Leah Elliott, Assistant Professor of Biology, presented a talk titled “Frankenyeast: Fusing Human and Yeast Homologs to Investigate Evolutionary Differences in the Cox20 Chaperone” at the 2023 Northeast Regional Yeast Meeting (NERY). The talk included work from Dakarai Esgdaille ’19, done while a student at Wells.
Accomplishments
In August 2019, science faculty and arts faculty teamed to deliver a two-day pilot STEAM (STEM+A) camp for high school girls from Cayuga County schools. The STEAM team was comprised of professor of chemistry Chris Bailey, assistant professor of biology Leah Elliott, Victor Hammer Fellow Leah Mackin and associate professor of studio art Katie Waugh. Marian Brown, director of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment, provided camp coordination. The faculty offered a number of interesting interactive activities that guided students through intersections between science and art. Faculty from area junior and senior high schools were invited to nominate their best and brightest for this unique experience; the participants were enthusiastic in their evaluation feedback. This pilot STEAM Camp was underwritten by a grant from the CNY Women’s Fund.
From Aug. 18 to Aug. 23, 2019 Leah Elliott, assistant professor of biology; Linda Galbato, director of academic and career advising; Deborah Gagnon, professor of psychology; Sarah Markowitz, associate professor of psychology; and Lindsay Burwell, assistant professor of chemistry, took six students (Kara Reynolds ’20, Shenelle Buckley ’20, Jessica Mebane ’20, Taylor Sofo ’20, Morgan Gravlin ’22 and Aliah Gilkes Richardson ’21) to Carthage Area Hospital for the 2019 Rural Health Immersion Program. Throughout the week, students were able to experience how health care is carried out in a rural community and collect feedback from health care providers and community members about the quality of health care in that region. The feedback was presented at an open community presentation at the end of the week.
During the week of August 13th Deborah Gagnon, Professor of Psychology, Thomas Stiadle, Professor of Math, Leah Elliott, Assistant Professor of Biology, and Lindsay Burwell, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, went to Carthage Area Hospital along with six Wells students to participate in the Rural Health Immersion Program. The Wells College Health Science Committee designed this program in collaboration with the Northern Area Health Education Center (NAHEC) and Carthage Area Hospital to provide students with hands-on healthcare experiences in a rural community. In addition to working with providers, students were asked to collect feedback from Carthage residents about services provided in the area. At the end of the program, students gave a presentation open to the entire community to summarize the feedback they collected throughout the week.
A team of Wells science and math faculty attended a conference workshop hosted by Project Kaleidoscope in February. The conference title was “Strategies for Helping Students Succeed: Group Share among STEM Instructors for Majors and Non-Majors Courses”. The Wells team was comprised of Niamh O’Leary, Professor of Environmental Science, M.E. Hogan, Visiting Lecturer of Math, Lindsay Burwell, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Leah Elliott, Lecturer in Biology, and Chris Bailey Professor of Chemistry.
On Feb 3rd Chris Bailey, Professor of Chemistry, Lindsay Burwell, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Niamh O’Leary, Professor of Environmental Science, Leah Elliott, Lecturer in Biology, and Matthew Hogan, Lecturer in Math, all attended the 2018 PKAL Upstate New York Regional Network Meeting at SUNY Oneonta. The meeting focused on discussing and developing strategies to help both major and non-major students succeed in the STEM fields.