lizards, SER C and chemistry on a plate S pring
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lizards, SER C and chemistry on a plate S pring
Spring 2012 lizards, SERC and chemistry on a plate Touchpoint TUteach A Message from the Dean Support Tomorrow’s Great Teachers The College of Science and Technology is full of people — professors, students and alumni — ready to take on any challenge. In this issue of Touchpoint we profile three students in the Undergraduate Research Program. Each turned their first — and transformative — research experience into award-winning presentations and posters at URP’s annual research symposium. At the faculty level, Tonia Hsieh and Rob Kulathinal have brought together an unprecedented interdisciplinary team not only to study the genome, physiology and medical potential of lizards but to transform the way data is shared in the biological sciences. Alumnus James Guare, after a successful career working on groundbreaking HIV drugs, is now taking on a new chemical challenge: culinary school. Many CST people are succeeding in the lab and classroom and in their lives, and the result is a college moving forward in many ways. Since 2007, the number of full-time undergraduate and graduates student has increased by more than 20 percent. External funding for research grew from $7 million in 2007 to $17 million in 2011. Research expenditures are expected to top $18 million in 2012. Across all six departments, including many interdisciplinary efforts, our researchers are being recognized by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other funders. To increase our research potential, we are augmenting the college’s common instrumentation facilities. The Materials Research Facility, a centralized location for analytical instrumentation, houses three X-ray diffractometers, a transmission electron microscope, Raman mass spectrometer and more. We recently added an electrospray quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer, a state-of-the-art instrument for identifying and quantifying compounds. TUteach is an innovative way to train the next generation of great math and science teachers. Once they graduate, TUteach teachers will go on to improve science education in hundreds of schools and inspire thousands of kids. Needed endowment for lasting success TUteach’s success depends on a strong endowment to support scholarships for Temple students, salaries for the master teachers who train them and other program features. Make a gift today Your commitment will support deserving students who want to become great teachers. Make your gift at www.temple.edu/tuteach or by using the enclosed envelope. For more information, contact Victoria Blevins at 215-204-4704 or vblevins@temple.edu. TUteach, CST’s program to train the next generation of math and science teachers, continues to grow. Since 2008, enrollment has jumped from about 20 students to nearly 200. A recent event brought together students and civic and science leaders for a lively discussion of the challenges facing science education. (See page 12.) To attract world-class researchers and talented students, we must continue to improve our technical capabilities and infrastructure. That is why we are building the new Science Education and Research Center. You can read about our progress on page 2. The support of alumni and friends has been critical to CST’s success. I look forward to partnering with you to achieve even more in the years ahead. Join the million-dollar match The National Math and Science Initiative is offering a $1 million gift match challenge to create a TUteach endowment. Every gift made to endowment through July 2012, will be matched by NMSI! Sincerely, Hai-Lung Dai Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Chemistry TUteach is a partnership between the College of Science and Technology and the College of Education. Touchpoint | Spring 2012 1 Advanced facilities Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics Update: Science Education and Research Center Design Approved More than 230 Students Take Part in Winter Graduation speaker was Michael Zeldin (PhD ’65, Bio). the largest in the college and one of the largest at the university. The first floor also will include two smaller lecture halls and a cafe as well as a video and electronic information wall visible from both the lobby and Polett Walk. SERC will contain the latest communications, safety, HVAC and other technologies needed for advanced scientific research. The College of Science and Technology and Temple University will soon break ground for the new, 246,000square-foot Science Education and Research Center (SERC). Located on Polett Walk adjacent to Gladfelter Hall and the Engineering Building, the advanced facility, financed by a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania capital grant