Boren Scholars study a wide range of critical languages, come from diverse fields of study, and immerse themselves in the language and cultures of selected world regions through study abroad. Scholarship recipients make a commitment to work in the U.S. federal government for a minimum of one year. Having recently completed a summer of research under the mentorship of Dr. Leon van Eck, Holewa envisions working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including on a plant disease called citrus greening.

An initiative of the U.S. Defense Language and National Security Education Office, the Boren awards focus on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study critical to U.S. national security that are not emphasized in other U.S. study abroad programs. Applicants are selected through a national merit-based competition that emphasizes both academic achievement and a strong commitment to public service.

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What

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” will share his love for science when he speaks Feb. 14 at Augsburg College in an address that is open to the general public. Nye, who will be on campus for the College’s Scholarship Weekend, will speak with academic depth and humor about planetary science, climate change, evolution, environmental awareness and more in his address “How Science Can Save the World.”

Who

Bill Nye is a mechanical engineer who wants the world to know and appreciate the passion, beauty, and joy (the P, B & J) of science. Nye’s show, “Bill Nye The Science Guy,” has garnered 18 Emmy awards. Nye won seven of those Emmy awards as host and head writer of the show. These days, Nye travels the globe exhorting audiences to change the world. He has a day job as the CEO of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest non-governmental space interest organization. Nye’s newest book, “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation,” was released in November.

Where

Augsburg College’s Kennedy Center, located in Si Melby Gymnasium (715 23rd Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55454)

When

• Doors open at 10 a.m., Feb. 14
• Presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Feb. 14

Ticket Information

• Sale begins at 10 a.m., Dec. 8
• Students: $12
• General Public/Adults: $28
• A $3 service charge will be applied to each ticket at the time of checkout.
• Purchase tickets at

About Augsburg College

Augsburg College is set in a vibrant neighborhood at the heart of the Twin Cities, and offers more than 50 undergraduate majors and nine graduate degrees to nearly 4,000 students of diverse backgrounds. Augsburg College educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community committed to intentional diversity in its life and work. An Augsburg education is defined by excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies, guided by the faith and values of the Lutheran church, and shaped by its urban and global settings.

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The AugSTEM scholarships will be funded by a nearly $600,000 grant recently received from the National Science Foundation. The grant means that as many as 30 students in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and physics will receive important financial support as they pursue their academic careers.

“In today’s world, many students balance educational goals, the demands of family responsibilities, and the pressure to support themselves financially,” said Amy Gort, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Arts and Sciences. “These AugSTEM scholarships will help students maintain focus on their studies and have more time to explore career paths.”

Development of the grant proposal and the AugSTEM program was possible through a collaboration among faculty and staff.

“Science faculty recognized the high talent of our STEM students, and the tensions they balance between school and the rest of their lives,” said Benjamin Stottrup, Associate Professor of Physics. “We worked as a team to seek NSF funding. Our goal is to continue providing a rigorous academic experience that develops critical thinkers while providing additional programmatic support for these scientists as they transition to the workplace.”

About 50 percent of the scholarship recipients will be transfer students, and will further strengthen Augsburg’s partnerships with community colleges.

“We know from investigating the degree process of transfer students at Augsburg that we receive a significant number of transfer students in STEM,” said Rebekah Dupont, coordinator of the College’s Lois Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP). “Through the AugSTEM program, we hope to collaborate with STEM faculty at community colleges to support more seamless transitions for these students and to connect them more quickly with our continuing students.”

Next steps for the AugSTEM program include recruiting students to apply for the scholarships and making final programming decisions for fall. AugSTEM programming will include workshops and seminars, focus on professional development, and support Augsburg students in their transition to the scientific workplace.

The AugSTEM collaboration was led by Stottrup and Dupont, and the joint effort among faculty and staff will continue through the life of the grant.

To learn more about the grant, visit the .

Augsburg College currently has more than $3 million of active NSF funding. The largest individual active award, for more than $1 million, is for the ongoing work of Physics Professor Mark Engebretson for studies of magnetospheric physics.

