Bloomsburg University
of Pennsylvania
N O V E M B E R 2 0 12
SCITECH
C O L L E G E O F S C I E N C E A N D T E C H N O LO G Y N E W S L E T T E R n W W W. B LO O M U. E D U / C O ST n 570.38 9.5333
EPA RADNET AIR MONITORING SYSTEM
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
Bloomsburg University was
approached by the state government
and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency about six months
ago to close a gap in radioactive air
monitoring across the nation. On
Thursday, Oct. 10, BU installed an
EPA RADNET Air Monitoring System
on top of the Andruss Library.
Simpson says BU was one of the
first in the state to report traces of
radioactivity in rain water samples
after the accident at the Fukushima
reactors in Japan last year. “We
detected it in some rain samples
from wash out in very, very small
amounts, of course,” he says. “I think
the EPA recognized our capability.”
“The station is designed to
measure radiation levels and collect
radioactive particles in the air,”
says David Simpson, associate
professor of physics and engineering
technology “It’s a fixed monitor —
meaning that it stays in one place.
It will use air filters and have a data
link with the EPA, sending a live feed
of radiation levels.”
Both the installation and equipment
of the air-monitoring system were
free for the university. In return, the
EPA asks that samples be collected
and mailed to headquarters, which
Simpson says offers a chance for
students to get involved.
Simpson believes the university
was chosen because of its location.
“There was kind of a glaring hole
in the middle of Pennsylvania that
wasn’t being monitored,” he explains.
“The installation at Bloomsburg
closed that hole.” This station, one
of about 130 across the nation,
is the final one to be installed in
Pennsylvania.
“Part of our agreement is that we will
change out the filters and monitor the
system. We’ll be collecting the air
filters twice a week and letting the
EPA know if there are any problems,”
he says. “We’ll be taking students
over to see it for class and, during
the coming spring semester, I hope to
have a student worker helping me run
the system and collect samples.”
left to right:
Marcos Aquino, David Simpson,
Cristina Schulingkamp and Joe Schulingkamp
Bloomsburg University College
of
Science
and
Technology Newsletter
N O V E M B E R 2 0 12
Everywhere a sign
Adam Diltz, junior environmental planning
major, recently completed an internship
with the Town of Bloomsburg collecting
information about the street signs owned
by the town. Armed with a GPS and a
road map, he set out on foot to record
observations about each sign, which he
used to create an up-to-the-date
electronic map.
John Barton, Bloomsburg’s public works
superintendent, contacted associate
professor Jeff Brunskill last spring to plan
and organize this project. According to
PennDOT regulations, inventories must
be completed yearly to identify signs that
need to be replaced. Having completed
two GIS courses and assisted with a
tree inventory in 2011, Diltz took this
opportunity to gain more experience in
his field.
For the inventory, Diltz collected
information regarding several aspects of
each sign, including date of installation,
reflectivity, location and type of sign,
adding comments about the sign’s
condition and visiblity. He entered the
data into ArcMap, geographic information
system (GIS) software, and generated an
interactive map that can be easily updated
electronically. Although this information
is often used to track sign maintenance,
Diltz explained it is valuable in a variety
of settings. “If there’s a car accident,
investigators can make sure the signs
were correctly posted,” he says.
Diltz said his internship helped him gain
practical experience and investigate
employment opportunities associated with
his degree. He is now more interested
in pursuing a career in GIS and believes
he has learned valuable skills along the
way. “The project reinforced the computer
skills I learned in class, and it taught me
about time management,” Diltz explains.
“All of the planning and data entry were
my responsibility, so I learned to be more
organized.”
Diltz
The TALE of course development
Cindy Venn, Jennifer Whisner and Stephen Whisner, faculty
from environmental, geographical and geological sciences,
were awarded a TALE Teacher Scholar Grant to develop two,
14-day geology field courses in the U.S. desert southwest.
The trio spent eight days in late July and early August
scouting possible field trip locations in southern California
and Nevada, including the southern California coast north of
San Diego, the Salton Sea and Death Valley. After traveling
more than 2,000 miles in six days, they developed the
itinerary for two future field courses.
