Anna Mackley (’09), who conducted undergraduate research on E. coli 0157:H7, was one of only five students in the U.S. to receive a prestigious legacy scholarship from the American Society for Clinical Pathology and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

Senior Kristen Tannen became the third SU student in two years to win the international Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship. She used it to study abroad, living with an Ecuadorian family. French M.B.A. student and budding entrepreneur Benjamin Bottura (’09) recently captured SU’s $5,000 Bernstein Award with his business plan for La Cuisine, a “cooking restaurant” that allows patrons to dine on their own creations.

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GIS Grants Grow

From crime and the Internet to flood plains and foodsheds, mapping projects recently awarded to SU’s Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative total more than $1 million. Dr. Art Lembo of Geography and Geosciences is partnering with Cornell and Tufts universities to model geographic areas that grow and supply food to populations in Michigan, Mississippi and New Mexico. Locally, he is mapping crime for Salisbury Police. Other current projects involve flood maps for the Maryland Environmental Service, traffic flow data for the Salisbury metropolitan area and natural hazard mitigation plans for Delaware counties. The co-op is also partnering with SU’s Business, Economic and Community Outreach Network to conduct focus groups and map broadband Internet access statewide.

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Researchers Go South

SU researchers, including two husband and wife duos, are providing some unique international experiences for students.

Drs. Richard and Kim Hunter of Biology took a conservation expedition in Indonesia’s Wakatobi National Park to establish a field lab and extract DNA from two hard coral species. Professors Dan Harris of Geography and Geosciences and Jill Caviglia-Harris of Economics and Finance, with their 5- and 7-year-old children, went to Brazil to investigate and map the economic and environmental impacts of small-scale farming in the Amazon.

While Dr. Ryan Taylor of Biology is not working with his spouse, he is examining the mate choices of túngara frogs in Panama. All have involved SU undergraduates in their work.

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Science Grants

SU is tackling workforce shortages in nursing and sciences, thanks to grants totaling nearly $2 million. Some $996,303 from the National Science Foundation will be used to attract students to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The five-year project complements SU’s latest Living-Learning Community for first-year STEM majors. “SU has aggressively responded to national needs in critical STEM areas, as these careers are key to the innovation-based economy of Maryland and the U.S.,” said project co-investigator Tom Jones. For nursing majors, $937,035 from the Maryland Hospital Association will fund a high-tech simulation center with life-like computerized mannequins programmed to replicate demanding, unpredictable clinical situations, including labor and delivery. “Recent nursing department grants clearly affirm the quality of our students and program, and I commend our faculty for their commitment to addressing Maryland’s need for nurses,” said Henson School Dean Karen Olmstead.

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