Partial support for the AugSTEM program is provided by the National Science Foundation Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program under Award Number DUE-1154096.

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Below three students reflect on what they experienced and learned at the conference.

Mohamed Sheikh-Mohamed [middle left]

Firstly, I would say if anybody had an opportunity to go to a place where there will be recruiters in their professions, they should go. From this trip, I connected with many companies, and one thing that shocked me was that the CIA was recruiting at the career fair. I always thought that they hire by invitation only, but it changed what I believed about it.

I learned that with age comes wisdom, so I asked every professional individual that I had a conversation with, “What advice do you have for young guys like us?” The majority of their answers were to look for internships and co-ops because if companies like you while you with them, they will try to hire you as soon as you graduate. They also said that most companies look for diversity and something new that they do not have in the company, so if you have something new to contribute to a company, give it a try and apply for that company. They are also looking [at students who have been in] leadership roles.

This trip really helped me, knowing that there is a high demand of engineers in the upcoming years and almost every major company and corporation needs an engineer of some sort on their team.

Gottlieb Uahengo [far right]

The 38th Annual National Society of Black Engineers was an exciting conference to attend, because it provided the opportunity to observe and participate in critical scientific discussions. There was a multitude of organizations ranging from graduate school programs, multinational companies and various government agencies. The setting was most welcoming and encouraged young African-Americans to participate in the sciences so to better understand the importance of engineering as a multilateral discipline. The atmosphere was further re-enforced by the large number of multinational companies, showcasing their products, technology, and the innovative solutions they have developed to solve pending problems.

I was particularly intrigued by my ability to draw several parallels between my Augsburg education and some of the physics behind the technology of companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin as well as Minnesota native 3M. This realization brought a sense of deep pleasure, as I was able to see real world applications of the many concepts I have studied in my classes.

I also attended some workshops during the conference. A workshop hosted by Space (titled “Restoring American Human Spaceflight”) in which the audience participated in an interactive discussion on the importance of space exploration and its implication to the survival of the human race. I gained a great wealth of knowledge from this workshop as one could sense the depth of knowledge present throughout the room, simply from the ideas and questions that arose during the workshop. We discussed the implications of space exploration and its wear on the astronauts’ health and how these issues could be resolved by the fast growing biomedical engineering field. Such a possibility would allow ease in not only monitoring astronaut health but also pave a way for remote health operations and effectively allowing any trained individual to perform medical procedures in space. The thought of human life outside earth has intrigued scientists the world over, yet as we begin to wrap our collective knowledge around the laws of the universe, we realize more and more that there are still many unexplained anomalies; one should be humbled by the youthful nature of our technology and what more we have yet to discover as well as its impact to life as we know it.

Aside from being mentally stimulating, the conference also provided the opportunity for students to bounce ideas off each other. I had several talks with experts and fellow students, who shared brilliant ideas and journal articles. This kind of environment is surely priceless and one that will drive innovative solution for the future. This invaluable experience would not have been possible without the hardworking and dedication of LSAMP’s “Godmother” (Prof. Rebekah Dupont) who has continually challenged us to excel and apply ourselves.

Amir Rose [middle right]

For myself, going to college has never been anything less than mandatory. I’ve always aspired to further my education in the field of science, physics, and engineering. Attending the NSBE conference this spring helped me grasp a better understanding of what life is like after college for an engineer. The vast amount of fields available in this profession span across a large spectrum of interests from automotive, aeronautics, medical, and many more.

Attending the career fair was a great experience because it gave me the opportunity to speak with people who have been in engineering for many years and to obtain some good advice on how to approach future jobs and internships.  I had the chance to speak with a man who worked for Honda for over 15 years and had gained a great deal of experience in various subsets within the company. Engineering does not only encompass one position, as he explained, [when] entering the company people have a choice whether to do design or manufacturing on vehicles. I thought this was very interesting, and it gave me a new perspective on all of the possibilities available to me after I graduate.

Overall attending the NSBE conference was a great experience, and I hope to attend again next year. It gave me a greater understanding of what I can do with my major and made me eager for all the future possibilities that await.