Bloomsburg University College
of
Science
and
Technology Newsletter
N O V E M B E R 2 0 12
Paul Loomis in South America
Five years ago, Paul Loomis, associate professor of mathematics,
computer science and statistics, took a sabbatical and traveled
with his wife, Leticia Weber, and their 1- and 5-year old children,
Zeke and Anne, to the National University of Cordoba
in Argentina.
“We had had hopes of doing some traveling,” he says, “but we
found that a 1-year-old on the bus wasn’t a good thing.”
After waiting for the children to become better travelers, Loomis
took a leave of absence during spring 2012 to return with his
family to South America and visit universities.
“I was really curious about how mathematics is taught in a
variety of places and how this is affected by economic and
cultural realties,” he says.
the public universities are free if you can feed and house yourself,
so a lot of young people try out university,” he says. “Over and
over, I was told that about 10 percent make it all the way to
receiving a degree. Thus, I could go to a first-year class where
the students – prospective math majors – were struggling to learn
algebra, and then see a fifth-year class where they are learning
things that we don’t get to here. Those that do make it through
are quite good.”
Loomis is bringing a few new ideas to his classes this fall, and
will offer several upcoming talks on his time in South America.
“This trip was even more rewarding, both professionally and
personally, that I had hoped.”
Photos and blog posts about Loomis’ travels through South
America are on his blog at: http://weberloomis.wordpress.
com/2012/04/
They landed in Lima, Peru in January, and traveled by bus across
Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and northern Chile before
returning to Lima in late June. Throughout his travels, Loomis
visited 10 universities, giving eight lectures in Spanish on his
specialty, number theory — ranging from specialized talks to
professors and graduate students to more general talks to as
many as 90 undergraduates.
“It was hard to make contacts before arriving, so I would usually
show up without advance notice,” says Loomis. “I would ask to
visit classes and offer to give a talk. Everyone said, ‘Welcome,
and we’d love to hear you talk’.”
Loomis found that only a small fraction of those who began
studies in mathematics eventually received a degree. “Most of
Alcoa grant supports STEM camps
Bloomsburg
University’s
College of
Science and
Technology and
the Bloomsburg
University
Foundation
recently received
Polhill
a $15,000
grant from the Alcoa Foundation in
support of science and engineering
summer camps for middle and high
school students. Founded more than
50 years ago, the Alcoa Foundation
contributed $30 million nationally last
year toward programs that encourage
“environment, empowerment, education
and sustainable design.”
With the help of this grant, BU hopes
to reach out to more middle and
high school students and encourage
their interests in science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) subjects,
according to John Polhill, assistant dean
of the College of Science and Technology.
The Alcoa Foundation helped support
last summer’s camps and, because of
reduced participation fees, more students
were able to attend the camps, including
those who have great financial need.
Polhill says these programs promote
academic and personal growth.
“Friendships are made between people
from different school districts with a
common appreciation for math and
science,” he says. “Hopefully this camp
will help them develop as lifelong
learners.”
In addition to getting children excited
about STEM subjects, the camps benefit
BU students. Future teachers gain
experience assisting with classes, and
some sessions are taught entirely by BU
students. University students have served
as co-director and assisted Polhill with
the administrative aspects of organizing
the camp.
Student helpers can also give
participants one-on-one attention,
which session leaders are not always
able to do. “The BU students and kids
make a connection that is really great to
witness,” says Polhill. “They add to the
fun, help make things go smoothly and
help guide the campers.”
The summer 2013 camp is tentatively
set for the week of June 17 to 21. Polhill
says the camps will likely incorporate
some elements from CSI and cover topics
in environmental science and renewable
energy. The College of Science and
Technology is also holding a robotics
workshop for seventh- through 10thgrade students on Saturdays through
Dec. 8. For more information regarding
the summer camps or the robotics
workshop, contact Polhill at jpolhill@
bloomu.edu.
Bloomsburg University College
of
Science
and
Technology Newsletter
N O V E M B E R 2 0 12
Effects of stream cleaning studied
Steven Rier, associate professor of biology, received two grants —
$10,000 from the Degenstein Foundation and $15,000 from the
Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds — to quantify the effects of
“stream cleaning” that occurred following the September 2011 floods.
