Fall 2014 - Eastern Washington University

McNair Newsletter
Fall 2014
Welcome to fall 2014, I greet you to share our spring, summer,
and fall highlights of our program. Our EWU TRIO McNair
Program is recognized as one of the oldest, strongest and
healthiest program in the State of Washington, and we
are proud to present the McNair Scholars' academic
accomplishments in this newsletter.
Facts at a Glance
Since 1995, the McNair Scholar Program has served 258 participants
(currently 29 participants per year). Of these participants, 210 were
low income, 258 were first generation college students, 187 were of
underrepresented populations in higher education, and 192 were both
low income and first generation.
EWU McNair Graduates
2013-2014
LOW INCOME
RETENTION FROM JUNIOR TO SENIOR
Washington State 4-year
College Graduates
GRADUATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
COMPLETION OF SCHOLARLY RESEARCH
CONFERENCES
PhD
Facts at a glance
1
Welcome to Fall 2014!
2
90%
2014 Summer Research Internship
3-4
97%
Graduate School Preperation
Conference
5-6
100%
Graduate Program Visits
WSU and UW
7-8
Faculty Research Mentors of 2014
Summer internship
9-11
Graduate School Acceptances
12-13
30%
82%
1ST GENERATION
Contents
100%
100%
86%
3
[1] Source: Postsecondary Education Opportunity: The pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in
Higher Education, No.266. www.postsecondary.org
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Donate to the EWU TRiO
Seventeen participants have earned a PhD, 96 have earned a Master’s Mcnair Foundation Fund!
degree, and 85 participants are currently enrolled in graduate education.
This pass year 100% of our graduate participants have been admitted and
enrolled in graduate education programs on fall 2013.
The success of this program is truly a campus wide effort. We are grateful of the support we have received throughout
this academic year from faculty, administrators and staff. We look forward to continuing a campus wide effort in the
support of the McNair Scholars.
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Welcome to Fall 2014!
Strategic Plan Conference
Since the first EWU McNair grant was funded in 1995, the McNair mission has aligned
closely with Eastern’s, and EWU’s current Strategic Plan. This year, we highlighted four
areas where EWU’s McNair program student services closely align with Eastern’s
Strategic Plan: Supporting student success, innovation, community engagement and
visibility. Two posters highlighted the nine McNair Scholars who presented research at
the Spring 2014 NCUR Conference.
Four McNair Scholars presented individual posters: Devon Asmius, Mikaila Leyva, Jereny Mendoza, Amy Nunez.
In addition, Ayanna Jacobs Kalyan, Virginia Morales, LaNaecha Roberts, Yuri Reyes, Laura Zumidio also presented
the followin two posters:
McNair Graduate School Preparation Conference: A McNair Collaboration hosted by EWU McNair with Washington State
University and Central Washington University McNair Programs. July 7-9, 2014: Poster will highlight activities of the
three-day conference, focusing on the growth of student participants, as well as the connections they made within the
academic community, along with the increased profile of EWU.
McNair Scholar Graduate Program Visits: WSU July 23, 2014 and UW July 28-29, 2014 (with visit to Chihuly Garden at
Seattle Center).
Neighbor Festival!
The annual event encourages students to connect with the Spokane, Cheney and
campus communities. Vendors and organizations, can reach out to thousands of
students, faculty and staff in celebrating our shared communities. The TRiO McNair
Scholar Program joined the fun by handing out flyers to students, with candy on the
side. Cynthia Dukih, Assistant Director (right) and welcome to the new GSA Caitlyn
Finger(left)
Academic Advisor
Carlos Muñoz
Tami Veit
Office Aid lll
Working on that App!
French Toast Friday!
Gilberto Lopez
Web Developer
Chelan Rogers
STEM
Regular Day!
Strategic Plan Conference!
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2014 Summer Research
Internships
Congratulations Scholars!