and a Temple University bond issue, is schedule to be completed in spring 2014. The seven-story structure will contain laboratory and classroom space to attract talented scholars to CST’s already outstanding research community and provide CST students with abundant opportunities for exploration and investigation. Behind its dramatic glass curtain wall, SERC will contain the latest communications, safety, HVAC and other technologies needed for advanced scientific research, including biosafety level 2 laboratories. The building’s first floor will feature a 420-seat lecture hall, 2 Temple University | College of Science and Technology The second floor will house teaching labs for the departments of Physics, Computer & Information Sciences (CIS) and Earth & Environmental Science, storage and support areas, and seminar and conference rooms. The third floor will be the new home for CIS, with research labs, break-out rooms, and offices for faculty, postdocs and graduate students. The fourth floor, slated for the Department of Physics, will have a similar layout. The fifth floor will support interdisciplinary efforts in the fast-growing materials science field and will include level 100 and level 1000 clean rooms, where the concentration of airborne particles is controlled to specified limits. SERC’s sixth floor will offer fully-hooded laboratories and other spaces for the chemistry and biology departments. The Institute for Computational Molecular Biology will be housed on the seventh floor. More than 230 students participated in the College of Science and Technology’s winter graduation ceremony on Feb. 3. The event was held in historic Mitten Hall’s Great Court. More than 190 students earned bachelor’s degrees, with the largest majors being biology, biochemistry and chemisty. Twenty-six students earned doctoral degrees and 16 students earned master’s degrees, including the first graduates of the new master’s degree in Information Science and Technology. Speakers for the ceremony included Dean Hai-Lung Dai and Forrest Evan Zimmerman (BA ’12, CIS). The featured After earning his doctorate from Temple, Zeldin went to Brandeis University for postdoctoral work. After serving as a professor of biology at Tufts University and then as a fellow at the Biological Laboratories at Harvard University, he joined Venture Founders Corporation, a venture capital firm investing in start-up companies in information technology and biotechnology. He subsequently was founder and co-founder of several biotechnology companies, serving in various capacities, such as CEO and director of research. In 1991, he formed Cambridge Biomedical Management, which assists global biophar maceutical firms and IT companies in developing and executing corporate strategies for new medicines, devices and healthcare information systems. Zeldin currently serves on CST’s Board of Visitors. Top: Michael Zeldin (PhD ’65, Bio), a venture capitalist in the biotechnology field, was the featured speaker at the CST winter graduation ceremony. Below: Dean Hai-Lung Dai spoke to the more than 230 graduates and their families who gathered in historic Mitten Hall. SERC is part of Temple 20/20, an ambitious framework for transforming Main Campus into a 21st-century environment that supports the goals of the university’s Academic Strategic Compass. Look for more information about the Science Education and Research Building in the next issue of Outlook magazine and at www.temple.edu/cst. Touchpoint | Spring 2012 3 Guiding Young Researchers Research opportunities 4 Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics URP Symposium Students experience the transformative power of discovery The Undergraduate Research Program (URP) gets CST students into the laboratory with world-class Temple researchers, offering a chance to participate in advanced research projects as undergraduates. Each year, URP hosts a research symposium at which students present their research findings either through a presentation or a poster. This year’s top award-winners were Uduak Udoeyo, Khristina Pavlenko and Petra Brayo. Uduak Udoeyo First Place Winner for the Presentation Session Titanium dioxide doped with palladium nanoparticles for sensing hydrazine Right before she left the match event, she noticed Professor Eric Borguet’s table. “They all smiled at me so I went over,” says Udoeyo. “His graduate students asked me a few questions.” After the match event, she met with Professor Borguet. “We talked about what I was interested in, what I wanted to get out of my first research experience and how I could contribute to his sensor research group,” remembers Udoeyo. Udoeyo’s research project focused on using palladium nanoparticles to create a sensor that could detect hydrazine, a highly toxic compound used in various rocket fuels. “My Uduak Udoeyo, a junior biolpresentation