Student Center for Science Engagement

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

If you have been following us for a little while, then you know how dedicated (and awesome) our director, Dr. Jorge Cantú is to advancing STEM.

Last week was the conclusion of the 1st ChiSTEM Summer Institute that took place here at NEIU.

Dr. Cantú together with two other NEIU faculty, Ruth Dawley-Carr and Matt Graham, wrote the grant that gave rise to this immersive and unique mentoring program that brought together experienced STEM teachers from CPS with early career teachers to navigate the education of the next generation of STEM students.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

Friday funny 🙂

Happy Monday, everyone!

We are continuing with our SCSE Summer Research Highlights with Dr. Stefan Tsonchev's Lab (Chemistry).

SCSE Summer Research Students Fawzaan, Mamoon, and Abedeljalil spent the summer working on a project in the field of nanoscience, developing carbon nanodot (CND) material for high performance liquid chromatography separation and environmental contaminants' detection.

The properties of CNDs vary, have unique optical properties, and have been used in many biological applications. During the last few years, Dr. Tsonchev's lab has produced various sizes of CNDs that were synthesized and characterized through various spectroscopy by using fructose and sulfuric acid as starting materials!

Swipe to see fluorescent light emitted by the carbon nanodots synthesized by the students in the lab. So cool! 💙

Awesome work, team!

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

Our next SCSE Summer Research feature is our Computer Science team Dr. Lizi Zhu and SCSE Summer Research Student, Maimouna Coulibaly. Like many Computer Science research groups, Dr. Zhu and Maimouna often meet over Zoom, and sent us a screenshot from one of their last meetings.

This team has been working to develop an intelligent neural network based course recommender system for students. Not sure of what this is? Let us explain:

Recommender systems are AI-based systems that use machine learning to suggest services, content, and products to users, and are widely used in social media, streaming services, finance, as well as higher education.

Higher education has gone though restructuring over the years, which have led to new course development. As a result, students may face challenges trying to understand which courses to take, and advisors may become overwhelmed with the amount of students who need guidance in this area.

Thua, the role of course recommender systems in higher education may be able to help take the burdens off of both students and advisors.

We can't wait to see your findings, Maimouna!

Great job!



How do you feel about AI in education?

Happy Wednesday, friends!

If you are looking for an awesome biology class to take this fall, check out Bio 306 - Botany of Desire!

In this course, students will be studying the relationship between humans and plants, the growth of plants from seed to flower, and growing plants in our BBH Greenhouse! (See our last Greenhouse reel for some inspiration 🌱🌿

This class is an ELX course as well!

For more info or any questions, contact Dr. Joel Olfelt: [email protected].

TREE CAMPUS🌲🌳

For the 9th year in a row, Northeastern Illinois University has been designated as a Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation

Northeastern is 1 of 10 higher education institutions that have been given this designation for the last 9 years! 🙌🏻

Next time you are on campus, stop for a moment and appreciate all the trees that adorn our beautiful campus and all the work behind the scenes to keep those trees alive and healthy.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Our friends over at ARCOS STEM Academy will be hosting a poster session on Monday, July 22nd from 1-3pm in Village Square where STEM Academy graduates will be presenting the work the have done this summer!!

It's going to be a great time, so stop by and learn about some of the cool projects these students have been working on

Light refreshments will be provided.

#

Congratulations to Dr. Katrina E. Bell-Jordan Ph.D., 8th President of Northeastern Illinois University, effective August 1, 2024!

We wish Dr. Bell-Jordan all the best!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

We would like to send a warm congratulations to Dr. Yi Yang, Ph.D. who recently earned tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department!

Please help us congratulate Dr. Yang in the comments below and when you see her in person!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Piggybacking off of our STEM Alumni Panel last week, we also want to highlight an NEIU STEM Alumnus that was featured recently by

Biology alumnus Juan Sanchez (M.S. '19) is an accomplished researcher, and has worked on many Northeastern based projects that originated from funding by institutions such as the National Science Foundation.

Sanchez and his former Northeastern classmates, along with the support of NEIU faculty Dr. Emina A. Stojković, conducted research using various light techniques with Myxobacteria, or "slime bacteria.'" Together, they published a research paper entitled, "High-resolution crystal structures of a myxobacterial phytochrome at cryo and room temperatures".