Major: Anthropology
Research Mentor: Dr. Michael
Zukosky
Research Title: “Between the Two:
Investigating Medical Interpretation
of Disease across Nature and Culture”
Alyssa Barton
Major: Bio-Chemistry
Research Mentor: Dr. Andrea Castillo
Research Title: "Using Saccharomyces
Cerevisiae to Identify Helicobacter
Pylori T4SS Effectors"
Kimberly Cook
Lisa Coyle
Major: Biology
Research Mentor: Dr. Margaret
O’Connell & Dr. Rebecca Brown
Research Title: “Effects of Fire and
Pocket Gopher Burrowing on
Annual Grass Invasion in a Mima
Mound Prairie”
Major: Psychology
Research Mentor: Dr. Ryan Sain
Research Title: “ Bottled Water: A
Quantitative Study to Determine
How Differences in Pedagogy Affect
Consumption”
Mariana Garcia
Jennifer Graham
Devon Asmus
Major: International Affairs
Research Mentor: Dr. Martin Meraz
Garcia
Research Title: “Immigrant Children
in U.S Detention Facilities”
Major: Biology
Research Mentor: Dr. Carmen Burghelea
& Dr. Katerina Dontsova
Research Title: “Nutrient Uptake by Plants
and Their Associated Microbiota Grown
in Different Porous Rock Substrate”
Summer Internship: Integrated Optics for Undergraduate
Native Americans, University Of Arizona.
Ayanna Jacobs Kalyan
Mikaila Leyva
Major: Psychology
Research Mentor: Dr. Susan Ruby
Research Title: “Growth and Fix
Mindset Perspective Effects on
Children with Learning Disablility”
Major: International Affairs
Research Mentor: Dr. Dorothy Zeisler
Vralsted
Research Title: “Globalization and
the Guest Worker Phenomenon”
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2014 Summer Research
Internships
Continued...
Jereny Mendoza
Amy Nuñez
Major: Education
Major: Government & Philosophy
Research Mentor: Dr. Martín Meráz García
Research Mentor: Dr. Martin Meraz
Research
Title: “Perceptions of College
Garcia
Among Latino Elementary School
Research Title: “Reducing Population
Students”
and Recidivism Rates Among Racial and
Ethnic Minorities in U.S.
Additional Summer Internship with Kent School
Prisons”
District Superintendent (August 19 to September 19
Jessica Ochoa
Yuri Reyes
Major: Anthropology
Research Mentor: Dr. Jerry R. Galm &
Dr. Norma Cardenas
Research Title: “Health Perceptions of
Latina Mothers in Regards to Childhood
Obesity”
Major: Biology
Research Mentor: Dr. David Daberkow
Research Title: “Pre-conditioning of
Chronic Carbon Fiber Microelectrodes
for Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry”
LeNaecha Roberts
Kelsey Rosales
Major: Communications
Research Mentor: Dr. Rebecca Rudd
Research Title: "Treatment for
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Symptoms: Available Options and
Barriers for families"
Major: Computer Science
Research Mentor: Dr. Tony Tian
Research Title: “Improving
Traditional Databases by use of
Graphics Processing Units”
Moses Ssemakula
Laura Zamudio
Major: Sociology
Research Mentor: Dr. Sean Chabot
Research Title: “Gaining Agency in
Response to Ongoing Violence in
Northern Uganda”
Major: Elementary & Secondary
Education Mathematics
Research Mentor: Dr. Gayle Milsaps
Research Title: “Multiplying and
Dividing Fractions in a Meaningful
Way”
2014-2015 Academic year research internship
Da’mony Anderson
Major: Business Administration
Eric Jimenez
Major: Psychology
Research Mentor: Dr. Debbie Griffiths
Summer Internship:
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University of East Anglia,
England
Graduate School Preparation
Conference
The conference was coordinated by Eastern’s Ronald E. McNair Scholar Program to prepare McNair
undergraduates for success at the doctoral level. McNair undergraduates from Eastern, Washington State and
Central participated in three-days of intensive graduate school preparation, including two full days of workshops
with internationally recognized author and speaker on the topics of careers and higher education, Donald Asher,
as well as an informal evening networking event, an EWU McNair alumni panel, a working lunch, two EWU
McNair faculty research mentor panels and other collaborative events to make connections to support student
success.