focused on results ogy major, entered URP in the from using the transmission summer of 2011 after attending electron microscope to view the program’s match event, the nanoparticles,” says Udoeyo, where students meet with many “and my future plans to work faculty researchers. “I wanted with a surface acoustic wave to work with someone whose device.” research area was new to me,” Udoeyo had always dreamed remembers Udoeyo. “I thought of being a physician, but now that would be much more she is considering a career in interesting.” research. “Because of URP Temple University | College of Science and Technology I developed a passion for research,” says Udoeyo, who participates in Temple’s Minority Access to Research Careers initiative. “You can’t understand what it means to be a researcher until you bring your knowledge from all your courses into a real lab.” Research is now another viable career option. “URP showed me how everything is related in research,” Pavlenko says. “My project was more of a neuroscience project but it gave me insight and experience related to the chemistry field.” Khristina Pavlenko First Place Winner for the Poster Session Cannabidiol and mechanisms in preventing chemotherapyneuropathic pain in female mice C57/Bl/6 Pavlenko describes URP as the “best opportunity Temple could offer. It made me realize another great way I can help people.” Khristina Pavlenko’s research explored neuropathic pain — sensitivity to cold, heat or touch — commonly experienced by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. “Sometimes the treatment has to be stopped because they can no longer handle the pain,” explains Pavlenko, a junior chemistry major. “We need a drug that can stop the pain and allow patients to remain on chemotherapy.” In Pavlenko’s project mice are injected with paclitaxel, a drug commonly used to fight breast and lung cancers, and then tested for their sensitivity to touch. Another set of mice, among other control groups, is injected with both paclitaxel and cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive compound found in cannabis. “Mice were less sensitive with the drug combination,” says Pavlenko, who worked with Sara Jane Ward, research assistant professor at the School of Pharmacy. “Cannabidiol appears to be effective in reducing neuropathic pain.” Petra Brayo Second Place Winner for the Poster Session Role of Purα in Temodar Induced DNA Damage According to Petra Brayo, one of the best decisions she ever made was choosing to minor in philosophy. “It comes in handy,” says the junior cellular and molecular neuroscience major. “It sharpens your analytical skills and helps you think about things from a different perspective.” protein that plays a role in diverse cellular functions, including transcriptional activation and repression, translation and cell growth. By silencing Purα expression in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) — the most common and most aggressive malignant primary brain tumor in humans — the cancer cells were more sensitized to treatment with Temodar, the main cytotoxic drug used in treatment of GBM. For Brayo, conducting research demonstrates the difference between the practical and the theoretical. “In cell biology class we can talk about how cells function, genes, proteins and different separation techniques,” she says, “but that is a lot different than actually running gels daily.” “Over the summer I was in the lab every day,”says Brayo. “Research is very demanding but it just grows on you.” Brayo was still adding new Brayo began her research data to her poster on the day project in January 2011, workshe sent it to the printer. ing in the lab of Shohreh “Winning the symposium Amini, professor of biology award was a bit of a surprise,” and associate dean for research and graduate programs at CST. she says. “URP is a great opportunity to work with The work focused on Purα, incredible researchers.” a ubiquitous acid-binding Opposite page: The URP symposium offers students the opportunity to present their research findings to their peers and a panel of CST faculty judges. Below: Khristina Pavlenko (left), a chemistry major, and Petra Brayo (right), a neuroscience major, both earned top awards in the URP poster session. Pavlenko switched her major to chemistry last year. “For me, chemistry is more about problem solving and analyzing things using mathematics,” explains Pavlenko, who had always wanted to be a dentist while growing up in Russia. Touchpoint | Spring 2012 5 Innovative researchers Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics model, quite different from say, zebrafish,” Kulathinal says. “Millions of years ago, zebrafish experienced a genome duplication event, with the consequence that a gene that is orthologous to a human gene may have a second pair residing in the genome. This poses