COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
DISCOVERY Sculpting Healers
Remembering Professor Tom Bahler
THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY’S COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
From the Dean MAURA HAGAN Dear Alumni and Friends, A great deal of scholarly research demonstrates that building and sustaining relationships with mentors and advisors is key to developing and sustaining successful career paths. This is particularly true for those who are first-generation college students and from underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. As I reflect on the content of our Fall 2017 issue of Discovery, I am struck by anecdotal evidence that underscores these scholarly findings. The importance of mentorship is an underlying theme that prominently surfaces in stories about our accomplished alumni, as well as in our alumni’s reflections about former faculty, who profoundly influenced and inspired generations of Aggie scientists.
Our cover story is particularly notable. It celebrates the beloved teacher, advisor, and mentor Dr. Thomas Bahler. In concert with this tribute to Professor Bahler’s legacy, the College of Science is preparing to undertake a capital campaign to name a teaching laboratory in our new Life Sciences Building in his honor. You can learn more about this effort at tombahler.usu.edu. Please enjoy this second issue of our Discovery magazine. I thank you for your ongoing support of the College of Science at Utah State University, and hope to see you soon. Sincerely,
MAURA E. HAGAN Dean, USU College of Science
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MAURA E. HAGAN Dean LISA M. BERREAU Executive Associate Dean
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RICHARD J. MUELLER Associate Dean
Sculpting Healers
MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO Editor/Writer/Photographer/ Designer
Alumni, family, colleagues remember Professor Tom Bahler
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Discovery, the magazine for alumni and friends of Utah State University’s College of Science, is published twice a year. Please direct inquiries to editor Mary-Ann Muffoletto, at maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu.
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Bringing Information into Focus “There’s an App for That” Statistics alum recounts miraculous rescue
Geology alum creates virtual learning tool
From the Dean ................................................................................... 2 Coming to Life .................................................................................. 4 Geology Rocks ................................................................................. 6 Alum Builds Body’s Defense .......................................................... 8 From an Alum Column .................................................................. 17 “Giving Me the Gift of My Future” ................................................ 18 Undergrad Research Trailblazer ................................................... 22 A Road Well-Traveled ..................................................................... 24 Development Column .....................................................................26 Keep in Touch ................................................................................. 27
Printed with Forest Stewardship Council certification standards.
ON THE COVER
Undated photo of Professor Thomas Bahler graciously provided by the Bahler Family. Cover photo by Andrey Popov, depositphotos.com.
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Webcam image of Life Sciences Building construction progress captured on Oct. 12, 2017. Follow the progress at www.usu.edu/comingtolife.
Coming to Life
Utah State University breaks ground on Life Sciences Building Construction of USU’s new Life Sciences Building is moving along swiftly, following a groundbreaking ceremony held April 25, 2017, at the building site. Wet weather failed to dampen spirits as USU students, faculty and supporters gathered to celebrate a new chapter and new opportunities. “It is time for students to receive instruction in a building that reflects the science of today and tomorrow,” said USU President Noelle Cockett, who provided the keynote address for the ceremony and thanked dignitaries, including Utah Senator Lyle Hillyard, donors and former College of Science deans in attendance. The 103,000-square-foot-facility, under construction on the site of the former Peterson Agriculture Building, which was torn down in 2012, is next to the S. J. and Jessie E. Quinney Biology-Natural Resources Building. Completion of construction is expected in Fall 2018. Science Dean Maura Hagan said the building, which features teaching laboratories, a lecture hall and collaborative study spaces, is designed to encourage student and faculty interaction.
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USU President Noelle Cockett, left, and Science Dean Maura Hagan at the April 2017 groundbreaking ceremony for the Life Sciences Building. M. Muffoletto
“Research has shown us that these interactions are where real, meaningful learning occurs,” she said. “So many buildings and labs can be dark and isolating, which is why we asked the architects to design a building with ample glass to showcase light and the outside environment, and to afford us the opportunity to put science on display on our campus.” Alumni and friends can follow the progress of construction via webcam at comingtolife.usu.edu. n - MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
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USU President Noelle Cockett q
Utah State Senator Lyle Hillyard
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USU Science Dean Maura Hagan
At the April 2017 groundbreaking ceremony: From left, former Science Deans Don Fiesinger and Jim MacMahon; USU supporter Helen Simmons, wife of the late John “Jack� Simmons; Science Dean Maura Hagan and Quinney College of Natural Resources Dean Chris Luecke.
Rendering of the Life Sciences Building currently under construction on the USU campus. The new facility is scheduled for completion in Fall 2018. Above groundbreaking photos by Donna Barry.
