Welcome to the School of Science & Technology's spring newsletter. While we are excited to share the many accomplishments of our students, faculty and staff, we recognize that this is finding us all in uncertain times. We are thinking of all of you in our Science & Tech community and hope that this newsletter can provide some welcome respite in these challenging circumstances. Please be well.
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Dear Friends,
Greetings to the School of Science and Technology community as we ring in 2020 and the new decade—along with the challenges of the coronavirus. When I first drafted this message back in January, who would have thought we would be in the midst of a global health crisis by mid-March. Thankfully, our campus—students, faculty and staff—have done an incredible job transitioning to remote modes of teaching and learning. I am so grateful and proud of everyone. Campus priorities of health and safety, support of our students, and planning for the future drive our day-to-day priorities.
Although the shift to remote instruction has presented many challenges, departments are finding ways to ensure students are engaged and meeting learning objectives. Despite the situation, spring is an exciting time of year as faculty engage in guiding our students through senior-design, capstone, and research projects—albeit in different modalities this year. We have postponed the inaugural Ongaro Family Green Science Competition, designed to motivate undergraduate research into green science, until next year. This initiative is made possible through a generous gift by recent Physics and Astronomy graduate, Ernest Ongaro, and his family’s company Ongaro and Sons. We are working on plans for showcasing the work of our students and faculty through a virtual Science Symposium of some kind. Please watch for information about the Symposium in the coming months.
The pages of this issue are filled with stories that exemplify our continued commitment to the advancement of STEM and Health education. Faculty are leading curricular and program changes from general education reform to new degrees in Data Science, Physical Science and the Health Sciences. In this issue, you can read about the Faculty-Led Curriculum Redesign for Student Success Program funded by the Teagle Foundation. There is also an article on a new initiative—The Sonoma Mountain Connection (SMC)—funded by a $1 million donation from the Koret Foundation.
Finally, this will be my last issue writing to you as the Dean of Science and Technology. After 10 wonderful years, I have decided to juggle priorities a bit and to return to my first love of teaching. I wish to thank you for your support of the work we do to encourage the success of students. I am forever grateful. A search for a new Dean of the School of Science and Technology is underway with a transition anticipated for this summer. Watch for an announcement from our campus President sometime this spring.
Best wishes for a wonderful year ahead,
Lynn Stauffer
Dean
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Ortega Receives AWM Service Award
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The
AWM Service Award
recognizes individuals for helping to promote and support women in mathematics through exceptional voluntary service to the
Association for Women in Mathematics
. The award is given annually to a select group of AWM volunteers in recognition of their extensive time and effort devoted to AWM activities.
Along with Drs. Raegan Higgins, associate professor at Texas Tech University, and Denise Rangel Tracy, assistant professor at Farleigh Dickinson University in New York, Sonoma State’s Dr. Omayra Ortega, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been selected as the 2020 Service Awardee group for their significant service to AWM in outreach, new initiatives, collaboration, and inclusion...
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$1M Awarded by Koret Foundation
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Sonoma Mountain Connection (SMC), as part of a larger proposal to the Koret Foundation, has been awarded $1 million over 4 years. SMC is designed as a two-year cohorted program for STEM students with the aim to reduce the dropout rate for first-time, first-year STEM majors by giving them outdoor research experiences. Students would begin together at the start of their first year and continue through their sophomore year. The program proposes a summer research immersion experience at Fairfield Osborn Preserve and an enriched academic year experience with a pre-determined set of classes for students who are statistically more likely to drop out of STEM fields and university altogether.
From the original proposal:
Sonoma Mountain Connection (SMC) will create signature learning experiences that improve retention and graduation rates of first- and second-year STEM majors. The program targets first-time, first-year STEM students, a population with a higher dropout rate than students in other majors. SMC will allow SSU to build on existing efforts to support first-time, first-year students through the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and PUERTA (SSU’s Preparing Under-Represented Educators to Realize their Teaching Ambitions Title V grant focused on increasing the pipeline for Latinx teachers). It will also expand and target support for students majoring in the sciences. These students are a key area of focus in Sonoma State’s strategic plan, which seeks to improve retention and graduation rates and eliminate all equity gaps...
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Who are Science & Tech Students?
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56% identify as female; 44% identify as male.
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41% White; 8% Asian; 15% Other; 2% Black/African American; 34% Hispanic/Latino.
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Nursing Program Among Best in Nation
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This article, written by Paul Gullixson, AVP of Strategic Communications at SSU, originally appeared on SSU News on February 13, 2020.
Two recent rankings reports have listed Sonoma State University’s Department of Nursing among the best undergraduate programs in California and the nation as a whole.
In its list of the “25 Best Undergraduate Nursing Schools in 2019,” GradReports.com
ranked Sonoma State as No. 1
in the nation based on median salary of graduates one year after graduation. Using salary and debt rates reported by the U.S. Department of Education, GradReports found that SSU’s nursing graduates had the highest median annual salary at $110,300 while finishing among the lowest for median debt loads for students ($12,500)...