Stream cleaning involves bulldozing and realigning the channels,
creating dikes with bed materials and removing large woody debris in
an effort to increase the capacity of stream channels to carry water.
The project studies the effects of stream cleaning on two economically
important “ecosystem services” associated with natural streams – sport
fishing and nitrogen retention. The goal is to provide empirical data to
municipalities, managers and environmental regulators that establish
whether there are economically significant tradeoffs when these
activities are allowed to proceed.
Rier and three undergraduates measured a suite of parameters related
to nitrogen uptake and ecosystem health during summer 2012, and
Jon Niles from Susquehanna University measured fish community
responses. The grants also support a project by students in Rier’s
Freshwater Biology class that looks at the impact of stream cleaning on
the ability of stream organisms to use leaf litter as an energy source.
Nursing in the News
Full scholarship for nursing
BU student Madison Scripture can guarantee she isn’t flat-footed
and she doesn’t stutter. To qualify for the Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps (ROTC) scholarship, she was evaluated on these qualities,
and others, including mental fitness. She passed with flying colors
and, in the end, received a full, four-year scholarship to Bloomsburg
University’s nursing program.
Growing up watching her mother in the nursing field, Scripture, of
Pennsburg, was driven to follow in her footsteps. She came to BU for
the nursing program, which she describes as “amazing.”
shoe drive. She and her classmates collected a total of 300 shoes
for children in Third World countries. “I’ve always loved community
service,” she says.
Scripture says the ROTC scholarship’s application process is
rigorous, based on a point system measuring both academics and
interviews at Lehigh University. Her reason for joining the ROTC
program is relatively common. “We have so many rights that other
countries don’t,” she says. “Just being able to maintain these values
is important to me.”
Scripture learned about the full ROTC scholarship in 10th grade.
No surprise, she applied for the scholarship by the end of her
sophomore year … and received it.
Now on top of maintaining a high academic performance at BU,
Scripture gives three days a week to the ROTC program for physical
training and drills. After she graduates, she will follow ROTC policy
and serve four years of active duty and four years of service in the
reserves.
Scripture’s drive to serve others has roots in her high school years.
Aside from being a member of student government, she led a school
“Knowing that I can go back into the civilian world and be confident
to whatever I do is an incredible feeling,” she says.
Expanded
partnership
with Geisinger
Geisinger Medical Center announced
its expanded partnership with
Bloomsburg University to provide
bachelor’s and master’s degree
programs in nursing at the GMC
campus in Danville. The partnership
will enable more students to enroll in
BU’s Bachelor of Nursing programs
beginning in the fall 2013 and offer
opportunities for further collaboration
through research and practice.
The goal is to meet the increasing
demand for primary care providers.
The first class graduated from BU’s
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
program in 1979 and the Master
of Science in Nursing was first
offered in 1985. GMC has been a
major clinical site for Bloomsburg
undergraduate and graduate nursing
students since the 1980s.
AENT program supports advanced degrees
Chikotas
Bloomsburg University’s
nursing program received
a grant totaling more than
$638,000 to educate nurse
practitioners who can provide
primary care and preventive
services within a 10-county
rural region of Pennsylvania.
The funding through the
Advanced Education Nursing
Traineeship (AENT) Program
will provide tuition support to
40 nurses who wish to pursue
an advanced degree as a
primary care nurse practitioner
during the 2012-2013 and
2013-2014 academic years.
The overall goal of the
AENT grant program is to
help the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania meet the
growing demand for primary
care providers and preventive
health services which are
anticipated with the expansion
of health care coverage from
the Affordable Care Act.
Noreen Chikotas, associate
professor of nursing, is the
project director and nurse
practitioner program director.
For news about research, presentations and
publications, see bloomu.edu/research_scholars.
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania is committed to affirmative action by
way of providing equal educational and employment opportunities for all persons
without regard to race, religion, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation,
disability or veteran status.
www.bloomu.edu/cost