ALLENTOWN, Pa. — When considering what project to tackle this summer at Cedar Crest College, Aaliyah Johnson chose to study xylazine – a veterinary tranquilizer that officials say is contributing to a rise in overdose deaths in people.
“I chose xylazine because it’s popular where I’m from,” said Johnson, an incoming freshman from Philadelphia who plans to study biology. “I’ve always heard of it as the ‘zombie drug,’ but it’s causing such a big problem — the death rates with xylazine go up.”
Johnson was one of nine students Wednesday to present their projects, marking the end of the first round of a three-year initiative called TOWERS, or Tackling Obstacles for Women’s Engagement and Retention in STEM, at Cedar Crest. Through the program, incoming freshmen are paired with mentors to complete science projects, gaining confidence and community along the way.
Led by Audrey J. Ettinger, associate professor of biology and chair of the college’s Department of Biological Sciences, and Lindsey A. Welch, an associate professor of chemistry, it’s funded through a $750,000 award from NASA to help engage and retain women in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines.
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by these students over the past five weeks, and we're so proud and amazed at the progress that you've all made,” Welch said. “And it's all coming down to this — the beautiful posters that we have on the wall for the research that you've conducted with the faculty members and the peer mentors in the program.
“Congratulations and wonderful job to all of you.”
Bridging the science gender gap
Announced in June of last year, the award was part of a $5 million effort to bridge the science gender gap, allocated to seven colleges across the country.
“This is a very exciting first; we’re making strides to close the pervasive gender gap in STEM, and women’s colleges and universities are well-positioned to help drive that positive change,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, in a news release.
“It’s more important than ever we have brilliant, enthusiastic people entering the workforce and ready to take on the ambitious plans and challenges ahead.”
Women earn 59% of undergraduate degrees compared to 41% of men, but only 10% of women’s degrees are in a STEM field.National Center of Education Statistics
Women earn 59% of undergraduate degrees compared to 41% of men, but only 10% of women’s degrees are in a STEM field, officials said, citing the National Center of Education Statistics.
“This pattern follows women into the workplace, where they represent about 47% of the workforce, but only 27% of STEM jobs as stated by the U.S. Census Bureau,” according to the release. “Among women of color in STEM, fewer than one in 20 are scientists and engineers.
“At NASA, 26% of the agency’s scientists and engineers are women.”
‘Ready for the semester’
Standing in the lounge of Cedar Crest’s Oberkotter Lounge Wednesday night, Ettinger and Welch watched as students presented their projects, confidently explaining their research and answering questions posed by faculty, administrators and visitors.
“We're so proud and so amazed by what they've done in the past five weeks,” Ettinger said. “It's wonderful. Just anecdotally, I’ve already heard a student say, ‘With this experience, I'm going to be ready for the semester.’”
In addition to Johnson’s “Novel Drug Analysis to Combat the Xylazine Epidemic,” projects included:
- Katherine Johnson’s “Testing Phosphorylation Dependent Cancer Protein Interactions with Replication Protein A using the Yeast Two-Hybrid System”;
- Morgan Goldring’s “Synthesis and Antibacterial Studies of Novel Mannich Bases from Lawsone, Vanillin and 1° Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines”;
- Celia Gisone’s “Discovering Novel Antibiotics in Soil Samples”
- Natalie Devine’s “Using Year Two-Hybrid System to Test if Phosphorylation of the Replication Protein A Affects its Interactions with other Cancer Proteins”;
- Dianmy Guzman’s “Dragendorff Method and Phthalimide Amine Reactions in Xylazine Detection”;
- Sammantha Collins’ “Sodium Nitroprusside Xylazine Detection Test”;
- Fatmeh Mahmud’s “Antibiotic Discovery in Human Skin and Soil Samples”; and,
- Briana Landes’ “Finding Antibiotic Producing Bacteria in a Local Water Source.”
“Obviously, there's always more questions in science, but the goals of the project were met,” Ettinger said. “Which almost, almost never happens in the time limits of a research project.
“What we thought they could accomplish — they got it all done quickly and well and efficiently.”
In addition to getting mentorship and hands-on experience in the college’s lab, the participants explored the Valley and beyond — going to Musikfest, exploring the Promenade Saucon Valley and visiting the Poconos. There were movie nights and dinners and meetings with alumni.
“It was fun to see different personalities — even in a group of nine students, they really had different skill sets, different ways to think about things, different ways to work,” Ettinger said. “And, I think it was good. It was fun to see; it was fun to get to know them.”
When the semester begins, these students will already have their first poster presentation under their belt, a rite of passage for any student studying science.
“They will not have to make their first poster ever again,” Ettinger said. “They did it.”
And, Ettinger and Welch are getting ready to start planning for next year.
“We’re starting to get ready,” Ettinger said. “We've been taking notes all along, and on Saturday, we have our first recruiting event on the campus here, and we have new cards with a new interest survey that will be handed out to students, ‘Come do NASA with us next summer.’”
