Donald K. Willi
New Member
Three Fort Valley State University seniors received high honors at the eighth annual National Role Models Conference in Arlington, Va.
The conference, held from Sept. 13 - 16, is an opportunity to recognize institutions and individuals who have excelled in producing and supporting researchers of color, particularly those in the biomedical sciences and health related fields.
Kearston Barnes, Steven Samuels and Saundra Wheeler, all plant science majors concentrating in biotechnology, were honored for maintaining an outstanding academic record and successfully completing a major research project.
?As an academic advisor and research mentor, it gives me great pleasure to see my outstanding students recognized at the national level. They have excelled in academic and scholarly activities. Now they have an incentive to further their education in this career field,? said Dr. Sarwan Dhir, an associate professor of biotechnology and director of multiple National Science Foundation programs at FVSU.
?These three talented FVSU students have shown exceptional leadership, creative skills, great work ethic, exceptional organizational skills, and an ability to work collaboratively with other researchers,? said Dhir,who nominated the students for the award.
The students have traveled across the country to present their research findings at national scientific conferences and been selected for internship opportunities at various institutions.
Barnes said the conference was a great opportunity to network and meet the president of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program that provides her a mentor to prepare for graduate school. She also met the man for whom the program is named.
?It was very nice,? Barnes said. ?I feel very proud. It was a big award. I?ve never received an award that big, so I felt very special.?
Barnes, a 21-year-old from Fort Valley, is an aspiring entrepreneur who plans to go to pharmacy school and combine her academic background with her experience from cosmetology school to start her own line of hair and skin products.
?I want to get knowledge from all angles because I want to be the one to actually design my own cosmetic line,? said Barnes, who doesn?t want to rely on scientists.
Barnes participated in elite summer science programs at the University of Florida and the University of Georgia to conduct research. She is the vice-president of the Beta Kappa Chi Society Scientific Honor society.
Samuels, 22, is a Thomson native who wants to make prescription drugs after studying pharmaceutical medicine in graduate school.
He presented research findings at the conference and said he received positive feedback from researchers and professors who work at various universities.
?I met a lot of influential black people that came from relatively the same place that I did, Samuels said. ?That was inspiring.?
Samuels added, ?It?s rewarding to know that everything you do will pay off in the long run. I am excited and happy because I?ve done a lot of studies since I?ve been at Fort Valley State. Getting this award proves I am accomplishing something with my time.?
The graduating senior placed first at the National Science Foundation?s HBCU-UP National Research Conference for a research presentation and has been a research intern at the University of Florida.
Wheeler of Dublin said she loves her major and can?t wait to use her outgoing personality and affinity for science to spread the word about biotechnology to ?non-science people.?
This aspiring publicist, who wants to work at a major biotech firm, said the conference was wonderful.
Like her classmate, she was also honored to meet Stokes.
?Things went very, very well. I totally enjoyed the trip,? Wheeler said. ?I was truly honored and I was shocked. I was very proud to represent my school and be chosen.?
Wheeler, 22, is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Scholar and Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participant at FVSU. She also placed first at the HBCU-UP National Research Conference in Baltimore, Md.
The National Role Models Conference is sponsored by the non-profit organization Minority Access, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institute of Health.
All of the student awardees have participated in FVSU science summer programs ? the Research Experience for Undergraduates program or the Summer Research Apprenticeship Program ? which expose students to biotechnology.
The conference, held from Sept. 13 - 16, is an opportunity to recognize institutions and individuals who have excelled in producing and supporting researchers of color, particularly those in the biomedical sciences and health related fields.
Kearston Barnes, Steven Samuels and Saundra Wheeler, all plant science majors concentrating in biotechnology, were honored for maintaining an outstanding academic record and successfully completing a major research project.
?As an academic advisor and research mentor, it gives me great pleasure to see my outstanding students recognized at the national level. They have excelled in academic and scholarly activities. Now they have an incentive to further their education in this career field,? said Dr. Sarwan Dhir, an associate professor of biotechnology and director of multiple National Science Foundation programs at FVSU.
?These three talented FVSU students have shown exceptional leadership, creative skills, great work ethic, exceptional organizational skills, and an ability to work collaboratively with other researchers,? said Dhir,who nominated the students for the award.
The students have traveled across the country to present their research findings at national scientific conferences and been selected for internship opportunities at various institutions.
Barnes said the conference was a great opportunity to network and meet the president of the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation program that provides her a mentor to prepare for graduate school. She also met the man for whom the program is named.
?It was very nice,? Barnes said. ?I feel very proud. It was a big award. I?ve never received an award that big, so I felt very special.?
Barnes, a 21-year-old from Fort Valley, is an aspiring entrepreneur who plans to go to pharmacy school and combine her academic background with her experience from cosmetology school to start her own line of hair and skin products.
?I want to get knowledge from all angles because I want to be the one to actually design my own cosmetic line,? said Barnes, who doesn?t want to rely on scientists.
Barnes participated in elite summer science programs at the University of Florida and the University of Georgia to conduct research. She is the vice-president of the Beta Kappa Chi Society Scientific Honor society.
Samuels, 22, is a Thomson native who wants to make prescription drugs after studying pharmaceutical medicine in graduate school.
He presented research findings at the conference and said he received positive feedback from researchers and professors who work at various universities.
?I met a lot of influential black people that came from relatively the same place that I did, Samuels said. ?That was inspiring.?
Samuels added, ?It?s rewarding to know that everything you do will pay off in the long run. I am excited and happy because I?ve done a lot of studies since I?ve been at Fort Valley State. Getting this award proves I am accomplishing something with my time.?
The graduating senior placed first at the National Science Foundation?s HBCU-UP National Research Conference for a research presentation and has been a research intern at the University of Florida.
Wheeler of Dublin said she loves her major and can?t wait to use her outgoing personality and affinity for science to spread the word about biotechnology to ?non-science people.?
This aspiring publicist, who wants to work at a major biotech firm, said the conference was wonderful.
Like her classmate, she was also honored to meet Stokes.
?Things went very, very well. I totally enjoyed the trip,? Wheeler said. ?I was truly honored and I was shocked. I was very proud to represent my school and be chosen.?
Wheeler, 22, is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Scholar and Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participant at FVSU. She also placed first at the HBCU-UP National Research Conference in Baltimore, Md.
The National Role Models Conference is sponsored by the non-profit organization Minority Access, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institute of Health.
All of the student awardees have participated in FVSU science summer programs ? the Research Experience for Undergraduates program or the Summer Research Apprenticeship Program ? which expose students to biotechnology.