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Recolonizing SF Bay Could Trip Sea Otter Pop.
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This article, written by Paul Gullixson, AVP of Strategic Communications, originally appeared on
SSU News
on December 9, 2019.
The picture of sea otters frolicking among kelp beds and rocky shoals has become an iconic image of the California coastline. But it may be drawing attention away from the value of other habitat that could truly help the endangered species in its recovery - estuaries.
In fact, a new study released today concludes that California could more than triple its population of southern sea otters, from an estimated 3,000 to nearly 10,000, by repopulating the largest estuary on the coast - the San Francisco Bay.
“It would essentially end up lifting the sea otter out of its endangered species status,” said Brent Hughes, assistant professor of biology at Sonoma State and lead researcher in the study published in PeerJ: the Journal of Life and Environmental Sciences. “For the conservation of the sea otter, this would be huge.”...
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Physics & Astronomy Wins Teagle Grant
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The Faculty-Led Curriculum Redesign for Student Success Program, generously funded by the Teagle Foundation and College Futures, is a six-campus CSU collaboration that will bring faculty from across the campuses together to share ideas aimed at furthering Graduation Initiative 2025, as well as general student success. Ultimately, fifteen projects at SSU will be funded as a part of this project. Led by Profs. Alexandra Miller, Scott Severson, and Tom Targett, the SSU Department of Physics and Astronomy has been awarded one of these grants. This award will provide support to the department in their efforts to develop a new Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Science. This will be a STEM degree with a strong Liberal Arts basis. Its primary focus will be in the fields of Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, and Geology, but it will also be quite flexible, allowing students to follow their individual interests via intentional pathways. This will include an optional concentration in Teaching aimed at students who ultimately wish to teach Foundational General Science. The new BA in Physical Science will become available to students starting in the Fall of 2021.
–
Dr. Alexandra Miller
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Bringing Virtual Reality to Chemistry @ SSU
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Last year, members of the Chemistry Department met with Dr. Chris Tassone, founder of SAMA Learning to learn more about the chemistry virtual reality software SAMA was developing. With a Lab Innovations with Technology Grant from the CSU’s Chancellor’s Office, Dr. Lares has spearheaded an initiative to incorporate chemistry virtual reality lessons into Quantitative General Chemistry first-year learning cohort with a goal to expand usage to students in other chemistry courses. These virtual reality headsets along with the Sama Learning courseware may increase the ability for students to conceptualize abstract concepts that may hold them back from engaging in chemistry.
The Chemistry Department at SSU is dedicated to student success and active learning pedagogy, leading a number of active learning curricula and always exploring new ways to help students learn chemistry...
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E/PO Announces New Name: EdEon
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What is in a name? When we are born, we are often given a name which can stay with us for our whole lives. Sometimes we change our name. We sometimes change our first name because it just doesn’t seem to suit us. Sometimes we change our last name if we want to share a last name with a partner. Organizations go through similar processes.
Our grant-funded Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) group, founded by Prof. Lynn Cominsky with NASA funding in 1999, started with the name NASA Education and Public Outreach (NASA E/PO). The group’s STEM education work continued to be exclusively funded by NASA until 2015, when the NASA funding for education within the Science Mission Directorate changed. Together with Susan Wandling, who runs the Academic Talent Search program, Prof. Cominsky was able to secure funding from the Department of Education. This meant large changes in skill sets within the team as well as a different type of focus in the STEM education work done within the group...
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Petaluma Bounty Farm Visit
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On February 28, 2020 a group of SSU Engineering students were invited to visit
Petaluma Bounty Farm
in Petaluma, CA. The farm's mission is to grow healthy food for everyone through collaboration, education and promoting self-reliance.The purpose of this trip was to explore collaboration opportunities between the farm and the Engineering Department. "Our goal is to connect the engineering students with our non-profit community partners," pointed out Caroline Bañuelos, Community Partnerships Coordinator at SSU. In this visit the engineering students discussed the possibility of upgrading the existing greenhouse at Petaluma Bounty Farm to a Smart greenhouse, a self regulating, micro-climate controlled environment for optimal plant growth. The participating students in this project are part of community based programs supported by the Center for Community Engagement which integrates service-learning and community based research into the curriculum.
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EdgeCube, SSU’s second small satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on December 5, 2019. It was one of several auxiliary payloads carried into space by a Space X Falcon 9 rocket. But reaching the International Space Station was only the first leg of its journey. For the next month, EdgeCube remained in its launch dispenser, awaiting a boost to 500 km (from the 400 km ISS orbit). On January 31, 2020, EdgeCube departed the ISS on the SS Alan Bean Cygnus launcher, and on February 1, it was finally released into space as a free flying satellite, along with several other small satellites.
Since February 1, EdgeCube technical mentor Garrett Jernigan and others have worked tirelessly trying to detect signals from EdgeCube. However, unexpected technical difficulties with the ground station antenna system on the roof of SSU’s Student Center have precluded contact with EdgeCube, as well as any other amateur radio satellites. As of February 14, 2020, debugging continues while the team tries to resurrect the ground station at the Little H-bar Ranch that was successful in communicating with T-LogoQube (in 2013). We hope to hear from EdgeCube once we get the ground station systems running with greater sensitivity.
