Finding joy in the work��

“I have genuine happiness when I am on the ice, when I am an orientation leader, in the classroom, and more,” he said. “It is a blessing to be involved in things that you enjoy doing. It makes it easy to find ways to dedicate time and stay focused on them!”

As a peer mentor, McCue credits his ability to relate to others through his own humanity and experiences as the key to success. Through his openness and authenticity, he’s able to connect with others in a meaningful way.��

“I think it is important to be relatable to the people around you. Sometimes when you are in the position of being a mentor, it is easy to try and portray that your life is perfect and you have all this incredible wisdom, but we all know that isn’t the case,” McCue said. “The biggest thing I try to do when working with others is relate to them. I look to share experiences and things that I have gone through to relate and show them that I am not perfect, and we are all living and working through life together.”��

McCue credits the extraordinary people, resources, and campus culture at �鶹ӰԺ for helping him develop into the best version of himself and preparing him for the career and life he aspires to have.��

“I am hoping to get into medical school,” McCue said. “From there, I want to continue learning and growing as a student and leader on the journey to becoming a practicing physician. �鶹ӰԺ has been instrumental in helping me prepare for my life ahead.”

Neuroscience major, Taylor Svoboda, Class of 2026

A Living-Learning Environment

“The opening of the Pre-Health Commons celebrates the culmination of a shared vision and the power of partnership. Together, we’ve built a state-of-the-art space for students to learn and collaborate, to develop new skills and explore new careers, and forge deeper connections with the local community,” said �鶹ӰԺ University President Laurie A. Carter.��

The Pre-Health Commons is a part of a vibrant community, and it will help facilitate hands-on learning opportunities with leading healthcare professionals for students to gain insight and experience within the healthcare profession.��

The Pre-Health Commons houses 86 students, with room for 88 in two-, three-, and four-bedroom single-occupancy apartments. �鶹ӰԺ University’s apartment-style living will foster independence and strengthen students’ connection to downtown Appleton while preparing students for life after �鶹ӰԺ.��

In addition to their apartments, the Pre-Health Commons will spur academic development and personal growth for students by providing direct access to a collaborative, hands-on learning environment. Students can socialize on the rooftop patio, rejuvenate themselves in the mind spa, and experiment in the demonstration and test kitchen. The Pre-Health Commons is equipped with student lounge spaces and collaborative study rooms.��

Nutrition is a cornerstone of good health and a powerful tool in preventative medicine. The test kitchen will help students broaden their knowledge of diet and healthy eating. It will create the foundation for their understanding of the therapeutic benefits of food and the practical application of diet and nutrition for improved health and well-being. The space features multiple high-resolution cameras for in-person and virtual presentations, a work area, and state-of-the-art equipment.

“When �鶹ӰԺ was considering making campus improvements or forming a new partnership, the most important factor in the decision-making process was how those improvements would help better serve students, now and in their lives after �鶹ӰԺ,” said President Carter.��

The Pre-Health Commons partnership is a tangible expression of that intention to connect students and the community. But it didn’t just spring to life fully formed. It took a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication from many different people to make it happen. Dr. Elizabeth Ann De Stasio was among those amazing contributors.��

Beth is a Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science and Professor of Biology. She has been instrumental in shaping the vision for the Pre-Health Commons, and her collaboration helped bring the vision to life.��

“It represents an exciting extension of our work at �鶹ӰԺ, with and for students, that of career exploration and discernment,” said De Stasio. “We aspire to help each student explore multiple options for their future, and we want to facilitate a process of serious self-reflection as well. And to that end, this space will be hosting things such as annual networking events with Fox Valley physicians, physical therapists, public health professionals, and mental health professionals to allow students to compare their values and strengths to those of the professionals so they can see what it is they wish to explore further.”

A project like this truly illustrates how a liberal arts education empowers individuals with creative and critical thinking abilities to solve problems for the benefit of the common good.��

Learn more about �鶹ӰԺ’s Pre-Health program.��

Along with a burgeoning downtown and gastronomic experiences, the freedom offered at �鶹ӰԺ was a big draw for Haller. �鶹ӰԺ was a place where she could pursue three majors, play a sport, study abroad, and still have time to participate in several different clubs and organizations.����

Haller’s love for and choice to study Spanish in college was long founded. For years, her family hosted exchange students through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The first student they hosted was from Mexico, and Haller and her family are still in contact with her today.����

It was through this exchange student that Haller was able to develop a study abroad experience in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.����

“Her husband is an anesthesiologist, and that was what kind of formed the connection,” Haller said. “From there, I was able to shadow and assist in surgeries, intubate patients, give anesthesia.”��

Madera Allan, associate professor of Spanish and Haller’s Spanish advisor, also helped her design the experience. While in Mexico, Haller was able to participate in more than 50 different procedures. With Allan’s help, she plans to turn her experience into an independent study next academic year, looking at the way medicine adapts with culture.��

In addition to her rigorous academic load, Haller also thrives on the softball diamond. The ability to compete in her sport and still pursue other academic and personal endeavors aided her decision to attend �鶹ӰԺ.��

“There’s an emphasis here at �鶹ӰԺ on, you’re a student (first), then you’re an athlete,” Haller said. “That’s something that really made me want to come to �鶹ӰԺ, because I wasn’t ready to stop playing. There’s a really good balance here at �鶹ӰԺ.”��

Haller also got involved in clubs and organizations on campus, including the Presidential Student Advisory Board—where she met with President Laurie A. Carter and her board to discuss a broad range of topics, including the Pre-Health Living Learning Community Board and LIGHT (Lawrentians Inspiring Global Change Together).����

Haller is also involved with the first gen organization on campus. She said she felt supported by the �鶹ӰԺ community, particularly by Allan, who was also a first gen student.����

��“She’s just very personable,” Haller said. “We have a lot of different areas where we connect, and she goes out of her way to make sure I’m doing OK. She’s an amazing professor.”��

Although she has another year before graduation, Haller is busy planning for her future, a prerequisite, she said, for being a pre-med student. This summer, she is studying for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), with plans to take the exam in the fall.����

Bunch is also graduating from �鶹ӰԺ with a minor in art history, and she challenges the idea that her studies in art and astronomy are far removed from each other. She believes popular culture and representations of space exploration are essential for scientists to consider.

“A lot of people’s first experience with space is through art,” Bunch said. “Movies, superhero comics, even music videos with people as aliens—I think if we look to art, we can understand what people want from space. Artists have pushed this wonderful idea of space, and now we have to go explore and see if it really is that cool.”

Bunch isn’t sure where her career will take her yet, but the possibilities are vast.

“I’d love to go to space; I’d love to be an astronaut,” she said. “Mostly I’m excited to be around other people who are asking the same questions as me and asking questions related to those questions.”

Despite Biofest’s focus on biology-related topics, students’ projects explored a wide range of issues. For example, Zachary Burke, a football player, track and field athlete, and personal trainer, explored exercise-related muscle cramps and how to prevent them.

“Being a football player, I noticed every game that we play, we have a cramp. It inhibits the way that we play because the moment you catch a cramp, you’ll never be the same player as you were before the cramp,” Burke said.

Using his experience as a personal trainer, Burke analyzed how diet affected the occurrence of cramps, focusing especially on sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

From his findings, Burke said although everyone’s dietary needs are different, balancing these three nutrients through dietary supplements is a great way to prevent cramps.

On the opportunity to present his project, Burke said, “I feel that being able to show this off, I’m not only doing this research just to do it, this is stuff that I’m able to use in everyday life. … I can then help my athletes with their diets as well.”

Also at Biofest was Samantha Beller, presenting her research on Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that causes a rare but deadly condition called naegleriasis if it invades the brain.

Learn more here about �鶹ӰԺ programs in biology, biochemistry, and neuroscience.

“There’s no treatment for infection … but we know that these amoebas have a receptor on them that’s the same as a receptor that humans have, and we know some drugs that will block the human receptors,” Beller said.

She decided to test how these drugs affected the growth of Naegleria fowleri, growing her own colonies of the amoeba to test on. One drug ended up causing more amoebas to grow, but the other was effective at hindering the amoebas’ growth.

“I think Biofest’s a really good way to practice for grad school, and just a good way to practice communicating science to a larger audience,” Beller said.

De Stasio said communication is what Biofest is all about.

“We talk in our course a lot about distillation: You’re distilling the essence of what you did without giving us every single detail, because it’s overwhelming,” she said.

Biofest, which has become one of the end-of-year academic traditions at �鶹ӰԺ, is all about sharing the knowledge and shining a light on student research.

Two �鶹ӰԺ University alumni doing graduate school work in the sciences have been awarded highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

Katie Kitzinger ’20, a graduate student at the University of North Carolina, is studying organic chemistry and pursuing research that focuses on reactions that rapidly build molecular complexity.

Gus Lowry ’18, a graduate student at Duke University, is studying biochemistry with a focus on membrane biology.

The 2022 awards are part of the NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP), which recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support.

In addition to the awards given to Kitzinger and Lowry, three other recent �鶹ӰԺ graduates earned honorable mention—Evan Cline ’20 (Dartmouth), Nabor Vazquez ’19 (Yale), and Nicolette Puskar ’19 (University of California, Berkeley).

Kitzinger, in her second year at North Carolina, said her focus on organic chemistry stems from her time at �鶹ӰԺ.

“It was the chemistry faculty at �鶹ӰԺ, especially Stefan Debbert, Deanna Donohoue, and Allison Fleshman, who initially inspired me to pursue a graduate degree in chemistry,” she said. “So, it was a ton of fun sharing the exciting NSF news with them.”

Lowry, meanwhile, said he was thrilled to receive the NSF award, knowing how high the bar is set.

“Honestly, it’s surreal to receive the fellowship,” he said. “This was my second time applying, which made it easier to orchestrate, but it’s competitive enough where all you can do is put yourself out there and hope for a good result. I feel both fortunate and honored for the recognition.”

Like Kitzinger, Lowry said it was his work with faculty at �鶹ӰԺ that put him on this path. He credits Fleshman, physics professor Doug Martin, and physics professor emeritus John Brandenberger with encouraging him to explore different types of research.