a problem for researchers if there was an evolutionary shift in function, which often occurs after duplication events. Anoles don’t have this issue. In addition, we have more than 350 species of anoles, a rich trove of information, in terms of species diversity, that we can eventually access by first having sequenced this one anole lizard.” As a model system, lizards are particularly valuable for medical research. When lizards regenerate their tail, rather than having the vertebral segments reappear, they grow a solid cartilaginous tube. “It’s called hyaline cartilage, which is the same material found in our nose and ears,” explains Hsieh. “We can’t re-grow it, but figuring out the developmental mechanisms making this possible in lizards could help us treat someone who suffered a traumatic injury or severe frostbite.” Expanding the lizardbase A new collaborative GIS and genomic resource for scientists and citizens The state of Florida is overrun with lizards. Temple University’s Main Campus is not, but CST assistant professors Rob Kulathinal and Tonia Hsieh — who both came to the college from the University of Florida in 2010 — are using geographic information systems (GIS) and an online genome browsing tool to increase scientific collaboration, connect disparate but related lizard research, and provide middle- and high-school students with the tools to conduct real, field-based research. Their project is called lizardbase. “In 2007, the genome of Anolis carolinensis, the green anole lizard, was sequenced,” explains Hsieh, whose work with lizards spans the disciplines of ecology, evolution, morphology and biomechanics “The genome is a remarkable resource, but we wanted to integrate it with ecological and other data to make it more useful to a range of researchers.” only anole native to Florida — and the number of brown anole lizards, which were introduced from Cuba. They also measured environmental parameters, including latitude and longitude and sent us the data.” “After mapping these data to lizardbase on our GIS portal, we realized the awesome potential that such a resource enables,” remembers Kulathinal, an evolutionary genomicist. “It gives the data a whole new life because the rest of the world can see it and use it to ask new questions.” Today, researchers, middle- and high-school students and “citizen scientists” can go to lizardbase.org and map morphological, ecological, genetic and other data for several lizard species. A second information portal on the website lets users explore the genome of Anolis carolinensis, in addition to gene-based alignments to other vertebrate species. While the lizardbase concept was in its infancy, An emerging model system Hsieh was contacted by a local high school Since the initial release of the green anole teacher looking for a way to get students genome in 2007, lizards are emerging as a new involved in scientific research. “I asked the model system for interdisciplinary research. students to survey an area over and over and count the number of green anole lizards — the “Lizards present a very interesting vertebrate 6 Temple University | College of Science and Technology Paradigm shift in data sharing One key to establishing lizards as a model organism is to build a solid community of diverse researchers. The principal investigators associated with the project — nicknamed “The Anole Collective” — include a developmental genomicist, an anatomist, a physiologist and a cell biologist, all from Arizona State University; researchers focused on ecology and biodiversity from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama; and several others. “From biomechanics and ecology to genetics and medicine,” says Kulathinal, “this is one of the most diverse collaborations I have ever seen.” According to Kulathinal, one of the unique characteristics of the genomics community is that data are expected to be shared freely among researchers. Few other biological fields take full advantage of this “open-source” paradigm. “How do we motivate researchers not accustomed to this open-source spirit to contribute data to lizardbase and share those data with others while also protecting the data and their academic value?” asks Hsieh. “For many years, scientific databases were meant to be a central repository of data sets. They were a one-way street for users to pull information. We want to make it a two-way street. It is exciting to see a community think about the idea of sharing cutting-edge data in a more open way.” Crowdsourcing citizen scientists Another important mission of lizardbase is developing resources for science educators and directly involving middle- and high-school students in research activities with the potential for important scientific impact. Hsieh and Kulathinal developed a curriculum in collaboration with teachers from Eastside High