, is a study abroad component. For the first time, seventeen Gatton Academy students will travel to the United Kingdom for an Honors English 200 course. The Introduction to Literature course, based at Harlaxton College in Grantham, will be taught by Dr. Alison Langdon of the WKU Department of English. The experiences do not stop there. Eight Gatton Academy students will participate in the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp sponsored by the Confucius Institute at WKU, Hanban, and the North China Electric Power University. This two week camp will give the following students a chance to visit China, learning the language and culture along the way:
“I am also happy to note the increase in Gatton Academy students learning abroad this summer,” Strode added. “Gatton Academy students will be on four continents for educational programs over these next few months.”
While some high school students may consider research, internships, or study abroad programs less preferable than time at the beach, Gatton Academy students see these opportunities as a way to build on their learning and interests.
“Flexibly structured so that students can remain learning over summer while exploring career and educational interests, our internship program offers options for the motivated Gatton Academy student body. We have students who have chosen to pursue advanced research or shadowing work in STEM fields of their interest right in their own backyards across the Commonwealth this summer. Other students are further investigating their interests across the United States and the globe,” Strode said.
Keep checking back with the Gatton Academy website this summer as we further spotlight these students explorations and adventures.
For more information, contact Derick Strode at (270) 745-6565.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs):
Three Gatton Academy students will be participating in the REU titled Mammoth Cave/Upper Green River Watershed Project at Western Kentucky University. REUs are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and offer students full-summer research opportunity with travel, food, and lodging provided as well as a generous stipend. REUs are one of the most prestigious and selective of summertime opportunities.
Logan Eckler (’12) of Covington (Mentor: Dr. Matthew Nee)
Brandon Farmer (’12) of Lexington (Mentor: Dr. Matthew Nee)
Natalie Schieber (’11) of Elizabethtown (Mentor: Dr. Bangbo Yan)
International Research Experiences for Scientists:
Two students have been selected to participate in an NSF International Research Experiences for Scientists program at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan. This program, on the same level as an REU, offers students fully paid travel to Taiwan, food, lodging, and a stipend.
Michael Crocker (’12) of Bowling Green (Mentors: Dr. Ru-Jong Jeng and Dr. Rong-Ho Lee)
Ellis Shelley (’12) of Albany (Mentor: Shing-Yi Suen)
Crocker will be studying dendrimer synthesis and immobilization onto a silica or membrane support and dendrimer membrane on ITO glass. Shelley will be studying protein purification by IMAM.
Research Science Institute (RSI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lukas Missik (’12) of Danville is one of only 80 rising high school seniors from across the globe to be admitted to this prestigious, cost-free high school STEM program to conduct research at MIT for six weeks. Lukas will be conducting research in Artificial Intelligence or Game Theory.
Undergraduate Research Program in Molecular Biology at Princeton University
Sarah Schrader (’11) of Bowling Green has been admitted from a nationwide pool into the Undergraduate Research Program in Molecular Biology at Princeton University. In this nine week program, Schrader will be studying in Molecular and Quantitative & Computational Biology. Travel, housing, and a generous stipend are provided.
EarthWatch Student Challenge Awards Program:
Erin Walch (’12) of Alexandria has been accepted into the prestigious EarthWatch Institute’s Student Challenge Awards Program. She will be a part of a research team traveling to the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains in Riverside California to study Plant Life of California’s Mountains for two and a half weeks. Walch’s award includes full travel expenses, food, and lodging for her trip to California.
Kentucky Professional Education Preparation Program (PEPP)
Three Gatton Academy students will participate this summer in the Commonwealth’s PEPP programs. Lori Lovell (’12) of Florence and Erin Walch (’12) of Alexandria have been admitted to the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine’s PEPP program. Shelby Martin (’11) of Mt. Washington has been admitted to the University of Kentucky’s PEPP Step II. These residential programs offer a variety of educational experiences targeted to enhance students’ personal interest in a medical or dental career, add to their understanding of the elements of a medical/dental education, and expand their awareness of how medicine/dentistry is practiced in a rural setting.
Gatton Academy Research Internship Grant recipients:
Twelve rising seniors were chosen to receive Gatton Academy Research Internship Grants (RIG) from the Gatton Academy to support research work this summer. The 2011 RIG recipients, their research locations, mentors, and projects are listed below:
William Bickett (’12) of Owensboro will conduct research with Dr. Phillip Womble at WKU’s Applied Physics Institute. His study is on Gamma-ray Spectra in Neutron-Based Explosives Detection Systems.