–
Professor Lynn Cominsky
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Logo designed by Haley Chimienti.
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In the domain of maker culture, or, a culture that champions remixing, hacking, crafting and building, Maker Faires are a celebration of creativity. Maker Faires are a booth-based interactive experience on a crafted, engineered, or designed maker artifact. This showcase encourages participants to communicate the value their work to anyone independent of expertise.
Dr. Anamary Leal won a CSU-Adobe "Using Creative Cloud to Foster Digital Literacies" grant to host the first ever SSU-wide Maker Faire. The goal is to promote a spirit of making and crafting, and to have a platform for projects that may be interactive, or have a maker or craft elements to it. Additionally, we want to show the SSU community that our student body can make, dream, innovate, and create!
Why participate?
Are you already working on an art piece, a craft, or some interactive piece for a project? Looking to show off your work, get great feedback, meet other builders, crafters, and makers, and potentially win prizes? Projects spanning any domain of art, science, engineering, craft and beyond, with some tangible or interactive components all are great here!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maker Faire has been postponed, but we plan to reschedule for when we return to campus. Check out
SSU Maker Faire
for more details.
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Distinguished SST Community Members
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Honorary Doctorate to be Awarded
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Sonoma State University will award Sonoma County business-owner
Ruth Waltenspiel
with an honorary doctorate. Waltenspiel and her husband Ron are the owners of Timber Crest Farms in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma. They started the ranch in 1957 and are considered pioneers in American production of dried fruit and sun-dried tomatoes. Timber Crest Farms was transformed into a cluster of smaller-scale production wineries, including
Dry Creek Valley's first collective wine-tasting venue, Family Wineries, and artisan food producers.
Waltenspiel is an active competitor, riding her horse on endurance rides through the American Endurance Ride Conference. Waltenspiel competes actively about every two weeks every spring, summer, and fall. During the recent Kincade fire, Waltenspiel stayed behind in Dry Creek during the evacuations to take care of her neighbor’s animals.
Waltenspiel has a passion for supporting all students in STEM and STEM+Health programs. She has also been an active participant in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute classes at Sonoma State and has served as an ambassador for the program and on the Advisory Board since 2014.
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The Geology Club at Sonoma State University would like to extend their gratitude to alumnus
Joseph Rotstein
. After graduating from SSU with a degree in geology, Rotstein has continued to follow his passion regarding rocks, minerals, and a wide variety of prehistoric fossils. Rotstein is also the founder of Red Stone Minerals, a rock and fossil company based here in Northern California. His local company sells minerals and fossils ranging in size from tiny crystals to massive hundred-pound samples. Additionally, he gives paleontology dinosaur lessons for elementary schools, libraries, camps, and birthday parties. Each semester, the Geology Club here on campus teams up with Rotstein for a rock sale fundraiser. The proceeds go to helping the Geology Club with t-shirts, day trips, and even camping trips throughout the school year. We want to thank Rotstein for his continued passion involving educating others and the time and effort he donates to the Geology Department.
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New Equipment & Installations in Darwin
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The Physics and Astronomy Department received Innovation and Strategic Priorities funding from the School of Science and Technology to support two projects that highlight and promote student success: the Student Success Display and Prototype, Program, Print.
The Student Success Display, set to launch this semester, will be installed in the South-East corridor on the third floor of Darwin. Here, you will see all of the accomplishments from past and present physics, astrophysics, and astronomy students, as an ever-changing slideshow of research, photos, and short biographies. These include student research into nanotechnology, capstone senior projects, and lice data from projects such as the SSU EdgeCube Satellite program. Stop by later this spring to explore what the students are working on!
Prototype, Program, Print is a new 3-D printing station introduced in January 2020. With the implementation of this new 3-D printing station, physics, astrophysics, and astronomy students now have modern 3-D printing technology at their fingertips. These students now have a clear avenue to engage in 3-D fabrication and design through various CAD platforms available on all Physics and Astronomy Laboratory computers. With this technology, students can now design prototypes and print them for their research or for limited personal use.
–Ryan Brown, Department of Physics & Astronomy
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The Department of Physics and Astronomy has received a generous donation of scientific equipment from a regional corporate donor. Zygo Corporation, a unit of AMETEK Inc. based in Richmond, has contributed a vibration dampening optical tabletop (similar to the one shown in the picture above) and table legs. If newly purchased, this equipment would cost approximately $25,000. The tabletop and legs isolate finely-aligned optical apparatus from vibration sources, such as the footfalls of passersby or the hum of air conditioning. Free from such disturbances, students will be able to use optical equipment mounted on the table to study subtle changes in material properties—shape, density, or even magnetization—that occur over microseconds to hours. The donated equipment is being set up in Darwin Hall and will be ready by early Summer.
–
Dr. James Lee, Department of Physics & Astronomy
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