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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

Gatton Academy Students Shine Under the Microscope, Under the Spotlight

July 27, 2010 | Academics, News, People, Student Life, Students, WKU | No Comments

by Suzanne Van Arsdall, Academy Avatar

Contrary to what can sometimes be prevailing misconceptions, the Gatton Academy student body is not solely a group of human calculators and chemistry whizzes.

In fact, when they aren’t busy calculating integrals and writing methods in Mathematica, you can find many members of the Academy’s Class of 2011 stretching a different part of their minds: the right hemisphere of their brain. Individuals who are considered “right-brained” tend to have greater strengths and passions for arts and humanities, subject matter that is mistakenly perceived by some to be uncharted waters for Academy students.

Wait, what’s that? A chemistry whiz can play the cello? An expert computer programmer spends their free time writing poetry? It’s can be a hard concept to accept, but–believe it or not–many Academy students are more than just one-trick ponies.

Take Blake Welsh (Daviess ’11), for example. Blake has been playing the violin since he was six years old. Welsh’s interests were first piqued when his class took a field trip to a culture festival in Whitesville and he laid eyes upon the fiddle. Eleven years later, Welsh is still heavily involved in music, despite his busy schedule at the Academy. In fact, Blake is a member of the WKU orchestra and string quartet and manages to squeeze private lessons into his schedule.

“Being here makes it harder to find time to practice, but being in a college music atmosphere is better for me as a musician,” Welsh admits. “As long as you have passion, it isn’t very hard to manage.”

When David McChesney (Boyle ’11) is not busy studying for chemistry exams, most anyone will tell you that he’s likely in a practice room at FAC, bending the strings on his cello. This is David’s seventh year playing the cello, and his accomplishments with this instrument are quite remarkable.

This summer will be David’s third consecutive year attending the Steven Collins Foster music camp at Eastern Kentucky University. In Danville, his hometown, David has been a member of the Heritage Area Strings Program for six years. To top off all his accomplishments, he plans on bringing his talents to WKU by auditioning with Welsh for the WKU Orchestra this fall.

Madeline Lauzon (Daviess ’11) is another multifaceted member of the Academy student body. who displays strong artistic abilities outside the scope of her talents in math and science. Mad, as her peers call her, is truly a unique and artistic asset to the Gatton community and has been involved in theater productions for years.

Lauzon is the first student at Gatton to be cast in multiple theater programs at WKU. She has been cast for both a stage reading and as a member of the ensemble of the play Beauty and the Beast, which will be performed during the Fall 2010 semester.

“It’s really great to be able to come here and not have to just focus on math or the arts but to be able to have both of these in my life,” Lauzon noted. “The Academy gives you ample opportunity to be as well-rounded as possible.”

Allowing students to pursue their passions in all subject areas is a central component of the Academy’s approach to student learning.

“I suppose my situation really does hold true to the saying that Gatton provides you with infinite possibilities,” she added.

By Corey Alderdice

Courtney Howard Represents WKU at HHMI Science Education Alliance Symposium

July 9, 2010 | News, People, Students, Summer, WKU | No Comments

Courtney Howard (Hardin, ‘11) recently returned from the 2nd Annual Science Education Alliance Symposium at the Janelia Farm campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Ashburn, Virginia. There, she presented her research work and the research work of the inaugural class of WKU’s HHMI’s Science Education Alliance National Genomics Research Initiative course.

After a full-year experience in the nationally-sponsored research program that is overseen at WKU by Drs. Rodney King and Claire Rinehart from WKU’s Department of Biology, Howard was asked by her instructors to represent WKU, since it was her virus that was completely sequenced and annotated.

Last fall semester, Howard isolated a novel bacterial virus from a soil sample she collected from her home in Radcliff, KY, naming the virus “Backyardigan” after a television show she used to watch as a kid.

Dr. King described the research work Howard undertook during the fall semester after this initial collection. “She grew large numbers of the virus in the lab and examined its structure using an electron microscope. She then isolated the DNA from the virus and characterized it by cutting it with special enzymes called restriction endonucleases. The pattern of DNA fragments generated from this treatment was then examined and compared to other viruses isolated by her classmates and by other NGRI participants located throughout the country. Courtney’s viral DNA preparation passed rigorous quality control tests and it was chosen to have its DNA sequence determined,” he said.

During the spring semester, the WKU Genome Discovery class identified all the genes contained in the DNA sequence of the virus.