Courtesy VCBO Architects, Salt Lake City
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Alumni, Faculty, Staff Create Lab Honoring Well-Loved Aggie
Don Fiesinger and students Donna Barry
Geology Rocks
New Teaching Facility Honors Geologist, Former Dean Don Fiesinger “It is no exaggeration to say that this department would not be anywhere near where it is today without the extraordinary efforts of Don Fiesinger,” said USU Geology professor Jim Evans to a crowd of alumni, faculty, staff and friends, who gathered April 13, 2017, to dedicate the Donald W. Fiesinger Petrology Teaching Lab in existing space within USU’s Geology Building. Fiesinger, who retired from USU in 2009, was on hand for the ceremony and reminded guests USU’s Department of Geology “has always been like a family.” “Any successful changes in the past were because of a broader family effort to get things done,” he said.
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Funded with a lead gift of $500,000 from the Browning Foundation, along with donations from alumni, faculty, staff and friends, the renovated facility will serve as a teaching lab for core major geology classes, including lab sections of Rocks and Minerals, Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Structural Geology, along with Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. “Don mentored a lot of Geology students and transformed and shepherded our department over the years,” says Joel Pederson, department head. “Many alumni readily responded with gifts to complete the lab’s renovation and fund equipment.” A highlight of the refurbished lab, he says, is updated
instructional technology, which provides capabilities for recording lectures and lab exercises, along with equipment to broadcast lab sections of courses to distance campuses. Along with its technical capabilities, faculty say the lab, which will be open to students beyond classroom hours, will serve as a gathering place for mentorship and a workroom for collaborative study and research between students and faculty. “Don has always been deeply committed to teaching geology and putting students first,” Evans says. “From doubling the number of labs he taught and coming in at night, to scrounging around campus and town for fixtures and furniture to equip the building, Don has worked tirelessly for USU.” A native of Syracuse, New York, Fiesinger joined USU in 1976. He served on the Geology faculty and as department head from 1982 to
Former Science Dean Don Fiesinger, center, with Geology alums Allen Jones ‘89, MS’96, left, and Paul Jamison ‘82, right. Susanne Janecke
2000. In addition, he was named interim dean in 2000 and dean in 2003, a position he held until 2007. n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
At an April 2017 dedication ceremony, USU geologist and former Science dean Don Fiesinger, left, cuts the ribbon for the Donald W. Fiesinger Petrology Teaching Lab at USU, as Geology department head Joel Pedersen looks on. Susanne Janecke
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USU Alum Builds Body’s Own Defense Against Cancer Biochemist Alicja Copik PhD’03 creates nanoparticle to generate an army of ‘Natural Killer’ cells
USU alum Alicja Copik, research assistant professor and core scientist at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine and Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, is developing innovative methods for adoptive ‘Natural Killer’ (NK) cell therapy. Courtesy UCF
It’s difficult to find anyone whose life hasn’t been touched – often shattered – by the dreaded diagnosis of cancer. Abnormal cells dividing uncontrollably. Where have they advanced? Can they be stopped in time? How much treatment can one endure until the battle is won or lost? As formidable as these malignant cells are, our
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bodies also contain ‘Natural Killer’ (NK) cells capable of destroying cancers and viruses. Identified by scientists in the late 1970s, a challenge in developing immunotherapies to harness the power of these cells is how to generate enough of them to effectively overcome invading malignancies and pathogens. Utah State University alum Alicja Copik PhD’03, now
a research scientist at the University of Central Florida, says. “If you believe in what you can do and don’t get has created a nanoparticle that boosts the number of discouraged by the inevitable obstacles, you can find Natural Killer cells 10,000-fold in the lab. solutions.” “You realize how powerful this system is when you see As a child, Copik dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. these cells literally tearing apart the tumors,” Copik says. She says her love of science was inspired by her “These Natural Killer cells are an army and they’re your engineer father, who created automated mechanical friends. This potential therapy means you have more of locks and door openings to improve safety for coal these fighters and they are armed to the teeth.” miners. Cyto-Sen Therapeutics, Inc., a Florida-based start-up Copik earned a degree in chemical engineering company created by Copik and colleagues, along with from the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, associates at Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Poland, where she developed an interest in organic and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, chemistry and earned an advanced degree in chemical recently licensed the technology. She entered USU technology and plan to in 1998, where she conducted initiate clinical trials biochemical mechanistic later this year. studies