Project SEED 10-Year Celebration Gathers Supporters, Students, Faculty

In the first gathering of its kind, Duquesne’s Project SEED brought together students, high school teachers, professors, contributors, potential supporters and interested corporate scientists to celebrate the success of the University’s 10-year-old program.

More than 40 people gathered July 18 in the Power Center to discuss the diversity initiative. Coordinator Dr. Jennifer Aitken has guided the project since its inception at Duquesne. In that time, the program has won the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) top award for effectiveness and the ChemLuminary Award, and several students have received competitive college scholarships awarded by the ACS.

Through the program, high-achieving students from financially disadvantaged areas are given the paid opportunity to work in a Duquesne research lab over the summer, learning lab techniques while contributing to research. They present their work at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium. Additionally, student representatives attend and present at the annual ACS meeting. Through an auxiliary program, high school chemistry teachers enter labs to enhance their skills.

“Particularly with the current emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, it’s important for students with diverse backgrounds to consider careers in chemistry and other sciences,” said Aitken, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “Besides encouraging individuals to make the most of their talents, the program helps to bolster the quality and expand the diversity of those entering the field.”

This year’s participants and faculty mentors are:

• Emily Janicki, Sto-Rox High School senior, second year; Kimberly Rosmus, graduate student, on Utilizing Scanning Electron Microscopy for Use in High School Chemistry Laboratories.
• Charles Thornton, Sto-Rox senior, second year; Dr. Partha Basu, chemistry professor, on Cloning and Overexpression of Periplasmic Nitrate Reductase.
• Melissa Fowles, Sto-Rox junior; Dr. Ralph Wheeler, chemistry department chair, on Predicting the Structures of Peptides in Water from Calculating Vibrational Frequencies.
• Deion Grant, Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy senior; Dr. Jeffry Madura, chemistry professor, on Alanine Scanning of the Vitamin D Receptor.
• Cheyenne Simmons, Sto-Rox junior; Jacilynn Brant, graduate student, on The Synthesis and Characterization of Nanocrystalline Diamond-like Semiconductors.
• Kelly Pesta, Boardman High School, Ohio, junior; Dr. Stephanie Wetzel, assistant professor of chemistry, on Identification of Organic Gun Shot Residue.

Janicki and Thornton will present their work at the Sci-Mix Poster session of the National American Chemical Society Meeting in Indianapolis in September.