“Moving across disciplines helped me put together a scientific vocabulary that has served me well thus far,” Lowry said. “Along those lines, my research integrates biochemistry, biophysics, and engineering to create new tools for studying cell membranes. These technologies will help us answer fundamental questions about how cells fuse during development or viral infection.”

The NSF fellowships are a point of pride for �鶹ӰԺ science faculty across the disciplines, Fleshman said. Having two recent graduates earn 2022 fellowships and three others get honorable mention status speaks to the breadth of STEM studies and research happening at �鶹ӰԺ.

“Katie Kitzinger approached her research with curiosity,” Fleshman said. “I enjoyed watching her tackle problems and was inspired every time she would bring me new insights into the data we were analyzing. I was so excited to hear, but not surprised, that she was awarded an NSF GRFP since she is already a rock star scientist.”

Lowry, meanwhile, embraced every opportunity that came his way, Fleshman said.

“I had the pleasure of working with Gus his first year at �鶹ӰԺ, measuring viscosities of ionic liquid systems to be used in battery materials, and I knew then that he was bound for great things,” she said. “Gus’s work now is in a completely different field from where he started, but that just shows how versatile of a scientist he is.”

First-year students often come in wide-eyed, not sure what to expect, Debbert said. If that intro class in physics or chemistry or biology doesn’t light a fire, they may never come back. For students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, research has shown that that’s often been the case.

“Having a situation like this where we can emphasize the social aspect of science is so important,” Debbert said. “Part of being a scientist is talking to other people and working together, putting stuff on the board, being wrong. It’s amazing how much of that attitude and emotional work we do in these science courses, but that’s a big part of the job.”

Any student hoping to sleepwalk through an intro science class in the back of a sterile lecture hall may be a bit surprised. But the science faculty are betting that in the end it’ll be a welcome surprise.

��“We’re pushing some of our students out of their comfort zones intentionally,” Debbert said.

The room is now equipped with two massive projector screens, allowing the professor to use them for different purposes simultaneously. Each of the student tables have their own screens, connected to the big screens up front. Microphones at each table allow for easy interaction across the room. Document cameras give faculty new options for sharing materials. David Berk, director of instructional technology, has led the implementation of the equipment and guided faculty through a learning curve in how to utilize it.

“It’s like flying an airplane up there,” Beth De Stasio, the Raymond H. Herzog Professor of Science and professor of biology, said with a laugh. “There are a lot of buttons to push. The technology is amazing.”

Intro science classes are among the largest classes at �鶹ӰԺ. This Fall Term,��Introduction to Chemistry��has 50 students.��Introduction to Physics��is closer to 70. The reconfigured Science Learning Commons can seat about 75 students if needed.

Faculty have long infused interactive elements into those intro classes. But doing so in a lecture hall not equipped for that interaction was often awkward or inefficient, De Stasio said.

Now the interaction is happening organically. It can be seen at the individual tables. No one is working solo. Discussions and debates are robust, and the ability for the professor to connect with each group is seamless.

“There’s this sharing that’s happening,” De Stasio said. “But what’s really important about that is you’re getting each individual student, as much as possible, to think during class and not be a passive receiver of knowledge, but rather be a creator of understanding. That’s when learning is deeper, when it’s something you’ve wrestled with yourself and not just been told. That is what scientists do.”

De Stasio said lessons learned during the four terms of distance learning are finding their way into how the Science Learning Commons is being used. The individual table with the built-in technology is the in-person version of Zoom’s breakout room, she said.

“In terms of inclusion, I think it’s a huge step forward,” De Stasio said. “We can have students in groups, we easily monitor who is talking, who’s not; is anyone being left out? It becomes obvious right away.”

Tracking student progress

How the students learn in this new environment will be tracked and studied. The HHMI grant includes follow-up, analyzing grade gaps and performance of underrepresented minority students and first-generation college students, studying whether students feel welcomed or engaged in those classes, whether they then aspire to take higher level STEM courses.

In other words, this is just the start, Debbert said.

“We’re not posting the mission accomplished banner and saying we’re done,” he said. “We’re tracking everything we can think of.”

Alex Rothstein, a senior biology and music performance double major, took two courses this term in the Science Learning Commons—one was an upper-level biochemistry course, the other an��Introduction to Physics��course that had more than 70 students. ��

“Physics was the largest class on campus this term, but the classroom didn’t make it feel like that,” he said.

The classroom setup is going to pay dividends for years to come because it changes the dynamics of those early science courses, which in the past could often be intimidating, Rothstein said.

“Being able to work in small pods enhanced my experience this term, as it started to feel like a small group versus a class of roughly 70,” he said. “Overall, I feel like this classroom enhances students’ abilities to work together creatively without intimidation, which I feel is important for happiness and success in the sciences.”

The classroom, designed with a hexagon motif that makes Debbert smile, is in use almost constantly. When classes aren’t in session, students are encouraged to use it for group study sessions or tutoring.

“We call it a Science Learning Commons because we want this to be a gathering place,” Debbert said. “We ask these students to work together during class and hopefully that carries over and they’ll work together outside of class.”