Howard is already looking forward to what may happen next. “I had a wonderful experience at the conference. It renewed my interest in research. As a matter of fact Dr. Rinehart and I are currently discussing ways to extend my phage research. Listening to the presentations opened our eyes to other possibilities and things we can do to learn more about my phage,” she said.

The slides from Howard’s talk, titled 007: A Lysin to Kill in my Backyardigan, are available at the following weblink: http://www.hhmi.org/seawiki/download/attachments/11993294/23_WEKU.pdf

For more information, contact Derick Strode at (270) 745-6565.

By Corey Alderdice

Academy Alumnus, WKU Students Ready To Begin Bike Ride Across America

May 24, 2010 | Alumni, News, People, WKU | No Comments

The Fijis Across America cross country bike ride for Alzheimer’s research will begin next week. fijis

The group, which includes five Western Kentucky University students, left Monday morning on their way to California. The bike ride will begin May 25 in Oceanside, Calif., and will end in mid-July in Yorktown, Va.

Riders from WKU are Tyler Jury (Gatton Academy ’08) of Elizabethtown, Chaz Vittitow of Louisville, Mitchell White of Bowling Green, Justin Cave of Glendale and Wade Haga of Lexington.

“We’ve gotten incredible support from our families, friends, WKU and the Alzheimer’s Association,” Jury said.

The group hopes to raise $75,000 to benefit the Greater Kentucky/Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and to increase local, state and national awareness as the students ride about 3,200 miles from California to Virginia. The fundraiser is being conducted in memory of Barrett Cummings, Jury’s grandfather.

So far the group has raised more than $20,500. As the students travel through nine states – California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Virginia – they plan to participate in fundraisers and other events.

Jury said the group has been collecting stories of Alzheimer’s impact on families and will dedicate each day’s ride to a family.
Information about the trip, including videos, photos, blogs and route map, is available on the Fijis Across America website and Facebook page.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu and at http://wkunews.wordpress.com/. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu. For information, contact Tyler Jury at (270) 766-7121.

By Corey Alderdice

State Recognition Ceremony for Duke TIP Program May 28 at Diddle Arena

May 24, 2010 | News, WKU | No Comments

The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU will host the Kentucky Recognition Ceremony for the Duke Talent Identification Program at 2 p.m. May 28 in Diddle Arena.

Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky’s Commissioner of Education, will provide the keynote address.

The Duke University Talent Identification Program’s (Duke TIP) 7th Grade Talent Search identifies students in 16 states in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest who have scored in the 95th percentile on a grade-level achievement test. As part of the program, these academically talented students take above level college entrance exams (SAT or ACT) to learn more about their abilities.

Duke TIP hosts annual Recognition Ceremonies to honor the seventh-graders who score highest on these SAT or ACT exams. Of the more than 61,000 participants nationally this year, 24,301 students have been invited to attend State Recognition Ceremonies and 1,903 students have been invited to the Grand Recognition Ceremony. More than 1,400 Kentucky students will be honored at the event on WKU’s campus.

A record 50 students have been named 2010 William and Dorothy C. Bevan Scholars. These outstanding students have earned a perfect score on one or more sections of the SAT or ACT. The Kentucky students are Katherine Adams, Sacred Heart Model School in Louisville; Andrew Brown, Muhlenberg North Middle School in Central City; James Conti, Turkey Foot Middle School in Villa Hills; Saralina Schell, Bowling Green Junior High in Bowling Green; and Chelsea Southworth, Winburn Middle School in Lexington.

In addition to the Duke honors to be bestowed, students will be introduced to the programs they are eligible to participate in provided by The Center for Gifted Studies at WKU and will also have the opportunity to tour campus.

Contact: Cara Pitchford, (270) 745-3014.

By Corey Alderdice

Full Video: Gatton Academy Third Annual Commencement (2010)

May 15, 2010 | Alumni, News, Parents, People, Staff, Student Success, Video, WKU | No Comments

Gatton Academy Third Annual Commencement (2010) from Gatton Academy on Vimeo.

Celebration of Commencement Weekend at Western Kentucky University continued on Saturday as The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky honored its third graduating class of high school seniors.

Fifty-one students representing 37 counties from across the Commonwealth were recognized during the ceremony at the newly renovated Van Meter Auditorium. The ceremony not only celebrated the significant accomplishments of the program and its graduates over the last two years but also looked toward the infinite possibilities ahead.

Gatton Academy Executive Director Dr. Julia Roberts expressed the day’s events were both a celebration of the Class of 2010’s personal accomplishments and a starting point toward their work of creating a better Kentucky.