Sanchez also had the opportunity to travel the U.S. to present his findings. With this and other projects Sanchez also presented his research in ltaly and Japan.

Sanchez has been a PhD student at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison since 2019. In 2021, Sanchez co-authored a
research article that was published in the Journal of Physical
Chemistry titled, "On the Role of the Conserved Histidine at the
Chromophore Isomerization Site in Phytochromes.

Amazing accomplishments, Juan!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Please join us this Wednesday, July 10th for our STEM Alumni Panel!

Our panelists are NEIU alum who will be speaking about their experiences after graduating from NEIU, providing advice for current students, and answering questions.

You don't want to miss this!

Swipe left to see all of our panelists" bios and for the QR code to register.

This event will be held virtually via zoom, so you can join remotely!

See you there!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

We hope you are celebrating safely.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Please join us next Wednesday, July 10th from 12-1pm as we host our annual STEM Alumni Panel.

This year's panel will be speaking about their experiences after
graduating from NEIU, their jobs, as well as providing advice for current students and answering questions.

You don't want to miss this!

Please register by using the QR code or click the link here 👉🏻
https://neiu-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlde6pqjgpG9LXeJiNMDB_DaR21B7e9BrH #/registration

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

We are sharing this on behalf of Dr. Francisco Iacobelli with the Computer Science Department at NEIU. .cbt

Dr. Iacobelli's research group is looking to recruit Latina breast cancer survivors for a current study exploring technology to educate about breast cancer.

Participation is paid and will only take about 1 1/2 hours!

If you or someone you know would like to participate, text the word "STUDY" to 773-257-3430 or email [email protected].

Sunday silly 🙂

Hope you're having a great weekend!

A reminder that in between Summer Sessions I & II, our chemistry tutor will not be available, but she will be back the week of June 8th to help assist students!

Happy Friday, friends!

Dr. Olfelt's (biology) summer research team has been busy in Minnesota doing work to test drone-based digital photography methods of monitoring rare/endangered plants on the Minnesota cliffs.

These pictures sent from Dr. Olfelt, depict the students using two drones: the Environmental Science drone (white) and the Geography and Environmental Studies Drone (gray).

Featured SCSE Summer Research Students are:
Velma Elba
Samantha Sandoval

Also featured is Derek Anderson, a botanist with the state of Minnesota.

Awesome work, team!!!

Happy Monday, everyone!

We would like to congratulate Dr. Beth Reinke (biology) on her feature in NEIU's Independent last month. Dr. Reinke is spearheading a project to prevent bird population decline on NEIU's campus due to collision accidents by using CollidEscape, a product that is applied to reflective glass to prevent birds from hitting windows.

Migration season, which peaked a few weeks ago, is a time when birds are en route to other places, flying across our campus in the process. These birds often take off at sunrise and sunset when light is low, and since they are new to the area, collision with glass is common.

CollidEscape screening was recently installed on NEIU's glass corridors, which is currently the area with the highest collision rate, ber Dr. Reinke's data. Dr. Reinke's fall ornithology class students wil conduct daily surveys to compare before and after data as well,

Awesome work, as always, Dr. Reinke!

Link to the full article:
https://neiuindependent.org/20420/campus-life/collidescape-on-theme-with-earth-day/

Happy Wednesday, friends!

👀 Cicada Watch 2024 Update:

We are just past the thick of this season. Females have begun to lay eggs in trees, and we expect to hear the chorus from our little 6-legged friends until the end of the month.

On Sunday, June 16th, our social media aide, Ginger Dragon, ventured to Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Illinois to cicada watch. She met a few friends (one happily crawled in her hand and arm, and clung to her purse strap, while another tried to hitch a ride home (no pictures of this unfortunately).

Scroll all the way down to hear the symphony 🎶🎵

👉🏻👉🏻Do you have any cool cicada pictures you want us to share? Send them to us and we'll feature them!

NEIU campuses are closed today, June 19th, in observance of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, on which Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free.

Tomorrow, June 20th, from 3-6pm, NEIU will be hosting a Juneteenth celebration event on the Main Campus, on the south lawn of Building B near the . Food, music, games and other activities will be provided outdoors. The event is free and open to the public!!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Please help us congratulate our SCSE Director, Dr. Jorge Cantú for completing the SACNAS Leadership Institute last week. 🎉🎉🎉

This was a rigorous week of intense workshops from morning until night. The cohort finally had a reprieve on Friday evening, when they were able to see the sights of Washington, D.C.