School’s International Baccalaureate Program in Gainesville, Fla., and the Center of Precollegiate Education and Training at the University of Florida.Today, they have partnered with TUteach, CST’s innovative program that trains tomorrow’s science and math teachers, to develop inquiry-based curricula for use by students attending the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp held at Temple University each year. The lizardbase team also is working with highschool students in Panama to survey and compare biodiversity in Panama City’s Parque Natural Metropolitano. The Panamanian students will connect to the Temple science campers via videoconference and lizardbase.org to compare biodiversity data. “The students are learning basic principles in biology, but also that science is not just about facts in a textbook. It’s about exploring and questioning the world around you.” Hsieh and Kulathinal have traveled to Panama several times, exploring the rainforest in order to identify and collect different species of lizards. “At night you can see animal diversity at its peak — the lights from our headlamps illuminate an eerie world of glowing eyeballs staring directly at you,” says Kulathinal. For Hsieh, the allure of anoles is even more elemental. “I’m a lizard geek,” she says. “For many years, scientific databases were meant to be a central repository of data sets. They were a one-way street for users to pull information. We want to make it a two-way street. It is exciting to see a community think about the idea of sharing cutting-edge data in a more open way.” —Tonia Hsieh, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology Touchpoint | Spring 2012 7 Talented people Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics Distinguished Faculty and Student Awards Held at Adventure Aquarium, the awards recognized outstanding achievement by CST faculty and students. Faculty Awards The Italia–Eire Foundation Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award Francis Spano, Professor, Chemistry The Steven Petchon Distinguished Excellence in Teaching Award Rolf Lakaemper, Assistant Professor, CIS Schools of fish and a few sharks were the backdrop for the Distinguished Faculty and Student Awards. The ceremony honored nine faculty members, nine graduate students and 38 undergraduates for outstanding research and teaching and exceptional academic work in the lab and classroom. The William Caldwell Memorial Distinguished Mentoring Award Evelyn Vleck, Assistant Professor (Teaching/Instructional), Biology The Dean’s Distinguished Excellence in Mentoring Award Rose McGinnis, Director, Student Professional Development & URP The Dean’s Distinguished Teaching Award Marilena Downing, Instructor, Mathematics Steven Fleming, Professor (Teaching/Instructional), Chemistry Jonathan Nyquist, Chair and Professor, EES John Schiller, Associate Professor, Mathematics The Dean’s Distinguished Award for Excellence in Research Daniel Szyld, Professor, Mathematics Graduate Student Awards and Scholarships Computer & Information Sciences Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Kosta Ristovski, CIS Der-Min Fan Chemistry Graduate Student Scholarship Matthew Sender, Chemistry Distinguished Graduate Student Research Award Sushma Savarala, Chemistry Sheng Xiong, Math Distinguished Graduate Student Teaching Award Svitlana Kulyk, Chemistry Jonathan Lynch, Physics Avirup Sil, CIS John Tatarowicz, Physics Peter Havas Humanitarian Scholarship for Outstanding Physics Graduate Students Jonathan Lynch, Physics Undergraduate Student Awards and Scholarships Abraham and Ruth Clearfield Scholarship Megan Jennings, Chemistry with Teaching Albert B. Brown Chemistry Scholarship Fund Carrie Carson, Chemistry Alliance for Minority Participation Award for Academic Achievement Alexander Gonzalez, Math Andrea Broad Scholarship in Biological Sciences Jiali He, Biology John Mikitsh, Biochemistry Computer and Information Sciences Student Leadership Award Matt Borowiec, Information Science and Technology Dr. Lorraine H. Kligman Endowment Fund Ashley Devoy, Biology Florence R. Berg Scholarship Jae Hyeon Lee, Physics Hazel M. Tomlinson, PhD Memorial Scholarship Michael Cleaveland, Chemistry Mateusz Dobrowolski, Biochemistry Vasile Donos, Chemistry Nicole Haloupek, Biochemistry Jin Leung, Chemistry John Mikitsh, Biochemistry Chigoziem Oguh, Chemisty Akash Patel, Biochemistry Joseph Trout, Chemistry Haibin Zhu, Biochemistry Henry A. Sloviter Student Research Award in Chemistry Jacqueline Mejia, Chemistry J.A. Poole Award for Exceptional Department Service by an Undergraduate Khristina Pavlenko, Biology John T. Petrick Physics Scholarship Award Steven Consevage, Physics Mark Berger Prize Olivia Min, Biology Morna Brennen Memorial Scholarship Fund Amy Gutekunst, Chemistry with Teaching Most Promising Mathematics Major Award