Sorum did research on the bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria that affects about 80 percent of cystic fibrosis patients by the age of 18. The bacteria is difficult to treat because it forms a biofilm in the lungs that protects it against antibiotics and white blood cells. He harvested secretions from a non-cystic fibrosis lung model and applied them to the bacteria to test whether the lung secretions would inhibit the formation of the biofilm.

For Sorum, simply attending the conference and presenting his research alongside students from U.S. and Canadian universities and colleges was rewarding. “The biggest thing for me was seeing that going to a small liberal arts college, you can be competitive with large research universities. Just being able to share my results was enough for me as a scientist, but it was definitely a surprise to win.”

The AAAS 2012 poster competition was open to students actively working toward an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degree. Posters were judged on content, and presenters were judged on their ability to present their findings to an audience. As a winner, Alex will receive a cash award, a framed certificate, and a one-year subscription to Science. Additionally, he will be recognized in an upcoming issue of Science as well as on the AAAS website. Alex’s trip to present at AAAS 2012 was funded by Augsburg’s Undergraduate Research and Graduate Opportunity (URGO) office.

in an URGO research project series YouTube video produced by Augsburg photojournalist Stephen Geffre.

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Katie Edelen ’11 [right] arrived at Augsburg intent on becoming a doctor and helping people in war-torn countries. Following her junior year of college she traveled to Chennai, India to shadow doctors in government hospitals and work with a doctor who brought internal medicine services to refugee camps, slums, and villages.

In India, she began to see the effects of peoples’ actions on the environment. “What really spoke to me were all the people who had been exposed to water-borne, preventable diseases because of unsafe sanitary conditions,” she recalls. She saw that issues related to health, education, poverty, and social justice were connected to environmental problems.

This experience led Edelen to pursue other opportunities centered on water and its role in society. She took a course on environmental and river politics led by environmental studies professor Joe Underhill Cady. She also traveled to Uganda and worked with villagers on water access and conservation, even starting a “safe water and hygiene club” in the primary school.

Edeln received a Fulbright research fellowship and will work at the Peace Research Institute Oslo researching the correlation between armed conflict and water hazards and scarcity. Following her time in Norway, she will pursue graduate work in environmental studies at Oxford on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Similar to her friend, Kathy DeKrey ’12 [left] came to Augsburg wanting to find a way to help people who live in toxic areas. In her first year of school, she took the Environmental Connections course. “On the first day we talked about how the environment is everything, even the things that destroy nature. I was so angry because I thought that’s not true!” As she went through the program, she realized the value of being able to look at issues in that way.

DeKrey traveled to Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, BC with the Sustainable Cities in North America class and began to realize how complicated the environmental movement can be. “I saw gentrification at horrible levels that didn’t even seem real, and next to it was this amazing sustainable city,” she says. She says she wondered how some citizens felt pride in their sustainable habits and environments when others were digging through the garbage and selling trash to each other.

Throughout the program, DeKrey says she has learned that in order to make change in an area, it is important to have an open dialogue and honor what all parties bring to the discussion. As a project for one class, DeKrey worked on writing the environmental history of Minneapolis’ Midtown Greenway. “Writing this history has helped me realize how in my work as an environmental activist moving forward listening and understanding the needs of everyone involved is more important than your own agenda,” she says.

In 2011, DeKrey received a Udall Scholarship, named for U.S. Representative Morris K. Udall. The scholarship is awarded to students committed to careers related to the environment, tribal public policy, or Native American health care.

After college, DeKrey plans to study environmental and public interest law. “I want to help the people who don’t have power in our system regain a safe place to live that isn’t full of toxins. I think it’s important to empower people to do things that they think are important,” she says.

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Dixie Shafer, Director of the , guided the students through the grueling application process and encouraged Stoffers and Olsen to strive toward serving their community and world.”It was a long application process that involved writing a personal statement, writing a statement of proposed study, getting letters of recommendation, being evaluated by language evaluators, and an interview,” said Stoffers.

An excerpt from Stoffers’ statement of proposed study reads: “During my school-aged years, my adoptive parents attempted to familiarize me with my native Korean culture by enrolling me in Korean culture camps, celebrating Korean holiday traditions, and encouraging me to write letters to my birth family. These attempts were often met with resistance, because I did not want to be recognized as Korean, or even Korean-American, but strictly as American. My attitude changed from that of resistance to that of curiosity. I am now eager to engage with my birth place.”

Olsen’s love of teaching and passion for Spanish-speaking countries drew her to apply for the scholarship located in Venezuela. “I received an English teaching assistantship to Venezuela. I had to apply specifically to that country. There were two of these grants available in Venezuela, so I was one of two to receive it,” said Olsen.

Stoffers checked her mailbox on a daily basis in hopes of finding the envelope from Fulbright. “Ashley called me the minute she found out she had received it, wondering if I had heard any news yet,” recalled Olsen.

“I checked my campus box, and it had a thick letter from Fulbright. I felt a mixture of excitement and relief upon learning that I had receive the fellowship — excitement to go to Venezuela and to have been chosen, and relief that 8 months of waiting were finally over.”

Both women will be gone for a year. They hope to gain more knowledge of the world around them, as well as give back to the communities in which they will be teaching. Stoffers and Olsen received immense support from their families and communities and are thrilled to have won such a prestigious scholarship.

Article by Kristin Daniels

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