Dr. Clifton Poodry and Dr. Marigold Linton led the founding of the SACNAS Summer Leadership Institute, developed in partnership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The institute trains and equips 30 PhD-level scientists each year, cultivating the largest cohort of diverse STEM leaders in the country.

We are IMMENSELY proud of Dr. Cantú and this monumental accomplishment! He never ceases to amaze us at what he accomplishes both professionally and in his personal life.

🎉🎉 SURPRISE!!! 🎉🎉

Today is a special and very important day for us, because Luke Devereaux has officially joined the SCSE TEAM as our SCSE STEM Advisor!

Luke received their Bachelor's from DePaul University in Biology in 2020 and their Master's from Yale University in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology where they studied RNA modifications. As a long-time individual tutor and teaching fellow, Luke has worked with many students to develop their personal interests in science topics and plan how the next stages of their careers can provide fulfilling opportunities for delving into those interests

We are beyond thrilled and excited to watch Luke as they connect with our students and use their amazing background to help uplift the SCSE to new heights!

Please help us give Luke a warm welcome in the comments! Let's go! 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Our friends at TRIO and McNair are still going strong this summer with graduate school visits! There are still 6 more dates upcoming, so sign up if you're interested! The dates and schools are below:

Friday, June 28th: University of Illinois Springfield
Monday, July 8th: University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign
Wednesday, July 10th: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Friday, July 12th: DePaul University
Thursday, July 25th: University of Illinois - Chicago
Friday, August 2nd: Northwestern University

Friday funny 🙂

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday, friends!

A quick update on Abigail's summer schedule: she will be available for tutoring Thursdays and Fridays from 12-4pm in BBH 247 and also has 2 hours of flexible virtual hours throughout the week. If you would like to grab a virtual session with her, just email her at [email protected].

As a reminder, due to demand, Abigail is our only tutor working this summer. The rest of our tutors will be back and happy to help you in the fall!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Last week, our Director, Dr. Jorge Cantú and STEM Transfer Advisor, Laura West visited Dr. Beth Reinke's Turtle Camp and had an amazing time! They spent 2 days helping out this research team with various tasks, including cooking (photo 2: chef Cantú 😀), checking traps (photo 9) and releasing turtles back into the wild (photo 8).

Turtle Camp also welcomed a little investor, Edward (Dr. Cantú's son) who had a great time helping out and enjoying a kayak ride 😎.

It is amazing to reflect on how many students, people, families, and kids that our SCSE Summer Research has impacted over the years. We are truly grateful to be in our 16th year of summer research!

Thank you to Dr. Reinke and her research team who welcomed us out!

Stay tuned for more summer research updates in the coming weeks!

Surprise!

Due to high demand for a chemistry tutor this summer, Abigail Lopez Alonso is back and ready to assist students who need extra help in chemistry classes.

If you need tutoring help, her hours are:
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 1-5pm, BBH 247
Wednesdays: 3-5pm, virtual

Lets rock these summer sessions with success!!

Continuing reasons to celebrate on this Monday, let's give a round of congratulations to NEIU faculty/staff who recently received CAS Excellence Awards for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years.

The NEIU excellence award program identifies employees whose contributions have had a critical, positive impact in helping achieve the objectives associated with the University Mission, Values, Strategic Planning Initiatives and/or University work plan

What an amazing and well deserved honor!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Please help us congratulate former SCSE Summer Research Student Sorayya Nazari who was accepted into HCCC Summer Program at the University of lowa.

This research focuses on targeting molecularplayers involved in the metastatic growth of breast cancer.

Awesome job, Sorayya! We are so proud!

Happy Thursday, everyone!

A friendly reminder that now is the time to register for classes if you haven't already!

If you need help choosing which STEM classes are a good fit for you, our advisors can help with that. You can email us directly at [email protected].

Don't want until the last minute! Some classes fill up quickly.

On this Memorial Day we honor those who lost their lives serving our country. For your bravery, courage, and valor, we thank you.

Have a safe holiday, everyone.