New CWU Science Honors Program Aids Student Research

February 10, 2005

Contact: Dr. Andy Piacsek (509-963-2723/fax 509-963-2728/e-mail: piascek@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Nine students are now participating in the inaugural year of the new Central Washington University Science Honors Research Program. Dr. Andy Piacsek, CWU physics professor, directs the program, initiated after the university received a $225,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust last fall to fund it.

It's designed for upper division undergraduates, who propose a detailed research project to a Science Honors Advisory board, which then selects students for participation. Honors program students are paired with a faculty mentor for their project.

Students will spend nine weeks during the summer working intensively with their mentors on the research project; they will also participate in group activities during the summer. In addition to their individual research, students in the program will take seminar classes together during the school year to prepare for their research and to develop thesis-writing skills.

The goal of the program is to foster the career development of undergraduate students who have an aptitude for research in science fields, Piacsek says.

The nine students selected for the program by the advisory council this year are:

• Jonathan Betz, a junior biology education major from Gig Harbor, who is working with Dr. Tom Cottrell, biology, on the project, "The role of fire disturbance in weed invasion of forest plant communities"
• Heather Biles, junior, Selah, chemistry, who is working with Dr. Levente Febry, chemistry, on the project, "The effects of force field and charge on molecular modeling: a volumetric study to find the perfect model for Cathepsin-D ligands"
• Liane Fernyhough, junior, Renton, family and consumers sciences, who is working with Drs. David Gee and Virginia Bennett, family and consumer sciences, on the project, "A comparative study of the dietary intake of Mexican women in Michoacan and Mexican-American women"
• Katharine Gilliam, junior, Kent, environmental geological sciences, who is working with Dr. Paul Hoskins, geological sciences, on the project, "Investigation of the origin of acid mine drainage and the fate of dissolved metals in surface waters, Whatcom and Snohomish Counties, Washington"
• Lindsay Groce, senior, Richland, biology, who is working with Dr. Anthony Diaz, chemistry, on the project, "New phosphors for modern display applications"
• Lindy Mullen, senior, biology, Ellensburg, who is working with Dr. Steve Wagner, biology, on the project, "Implications of torrent salamander respiration for conservation and the evolution of lunglessness"
• Nicholas Salim, junior, chemistry, Ellensburg, who is working with Febry on the project "New techniques for molecular modeling: using neural networks and Sybyl to predict biological activity"
• Anthony Sowards, junior, geography, Ellensburg, who is working with Dr. Bob Hickey, geography, on the project, "Tracking biologic and sedimentologic spatio-temporal change, Roebuck Bay, Western Australia," and
• Anthony Smith, Yakima, a double major in physics and chemistry, Yakima, who is working with Piacsek on the project, "Wave propagation through a tensegrity structure"

During the 2004-05 academic year, Drs. Wendy Bohrson, geological sciences, Michael Braunstein, physics; Holly Pinkart, biological sciences; and Eric Bullock, chemistry, comprise the Science Honors Advisory Council.

More information about the Science Honors Research Program at CWU can be found at www.cwu.edu/~cots/scihonors/.