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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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At the ceremony, Darden was able to network with representatives of many of Minnesota’s leading technology companies and make connections for future internship and career opportunities. “It was like the Academy Awards of the technology industry in Minnesota,” she said. “Everyone was there.”

Darden said she was especially interested in meeting the women working in the industry. “You hear that the science fields are looking for minorities and females,” she said. “I don’t see that issue much here because Augsburg is very diverse, but at the awards, I didn’t see anyone who looks like me. That was my first time seeing how it really is, and that’s motivating me.”

Darden, a McNair, Phillips, and North Star STEM scholar, plans to attend graduate school in mechanical engineering. She said her dream job would be to build a roller coaster.

Watch a about Jazmine Darden and the other scholarship recipients.

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“You learn what a career would be like,” she says. “You can’t sleep until noon because you have to be at work, and it helps you realize what you want to do.”

Darden was one of more than 60 students who conducted research this summer through several different programs. Her project, which was conducted with mathematics professor John Zobitz, was funded through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, or LSAMP. The program provides research opportunities through the Northstar STEM Alliance for first-year students of color who are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the STEM disciplines.

Darden and five other Northstar STEM researchers worked this summer and also met regularly to discuss their projects and learn about other aspects of the graduate school application process. “What did my friends at the U do?” she says. “Worked at Target. There are so many more opportunities here.”

She adds that Rebekah Dupont’s leadership and support was a very important part of her summer project. Dupont is the LSAMP site coordinator working with the STEM program. “She really took us under her wing and helped us find a bunch of opportunities,” Darden says.

In addition to helping her explore a career in mathematics, Darden says conducting research allowed her to apply principles she learned from the classroom to the real world.

“In Calculus class, you do a bunch of math problems and say, ‘When am I ever going to use this?’ And we were using it,” she says.

In August, Darden and three other students attended a national mathematics conference with Zobitz to present their research. Pictured above [left to right] are Darden, Nana Owusu (LSAMP), John Zobitz, Nghiep Huynh (McNair), and Jeremy Anthony (URGO).

“I was proud of our group’s presentations because we worked hard to make them eye-catching and interesting,” Darden says. “Overall the conference was a great experience and I would recommend it to next year’s researchers.”

When asked about her plans after graduation, Darden confidently answers that she will be going to graduate school for engineering. Not only will she be the first college graduate in her family and the first to earn an advanced degree, she is the first to attend college.

“I don’t know where, but I just know I am going to go,” she says. “I have two older sisters who didn’t go to college, so I feel like they are living the college experience through me. And I know my nieces and nephew are looking up to me, too.”

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As in the May commencement ceremony, both the featured speaker and honorary degree recipient are well known for their distinguished careers related to science and education.

Augsburg is honored to welcome Eric J. Jolly, PhD, president of the Science Museum of Minnesota, as the June commencement speaker. Jolly is a member of the Augsburg College Board of Regents and is recognized for his commitment to science and mathematics education, striving to educate young people as the future workforce and to create an informed citizenry that engages science in public policy issues.

An honorary degree will be conferred upon Jane Lubchenco, PhD, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. She is the first woman and first marine biologist to lead NOAA.

Prior to joining the Science Museum of Minnesota, Jolly was vice president and senior scientist at the Education Development Center, a research and development organization that provides curriculum and innovative education programs around the world. In 1994 Jolly founded the National Institute of Affirmative Action and was a founding partner of the national “Collaboration for Equity” project.

Author of books, scholarly articles, and curricula, he most recently co-authored Engagement, Capacity, and Continuity: A Trilogy for Student Success, a study on education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Jolly is recognized for his work in the Native American community as a traditional storyteller and fiber artist, with several of his pieces in private and public collections including the Swope Museum and Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Quisenberry Collection. He is a life member of Native Americans in Science.

Jolly earned master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology at the University of Oklahoma. His undergraduate studies were in psychology and physics at the University of Rhode Island.

Jane Lubchenco was confirmed in March 2009 as administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. She is the first woman and first marine biologist to lead NOAA.