Ian Harding, Math Natan Luehrmann-Cowen Award Fund Ananthi Rajamoorthi, Biochemistry 8 Temple University | College of Science and Technology Paul and Beatrice Zackon Physics Term Scholarship Eric Hunter, Physics Keith Rycek, Physics Seda Tarzian Endowed Scholarship Lisa Gochee, Information Science and Technology Shirley and Bernard Brown Scholarship in Chemistry Cynthia Ly, Biology Angela Snow, Chemistry The Dean’s Scholarship Zachary Ankuda, Computer Science Ashia Bibi, Biology Petra Brayo, Neuroscience – Cellular & Molecular Cheryl Doughty, Biology Mateusz Dobrowski, Biochemistry Tessa King, Geology Feisi Liang, Neuroscience – Cellular & Molecular Levi Mulladzhanov, Biology For information about establishing a named scholarship or contributing to an existing scholarship fund, please contact: Victoria L. Blevins 400 Carnell Hall 1803 N. Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 victoria.blevins@temple.edu 215-204-4704 Touchpoint | Spring 2012 9 Engaged alumni Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics Chemistry on the Plate From the Director After a successful career at Merck, Jim Guare’s next challenge is cookery incredible feeling.” That work helped earn him the Technological Achievement in Organic Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society in 2002. Since retiring, Guare has more time to devote to one of his other passions, the College of Science and Technology. He serves on the college’s Alumni Board and meets with students to discuss career options, work on resumes and edit cover letters for applications. “I fell in love with Temple and Philadelphia,” says Guare who grew up in Lebanon, Pa., and knew he wanted to be a scientist since the fifth grade. “At Temple I had the chance to do undergraduate research, which just thrilled me. It started the ball rolling.” Guare was inspired by two chemistry department faculty members, the late Edgar Howard Jr. and Professor Emeritus Grant Krow. “It wasn’t just taking classes and regurgitating facts,” Guare says. “It was taking what you know and, with the right guidance and direction, making something no one else has ever made. That’s the joy of chemistry.” Newly retired in 2008, Jim Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) wasn’t quite ready to golf or cruise. He was looking for another challenge. “I seriously considered going to medical school,” says Guare, who spent 28 years at Merck & Co., Inc. “I did well on the MCAT and spoke with several medical schools.” Ultimately, Guare set his sights on food. “I had always been interested in the chemistry of food preparation, but I didn’t understand the techniques of cooking,” he says. “That’s what brought me to The Restaurant School.” 10 effectiveness against the virus was the breakthrough that transformed HIV infection from a disease that brought certain death into a manageable condition. It played a key role in the treatment regimen know as HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), which was introduced in 1996 and is still used today, and has helped save millions of lives. Today, Guare is donning chef ’s whites — yet another lab coat? — while earning an associate’s degree in culinary arts. “I like to do fun chemistry,” explains Guare. “Everything you cook is chemistry, from browning meat to the latest in molecular gastronomy.” In 1997, he and his team earned the National Inventor of the Year Award for work on Crixivan. “Amid the ceremony’s pomp and circumstance, a man came up to me and asked for my autograph,” remembers Guare. “I couldn’t believe it, so I asked him why. He said, tears in his eyes, ‘Because your discovery has given my best friend a new lease on life.’ That was the first time it hit home for me and put a real face on the impact of AIDS.” During his time with Merck, Guare “worked with some of the best scientists in the world during the company’s heyday.” He was one of the first synthetic chemists to work on protease inhibitors for the treatment of HIV, playing a major role in the discovery of Crixivan. More powerful than prior drugs, Crixivan’s Guare continued his work on HIV treatments at Merck and was a key contributor to Isentress, the first integrase inhibitor approved by the FDA and an even more effective HIV drug. “A lot of the scientific community didn’t think it was possible to develop an integrase inhibitor, but we did it,” says Guare. “It was an Temple University | College of Science and Technology Dear Alumni and Friends: I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year at CST. I have met many alumni who have told me how their Temple experience shaped their professional and personal lives. Our goal is to provide a world-class education and inspire students to reach their full potential. We want you to look back on your Temple experience as life-changing. I hope we have succeeded. Students today