in metalloproteases “I started working on with faculty mentors Richard this research around Holz, Lance Seefeldt, Steve Aust 2009 and it took several and Jon Takemoto. years to develop ways “I received a wonderful to generate NK cells education and worked with efficiently,” Copik amazing faculty at USU,” Copik says. “At first, the says. “And I loved living in nanoparticles caused Utah.” the cells to multiply and Away from the lab, she increase in amount by enjoyed biking, hiking, climbing Copik with husband, and fellow USU alum and only 10 to 20 times.” and skiing. UCF faculty member, Robert Igarashi. In small, pilot trials, “Scientific research can be allCourtesy Alicja Copik an earlier version of consuming,” Copik says. NK cell therapy showed “Walking out of the lab at Utah promise in treating acute myeloid leukemia. Copik State and seeing all the beautiful mountains helped to hopes it can be used against many other cancers, as well put things into perspective. Being in nature helped me as viral infections such as HIV and Ebola. relax and find balance.” “These advances are what motivate me and everyone An added bonus at Utah State was meeting her future else in my lab and make me happy to go to work every husband, fellow USU biochemistry alum Robert Igarashi day,” says the scientist, whose mother battled cancer. PhD’05, also a UCF faculty member. “Science always has questions. Sometimes you find “We have great memories of Utah State,” Copik says. answers that help others.” To current USU students, she advises, “Work hard, Copik’s research breakthroughs were fueled by have a passion for science and enjoy the journey.” relatively modest seed funding from UCF and grants “Everything else will solve itself,” Copik says. “There’s from the Florida Department of Health’s Bankheada great future in science, with so many opportunities in Coley Cancer Research Program. academia and industry.” n “I come from Poland and we’re used to getting done -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO what needs to be done with whatever is available,” she FALL 2017 I DISCOVERY MAGAZINE
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Bringing Information into Focus
USU Statistics Alum Abbass Al Sharif MS’12, PhD’12 excels in data visualization
Where, on the busy streets of Los Angeles, are pedestrians most likely to get hit by a vehicle? How is public art affecting people’s well-being? Are improvements to health care customer service helping patients and, if not, what changes should be made? Will citizens of Los Angeles actually use the “MyLA311” mobile app to report graffiti, dead animals and other service requests? Utah State University alum Abbass Al Sharif, MS’12, PhD’12, develops analytical tools to delve into these questions and more as a faculty researcher in the Data Sciences and Operations Department in the University of South California’s Marshall School of Business. An assistant professor who joined USC’s faculty in 2013, Al Sharif conducts research, teaches classes in business analytics and serves as academic director of the master of science program in business analytics. “Business analytics is a relatively new field combining business principles, statistics and computer science,”
“Beirut is my hometown, but Logan is my American hometown.”
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USU alum Abbass Al Sharif is assistant professor of clinical data sciences and operations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Courtesy USC
says Al Sharif, who completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science at Lebanese American University in his native country of Lebanon. “Data science helps us harness big data sets and use that information to make business decisions.” The data scientist specializes in the field of statistical computing and data visualization. He’s developed new, multivariate visualization techniques for functional data and is currently developing visualization techniques to study body activity data collected through near-infrared spectroscopy technology. “Among the applications for studying body activity in this manner is treating sleep disorders and depression,” he says. At USU, Al Sharif combined his doctoral studies in statistics with a master’s program in instructional technology. “It was the best of both worlds and a wonderful academic environment,” he says. “I had access to excellent professors, including Jürgen Symanzek, Adele Cutler, Chris Corcoran and Richard Cutler.” In addition to academic programs, Al Sharif was active
in USU’s International Student Association. “Through ISA, I made a lot of friends on campus and in the community,” he says. “Some of my favorite activities included camping, barbecues at Second Dam in Logan Canyon and house parties. It was very easy to meet people in Utah.” Al Sharif also praises USU’s Career Services office. “They helped me immensely with professional development, In a still (above) from video captured from the ninth floor of the USU Business Building by USU staffer Chris Garff, graduate student Abbass Al Sharif was among bystanders, who rushed to save a motorcyclist trapped beneath a burning vehicle following a 2012 accident. Al Sharif, far left in the photo at left, with fellow statistics students and rescuers, James Odei, center, and Anvar Suyundikov, right, describes the incident at a Logan City press conference. “The chance of (the victim) dying if we (did nothing was) 100 percent,” he said. “And the chance of us being in danger if we helped him would be very low.” Top image courtesy CNN; left image courtesy Eli Lucero, The Herald Journal.