“Kentucky’s future is brighter today because you are graduates of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science,” Roberts said. “What wonderful contributions you will make in the fields of mathematics, science, engineering and technology. I look forward to hearing about your leadership in STEM fields in Kentucky and beyond in the not-so-distant future.”

WKU President Dr. Gary Ransdell lauded not only the graduates’ academic accomplishments but also the instruction they have received in becoming better leaders.

“I hope you’ve understood those lessons and values that allow you to command leadership positions,” he said. “And I hope you take with you the motto of this university: The spirit makes the master. I hope wherever you may go, that path leads back to Kentucky.”

Chris Guthrie, President of Trace Die Cast, Inc., delivered the commencement address. Guthrie also encouraged the graduates to enjoy a wide variety of life experiences; however, he advised them to make a difference in their state.

“We have a great state, and I challenge you to see more of it,” he said. “When the time comes to start your business, your medical practice or research institute, come back to Kentucky. We need your talent. Go out and experience great things and come back and help us build a better Commonwealth.”

Over the past two years, Gatton Academy students have taken advanced coursework in mathematics, science and other subjects at WKU in fulfillment of high school requirements and the Gatton Academy curriculum. In all, students have each earned more than 60 hours of college credit.

Gatton Academy Director Tim Gott shared his gratitude with attending faculty members for their role in making the program’s learning environment a challenging and rewarding experience for students.

“Of the many things these students have pursued, one particular area of significance is the opportunity to conduct research,” Gott said. “Many of the faculty with us today have mentored these students as they explored new techniques in chemistry, environmental issues in geography and geology, unknown frontiers in astronomy and physics, potential medical breakthroughs in biology, life-enhancing concepts in engineering and unique applications in math and computer science. Those who engaged in these research projects have truly brought relevance to the rigor.”

Three out of five graduates participated in a facilitated research project with university faculty members. Research accomplishments include WKU’s second Department of Defense SMART scholarship recipient, a student presentation before the Keystone Center’s National Energy Board, and a DAAD RISE scholarship winner.

Anna Walter, a graduating senior from Burlington, reflected upon her experience as an Academy student and the potential she and her classmates have to affect global change.

“The Academy has given us the opportunities we need not only to succeed in our chosen fields but also to excel in them by providing that extra little push to go from ordinary to the extraordinary,” she said. “It is that little extra that distinguishes the leaders from the followers, the innovators from the reproducers and the great from the average.”

In pursuit of those academic and personal goals, three out of five graduates plan to attend Kentucky higher education institutions with 8 continuing their studies at WKU.

In the fall of 2010, representatives from the graduating class will attend 20 schools across the United States: Belmont University; Cornell University; Georgia Institute of Technology; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Morehead State University; Mount Holyoke College; Princeton University; Purdue University; Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Stanford University; Transylvania University; Union University; University of Chicago; University of Delaware; University of Kentucky; University of Louisville; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; University of Washington; Vanderbilt University and Western Kentucky University.

Four-year scholarships totaling more than $10.3 million were offered to the graduating class, while more than $3.5 million in four-year scholarships were accepted.

Twelve members of the senior class were named Kentucky Governor’s Scholars. Ten members of the class were selected as National Merit finalists. In all, seniors completed a total of 1,948 hours of community service during their time at the Gatton Academy.

“These students have taken the most rigorous curriculum offered to any high school student in the nation,” Gott said. “They left the comfort of home and established a level of independence that will impact their lives forever. They have forged new friendships which will grow exponentially in the years to come. They have given themselves in community service throughout the state inspiring younger students, building new homes and expanding awareness of the opportunities in math and science. They will become the leaders of this great Commonwealth.”

Ryne Weiss, a graduating senior from Richmond, explained the role that students’ families, both genetic and created, had on their time as Academy students.

“This experience would not be possible if you didn’t have generous parents who would do the unthinkable and let you pursue the greatest academic opportunity available,” Weiss said. “Eventually, we will also see our Academy family again. They will be on the news, they will be on the cover of Nature, Popular Science or Time. We will see each other again and we will be proud, like family.”

By Corey Alderdice

Gatton Academy Honors Third Class of Graduates

May 15, 2010 | Alumni, News, Parents, People, Student Life, Student Success, WKU | No Comments

Celebration of Commencement Weekend at Western Kentucky University continued on Saturday as The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky honored its third graduating class of high school seniors.