face many challenges, from finances to anxiety about job prospects. That’s why today’s students need the support of alumni more than ever. Whether it is establishing a scholarship, giving to the annual fund or making a contribution to a specific program, you can support CST in a way that is most meaningful to you. For example, you can support students in TUteach, a program that trains the next generation of great math and science teachers. These students have great promise, but they need your help for scholarship support and to help build a TUteach endowment. CST is also introducing a mentorship program aimed at connecting third-year students with CST graduates. In just a few meetings, you can help a student set career goals, network and prepare for life beyond Temple. If you want to learn more about mentoring, please contact me. We hope to start this fall. Please keep up with CST by reading our publications, visiting our website, liking us on Facebook and joining the new CST alumni group on LinkedIn. Thank you so much for all you have done to move our college forward. We appreciate your support. Sincerely, Victoria Blevins Director of Development vblevins@temple.edu 215-204-4704 Touchpoint | Spring 2012 11 Extraordinary teachers TUteach’s “Get to Know” event highlights successes and challenges The United States is facing serious challenges in education. Children are not gaining the knowledge they need in biology, chemistry, math and other subjects to compete in the global economy. TUteach is turning things around by training the next generation of teachers who understand both advanced science and what it takes to succeed in the classroom. Now in its fourth year, TUteach is a collaboration of the College of Science and Technology and the College of Education funded by a grant of up to $2.4 million by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). Get to Know panel participants: P. Roy Vagelos, retired chair and CEO of Merck, Master Teacher Herb Greene, and TUteach student Helena Sautner Beginning with just 20 students in 2008, there are now nearly 200 students in the program. TUteach students graduate with a bachelor of science in their chosen math or science field, as well as the academic and experiential qualifications necessary to earn a middle or high school teaching certificate. In contrast to many other teacher preparation programs, TUteach students start teaching in real middle school classrooms during their freshman or sophomore year. In March, TUteach held a gathering and symposium for Temple alumni and friends and education and science leaders in the Philadelphia region. Held on Main Campus, the Get to Know TUteach event featured remarks by CST Dean Hai-Lung Dai and College of Education Interim Dean James Earl Davis. A roundtable discussion on issues facing science education and the United States’ leadership in technology fields included U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah and P. Roy Vagelos, retired chair and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc. Talented students matched with exceptional researchers. Advanced theory matched to hands-on experience. Your contribution matched by our commitment. Attendees also had opportunities to meet TUteach staff, TUteach students and teachers from the School District of Philadelphia, and learn about the program’s innovative, projectbased curriculum. The Undergraduate Research Program offers CST students the opportunity to work alongside Temple’s most experienced researchers. But many URP students have to work at jobs off campus, and that means less time in the lab working on today’s most difficult challenges. Your gift to URP will provide students with hourly stipends for lab work. TUteach is currently working to raise an endowment to support student scholarships, salaries for master teachers and other important features of the program. Each gift made to TUteach’s endowment will be matched by NMSI, through July 31. To learn more about TUteach or to make a gift, go to www.temple.edu/tuteach. Temple University | College of Science and Technology so that your gift will go twice as far. Together, we can help URP students spend more time in the lab, earn money for living expenses and learn what it takes to excel in advanced research before they graduate. To make a gift to the Undergraduate Research Program, use the enclosed envelope or go to myowlspace.com/giving. 173-1112 RF 12 CST will then match your financial contribution—on a one-to-one basis— 400 Carnell Hall 1803 North Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19122 Biology • Chemistry • Computer & Information Sciences • Earth & Environmental Science • Mathematics • Physics Excellence Join us on LinkedIn Like us at www.facebook.com/CSTatTemple ® Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Philadelphia, PA Permit No. 1044