drafting a resume, preparing for interviews and landing a good job,” he says. The most memorable experience of his USU career, however, almost ended in tragedy. Al Sharif and classmates James Odei and Anvar Suyundikov were among bystanders who rushed to save 21-year-old USU student and motorcyclist Brandon Wright, who was trapped underneath a burning vehicle, following a Sept. 2012 collision on U.S. Highway 89 near campus. At a press conference following the accident, from which Wright thankfully recovered, Al Sharif shared he and his fellow statisticians’ thought process as they
decided to join others in lifting the 4,000-lb. car off the young victim. “The chance of him dying if we (didn’t) do anything would be 100 percent,” he remembers. “And the chance of us being in danger if we helped him would be very low.” Al Sharif remains in contact with Wright (“I spoke to him recently. He bought a new motorcycle”) and has made more than a dozen visits back to Logan since his 2012 graduation. “Beirut is my hometown, but Logan is my American hometown,” he says. n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
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Los Alamos National Lab intern Allan Lerner, left, and USU Geology grad student Cianna Wyshnytzky MS’13 test grad student Natalie Bursztyn’s augmented reality smartphone app on the USU Quad. Courtesy Natalie Bursztyn
“There’s an App for That” USU Alum Creates Augmented Reality Field Trips for Smartphones
Don’t tell Natalie Bursztyn PhD’15 “it can’t be done” or “it’s never been done that way.” Fortunately for Bursztyn, Utah State University Geology faculty member Joel Pederson was open to her ideas, when she approached him with an unconventional idea for a doctoral project. Not that she didn’t have to thoroughly convince him and doggedly draft a rigorous plan from scratch. “After teaching large, introductory geoscience courses at a California community college for six years, the importance of getting students outside of the classroom and engaged in hands-on, experiential learning became clear,” she says. “But, how?” Aggies at USU’s Logan and regional campuses have the luxury of stepping into natural geologic settings within minutes, but not all students are so fortunate. Bursztyn pondered feasible and cost-effective ways to bring field trip-type experiences to learners in less favorable
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settings and shared the challenge with Pederson, whom she met during a field trip at a 2010 Geological Society of America meeting. If you can’t take students on a desired outing, Pederson mused, what about bringing the outing – virtually – to the students? He noted resources, such as Google Earth, that could provide the fodder for some type of virtual reality game. “Do you program?” he asked Bursztyn. “No,” she answered. “So, one of my first challenges at USU was finding people with the expertise to help me with my vision,” Bursztyn says. She headed to USU’s Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Services, where she met faculty member Brett Shelton. “Brett, now at Boise State, has expertise in the area of video game design and he carefully listened to my idea,”
she says. “He explained what such a project would entail and I was blown away by the complexity, but he was positive and certain it could work.” Then, he told Bursztyn, “Take my class.” “Join my committee,” she responded. Diving head-first into programming, Bursztyn, now an assistant professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at California State University, Fullerton, crafted an Android prototype of a virtual rafting trip through Grand Canyon as her capstone project for Shelton’s class. (Above) USU alum “It was functional, but Natalie Bursztyn at bad,” she says. “But it was California’s Fossil Falls. Courtesy Richard Goode enough to get us started (Right) GSA Today on a successful proposal cover features for a National Science Bursztyn’s Foundation grant.” research. Courtesy GSA With funding, Bursztyn hired programmers and began refining the application. “I wrote the storyboards, while speaking in the ‘language of geology’ to the programmers as they ‘spoke programming’ to me,” she says. Her design explains geologic time, with (virtual) stops along the Colorado River to highlight key learning concepts. The application also includes explanations of hydrologic processes of rivers and groundwater, along with descriptions of geologic structures. “The programming was much more involved than we anticipated,” Bursztyn says. “My (geologic) language and the programmers’ language were totally different. But we pressed on with developing the application.” Along the way, she discovered the app she referred to as “virtual reality” is actually “augmented reality.” “The difference is our app requires users to interact with the physical environment by getting out of their seats and navigating a digital map – much like the
popular Pokémon Go game, which requires users to travel to physical locations,” Bursztyn says. Included in the project was the need for a means of assessing the learning effectiveness of each user’s experience of using the app. “I again turned to USU’s Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Services for assistance and found help from department head Andy Walker in designing assessment tools,” she says. Walker guided her in crafting statistical models for robust evaluation and taught her skills, she says, that serve her well today. “I’ve been tasked with assessing our geology programs here at Cal State and, because of Walker’s tutelage at USU, I know where to begin,” Bursztyn says. Working on the app also honed her project management skills, as the doctoral student had to weigh costs, resources and what was technologically feasible to accomplish. “I had to constantly consider what we needed to accomplish with the app and what was possible within our budget and our time,” Bursztyn says. The finished product is winning accolades and was featured as the cover story in the June 2017 issue of GSA Today, journal of the Geological Society of America. A companion paper was published in Geosphere. “Natalie’s work is garnering well-deserved, high-profile coverage in the geologic community,” says her USU mentor Pederson. “It’s a forward-thinking approach to geoscience education and we applaud her tenacity in championing this project.” Bursztyn says her experience highlights the value and importance of interdisciplinary study and collaboration. “This isn’t a project any of us could accomplish on our own,” she says. “Rather, it was our collective and varied expertise that made this venture successful. I hope students will enjoy it and get excited about geoscience.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
