Dear CASE students, faculty, and staff,
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Homecoming has come and gone, but I still feel the excitement buzzing around the campus. From the Pink Day football game tailgate to the Arrival District dedication, I want to thank everyone involved and all those who participated. One of the highlight events of this month was Dr. Philip Whitefield’s Stoffer Lecture presented by the chemistry department. I’m also grateful to Dr. James O. Stoffer, Curators’ Distinguished Professor emeritus of chemistry, who established this wonderful lecture series.
Speaking of faculty, I want to congratulate all those in CASE who recently received tenure or promotions: Dr. Eric Bryan, Dr. Sarah Hercula, Dr. Wenqing Hu, Dr. Clair Reynolds Kueny, Dr. Daniel Shank and Dr. Yanzhi Zhang.
If you ever need a break from your studies or work, I highly recommend you attend a performance by our performing arts students. October showcased performances by our students in “She Kills Monsters” and more events are still to come, so mark your calendars.
If you would like to share any news for future editions, email my executive assistant, Megan Fowler, and we will include it in our monthly newsletters.
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Dr. Kentaro Mogushi (PhD, Physics, 2021) co-authored an article in the prestigious journal Nature.
Dr. Carey Bottom (PhD, Chemistry, 1979) is Department of Chemistry’s alumnus of the month (October).
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Dr. Denise Baker (assistant professor, psychological science) is one of the co-PIs on a $1,026,003 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The project, led by Dr. Samuel Frimpong (mining and explosives engineering), is titled “Research, Technological Innovations and Human Factors for Effective Miner Self-Escape from Underground Mine Emergencies.”
Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi (Dean, CASE) presented lectures related to Iran at UCLA and at an event organized by the Association of Iranian American Professionals (AIAP) in San Diego (Sept. 28 and 30). He was also interviewed by Deutsche Welle TV (Germany), Daily Dot, Roqe and Dawn (Democracy for the Arab World Now) program about the current popular protests in Iran. He also took part in a congressional hearing about the ongoing protests.
Dr. Trent Brown (professor, English and technical communication) published Roadside Justice: Hattie Lee Barnes and the Killing of a White Man in 1950s Mississippi (Louisiana State University Press, 2022).
Dr. Shane Epting (assistant professor of philosophy) completed Urban Enlightenment: Multistakeholder Engagement and the City (Routledge, release date: March 10, 2023).
Dr. Vadym Mochalin (associate professor, chemistry) was accepted into the University of Missouri South Africa Faculty Exchange Program.
Dr. Clair Reynolds Kueny (interim chair, psychological sciences) co-authored an article (with two MS students in Industrial Organizational psychology) titled "Impact of Merging into a Comprehensive Cancer Center on Health Care Teams and Subsequent Team-Member and Patient Experiences" in JCO Oncology Practice.
Dr. Shun Saito (assistant professor, physics) received a $135,116 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “Collaborative Research: A Partnership in Central Missouri in the Era of Multi-messenger Astrophysics.” The period of performance is from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2024.
Dr. Matthew Thimgan (associate professor, biological sciences) received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Army for a project titled “Anticipating and Detecting Cognitive Decrements during Uneven Workloads that Impair Sustained CBRN Missions.”
Dr. Dave Westenberg (professor, biological sciences) gave a presentation on some of his work for the Academy of Sciences of St. Louis (October 13).
Dr. Philip Whitefield (professor, chemistry) received a $99,999 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for a project entitled “Engine-to-Engine Variability and Derivation of Characteristic nvPM Emissions Project – 69.” The period of performance is from September 20,2022 to September 20, 2023.
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Chemistry Ph.D. student Adrian Batista says he thinks of the sciences as an ensemble rather than a particular domain. He believes that connecting different fields of study is the path to solving for new technological applications.
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Dr. Andrea Scharf, Assistant Professor of Genetics, Department of Biological Sciences, grew up in Haan, a small German town near the Dutch border. She became permanently smitten with biology in high school upon first seeing microscopic images of mammalian cells and learning how one cell organisms become fully functional adults. She continued her study of
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biology majoring in biochemistry at Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany, but remained enamored with microscopy. In an advanced class on microscopy of mammalian cells she learned about nuclear aberrations in the cells of individuals afflicted with autoimmune diseases such as systemic sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosis. She was fascinated that understanding how molecular machines operate spatially within cell nuclei could lead to cures for human diseases.
Thus, she pursued her doctorate in the lab of Dr. Anna von Mikecz where she studied how the proteasome, a cellular recycling machine, regulates gene transcription. Dr. Scharf’s research is driven by her desire to understand the impact of environmental conditions on organisms. In her first post doc she switched her studies from human cells to the genetic super organism, C. elegans, a tiny worm. Studying nanoparticle-bio interactions, she discovered that nanoparticle exposed worms exhibited widespread protein aggregation and neuronal dysfunction, classic signs of accelerated aging. It occurred to her that new research tools would be required to understand fully biological plasticity and possibly lead to novel therapeutic strategies.
Therefore, she pursued a second post doc with Dr. Kerry Kornfeld at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis where she developed a novel experimental platform which incorporates a computational simulation, wormPOP. Her results which are published in Nature Computational Science identified a tipping point for aging.
Dr. Scharf brings this innovative research approach to Missouri S&T to teach students in genetics and to model the impact of genes on aging with a focus on population level effects, reproduction, and neurodegeneration. Her lab is now fully operational, and she is working with four OURE students on phenotypes of longevity genes. She is also engaged in a separate project with Greta Adams, who is awarded a NASA-Missouri Space Grant Consortium’s Undergraduate fellowship for this project, on understanding the effects of gravitation on worm populations and longevity.
Outside the lab, Dr. Scharf will most likely be found pursuing her passion for the beauty and wildlife of Missouri’s streams. Her favorite of these is the Eleven Point River which she canoes frequently and where she learned to fly fish.
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Dean's Leadership Council
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The college’s Dean’s Leadership Council held its Fall meeting October 19 and 20. The Council met with some students, heard presentations from four faculty members, and brainstormed about how to best help CASE students. In addition, they donated food to the Food Pantry and bestowed the Dean’s Medal on Dr. Merilee Krueger (teaching professor, psychological science) for her outstanding contribution to the college community.
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Recording of Erika Schwartz, Holocaust survivor, who visited campus to meet with students touring the Americans and the Holocaust exhibit and those who are taking Dr. Shannon Fogg’s Nazi Germany and the Holocaust course.
Intersections is a series co-hosted by CASE and CEC that addresses pressing issues from different disciplinary perspectives. Watch a recording of the Intersections panel on climate issues here.
Interview with Taylor Gruenloh (assistant professor of theatre) on the work of our theatre students.
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Click here if you want to see in one place what type of academic options the College of Arts, Sciences and Education offer.
Click here to see a listing of all open career opportunities in the college.
https://case.mst.edu/departments/
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Female Faculty Fall Picnic
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A group of CASE female faculty had fun together during the Female Faculty Fall Picnic on October 13.
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Consider making a gift, in any amount, to the College of Arts, Science, and Education to support the dedicated teaching and impactful research that is done by our faculty and students daily. Click here to contribute.
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Connect with us on social media!
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College of Arts, Sciences, and Education
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118 Fulton Hall, 301 W. 14th Street, Rolla, MO 65409
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Copyright 2022, Curators of the University of Missouri
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