CIMA Symposium at SPC

MEET PIONEERING STUDENT RESEARCH SCHOLARS DURING THEIR 2018 CIMA PROGRAM SYMPOSIUM AT ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE AUG. 9

A real-time road to research success:  National Science Foundation's first program at a community college to increase four-year minority STEM students through hands-on scholarly research lab experiences concludes with a symposium featuring 16 scholars citywide on Aug. 9.

St. Philip's College welcomes all to attend 45-minute poster sessions in the 2018 edition of the first program of its kind funded by the National Science Foundation at a community college to increase the completion rates of minority STEM students by pairing promising Alamo Colleges District member college scholars with St. Philip's College and UTSA faculty mentors and their projects Aug. 9 at 9 and 11:15 a.m. in Rooms 203 and 204 of the college's Turbon Student Center (building marked as "13' on the interactive map) at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive.

The unique research experience known as CIMA ("Team") began in May and ended today (Aug. 3). The symposium Aug. 9 consists of 16 scholar-accompanied displays of research, a presentation of awards and a reflection by a few of the scholars. Guest meet the 16 2018 season CIMA scholars and their research mentors during the symposium.

New for 2018, the symposium is held in St. Philip's College's new Turbon Student Center that is the hub for its informal learning and corporate student governance activities. Meeting space that normally houses the college's student government team serves scholars as the symposium site and the space served the same scholars as the program's orientation site in May as well.

Among the 16 2018 scholars, St. Philip's College student Markus Potter is not only the first Alamo Colleges District Student Trustee from his college, he and Alexandria Jones, Brandon Arriaga and Matthew Harrison made CIMA history this summer as the first four St. Philip's College scholars performing research at their own college---in Chemistry Research Lab 316 within the Dr. William C. Davis Natural Science Building at St. Philip's College. The four were joined in that lab at the college by scholar Erika Durant of Northwest Vista College. The college's scholars and Durant---The Fantastic Five---made up roughly one-third of the 2018 CIMA scholars and they studied under researchers Dr. Mary Kelaita or Dr. Shane Kendall.

Some of the guests at the Aug. 9 symposium event may be in authority to help the 16 scholars identify their next research opportunity, making CIMA a real-time road to further research success for scholars. 2014 St. Philip's College alumnus David Ochoa Cadena was a member of the first CIMA class when he received his first research offers and he begins graduate school in California in fall of 2018 as the recipient of a $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program fellowship.

For details on the 2018 Symposium and the CIMA program at St. Philip's College, contact Tomeka Cross, Grant Program Coordinator, at 210-486-2599, tcross13@alamo.edu.

About the 2018 CIMA Scholars at St. Philip's College:

Markus Potter  is a student of science and technology from St. Philip's College in the 2018 CIMA Project Undergraduate Research Program at St. Philip's College and conducting research on Synthesis of Adipic Acid from Cyclohexanone Oxidation over Polyoxometalates in the Chemistry Research Lab with Faculty Research Mentor Dr. Shane Kendell, assistant professor in the college's Department of Natural Sciences

Matthew Harrison  is a student of science and technology from St. Philip's College in the 2018 CIMA Project Undergraduate Research Program at St. Philip's College and conducting research on Toluene Oxidation over Various Heteropoly Compounds in the Chemistry Research Lab with Faculty Research Mentor Dr. Shane Kendell, assistant professor in the college's Department of Natural Sciences.

Erika Durant  is a student of health and biosciences from Northwest Vista College in the 2018 CIMA Project Undergraduate Research Program at St. Philip's College and conducting research on Aldol Condensation of Cyclohexanone over Phosphotungstic Acid Derivatives in the Chemistry Research Lab with Faculty Research Mentor Dr. Shane Kendell, assistant professor in the college's Department of Natural Sciences.

Alexandria Jones  is a student of science and technology from St. Philip's College in the 2018 CIMA Project Undergraduate Research Program at St. Philip's College and conducting research on Use of C. elegans in the classroom to effectively communicate genetic engineering using CRISPR technology and gene expression through RNAi in the SPC Chemistry Research Lab and a lab at UTSA with Faculty Research Mentor Dr. Mary Kelaita, assistant professor of biology in the college's Department of Natural Sciences.

Brandon Arriaga  is a student of health and bioscience from St. Philip's College in the 2018 CIMA Project Undergraduate Research Program at St. Philip's College and conducting research on Determining potential for use of non-invasive primate sample collection methods for microbiome, genome, transcriptome, and metabolome studies using the Nanodrop spectrophotometer and GC-MS methods in the SPC Chemistry Research Lab and a lab at UTSA with Faculty Research Mentor Dr. Mary Kelaita, assistant professor of biology in the college's Department of Natural Sciences.

CAPTION: The first four St. Philip's College scholars performing research at their own college through the nation's first program funded by the National Science Foundation at a community college to increase the completion rates of minority STEM students by pairing promising Alamo Colleges District member college scholars with UTSA faculty mentors and their research projects were preceded by 2014 St. Philip's College alumnus David Ochoa Cadena. Cadena was a member of the first CIMA class when he received his first research offers and he now begins graduate school in California in fall of 2018 as the recipient of a $130,000 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program fellowship. All are welcome to meet the 16 scholars in the current CIMA program during their research experience-culminating symposium poster sessions Aug. 9 at 9 and 11:15 a.m. in Rooms 203 and 204 of the Turbon Student Center at 1801 Martin Luther King Drive. (SPC courtesy image by Julysa Sosa)