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P ro fe ss o r B a h le r Thomas Lee 1920-2004
Courtesy Bahler
Family
Sculpting Healers Remembering Professor Tom Bahler
Mention the name “Thomas Bahler” to his former students and prepare for sudden reverence, gratitude and stories of a mentor who “changed my life.” Bahler joined USU’s faculty in 1949, with the ink barely dry on his doctoral diploma from the University of Wisconsin. For more than 40 years, the Ohio native devoted himself to teaching and guiding students on the rigorous, and often daunting, path to medical school, dental school and other demanding endeavors. “Thinking about him always bring a smile to my face; even 50 years after my graduation,” says USU alumna and retired research scientist Roberta Clement ‘67. “At USU, Dr. Bahler always had a friendly greeting for me. I was impressed that he even remembered who I was and I felt like he cared about me.” Bahler’s daughter, Kathy Roark, says her father loved to interact with people and “was very accepting of people’s differences.” “He was kind and very tolerant of others,” says Roark, who earned a master’s in social work and built a successful career in mental health. “That’s one of many valuable lessons he passed on to me.” Roark took one of her father’s summer physiology classes, but not without a struggle to gain admittance. “Dad thought it would be a conflict of interest to have his own daughter in the class, but my mother and brother intervened on my behalf,” she says. “Dad finally relented.” Getting herself to 7:30 a.m. classes proved difficult and Roark admits to nodding off in class. “Dad didn’t say a word; he didn’t embarrass me in class,” she says. “But he confronted me about it when I got home.” Roark isn’t the only student who succumbed to classroom drowsiness.
R.J. Tesi ‘77, retired transplant surgeon and president and CEO of Seattle-based INmune Bio, recounts a humorous incident as Bahler enlightened students about the peripheral nervous system. “I remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was 45 years ago,” Tesi says. “Dr. Bahler was droning on in a monotone about the parasympathetic nervous system. It was hot. It was Monday.” The lecture lacked Bahler’s usual enthusiasm and much of the class was lulled to sleep. “He suddenly took a ruler and slapped it on the podium with a thunderous clap,” Tesi says. “Everyone jumped out of their seat; several students let out a scream. Everyone was wide awake and on the edge of their seat.” With an impish grin, Bahler announced, “And THAT is the sympathetic nervous system.” “Dad had a great sense of humor,” Roark says. “I laughed so hard in class, I think I snorted at a few of his jokes.” A perennial favorite was Bahler’s offer to establish a college fund for the new child of any student, who would name the baby after a body part. “‘Uvula would make a lovely name,’ Dad would say,” Roark remembers. “Or ‘Ligamentum Flavum.’” Despite his classroom antics, Bahler was all business, when it came to encouraging students and helping them prepare for professional and graduate schools. “At home, Dad would spend hours writing letters of recommendations for students to help them get into medical, dental or grad school,” Roark says. “He took those efforts very seriously.” Former Aggie football standout and Honors student Randy Stockham ’76 says Bahler helped him navigate preparation for the MCAT and the medical school application process. w
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“His door was always open,” says Stockham, who graduated from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1980 and practices anesthesiology in Salt Lake City. “He’d get all of the pre-med students together and make sure we were staying on top of deadlines. He was generous with his time and always willing to es USU Archiv help.” Physician Harmon Eyre ’63 says Bahler was instrumental in keeping him on track and in school. “He instilled confidence in me and assured me I could succeed at a time I was struggling financially to stay in school and support my young family,” says Eyre, who graduated from the University of Utah Medical School in 1966 at the top of his class and served as chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. Eyre says Bahler not only provided him with “book knowledge,” but how to learn. “He taught me how to study and how to think, reason, evaluate and listen,” he says. “He also taught me how to relate to professors and fellow students – all skills that would help me succeed in medical school and in the medical profession.” Most of all, Eyre says, Bahler was a genuine friend. “He invited me, my wife and other students to his home and served a meal he’d prepared himself,” Eyre recalls. “He made you feel important as a person.” Current pre-health advisor and principal lecturer Andy Anderson also benefited from Bahler’s tutelage. “When I arrived at USU in the summer of 1983, Dr. Bahler was one of the people who interviewed me and was very kind,” Anderson says. “Though it was May, we went to dinner in the blowing snow and though my first impression of Cache Valley weather was not very positive, I felt welcome.” In the years that followed, Anderson would sit in on Bahler’s lectures and observe how the seasoned educator drew students into discussion.