EWU McNair Program Director:
Dr. Christina Torres Garcia
Assistant Director:
Cynthia Dukich
Program Summer Staff
N’Vida Houndonougbo, Candice Helsing, Tamara Veit
Donald Asher, is known in America as “America’s Job Search Guru”
and was named a Career MasterMind by the award-winning portal,
QuintCareers. He is well known for having written Cracking the Hidden
Job Market, The Overnight Resume, How to Get Any Job, Who Gets
Promoted (named career-management book of the year,) and the
bestselling guide to getting into graduate school, Graduate Admissions
Essays.
Participants included our fifteen EWU McNair Scholar 2014 summer research interns as well as
many of their faculty research mentors:
Devon Asmus (Dr. Michael Zukosky, Anthropology;) Alyssa Barton (Dr. Andrea Castillo,
Biology;) Kim Cook(Dr. Margaret O'Connell and Dr. Rebecca Brown;)Lisa Coyle (Dr. Ryan
Sain, Psychology;) Mariana Garcia (Dr. Martín Meráz García, Chicano Studies;) Ayanna
Jacobs Kalyan (Dr. Susan Ruby, Psychology and Nick Jackson, School Psychology;) Mikaila
Leyva (Dr. Dorothy Zeisler Vralsted, Government;) Jereny Mendoza (Dr. Martín Meráz
García, Chicano Studies;) Amy Nunez (Dr. Martín Meráz García, Chicano Studies;) Jessica
Ochoa (Dr. Jerry Galm, Anthropology;) Yuri Reyes (Dr. David Daberkow, Biology;)
Le’Naecha Roberts (Dr. Rebecca Rudd, Psychology;) Kelsey Rosales (Dr. Tony Tian,
Computer Science;) Moses Ssemakula (Dr. Sean Chabot, Sociology;) Laura Zamudio (Dr.
Gayle Milsaps, Math.)
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Graduate School Preparation
Conference
Continued...
Networking Takes Many Forms!
Eastern Washington University McNair Alumni Panel
Manee Moua, Psychology B.A. EWU, 2009; Counseling Psychology M.A.
WSU, 2012; currently enrolled in WSU Cultural Studies PhD Program
Candice Helsing, History B.A. EWU, 2008; Interdisciplinary Studies:
History, Anthropology, Psychology, M.A. EWU, 2010, Northeastern
University Sociology MA, 2013
Isaura Gallegos, Biology B.A. EWU, 2008; Genetics and Cell
Biology M.S. WSU, 2013
Charise DeBerry, Sociology B.A. EWU , 2007; Sociology M.A. WSU,
2010, currently enrolled in WSU Cultural Studies PhD Program
Faculty Research Panels: Advice for Preparing for Doctoral
Programs, Conducting Research, Making Faculty Contacts,
Success in Grad School and More
Social & Behavioral Sciences Panel (Monroe 205)
Dr. Robert Sauders, Anthropology/Geography
Dr. Susan Ruby, School Psychology
Dr. Lavona Reeves, English
Dr. Bayyinah Jeffri s, Africana Studies
Dr. Martín Meráz García, Chicano Education
Dr. Garrett Kenny, English/Religious Studies
STEM (Monroe 107)
Dr. Gayle Milsaps, Math Education
Dr. Joana Matos, Biology
Dr. Peggy O’Connell, Biology
Dr. Eric Abbey, Chemistry
Dr. Martín Meráz García Presentation:
From Shoeshiner to PhD and Beyond!
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Graduate Program Visits
WSU and UW
Eastern’s Ronald E McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program is federally funded by a grant from the
Department of Education to provide services to address the needs of low-income, first-generation and
underrepresented students to provide effective preparation for successful doctoral studies. Services include
summer research internships, seminars, tutoring, academic and financial counseling, graduate application
process assistance, and a scholarly and supportive environment that motivates students to acquire knowledge
and build confidence. McNair services place a strong emphasis on collaboration: between scholars, with faculty
research mentors and other staff, with family and friends and community, amongst programs and departments at
EWU, as well as with EWU McNair alumni and with faculty, staff, students and programs at other universities.
