Tag: VStateLSAMP

LSAMP Students Participate in Summer Research Bridge Camp

/ Stephanie Hughes

Submitted by Dr. Linda De La Garza, Professor of Chemistry

The Southwestern Georgia STEM Pathways Alliance (SWGA-SPA) sponsored a Summer Research Bridge Camp for scholars and associate scholars of participating institutions. Students from Georgia Southwestern, ABAC, Columbus Tech and Columbus State University, attended the camp along Valdosta State University students during May 30 to June 3, 2023.

The SWGA-SPA is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program, created to provide support to underrepresented minority (URM) students (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders). 

The Summer Bridge Camp was hosted by Columbus State University and Columbus Tech, and included sessions on robotics, electrofishing, cybersecurity, chemistry, and environmental science. The program also included activities related to career and professional development, students participated in a session on bioethics, and workshops on possible selves and establishing confidence to be successful in STEM fields.

The student participants David Vasquez (CHEM), Caidyn Carr (CHEM), Alma Diaz (GEOS), Vanessa Brignolle (BIOL), Opeyemi Oladejo (ENGR), and Hector Prieto (PHYS), were accompanied by Dr. Jason Allard (GEOS), LSAMP mentor coordinator, and Dr. Sandra Trowell (MATH), LSAMP assistant coordinator.

The interdisciplinary aspect of the camp helped students to experience applications of their majors and collaborate with students on other STEM fields in support of their objective of seeking advanced degrees after graduation from VSU. LSAMP at VSU hosted a similar camp on June 2021.

“We are very proud of the work of the LSAMP Scholars at VSU” – said Dr. Linda de la Garza (CHEM), co-PI and VSU LSAMP activities coordinator. “We invite interested students from the College of Science and Mathematics to join our activities, we will have sessions with speakers and workshops during the fall and spring semesters.”

The goal of this LSAMP program is to transform the STEM learning environment by significantly increasing the number of URM majors graduating with baccalaureate degrees and applying to graduate programs in the STEM disciplines.

To learn more about the LSAMP program: https://www.valdosta.edu/csm/lsamp.php

To follow LSAMP at VSU on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LSAMPatVSU/

Instagram: lsamp_at_vsu

LSAMP Scholar Airionna Fordham Wins Best Poster in STEM Overall Award at VSU Symposium

/ Stephanie Hughes

Airionna Fordham’s “Effect of the Mobile Phase in the Analysis of Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography” won the Best Poster in STEM Overall Award at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted by Valdosta State University in April.

Fordham said “My research is about finding ways to optimize the HPLC. I chose this topic because I want to work in the chemical industry and find ways improve the field. I found that for the samples we studied in reverse phase chromatography, the more acidic the mobile phase the quicker the samples will elute.”

Fordham’s research was guided by Dr. Linda de la Garza, Associate Professor of Chemistry and VSU Campus Coordinator for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program.

All undergraduate students at VSU were invited to submit proposals for the annual Symposium on Undergraduate Research. Individual academic departments and colleges then selected the University’s best paper, posters, and video research presentations and prize winners. This year’s poster session included more than 100 posters from all areas.

Fordham, 20, is a regular on the Dean’s List and an LSAMP Scholar at VSU. She attended the LSAMP Summit in February and presented her initial results at their poster session. She is also a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and is an ACS Scholar.

The LSAMP program was created to provide support to underrepresented minority (URM) students (African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders). The goal of this program is to transform the STEM learning environment by significantly increasing the number of URM majors graduating with baccalaureate degrees and applying to graduate programs in the STEM disciplines.

“Since joining the LSAMP Program I have been able to do research that has prepared me for my career in the chemical industry. I have been able to connect with other people in the field of science, and gain research and public speaking experience”. – Airionna Fordham

This summer, Airionna is participating as a Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Scholar in an internship at Trinseo, a sustainable materials industry in Dalton, GA. Airionna anticipates graduating from VSU in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree. Her future plans include attending graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Chemistry and to work in the chemical industry.

To learn more about the Undergraduate Research Council at VSU, click here.

To learn more about VSU’s Chemistry Department, click here.

To learn more about the LSAMP program, click here.

To follow LSAMP at VSU on social media, click here.