Rebecca Brown (’12) of Boston will be working with Dr. Michael Carini of the WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy. Brown will study Optical Monitoring of TeV Candidate Blazars.
John “Jack” Ferguson (’12) of Union will be working with Dr. Hemali Rathnayake of the WKU Department of Chemistry on his project titled Fluorescein and FITC Derivatives Functionalized Silsesquioxane/Bridged Silsesquioxane Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Particle Morphology.
Alex Gutierrez (’12) of Mt. Washington will be doing research with Dr. Kathryn Saatman at the University of Kentucky’s Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center. Gutierrez will be researching mild (concussive) brain injuries.
Anthony Gutierrez (’12) of Mount Washington will perform research with Dr. Alexander Rabchevsk of the University of Kentucky’s Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center, studying locomotor dysfunction after spinal cord injuries.
Charlotte Humes (’12) of Bardstown will conduct research Dr. Matthew Nee of the WKU Department of Chemistry where she will design, construct, and use a time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectrometer for the purpose of measuring energy and charge transfer in alternative energy materials.
Christian Jolly (’12) of Henderson will be working on research with Dr. Steven Gibson of the WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy to analyze radio telescope data to investigate galaxy structure.
Tennessee “Tucker” Joyce (’12) of Harrodsburg will be working with Dr. Richard Schugart of the WKU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science to continue his mathematical analysis of wound healing models.
Benjamin Rice (’12) of Somerset will be developing a gamma ray spectroscopy system to estimate elemental intensities of neutron interrogated samples under the direction of Dr. Phillip Womble of the WKU Applied Physics Institute.
David Sekora (’12) of Franklin is researching in knot theory to study DNA with Dr. Claus Ernst of the WKU Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Keaton Smith (’12) of Alexandria will be doing computer science research with Drs. Richard Fox and Jeff Ward of the Northern Kentucky University Department of Computer Science. Smith will be using artificial intelligence to plan algorithms and genetic algorithms to produce computer-generated music.
Nicholas Zolman (’12) of Mount Sterling is working with Dr. Tim Gorringe of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Physic and Astronomy to analyze periodic and chaotic motion using a double pendulum.
NCSSSMST Student Research Conference:
Six Gatton Academy students will be presenting research this summer at the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Math, Science, and Technology (NCSSSMST) Student Research Conference at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. From June 1-4, these students will join 109 other students from across the country to share their research work through oral and poster presentations. Gatton Academy representatives and their presentation titles are:
Andrea Eastes (’12) of Mayfield will give an oral presentation titled “Isolation of the Bacteriophage Liberi”
Jack Ferguson (’12) of Union will present a poster titled “Synthesis of Fluorescein Isothiocyanate Functionalized Nanoparticles”
Samantha Hawtrey (’12) of Union will present a poster titled “Isolation, Characterization, and Annotation: the Acquisition of a Novel Bacteriophage Genome”
Lori Lovell (’12) of Florence will do an oral presentation titled “Isolation of Novus, a Novel Bacteriophage Isolated from Florence, Kentucky”
Benjamin Rice (’12) of Somerset will present a poster titled “Gamma-ray Spectra in Neutron-Based Explosives Detection Systems”
Nicholas Zolman (’12) of Mount Sterling will give an oral presentation titled “A Light in the Darkness: Finding Type Ia Supernovae in the CANDELS Hubble Space Telescope Survey”
National Youth Policy Summit:
Four Gatton Academy students will be participating in the National Youth Policy Summit at the Keystone Science Center in Keystone, CO. This year’s summit on Energy Innovation will take place from June 11 – 18 and will bring together 40 of the brightest students from across the nation to come up with a proposal of policy solutions to the world’s energy needs. The following Gatton Academy students will participate:
Laura Claytor (’11) of Berea
Melanie Hurst (’11) of Bronston
Samantha McKean (’11) of Cecilia
Rachel Metcalfe (’11) of Eminence
Experiences Abroad:
This summer, 28 Gatton Academy students will travel internationally for research, language acquisition, credit-based study abroad, and education and cultural travel. Students will be in China, England, Morocco, Switzerland, and Taiwan. International research experiences are listed in the former section; other international experiences are:
National Security Language Initiative-for Youth (NSLI-Y):
Two Gatton Academy students have accepted an NSLI-Y scholarship which covers all program costs, travel to the student’s destination, tuition, housing, activities, and more for six weeks. These merit-based scholarships are for high school students studying less commonly taught languages.
