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Student Highlights from around COSAM
COSAM Graduate Awarded Fulbright Scholarship
Kayla Frey is one of seven Auburn University alumni who will serve as English Teaching Assistants, or ETAs, overseas as part of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship program. A native of Huntsville, Frey is a spring 2018 graduate in the College of Sciences and Mathematics earning a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and a minor in philanthropy and nonprofit studies. She will serve as a Fulbright ETA in Poland. While at Auburn, Frey served as a general chemistry learning assistant, a histology undergraduate teaching assistant and as a world history supplemental instruction leader. In addition,
she was an undergraduate research fellow and a Project Uplift mentor.
“It is my hope that as a Fulbright Scholar in Poland I will be able to develop the cultural competency necessary for a successful career in international healthcare,” said Frey. “My three years of teaching experience as a peer instructor in the College of Science and Mathematics will be invaluable during this experience as the program specifically sought applicants who were STEM based and who had teaching
experience at the university level.”
Fulbright ETAs spend much of their time in classrooms abroad supporting the host country’s English language instruction. Program participants also contribute to the numerous learning benefits of hosting a native speaker in the classroom.
The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Curles the Recipient of Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award
Wesley Curles, a senior in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, was among three Auburn University recipients of the prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award at the annual President’s Luncheon April 11. The award is given annually to individuals who embody high qualities and nobility of character.
Curles, a native of Montgomery, Alabama, is a senior studying biomedical sciences. He plans to attend medical school and go on to establish a clinical practice. His research focused on Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes in laboratory mice resulted in a potential causal link between insulin sensitivity and cognitive impairment. In addition to his scholarly activities, Curles competes on Auburn’s cross
country team and has served as team captain for two years.
Curles is a Rhodes Scholar semifinalist and a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi. He is also on the SEC Academic Honor Roll and College of Sciences and Mathematics Dean’s List, and a recipient of the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches
Association All-American Award and Auburn Top Tiger Award. Curles also volunteers with the local chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The other recipients of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award are Hallie Nelson, a student from Birmingham, Alabama, and alumnus and former secretary to the Board of Trustees, Grant Davis.
The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award is a national honor that has been presented at Auburn since 1951 as a reminder of the noblest human qualities exemplified by Algernon Sydney Sullivan, a prominent humanitarian and first president of the New York Southern Society, now the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation. Each year, Auburn bestows the honor on at least one student from the graduating class.
Awardees of National Science Foundation Research Fellowships
Three College of Sciences and Mathematics students and an alumna are recipients of the 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and five others received honorable mention. The fellowship program helps ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce in the United States.
They are: Steph Courtney, Elijah Johnson, Breanna Sipley and Kristin Zuromski. Their research topics include communicating climate change; enhancing spatial thinking; interaction of parasites and their hosts; and protein quality control in cells.
Fellows benefit from three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period – a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution, as well as opportunities for international research and professional development. That support is for graduate study that leads to a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and social science disciplines.
“The number of Auburn University students applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program continues to grow each year,” said Paul Harris, associate director for National Prestigious Scholarships in the Honors College. “I congratulate each and every student who worked with their faculty advisors throughout the lengthy application process and I look forward to hearing of their continued success.”
Students create a personal statement and research plan for the fellowship program in conjunction with their faculty mentors and with the support of the Office of National Prestigious Scholarships in the Honors College as well as the Miller Writing Center.
“It has been a privilege to work with such promising students, learning about groundbreaking research, and helping guide them as they develop and polish their proposals,” said James Truman, assistant director of the Miller Writing Center.
Steph Courtney is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Geosciences who is working with Karen McNeal, associate professor in Geosciences. Her project titled “Building better graphs for climate change communication: Evidence from eye tracking,” involves graph comprehension, climate change communication, climate change risk perception and viewer knowledge, and eye tracking technology. Graphs are often used to communicate science topics, including climate change, to public audiences, and this project will provide evidence for making graphic communication more effective.
Elijah Johnson is a first-year graduate student in the Department of Geosciences and is also working with Karen McNeal. His project titled “The Effectiveness of the Augmented Reality Sandbox for Improving Spatial Thinking in Undergraduates,” examines the distribution of spatial thinking ability across a range of majors in Auburn University’s undergraduate population. Subsequently, his study will ascertain whether teaching geological concepts through the augmented reality sandbox can effectively teach topography and train spatial reasoning ability.
Breanna Sipley is a second-year graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences who is working with Jamie Oaks and Kenneth Halanych. Her project, “The evolution of endoparasitism in flatworms: What’s VAP got to do with it?” will examine the genetic bases of parasitism with a focus on the evolution of gene families involved in evading and coping with host immunity. Of particular interest to the evolution of blood parasitism in flatworms are the venom allergen-like proteins.
Kristin Zuromski is a 2014 College of Sciences and Mathematics graduate with a bachelor’s in Biochemistry who, as an undergraduate, conducted research under the direction of Holly Ellis, The William B. Molette Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Zuromski is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Biological Chemistry at MIT. In her research, titled “Elucidating the Cooperation of ClpXP with the Protein Quality Control Network,” she plans to determine mechanisms of collaboration amongst protein quality control proteins that contribute to the maintenance of cellular health, response to stress, and homeostasis.
Kayleigh Chalkowski, a doctoral student in the Cellular and Molecular Biosciences program, and adeleine Eddy, a 2017 graduate of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received honorable mentions.
Jack Feminella, associate dean and professor in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, says “The NSF GRFP is the oldest fellowship program in the U.S. that directly funds graduate research in STEM fields. The program has long focused its emphasis on ‘funding people, not just projects.’ Auburn’s remarkable growth in the number of GRFP applicants and awardees over the past decade nicely reflects the increased quality of Auburn students as we continue enhancing our research profile. This year’s record number of awardees in current Auburn graduate programs speaks loudly to the growing excellence of MSc and PhD students and their faculty mentors pursuing groundbreaking STEM research on campus.”
For additional information about the NSF GRFP contact Paul Harris in the Honors College at paul.harris@auburn.edu.
Last Updated: 10/12/2018