Fordham Student Wins Udall Scholarship
Physics Students Win Two-of-Four Conference Awards
Undergraduates Come Out of the Labs, Into the Limelight

Fordham Student Wins Udall Scholarship

By Patrick Verel
Photo by Ken Levinson

Devin Gladden, a Fordham College at Rose Hill junior, has won Fordham University’s first ever Morris Udall Scholarship.

The Udall prize, named for Arizona Congressman Morris K. Udall, is widely considered the highest honor an undergraduate can earn in the environmental science field. For Gladden, it’s an opportunity to tap into a vast network of like-minded policy and science professionals when he attends the organization’s orientation in Tucson in the later summer.

It’s a direction Gladden is eminently prepared for, having spent this past semester observing the interplay of humans and nature in Tanzania, where he is studying. As an example of how actions in the United States impact far away lands, Gladden, an International Political Economy major, noted that he has watched women in Tanzania harvest seaweed from the beaches for use in products made by multinational corporations like L’Oreal.

“I wanted to emphasize the need of the U.S. to understand its global role in environmental issues,” he said. “This emphasizes America’s role as an environmental leader.”

Gladden joins 80 students from 64 colleges and universities (selected from a field of 510 candidates) as a 2008 Udall Scholar. He’ll be returning to the United States at the end of the May, but before he departs for his orientation for the Udall Scholarship, he will head to Princeton University to attend the Public Policy & International Affairs Junior Summer Institute. The institute is an intensive seven-week summer program that focuses on preparing students for graduate programs in public and international affairs and careers as policy professionals, public administrators and other leadership roles in public service.

Gladden’s award comes on the heels of news that ten Fordham students have also been awarded Fulbright Scholarships, breaking a previous record of eight winners. John R. Kezel, Ph.D., director of the Campion Institute of Prestigious Fellowships, said that he felt the award is recognition of Fordham’s commitment to ecology and the environment, as well as the institute’s motto, “Attain the prizes your worth deserves.”

“We have developed wonderful collaborations with the deans, various departments, and faculty friends,” Kezel said. “With such enthusiastic support, our students are now getting the national and international recognition that their “worth deserves."

Posted with permission of Inside Fordham, Fordham University Office of Public Affairs

Physics Students Win Two-of-Four Conference Awards
 
Text and Photo by Kunal Das

Undergraduate students at Fordham are involved in high quality scientific research, a fact underscored by two back to back recent events this Spring.

On April 16th, an Undergraduate Research Symposium on the Rose Hill campus showcased excellent work from all the science departments. That same weekend, Dr. Kunal K. Das, Assistant Professor of Physics at Fordham University, and a key organizer of that symposium, rented a minivan and drove six Fordham physics majors who have been working with him on research projects on a trip to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The purpose of the trip was to participate in the Conference of the New York State Section of the American Physical Society.

One of the highlights of that conference was a research poster session for graduate and undergraduate students, with participants from several universities and colleges from across New York State. The Fordham group presented three posters, one was by Matthew Galligan (’10),  another by David Careterro (’08) and a third jointly by Jessica Leszczynski (’08) and Daniel Blessing  (’09). Prizes were given for the four best posters, with no specific ranking. Two of those four prizes were won by Fordham students, David Carretero and Matthew Galligan for research they have been doing with Prof. Das.

David’s research was in the field ultracold atoms, where he looked at the quantum-mechanical properties of the atoms cooled to almost absolute zero, and specifically how those atoms would behave when trapped by a lattice formed by laser light.   Matthew presented his research on a novel method of generating directed electric current in nanoscale circuits by a process called quantum pumping.  Jessica and Daniel’s work was on the application of statistical methods from physics to explain the behavior of cardiac cells directly related to cell contractions that cause heartbeats. 

David will be graduating this year and will attend the University of Cambridge for graduate work in physics. Matthew is a sophomore and has been working with Prof. Das since his freshman year, and its noteworthy he was also a prizewinner at the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the Rose Hill campus this April. Daniel will be doing internship with the FBI this summer and Jessica plans to go graduate school for engineering.  David, Daniel and Matthew are all recipients of the Summer Science Internships at Fordham University. Some of the research was supported by a grant from the Research Corporation received by Prof. Das.

Undergraduates Come Out of the Labs, Into the Limelight

By Janet Sassi
Photo by Michael Dames

Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) hosted its first Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 16, giving students majoring in math and the sciences a chance to share their research with the larger university community.

In all, 36 undergraduates presented 33 research posters in physics, biology, mathematics, psychology, chemistry and computer and information science. According to Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., dean of FCRH, the symposium was designed to help foster a culture of undergraduate research and strengthen interest and support for the sciences.

The symposium was designed to feature the great work that is being done in our labs and to give our students and faculty an opportunity to talk across disciplines,” O’Donnell said. “Our work in strengthening science education . . . is one of the big stories in the college.”

David Carretero, a senior who presented research on the dynamics of ultracold atoms, said that the symposium brought attention to an area of strength at the University that is often overlooked by students.

“It’s good for students to be able to see what’s going on academically and not just socially,” the physics major said.

“It makes me feel like I’m leaving my mark at Fordham,” said Marsiyana Henricus, a chemistry major who found herself explaining her project on biocompatible nanotubes to a group of fascinated freshmen. “I’m a senior. I’ve spent hours in the lab researching this; it’s great to share it. If my project has made an impression on younger students, it could change the direction of their lives.”

One impetus behind the symposium, according to Donna Heald, associate dean for science education at FCRH, was to bring the student research together to foster an interdisciplinary program.

“Scientists today really work across disciplines, and truthfully, our students are doing it too,” said Heald, who oversaw the event.

Following the symposium, a committee of faculty judges presented awards to the outstanding posters.

Posted with permission of Inside Fordham, Fordham University Office of Public Affairs