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“He had a huge chart with all of the students’ names and assigned seating, so he could get to know everyone and encourage participation,” Anderson recalls. “He had a lively sense of humor and would sometimes purposely misidentify a bone to get students to correct him.” As Bahler approached retirement, Anderson volunteered to take over his human anatomy and human dissection courses. “I then came to his classes and sought his advice, because I’d never taken human dissection and found the subject particularly daunting,” Anderson says. Bahler immediately assured Anderson there was a “precise and scientific way” to dissect cadavers but, many years before, he’d switched to “the fun way.” “By this he meant students and instructors should take their time and explore organ systems and body structures in depth to further their understanding of the human body,” Anderson says. “I have followed his wise advice ever since and my students, teaching aides and I have all had the most illuminating and enjoyable experiences.” Anderson has followed Bahler’s lead outside the lab as well, in mentoring students, helping them prepare for the rigors of applying for medical school and writing well-thought-out letters of recommendation. “My colleagues and I get to know students very, very well and take the process of helping them prepare for advanced education and professional endeavors very seriously,” he says. “This is part of Tom’s legacy.” Bahler’s influence is still felt in the university, where USU graduates’ acceptances to medical, dental and other professional programs consistently USU Archives exceed national averages. “I benefited greatly from Tom’s mentoring and it has helped me be a better educator for many decades,” Anderson says. “I hope that as time goes by, I can encourage other educators as Tom encouraged me.” n -MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
Utah State is conducting a capital campaign to name a teaching laboratory in the new Life Sciences Building in honor of Professor Bahler. We invite you to learn more about this effort at
tombahler.usu.edu.
ALUMNI OF USU’s COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SHARE INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES
Bullish on
Science There has never been a better time to obtain a science education. This may seem contrary to conventional wisdom, as recent studies allege low pay of science Ph.D. recipients1 and other studies contend older researchers are taking an increasing amount of research grant money from younger researchers.2 However, these studies fail to realize the countless new opportunities and benefits emerging in science. More than at any time, the world is in a knowledge economy, and the need for logic-driven, analytical scientific talent in this economy is fierce. Although about 80 percent of science graduate students say they are likely to pursue an academic science career, only about 23 percent do. These students are being lured away by enticing opportunities outside the lab, where they can apply their scientific training. Today’s scientists are becoming financial analysts, product managers, businessmen, science writers, lawyers, policy makers and management consultants, in addition to researchers. High growth industries in material science, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine and information technology require scientific skills for all their decisionmakers and product developers. These new opportunities provide rewarding careers for the scientifically trained. N. Zolas, et al., “Wrapping it up in a person: Examining employment and earnings outcomes for Ph.D. recipients,” Science 350:1367-1371 (2015). 2 M. Levitt and J. Levitt, “Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research,” PNAS 114 (25):6498-6503 (2017). 1
Courtesy Scott Woodhouse
Fall 2017 Guest Columnist SCOTT WOODHOUSE ‘95 Attorney Partner and Founder Medler Ferro Woodhouse & Mills PLLC Washington, DC George Mason University - Antonin Scalia School of Law JD, intellectual property, 2007 Duke University, PhD, biochemistry, 2002 Utah State University, BS, chemistry, 1995
I am a product of an Aggie science education. From my first experience in biology lab with Dr. Bill Brindley to my senior chemistry thesis with Dr. Lance Seefeldt, my science education opened doors for me in law, with entrepreneurs, and with businesses. I am certainly not alone in experiencing successes and new opportunities due to my Aggie education. I am bullish on the need for scientific skills in the future. This is not a time for pessimism. There has never been a better time to obtain a science education, and I am proud of the steps Utah State is taking to educate the next generation of scientists. n
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“Giving Me the Gift of My Own Future”
Science alum
Willy Lensch ‘91 recounts the scholarship that turned his life around
Editor’s Note: When College of Science advisory board member and Aggie alum Willy Lensch joined fellow board members at USU’s Maverick Stadium for the Oct. 28, 2016, Utah State vs. San Diego State football game, he had no idea he’d come face-to-face with a member of the family who’d provided a scholarship that made it possible for him to attend college. In 1985, when Lensch graduated from Utah’s Lehi High School, he received the Innes Family Scholarship. Following are excerpts from a letter Lensch wrote to fellow board member and alum Wes Innes, who he met at the game, recounting the phenomenal impact of that scholarship:
October 30, 2016 Dear Wes, As long as I live, I will never attend a more memorable football game. In the years to come, I am certain that I will not recall whom the Aggies played, what the final score was or any other details save for one: meeting you. In 1985, I was a different person than I am today. I was 17 years old, skinny, had never been on an airplane or on a date or seen the ocean, had no idea where I was headed in life or how I would possibly get there even if I figured it out. There were a few things I knew for certain. I loved ideas and people, was creative, fascinated by science, a born reader and saw learning as a refuge – a safe haven in a complicated and often painful world. My father dropped out of school after the fifth grade; no doubt because his own father felt he’d had more than enough book learning and needed my dad’s arms and back more than his mind to help run the ranch. My dad later earned his GED during World War II (5th U.S. Army Air Corps, Pacific Theater) and much valued education, though he had little of the
formal variety outside of the service, because he saw how it could turn a Colorado cow puncher into a skilled mechanic and welder. When I was a sophomore at Lehi High School, my father died in the Salt Lake City VA Hospital from a rare blood cancer. If my father’s illness was the frying pan, his death would prove to be the moment that everything fell into the fire. My family did not have much in the way of resources even before my father became sick, then saw what we had evaporate, while he was being treated for his disease. Once he died, my mother, brother and I (the rest were long gone with lives of their own) were left with practically nothing but the clothes on our backs, eight acres north of town and the mobile home in which we lived; a place that was meant to be temporary living, but would be the only home I ever knew in those days. My mother worked at Deseret Industries in Willy Le nsch, 2 009 American Fork and we did our best to get by B. D. C olen, Bo Courtes s to y n C h on a day-to-day basis. We often ate from the ildren’s Hospita l Bishop’s Storehouse and I grew up in other people’s discarded clothing – a time when a boy at school realized I was wearing his shirt and gave me a bad time about it stands out as a particularly hard-learned, but valuable, lesson for me. I do not wish to focus only on what I did not have. Among the many riches in my life were fields and mountains, the gift of curiosity and the freedom to roam the pastures and sagebrush as I explored the natural world around me. I also had caring teachers, who were role models and mentors. They kept me afloat and cared for me in ways that, even today, I am certain I do not fully realize. Lehi High School’s library contained books written by award-winning authors, its classrooms and teachers brimmed with and made available the same knowledge that put people on the moon. If there was one thing that kept me headed in the right direction, it was reading. I was a good test taker and when I heard the ACT college admissions test was being offered, I signed up for it. I scored well enough that, somehow, I was accepted to USU. I do not remember applying, but I sure remember opening that acceptance letter. I suspect I had a few guardian angels at Lehi High, but I had not the slightest idea how I would pay my tuition and fees for as much as a single term. During a spring assembly, the names of students who had won scholarships were read aloud to much fanfare. I was pleased to hear the names of w
friends, when an amazing thing happened – something entirely unexpected that changed my life forever: my name was called. I was in a state of shock and disbelief. As I recall, the scholarship was a one-time sum of four or five hundred dollars. Though it was not enough to cover an entire degree, even though USU was quite affordable, it was more than enough to get me started. I was actually going to college! The scholarship was my start, my seed corn, the push that allowed my boat to leave the shore. Your family changed my life by giving to me the gift of my future. I do not remember how or even if I thanked your folks back then. If I did not give appropriate thanks at the time, I hope that you and the memory of your parents might forgive me. I hope it was clear when you and I met during the game, and even more so after reading these lines, that despite my naïve nature as a much younger person, I recognized then, as well as now, the incredible value of what your family did for me. I have never forgotten it. Your family’s gift is among those most cherished in my entire life. I take it with me wherever I go and share it with others at every opportunity. Thank you, so sincerely, for helping me. Whatever my life has been, whatever good I have achieved, is possible because of your family’s investment in me. Without the Innes Scholarship, I have no idea where or who I would be today. Ability is insufficient for success. It must be paired with opportunity. Your family opened the door to my future. There will always be a place for you at my table. Sincerely and with best wishes,
W il ly
M. William Lensch, PhD Chief of Staff, Harvard Medical School
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Aggie alums and College of Science advisory board members Wes Innes, left, and Willy Lensch meet for the first time at the Oct. 2016 USU vs. San Diego State football game at Utah State’s Maverick Stadium. Patrick Svedin