Lubchenco is one of the most highly respected and cited ecologists in the world and has championed the importance of science and its relevance to policymaking and human well-being. Since 1977 she has taught at Oregon State University and serves as the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology. For 10 years she led the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, an interdisciplinary team of scientists who study the marine ecosystem off the West Coast of the United States.

Lubchenco earned her doctoral degree in ecology at Harvard University and taught there for two years. She also holds a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Colorado College.

A complete schedule of June commencement activities is available at .

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The Academy is comprised of nine regional teacher centers, each including at least one K-12 school district or education service cooperative and one higher education institution. Augsburg is partnering with Resource Training & Solutions in St. Cloud to provide training for 19 districts in Region 7. Approximately 140 teachers will participate in the program, which begins with a summer institute to be held August 11-15, 2008 at Apollo High School in St. Cloud.

Rebecca Koelln ’76 and ’91 MAL is the director of school improvement services at Resource Training & Solutions. She is excited to be working with Augsburg math professors Tracy Bibelnieks and Matt Haines as well as Education professor Linda Stevens to conduct the training for the St. Cloud area. Koelln sees the program as a way for teachers to expand their content knowledge and to refine pedagogical approaches that promote student engagement. She also hopes students will become interested in studying math and the sciences after high school.

The initial goal of the program is to prepare teachers to implement new math and science standards, which will be used beginning with the class of 2015. These standards involve introducing algebra into elementary school lessons. The centers provide training and technical assistance to help teachers implement Minnesota’s content standards, master the use of multiple instructional approaches, and improve skills to diagnose student learning needs using assessment of student performance.

Throughout the year, training will provide a continued focus on algebraic thinking with teachers involved in ongoing professional learning communities, full-day workshops, and implementation of new instructional practice. All of the activities are geared toward providing resources for teachers as they prepare their students for taking algebra in the eighth grade.

The topic for the math in-service is algebraic thinking, a recent addition in the elementary and middle school math curriculum. Leading this program gives the Augsburg faculty an opportunity to learn more about recent research on the development of children’s algebraic thinking. Stevens said, “We can then use this information in our mathematics content and methods courses for Augsburg’s students to prepare them for their future as teachers.”

Bibelnieks said, “One of the powerful pieces of the Academy is the opportunity for ‘algebra’ to become a term that no longer strikes fear into the heart of some parents and many students.” She added that the elementary mathematics curriculum includes algebraic thinking, but teachers and students don’t often recognize the skills as related to what they experience in middle school or high school as algebra. “Identifying and making algebraic thinking explicit to students can help them see the connections to what they are doing in the lower and upper primary grades and what they will do later,” she said.

“I’m not sure that you would see a significant difference if you sat in on a math class before and after the academy,” Bibelnieks added. “The mathematics content isn’t going to change. The language of the instruction, however, will be a bit different. Stevens added, “Our intent is to help the teachers recognize that deep understanding occurs when the learners are actively engaged. We will be modeling and discussion effective lesson plan structures that encourage students to develop mathematical thinking and will focus on a classroom environment that encourages students to problem solve and discuss their thinking process.”

One anticipated outcome from the learning communities is continued and sustained professional development for teachers within a school or a district. During the school year teachers will be encouraged to form teams as they prepare and study their teaching. Stevens said, “United States teachers have limited time to collaborate with others about their teaching. The principals of the teachers attending this course have committed time during the school day for the teachers to discuss the instruction and the students’ understanding.

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The Academy is comprised of nine regional teacher centers, each including at least one K-12 school district or education service cooperative and one higher education institution. Augsburg is partnering with Resource Training and Solutions in St. Cloud. Augsburg math professor Tracy Bibelnieks is one of three instructors leading the training for the St. Cloud center.

The initial goal of the program is to prepare teachers to implement new math and science standards, which will be used beginning with the class of 2015. These standards involve introducing algebra into elementary school lessons. The centers provide training and technical assistance to help teachers implement Minnesota’s content standards, master the use of multiple instructional approaches, and improve skills to diagnose student learning needs using assessment of student performance.

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