July 23, 2014
Washington State University visit included a welcome
message from the Dean of the Graduate School,
individual faculty meetings, a session with the WSU
McNair Director, Dr. Raymond Herrera, lunch with
EWU McNair alumni attending graduate school at WSU,
and a tour of campus.
Campus Recreation Bus Providing Transportation from
Cheney to Pullman
July 28, 2014, Seattle, WA
The University of Washington Seattle visit included dinner with EWU
McNair alumni LaMeshia Reese Taylor, MA Psychology, University of
Oklahoma; Nancy Guillen, MA Organization Psychology, Claremont
University; Yolanda Valencia, PhD student, University of Washington,
Geography; Na’ima Neghmouche-Salah, MA student, University of
Washington, International Studies, and a visit to the Chihuly Garden and
Glass Museum in the Seattle Center.
“The trip to the University of Washington was very beneficial and helped me make great connections. I was able to
meet with one faculty member who was willing to give me all the information I needed to become a great candidate
when applying to the school. He referred me to people who were more closely related to my research interest as well as
providing the information about them and description of their courses. We were also able to connect with graduate
students from the fields we are interested in applying. Learning from the graduate students about graduate school life
in my field open my eyes to the opportunities I could have if I applied. My graduate student went the extra mile to
help me understand what it is like to be a graduate student, as well as the things to do once being admitted.
The trips overall were an opportunity I could not do on my own without the help of all the staff at both schools
including McNair faculty. I hope future McNair scholars have this opportunity and can take something out of it
that is remotely close to what I felt. Loving my chances to explore my options firsthand, McNair is awesome!"
Ayanna Jacobs Kalyan: 2014 McNair Scholar Research Intern
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Graduate Program Visits
WSU and UW
Continued...
July 29, 2014
University of Washington, Seattle, WA campus
The day included sessions with the staff from the UW Graduate Opportunities
and Minority Achievement Program (GO-MAP). GO-MAP coordinated
campus meetings throughout the day for each EWU McNair scholar with
faculty, program coordinators and graduate students. McNair scholars had
lunch as a cohort, attended a “Question and Answer” panel with GO-MAP
Student Ambassadors and met with EWU McNair alumni who are current
UW graduate students.
McNair Scholars visited the Dale Chihuly
Garden and Glass Exhibit, an art experience
to showcase the most significant works of
internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer.
Presentation by WSU Dean of the Graduate School
Dr. William Andrefsky, Jr.
“I was able to meet with a professor of secondary mathematics education in the area of Curriculum and Instruction.
He answered all my questions about the graduate program, and also gave me names of two professors whose research
expertise align with my current research project and interests. This meeting was beneficial for both my graduate
application and research study, as I have added two theoretical frameworks from the professors he recommended. I
got advice to help me when applying to graduate programs, and he also provided with helpful resources to look for
teaching assistant/ research assistant positions in graduate schools. It was a great experience to have the opportunity
to meet in person and receive information from a faculty member of the graduate program, making me feel more
confident to apply and giving me a better chance of admission.”
Laura Zamudio: 2014 McNair Scholar Research Intern
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Faculty Research Mentors of
2014 Summer Internship
Thank you for your mentorship!
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Rebecca Brown is a
professor at Eastern Washington
University. She conducts research on
riparian and plant ecology and teaches
Ecology, Botany, Research Methods,
and Riparian Ecology. Recently she has
been active in ecological restoration, working to
restore prairie plant communities in Eastern
Washington, and studying the effects of dam removal
on riparian plant communities.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Andrea Castillo is an
associate professor of Biology. She
earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Cellular
and Developmental Biology from the
University of Colorado, Boulder. Her
first postdoctoral research project was
conducted at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
studying chromosome segregation. As a faculty
member in the Biology Department at EWU, she
continues to study factors in Helicobacter pylori that
contribute to human gastric disease.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Sean Chabot is chair of
sociology department. He has studied
social movements for nearly fifteen
years. As a graduate student, he
became interested in the transnational
dimension of the U.S. civil rights
movement. Eventually, he decided to focus on how
African American activists learned to understand and
apply the Gandhian repertoire of nonviolent direct
action in their own struggles against racial
segregation. Besides these two social movements, he
has also written on the gay and lesbian movement,
landless workers’ movement in Brazil (MST,)
Zapatistas in Chiapas, and Iran’s Green movement.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. David Daberkow is an
assistant professor at Chemistry since
2010. He attained his graduate program
from University of Utah, Ph.D.
neuroscience. His research areas of
focus are in the neurochemical
messenger dopamine and its role in brain function.
