Month: May 2021

The department graduate symposium occurred on April 13, 2021 after not having a symposium in 2020 due to the pandemic. Planning a research symposium was a major hurdle for Nick Gregorich, Molli Garifo, and Mark Pitman. The CEGSO board devised an idea to utilize Google Sites for displaying the posters virtually. These personalized Google Sites allowed students to upload a poster, abstract, and photo of themselves displayable on the internet. In an effort to mirror an in-person poster symposium virtually, the students sat in individual zoom rooms for a virtual question and answer period while faculty and students could jump from room to room and view the students with their posters.

Zoom links were set up for each person so that judges were able to enter a zoom call and discuss the students’ posters with them. A Google Form was also set up for the judges to input their scoring. For the oral presentations, there was one zoom link that every participant was able to join and give their presentation. Even with some unforeseen technical difficulties, the symposium was an overall success and the event was able to get back on track very quickly with an engaged audience.

Our department would like to extend our thanks to Ph.D. students for their leadership as well as the Graduate Student Coordinator, Diana Stamey. We would also like to thank our faculty members who dedicated their time to serve as judges for the event.

On April 26, Dr. Jessica Larsen was presented with the 2021 Outstanding Woman Faculty Award by Clemson University’s Commission on Women. She is adding this award to a growing list as Dr. Larsen recently received the 2021 National Science Foundation CAREER award and last year’s Bradley Mentoring Award.

Dr. Larsen leads a research program that centers on biomimetic and polymeric materials for drug delivery applications in neurodegenerative disease and other brain disorders. She is a passionate role model both at the university and in the broader community as an Assistant Coach for the Seneca High School Cross Country team.

As a faculty member of our department, Dr. Larsen aims to be an advocate for undergraduate woman as she continuously demonstrates a passion towards the advancement of female scientists. Since beginning as an Assistant Professor in 2017, Dr. Larsen has mentor a total of 44 undergraduate researchers with a high majority  (32) of those students being female scientists throughout multiple departments at the university. Dr. Larsen aims to provide her students with research independence so that they are able to gain confidence to present at national and international conferences and publish journal articles.

Dr. Larsen recently asked her students what they want their laboratory to be known for; Among the answers was not only producing high quality scientific products, but also being respectful, considerate members of society who value diversity and inclusion. This is evidence of the inclusive community that Dr. Larsen is trying to build in our department.

Congratulations, Dr. Larsen!