Charlotte Humes (’12) of Bardstown
Brandon Kerr (’11) of Edmonton
England
For the first time, the Gatton Academy has partnered with Harlaxton College in Grantham, England to offer a three week study abroad course. The following students will study Introduction to Literature under the direction of Dr. Alison Langdon of the WKU Department of English. The following students will study romantic poets in the Lake District, Dracula in Whitby, the Brontës on the famed moors near Haworth, and Shakespeare in London’s Globe Theatre, just to name a few of many stops:
Daylynn Allison (’12) of Mayfield
William Bickett (’12) of Owensboro
Lydia Brothers (’12) of Madisonville
Andrea Eastes (’12) of Mayfield
Nathan Lasley (’12) of Owensboro
Taylor Leet (’12) of Louisville
Lori Lovell (’12) of Florence
David Sekora (’12) of Franklin
Keaton Smith (’12) of Alexandria
Caroline Stivers (’12) of Berea
Aaron Stolze (’12) of Somerset
Erin Walch (’12) of Alexandria
Layne Webb (’12) of Shepherdsville
Nicholas Zolman (’12) of Mt. Sterling
China
Eight Gatton Academy students will participate in the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp sponsored by the Confucius Institute at WKU, Hanban, and the North China Electric Power University. This two week camp will give the following students a chance to visit China, learning the language and culture along the way:
William “Christopher” Brown (’12) of Russell Springs
Curtlyn Kramer (’12) of Ashland
Matthew “Stephen” Mattingly (’12) of Elizabethtown
Samantha McKean (’12) of Cecilia
Rachel Metcalfe (’12) of Eminence
Holly Morris (’12) of Bowling Green
Tyler Parke (’11) of Henderson
Makka “Annie” Wheeler (’12) of Guthrie
Switzerland
Alexandra DeCarlo (’12) of London and Luke Yap (’12) of Carrolton will be studying literature abroad in Switzerland with Dr. Lloyd Davies of the WKU Department of English.
Other Notable Individual Experiences:
Kia Allen, a graduating senior from Georgetown, will be volunteering at Saint Joseph Health System in Lexington.
Claci Ayers, a graduating senior from Bowling Green, will be shadowing pediatrician Dr. Kelly Kriess and volunteering at the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Anthony Bombik, a graduating senior from Union, will be a Teacher’s Assistant in the Center for Gifted Studies’ camp for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth (VAMPY) at WKU.
Madeline Buhr, a graduating senior from Cecilia, will participate in the Teenage Volunteer Program at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown.
Clarice Esch, a graduating senior from Somerset, is interning at the Baker Arboretum in Bowling Green.
Sean Freeman, a graduating senior from Hebron, is programming iPhone apps.
Katherine Goebel, a graduating senior from Simpsonville, will be shadowing veterinarian Dr. Rocky Oliver of the Shelby Veterinary Clinic.
Madeline Lauzon, a graduating senior from Owensboro, will be volunteering with the Theatre Workshop of Owensboro.
Jae Lee, a graduating senior from Hopkinsville, will be volunteering at a local nursing home in Hopkinsville and shadowing various health care professionals.
Justine Missik, a graduating senior from Danville, is volunteering with the Sierra Club.
Jake Moore, a graduating senior from Crittenden, has been admitted to the highly competitive Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Summer Internship Program for Science Students. Moore will be interning under Dr. John Bissler, studying Nephrology and Biomedical Engineering.
Michael Phillips, a graduating senior from Benton, is conducting research under the direction of Dr. Edward Kintzel at the WKU NOVA Center and will be a teaching assistant at VAMPY.
Tejas Sangoi, a graduating senior from Owensboro, will be volunteering in the Owensboro Medical Health Systems. He will also be attending national conferences for FBLA and HOSA.
Chandler Santos, a graduating senior from LaGrange, will be tutoring with VAMPY.
Suzanne VanArsdall, a graduating senior from Frankfort, will be returning to Cape Town, South Africa to help with the reconstruction of a safe house for women and children.
Paras Vora, a graduating senior from Owensboro will be shadowing cardiologist Dr. Kishor Vora.
Celia Whelan, a graduating senior from Bardstown, will perform in The Stephen Foster Story and The Wizard of Oz with Stephen Foster Productions.