Specifically, his research has explored how drugs (e.g.,
amphetamine and methamphetamine) impact
dopamine mediated behaviors and cellular signaling
molecules implicated in memory formation.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Martín Meráz García is an assistant
professor of Chicano Studies at Eastern
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Washington University. His research
Dr. Jerry R. Galm received his Ph.D in
interests include the United States and
Anthropology from Washington State
Mexico relations with respect to the
University. Dr. Galm spent many years
war on drugs, drug cartels, and
in applied research in addition to
revolutionary movements in Mexico and other Latin
teaching and has specialized in lithic
American countries. Current publications include “The
technology and the prehistory of
Psychology and Recruitment Process of the Narco” in
the Pacific Northwest since 1981. His previous
the Global Crime Journal and “Cooperation among the
research includes a coastal erosion study in West
Nicaraguan Sandinista Factions” in the Latin
Africa as well as archaeological studies throughout the American Policy Journal. As an Eastern TRiO McNair
Pacific Northwest.
alumnus, he provides valuable insight as a McNair
Faculty Research Mentor.
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Faculty Research Mentors
of 2014 Summer Internship
Continued...
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Gayle Millsaps is an assistant
professor since 2013 at Eastern
Washington University. She earned her
M.A., Mathematics (1989) & Ph.D.,
Mathematics Education (2005) from
Ohio State University.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Margaret O’Connell is a professor
and chair of the Department of Biology.
She received her PhD from Texas Tech
University and conducted post-doctoral
work at the Smithsonian Institution’s
National Zoological Park at Washington
D.C. Her current research areas are: wildlife ecology/
conservation and ecological restoration. She has served
on the McNair Selection Committee since the
program’s inception at EWU.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Susan Ruby is the Director of Eastern
Washington University’s specialist level
School Psychology Program. She worked
as a school psychologist in Virginia,
Texas, Hawaii, and California before
returning to school to obtain her Ph.D. in
Education with specialization in School Psychology in
2005 at the University of California, Riverside. Dr.
Ruby’s research interests involve practices associated
with Response to Intervention and development and
delivery of academic and social-behavioral
interventions for students at-risk in Pre K-12 settings.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Rebecca Rudd is currently
an assistant professor in Psychology
with a Degree in Counseling and
Educational Psychology. She earned her
Ph.D., in counseling and educational
psychology from University of Nevada,
Reno in 2010. Her areas of Research interest are in
parental bereavement, play therapy, counseling skills
and marriage and family therapy, including, parent
training. She has been a long-time advocate for play
therapy and has served as a board member and
President for both the Washington and Nevada
Association for Play Therapy.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Mentor Dr. Ryan Sain is an assistant
Dr. Tony Yun Tian is an assistant
professor in Psychology Department.
professor of Computer Science. His
Dr. Sain earned his degree in
earned a PhD in Computer Science
experimental psychology from
from University of Mississippi. His
Washington State University. His
Research is in Concurrent Systems,
Research Interests are: Applied
Distributed and Parallel Computing,
Behavior Analysis, pedagogy in higher education,
Grid and Cloud Computing, GPGPU Computing,
curriculum reform, technology in higher education, Spatial Index Methods, Big Data.
FOSS (free and open source software), and risky
behavior.
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Faculty Research Mentors of
2014 Summer Internship
Continued...
