School of Natural Science and Mathematics Resources

Board of Advisors members might choose to be engaged with students and faculty in some of the following ways:

• In coordination with appropriate faculty, help to arrange internships, "shadowing" opportunities, and other experiential learning components.
• As a resource for students in preparing for admission to professional and graduate schools.
• Participate in formal meetings on campus to learn about our programs, to interact directly with students and faculty and other Board of Advisors' members.
• As a general resource and "sounding board" for the Dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics regarding all aspects of the marketing, recruitment and success of our programs.

Ordinarily, members serve terms from one to three years in length, beginning in August of each academic year, as appropriate to their particular needs and availability. The Board of Advisors meets formally once per academic semester, with meetings beginning in the afternoon and concluding that same evening. Informal contact and communications take place as needed throughout the academic year.The Board of Advisors offers insights and guidance of significant benefit to our students, faculty, and, of course, to the Dean. Their interactions with some very talented students and faculty can only serve to open up new opportunities and collaborative possibilities that Board members find as rewarding as we do.

• Angy J Kallarackal. Using C. elegans based lab activities to connect environment, genes, and behavior. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, October, 2019.
• Briana Smith, Chardane Logan, Angy Kallarackal. Using Optogenetics to Test Habituation in C. elegans. Abstract accepted for presentation at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March, 2020. [Note: This meeting was cancelled due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.]
• Chardane Logan, Briana Smith, Angy Kallarackal. Associative Learning in C. elegans: How are mutants affected? Abstract accepted for presentation at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March, 2020. [Note: This meeting was cancelled due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.]
• Michael Hochstein, Angy Kallarackal. Effect of Cortisol on Learning in C. elegans. Abstract accepted for presentation at the Eastern Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, March, 2020. [Note: This meeting was cancelled due to public health concerns related to COVID-19.]
• Kula, AAR, MH Hey, JJ Couture, PA Townsend and HJ Dalgleish. 2020. “Intraspecific competition reduces plant size and quality and damage severity increases defense response in the herbaceous perennial, Asclepias syriaca.” Plant Ecology. 221: 421-430.
• Raker, J., Murphy, K., Kreke, P., Michels, O., and Mio, Matt Preparing for Your ACS Examination in Organic Chemistry: The Official Guide ACS Publications, (January, 2020)

• Kula, AAR. August 2019. Timing of management affects milkweed regrowth and seed production. 104th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Louisville, KY.
• Patrick M. Lombardi: “Deciphering the code: How our cells recruit DNA repair factors using the protein ubiquitin”, James Madison University Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Harrisonburg, Virginia, October 11, 2019.
• Guiding First Generation Students and Under-Resourced Students to a Successful Application; Institutions P. Kreke, E. Brookins, K.McJunkins and the NEAAHP Professional Development Focus Group, NAAHP conference, June, 2020. Abstract accepted December, 2019. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the NAAHP conference was terminated in April, 2020 by the NAAHP Executive Committee; and, therefore, this presentation could not be given as intended.
• Engaging students in organic chemistry: A symposium to honor Barbara Murray. Patricia Kreke(1); Barbara Murray(2). 2020 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. Abstract accepted March 31, 2020. Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education was terminated on April 2, 2020, by the Executive Committee of the Division of Chemical Education, American Chemical Society; and, therefore, this presentation could not be given as intended.

Abigail Kula

• Re-elected, Treasurer, Entomological Society of Washington, December 2019.
• Attended: Integrating Teaching and Learning Workshop, National Association of Biology Teachers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 2019.

Jonathan Slezak

• Journal Reviewer for Teaching of Psychology, 2019.
• Journal Reviewer for Scientific Reports by Nature Research, 2019.

Jonelle Hook

• Referee for Discrete Mathematics, 2020.
• MAA Webinar Series on IBL, Upper Level Mathematics, and Mastery Grading, July 21-23, 2020.
• NYC Math Festival, National Museum of Mathematics, July 19, 2020.
• Summer Math Foundation Small Grant for the students chapter of the Association for Women in Mathematics, November 2019.

Abigail Kula

• Kula, AAR, and K Grayson. November 2019. Teaching Population Dynamics with Data and HHMI BioInteractive. National Association of Biology Teachers Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• Kula, AAR, and K Grayson. 2019. Teaching Population Dynamics with Data and HHMI BioInteractive. HHMI BioInteractive, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/DRTS-CZ24

Michael Turner

• Student Honor Theses: Three students (Laura Kingham, Scott Korte, Colette Robinson) successfully completed and defended University Honors Theses, Mount St. Mary’s University, presented via Zoom, May 2020.
• Completion of Contact Tracing course and certification, Johns Hopkins University, July 2020.
• SPARC Committee Co-Chair, Co-lead University Committee charged with organizing and executing the April 2020 SPARC Festival [Note: SPARC was ultimately cancelled due to switch to remote learning and public health concerns related to COVID-19].
• MASE Camp Director/Instructor. Began organizing and coordinating (with Kathryn Dye and Sarah Brown) in preparation of the 2020 MASE Camp, June 2020. As of March 2020, 15 students were registered from Winston Churchill High School (Montgomery County). Students were to arrive at Mount St. Mary’s University as part of a two-week capstone experience, in conjunction with a one-year Molecular Genetics course provided at the High School. Strong performance at MASE Camp earn students 4 college credits [Note: MASE Camp was ultimately cancelled due to switch to remote learning and public health concerns related to COVID-19].

Patricia J. Kreke

• Named Theodore Ashford Fellow, Exams Institute, American Chemical Society (June, 2020-December, 2020).
• Reviewer for Journal of Chemical Education, 2019-2020.
• Reviewer for Unsecured ACS Exam in Organic Chemistry, spring, 2020.

Susan D. Mertins

• Submitted Abstract entitled “The Effect of Novel Compound BI 885578 on Kinase Activity and Adaptor Binding to the Insulin Receptor.” University of Maryland Baltimore Undergraduate Symposium, October 2019.
• Guest Researcher, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Biomedical Information and Data Science August 2019 – Present.
• Submitted Abstract entitled “Development of a Computational Model of MAPK Pathway to Capture Mutant KRAS Kinetics and Drug Mechanism of Action”. Third RAS Symposium, February 2020.
• Reviewer, Current Computer-Assisted Drug Design. October 2019.
• Reviewer, BIOS, August 2020.

Abigail Kula

• Washington Biologist’s Field Research Award, “Management timing affects milkweed growth, reproduction and population dynamics,” 2020-2021 ($3568).
• National Science Foundation, DEB-1936621, “BEE: RUI: Complementary approaches investigating local adaptation in common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, using research and education networks,” 2020-2022 ($1,037,237; MSMU subcontract $17,000).

Patrick M. Lombardi

• “Determining the structural basis of polyubiquitin signaling in response to DNA alkylation damage”, National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award (R15) proposal. $433,784 – Submitted February 2020. Currently pending council review.

Bolen, Mills, Rafiq, Simmons, and Sheetz

• Rosina Bolen, Isaac Mills, Athar Rafiq, Jeffrey Simmons, Kraig Sheetz, Aubrey Smith (Montgomery College), and Dina Yagodich (Frederick Community College. “C₃STEM: Community Colleges Collaborating in STEM.” NSF S-STEM grant. Awarded $899,926. August 2020.