Lydia Brothers, a first-year student from Madisonville, has been admitted to the seven-week Summer Research Program for High School and Undergraduate Students at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, TN. Brothers will receive travel expenses, room and board, and a stipend.
Jordan Currie, a first-year student from Rockfield, will participate in the Music City Drum Corps.
Daniel Dilger, a first-year student from Union, will be developing a cryptographic analysis infrastructure under Dr. Bruce Kessler of WKU to attempt to decrypt the recently released notes from the Ricky McCormick murder investigation.
Andrea Eastes, a first-year student from Mayfield, will be assisting Dr. Michelle Monje of the Stanford University School of Medicine in a research study on Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a lethal pediatric brain tumor.
Samantha Hawtrey, a first-year student of Union, will represent the 2010-11 WKU Genome Discovery and Exploration Program when she presents research findings at the 3rd Annual Science Education Alliance Symposium at the Janelia Farm campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, VA.
Nathan Lasley, a first-year student from Owensboro, will be attending a Boy Scout Summer Camp at Roy C. Manchester Boy Scout Camp.
Jesse Matherly, a first-year student from Nicholasville, will be conducing Alzheimer’s research under the direction of Dr. Linda Van Eldik at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.
Benjamin Rice, a first-year student from Somerset, will be participating in the Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, MD.
Aaron Stolze, a first-year student from Somerset, will be participating in the Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, MD. He will also be participating in the Christian Leadership Institute in Danville.
Joseph “Joey” Tutor, a first-year student from Franklin, will be interning at Electronic Warfare Associates in Bowling Green.
Layne Webb, a first-year student from Shepherdsville, will be doing astrophysics research under the mentorship of Dr. Lutz Haberzettl of the University of Louisville’s Department of Physic and Astronomy.
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.
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.
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!
Maggie Matheny, a 2010 graduate of the Gatton Academy, is leaning more toward research in graduate school after a 10-week summer program at WKU. (WKU photo by Bryan Lemon)
Nine students from across the United States have been conducting research and preparing for graduate school as part of a National Science Foundation program this summer at WKU.
Maggie Matheny of Lincoln County, a 2010 graduate of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, said the 10-week summer experience has helped her determine the direction she wants to take for graduate school. “Before I was between research or med school but now I’m definitely leaning more toward research,” Matheny said.
Getting students excited about research and providing hands-on laboratory experience is one of the goals of the NSF-REU program, according to Dr. King, associate professor of biology. “We want to encourage them and get them excited about graduate school,” Dr. King said.
Matheny also has enjoyed the freedom in the program. “I like the fact that the project really is your own,” she said. “If there is a mistake or something doesn’t come out right, it’s your fault and I like the responsibility.” Matheny has been working with Dr. Sigrid Jacobshagen on a project to see which photoreceptor starts the domino effect that resets the circadian clock.
Amanda Nolan, a student from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, also has used the experience to prepare for graduate school. “ I’m coming away from this with knowledge that I probably wouldn’t have until graduate school, so I’ll have a heads up on people going into grad school,” said Nolan, who has been working with Dr. King on two projects that deal with bacteriophages.
Other students participating in the June 1-Aug. 6 program are: Melena Agyemang, Norfolk State University in Virginia (Mentor: Dr. Rajalingam Dakshinamurthy); Mark Callaghan, California State University Monterey Bay (Mentor: Dr. Keith Philips); James Forshee, a Gatton Academy graduate from Simpson County (Mentor: Dr. Claire Rinehart); Alexander Hare, a Gatton Academy graduate from Rowan County (Mentor: Dr. Richard Schugart); Hillary Jones, Georgetown College (Mentor: Dr. Carl Dick); Stephanie Robey, Kentucky Community and Technical College System (Mentor: Dr. Kevin Williams); and Shandrea Stallworth, Fort Valley State University in Georgia (Mentor: Dr. Shiv Sahi).
Students were assigned to a research project based on their interests. The projects have been directed by WKU faculty mentors from Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics and the research topics encompassed broad areas of biotechnology, including animal physiology, plant gene expression, microbiology, virology, biochemistry, protein structure and modeling, bioinformatics, neurophysiology and mathematical biology.
In addition to working closely with faculty mentors and interacting with graduate students, fellow undergraduates and research technicians, students have participated in a series of Office of Scholar Development-sponsored workshops that provided guidance on graduate school applications and grant writing and in a series of faculty-led seminars on reading professional literature and giving scientific presentations.
For more information, contact Rodney King at (270) 745-6910.
