VIP Teams
1) “Botanical Garden Communities” led by VIP mentor Dr. G. Denise Carroll
Students will investigate aquatic and terrestrial communities at the garden to determine organismal composition in each habitat. Their investigations can help to determine how to conserve or increase diversity.
2) “Mentoring Adults as Teachers to Help Students (MATHS)” led by VIP mentor Dr. Heidi Eisenreich
Impacting PK-6 students by helping adults understand mathematical concepts. Building a community of math learners
3) “Education for All” led by VIP mentor Dr. Karin Fisher
Conduct research that impacts marginalized students including students with disabilities by expanding teachers’ and professors’ pedagogy to address the various needs of all learners.
4) “Sustainable Aquatic Systems” led by VIP mentors Dr. Anthony Siccardi; Dr. Heather Joesting; Ms. Brigette Brinton
Managing water utilization is a growing concern for many US states. Our team’s research is focused on water sustainability through projects involving aquaponics/hydroponics, recirculating aquaculture systems, algal turf scrubbers and constructed wetlands.
5) “BIG-IDEAS” led by VIP Mentor Ms. Suzanne S. Hallman
Business Innovation Group (BIG) created the Innovate workshop to give community members the tools and resources they need to THINK BIGger.
6.) “Microfluidic Device Development for Biological Assays (MDDBA)” led by VIP Mentor Dr. Dragos Amarie
Engaging students in designing, developing, and fabricating microfluidic devices to be used in live cell migration experiments. Using selected polymers, students build a network of channels, smaller than the human hair, that split and recombine flows of chemicals to generate and study 2D concentration landscapes that could stimulate or inhibit cell migration. For example, future studies of cancer cells’ response to such chemical landscapes could lead to a better understanding of cancer relapse.
7.) “PB&J (Protein Biochemistry and Just about everything in the intersection of chemistry and medicine)” led by VIP Mentor Dr. Mark Vincent Dela Cerna
Cancer remains one of the most common causes of death in the US. We are interested in identifying and characterizing proteins that may be involved in cancers and ultimately finding molecules that can inhibit the function of these proteins. In the future, we hope that these molecules will be the basis of some cancer therapeutics. Currently, our efforts are focused on a family of proteins called Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases that are involved in regulating cellular signaling pathways.
8.) “A Path to Future – Bridge to Engineering Science and Technology (BEST)” led by VIP Mentor Dr. Hossein Taheri
Students will conduct research, explore innovative engineering solutions, design and manufacturing. Students will learn how to bring their ideas to the real world and test their performance while learning about new engineering technologies such as Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and 3D
printing.
9.) “NATURAL COMPOSITES FOR REMEDIATION OF EMERGING POLLUTANTS (NCREP)” led by VIP Mentor Dr. Rocio Perez
Students will be able to evaluate the use of natural polymers such as cellulose to design and synthesized composites; decreasing the amount of organic solvents in the process. Students will also study the capacity of these natural composite to extract emerging pollutants from several environmental samples such as water and soil.
10.) “CAS: Connecting Academics and Service” led by VIP Mentor Dr. Urkovia Andrews
Students experience designing and implementing service based projects through partnerships with the surrounding community.
11.) Cusp of Congeners, Cancer, Chemistry, and Community: A Public Health Project led by VIP Mentors Dr. Yelena Tarasenko, Dr. Katie Mercer, and Dr. Shainaz Landge.
The relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk has been known since the beginning of the 20th century. While for several types of cancer, alcohol is considered a causative agent, for both cardia and non-cardia gastric cancer alcohol remains to be a probable cause based on evidence for intake greater than 45 grams per day (about three drinks daily). Students will learn how to critically review and interpret scientific evidence on alcohol and gastric cancer. Students will also learn how to examine etiological mechanisms, such as the content of congeners and other contaminants potentially implicated in development of gastric cancer.
12.) Fungi in the Environment led by VIP Mentor Dr. Sara Gremillion
Students involved in this team will explore research focusing on interesting fungi in the environment. Projects include will target: i) What fungi live inside of plant leaves and what abiotic factors alter those relationships; ii) Do fungal leaf spot pathogens of peanut undergo sexual reproduction leading to increased fungicide resistance; and iii) What fungi may be causing zombie-like behavior in millipedes in Coastal GA.
BRINGING FRESHMAN IN ON RESEARCH
Additional Resources to Join in Future – VIP Teams
“First Year Experience – Introduction to Research VIP (FYE – VIP)” led by Prof. Jessica Orvis and Dr. Shainaz Landge
Introducing Freshmen students in authentic research experiences and to explore the creative projects in different VIP teams so that scholars in the following semester are ready to join the research team!
Last updated: 4/22/2022