TRiO McNair Faculty Research Mentor
Dr. Dorothy Zeisler Vralsted is a Professor
of Government and International Affairs
at EWU. Her publications trace the
historical development of rivers, water
resources in the arid West and the
religious and spiritual representations of
rivers. Her research includes a manuscript with
Berghahn Press that is to be published in November
2014. The manuscript, Rivers, Memory and Nation
Building: A History of the Volga and Mississippi Rivers
is a comparative study of the two rivers from
indigenous use to the present. She is working with
David Pietz of WSU in establishing a UNESCO Chair
in Water and Environmental History.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Michael L. Zukosky is an
associate professor of Anthropology.
He has general research interests in
philosophical anthropology and
social theory as well as their
application to development and
conservation policy in China. He recently finished a
book based on National Science Foundation
funded research about Przewalski horse
reintroduction in northwest China and the pluralism
of animals, knowledges, languages, values, and
interests which constitute it. At present, he is
preparing a project to document vernacular
architecture among formerly nomadic, ethnic
minority Kazakh people in northwest China and to
develop a collaborative rehousing design for new
government-funded settlements.
TRiO McNair Faculty Research
Mentor Dr. Norma Cárdenas is a
Lecturer in Chicano Studies. She holds
a PhD in Culture, Literacy, and
Language from the University of Texas
at San Antonio, where she was a
HLPANR fellow. Her interdisciplinary
research and teaching interests are in Chican@-Latin@
cultural studies, Chicana feminisms, and food studies.
She is currently working on a book titled Forgetting
Tex-Mex:
Food Representations in San Antonio’s Culinary
Borderlands.
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Fall 2014 Graduate School
Enrollment
Congratulations to your enrollment!
Grace Cooper
Temple University, PhD in Anthropology
SimHayKin Jack
University of California Davis, PhD
in Native American Studies
Tabria Lee-Noonan
American University, MA in Public
Anthropology
Jose Mendez
Washington State University, MA in
Criminal Justice
Meghan Elder
University of Texas, MA in Social Work
Michelle Keller
University of Wisconsin Plant Pathology;
Amelia Marchand
Vermont Law School, Environment Law
& Policy Program
Nancy Munoz
Eastern Washington University, MA in
Counseling
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Fall 2014 Graduate School
Enrollment
Continued...
Ashley Nienhuis
Eastern Washington University,
MA in Psychology
Aleksandr Pakalov
University of Houston, PhD in
Chemistry
Leah Ruiz
Washington State University, MA in
Criminal Justice
Martee Shafer
Eastern Washington University, MA in
Urban and Regional
Andrew Pereira
University of North Texas, PhD in
Counseling Psychology
Melissa Rhodehouse
Iowa State University, PhD in Chemistry
Elizabeth Schriner
Washington State University, PhD in
Psychology
Yolanda Valencia
University of Washington, PhD in
Geography
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Donate to the EWU TRiO
Mcnair Foundation Fund!
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program at Eastern Washington University prepares
low-income, first-generation and/or underrepresented minority undergraduates for success in doctoral
programs by providing scholarly activities and community engagement that empower participants to become
agents of positive change in a culturally diverse world.
Eastern’s TRiO McNair program encourages graduate studies by providing seminars, workshops and other
orga-nized opportunities for McNair undergraduates to define and create plans for achieving their goals, to gain
in-depth information on the graduate school application process, to engage in research, to develop
graduate-level reading and writing skills, to prepare for the Graduate Record Examination, to learn how to seek
graduate funding and to adopt financial planning strategies, and to build the skills and student/faculty mentor
re-lationships critical to success at the doctoral level. A particular focus of the McNair Program is to provide
research opportunities for students.
The McNair project provides a stipend up to $2,800 for research internships that are conducted with faculty
men-tors in scholars’ majors. Most research projects take place during summer, although it is suitable in some
cases to do an academic year project. There is no tuition fee for the summer research credits. A second research
project may be conducted and is highly recommended for scholars whose academic timeline allows it.
Scholars present their research at the EWU Research Symposium and are funded to attend a national
conference for research presentations.
All scholars are part of the McNair community with mentors and staff dedicated to their success.
Apply to Orientation Now
To donate to the EWU TRiO McNair Fund, please click the button “Make A Donation”.
All donations support will be used for EWU McNair scholars in success at the doctoral level.
To visit our University website or facebook account please click below:
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