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| UVI undergraduates Natisha Hode, Joseph Chalres, and Jordan Atemazem, and Dr. Michael Smith from Intel |
Anyone
who has ever doubted UVI’s claim that it “specializes in futures” would have been
well advised to attend one of the largest summer undergraduate research symposia in the University’s history, which took place on July 29, in the Sports
and Fitness Center on the St. Thomas Campus.
“Normally we
have about twenty to twenty-five undergraduate research fellows,” said Grants Manager Aimee Sanchez. “But this year
as a result of extra funding from multiple sources including NASA, the
cybersecurity initiative, VI-EPSCoR, Title III and others, more than forty
research opportunities have been made available to UVI students.”
The second
floor west mezzanine of the Sports and Fitness Center was abuzz with excitement
as students presented work they had done through a variety of summer programs
under the Emerging Caribbean Scientist (ECS) umbrella. These rigorous programs
provide UVI students with challenging summer employment opportunities that encourage
intellectual expansion while they invite comprehensive explorations of careers
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “The students learn research techniques and
methods they will be able to apply to upper level courses," said Sanchez. “They also get a taste of what it might be
like to attend graduate school.”
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UVI Internet of Things program participants with Dr. Michael Smith (far right) |
This year,
five summer programs were funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP)
grant; the Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research (VI-EPSCoR); the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research
Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program; and the Department of
Energy National Nuclear Security Administration.
The Internet of Things (IoT)
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| Nick Drayton, Joseph Charles, and Jordan Atemazem present their bird counting research |
The newest
VI-EPSCoR offering was a pilot program called The Internet of Things (IoT),
which like traditional research programs allowed students to work closely with
a faculty mentor. But unlike traditional
professors, IoT expert Dr. Michael A. Smith works for Intel Corporation where
he runs the company’s IoT academic programs.
During his three and a half week program, Dr. Smith provided training
and guidance on how to apply Internet and Maker Space technologies to marine
and environmental science challenges.
Focusing on micro-computing and connectivity, he divided the course into
progressive segments that started with conventional instruction, segued into
project development, and concluded with final implementation.
“It was
intense,” said Dr. Smith, who acknowledged the rigor of a program that introduced
students to a whole new approach to learning and productivity within a limited time
frame. “It was modelled like a condensed Master’s program. The students started with nothing, not even
an idea, and ended up with a good start on a project of their own
creation. The IoT program is also very
hands-on and collaborative.”
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| Bird counting meeting with Daniel Nellis DPNR |
The IoT
fellows were divided into three groups mentored by UVI STEM faculty in addition
to Dr. Smith. One group used a wearable
medical device to determine how music affects the quality of your sleep; one
developed the architecture for a cell phone app that would record frog calls in
order to track frog populations in a particular area; and one used image
segmentation and edge features to enhance the accuracy of bird counting. All three projects were designed to boost the
efficiency of scientific research in the Virgin Islands while challenging their
creators to solve problems and develop fresh skills in the service of a common
and practical goal.
Khadijah O’Neill
was the only member of her VI Frog Count group that had not yet declared a
major, but she said that her summer experience as an IoT fellow had definitely
encouraged her to pursue a STEM field.
“This program was tough,” said O’Neill.
“We spent the first two weeks learning the process. But it was rewarding to start a project from
the ground up that could potentially be used to solve real world problems. It’s
very important to keep the frog population of the Virgin Islands up for a
variety of reasons, one of which is to control the mosquito population, since
mosquitos carry diseases.”
STEM Undergraduate Research Programs
Three of the
more conventional ECS summer programs – the Summer Sophomore Research Institute
(SSRI), the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), and the VI-EPSCoR
Summer Undergraduate Research Program – allow current UVI students to work
closely with a faculty mentor on research initiated by that mentor.
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| Kiana Rawlins presents fluorescence spectroscopy research mentored by Dr. Stan Latesky |
One such
student was Josh Howsmon from the VI-EPSCoR group who presented his research on the effect
of seasonal occurrence on larval fish in Brewers Bay with great enthusiasm. Thanks to his faculty mentor, Dr. Sennai
Habtes, Howsmon and his research partner, Travis Hamlin, learned how to use
Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) to collect samples from thirty-three
sites across the bay.
“It was
amazing to see how you can track the whole bay and collect samples of hundreds
of thousands of marine organisms,” said Howsmon. “If global warming heats the
water, the digital catalogue we’re in the process of creating will help us to
understand what is happening.”
Narome Belus,
a rising sophomore who is majoring in chemistry, spent her summer studying the
effects of drying on antioxidants. After
computing antioxidant levels in a variety of fresh leaves and their dried
counterparts, Belus was happy to have achieved tangible results: three of the
five plants she worked on (papaya, lemongrass and French thyme) contained
higher levels of antioxidants after they had been dried than when they were
still fresh. But what excited Belus even
more was learning how to use a monitoring device called the UV-VIS spectrophotometer.
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| Star Matthew presenting her coral disease modeling research mentored by Dr. Robert Stolz |
“It was
difficult at first, but after I got the hang of it I realized what a great
skill it was to have,” said Belus. “This device allows you to transfer data to
excel and make all sorts of amazing graphs and charts. I just love this skill and can’t wait to use
it on other research.”
Many other math
and science majors presented work at the symposium, much of which focused on
marine biology. But there was also one
nursing project, two or three education projects, and a cybersecurity project
that was undertaken by two computer science students, Kelvin Dover and Leroy
Matthais. This project focused jamming
attacks and was unique in that it started off-island but finished at UVI. The wireless security project also received
additional support through a grant from the Department of Energy National
Nuclear Security Administration.
Math Behind the Science
The only ECS
program that presented their work on the evening before the summer research
symposium was Math Behind the Science (MBS), a residential readiness program
for incoming and current students. This summer bridge program enhanced the
mathematics readiness of college-bound STEM students, preparing them to enter
the introductory calculus course while providing an enriching transition to
college life.
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| Math Behind the Science students Hairol Breton and Jendahye Antoine |
“MBS was kind
of like a math boot camp,” said Jendahye Antoine, a recent graduate of Charlotte
Amalie High School who entered the program in search of a smooth transition
from high school to college, where she plans to study marine biology. “We had classes seven hours a day, for six
weeks, and we lived on campus. It was a
great preparation. In the end, I tested
into calculus, which was the main goal.”
In addition
to studying math, MBS students are required to take classes in computer science
and writing skills, along with a freshman development seminar. But the greatest benefit for MBS students has
to do with an approach to mathematics that encourages students to make
connections between what they are learning and practical applications in the
real world. “When you focus on teaching
concepts, and encouraging students to ask why, the learning goes a lot faster,”
said Brandon Rhymer, a UVI alumnus who taught the MBS math classes and was also a resident
advisor. “I just love seeing the light come on behind
their eyes.”
Just as the
flamboyant trees shower the Virgin Islands with bursts of color every summer,
UVI’s STEM fellows anoint the territory with a spray of promise. When asked why he was interested in bringing
his IoT program to the Caribbean, Michael Smith replied without hesitation: “I
see a lot of untapped potential here.
There’s no Intel Corporation or Silicon Valley in this part of the
world, but that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be.
The students here are capable of reinventing themselves and the world in
which they live.”