ember ory board m is v d a e c n ie llege of Sc , donor, Co m lu a U S U es ‘78, mily om Wes Inn nes, and our fa Response fr hebe Weston In
,P , hip my mother , Russell Innes rs ad la d o h y sc m e ed th p e o h h State, I ensch told m ly to attend Uta il “When Willy L W d le ab en vision. of his life and my late father t r o ac n p o the h im to le ib ed ed sh . It was during establi the incr er d th se fa d es n n it ra g w y d father, m , wn on us an he lost his own o lived in Paris h en was smiling do w h s, w g n ld li o b rs si ea o ly six y er and tw ad My dad was on ily and never h r him, his moth m fo fa d ar is h h y rt ll o p ia p ec help su times were esp Lehi cal print shop to lo a at mid-1920s and rk f interest in the o al w h a to e t as en h w rc e u h p aged to rly teens, partner eventually man izen. He and a Idaho. In his ea e it h C , et rk Y o F e. n eg a ll ic the Amer er to pursue co and purchased t Utah. My fath u er the opportunity o tn h g ar u p ro is h th t s u er o y newspap later bought nted communit ri p Free Press, and h ic h w , es e. Printing Servic s rooted for the er Hall of Fam ay ap w sp al formed AMOR ew d N an h ed ta the U very bless arity in usly named to sidered himself n co , ts o passion and ch was posthumo m ro co le b is m h u h w sa is h e t forgo realize life and w My dad never throughout his ents helped him s ar er p th y o m ed y p b el le h ade possib onymously e scholarship m th underdog. He an g in n ar le d eeting Willy an ” action daily. M father ’s legacy. y m f o er d in m joyful re his dreams is a FALL 2017 I DISCOVERY MAGAZINE
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Undergrad Research Trailblazer Honored with Early Career Achievement Award USU Center for Women and Gender honors Physician Stephanie Chambers Thomas ‘05 Science alum Stephanie Chambers Thomas ’05 is the 2017 recipient of Utah State University Center for Women and Gender’s Early Career Achievement Award. The Cache Valley physician was recognized in a spring ceremony for “her professional vision, innovation and commitment to community service.” USU English professor Joyce Kinkead remembers meeting the first-year Honors student around the year 2000, as Kinkead was pursuing ambitious plans to ramp up the university’s undergraduate research efforts. “Stephanie approached me and said she’d like to help,’” says Kinkead, USU’s 2013 Carnegie Professor who, at that time, served as vice provost for undergraduate research. “It was obvious she was already savvy about research, even as a freshman.” Kinkead seized upon Thomas’ enthusiasm and hired
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USU alum Stephanie Chambers Thomas, M.D. at her Intermountain Healthcare clinic. M. Muffoletto
her as a Marie Eccles Caine Fellow to assist with the planning of USU’s undergraduate research program. “Stephanie already had a lab assistant job and, having completed pre-college summer research at the University of Utah, she had amazing insights,” Kinkead recalls. “Together, we plotted the creation of Undergraduate Research Day on Utah’s Capitol Hill, along with other events, programs and plans to promote undergrad research.” 2017 marked the 17th year of this year’s Capitol Hill event, which brings Utah legislators face-to-face with budding researchers from USU and the University of Utah, the state’s public research universities.
“I had really good research experiences at USU,” says “I wrote my Honors thesis on cardiac regulatory proteins Thomas, who graduated from Utah State in 2005 with and presented my findings at the National Conference on a bachelor’s degree in biology. “And working with Dr. Undergraduate Research,” she says. “This was the work Kinkead was an amazing that led to me receiving the Goldwater Scholarship.” learning experience. I In addition to her academic pursuits at USU, Thomas was impressed with her was a strong supporter of women pursuing postdedication to students and graduate and professional degrees. She advocated I learned so much about for women in her peer advisory role within the research funding and how Department of Biology, as well as her post as president universities work.” of USU’s Women in Science and Medicine group. The Providence, Utah, “So many women tell me they want to be a doctor, but native, who graduated also want to be a from the University of Utah mother,” Thomas School of Medicine in 2010, says. “They think Thomas working in a USU lab during her completed a residency in these goals are undergrad years. family medicine at Idaho mutually exclusive. USU RGS Archives State University. She joined So, they whittle down Intermountain Healthcare’s South Cache Valley Clinic their dreams. There’s a in Dec. 2013, as a Family Medicine with Obstetrics need to show women Thomas, right, with USU faculty physician. it’s possible to balance mentor Joyce Kinkead, was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2004. “My medical practice is just yards from my alma mater, their dream careers USU RGS Archives Spring Creek Middle School,” she says. “It’s rewarding to with motherhood and return to work with individuals and families in my home family.” community.” Thomas is married to fellow USU alum Jonathan Thomas, As a USU undergrad, Thomas spent three years in the a Cache Valley attorney, who earned degrees from Utah lab of Biology faculty mentor Brett Adams learning about State in 1995 and 1996. She says she chose medicine – cell signaling and researching cardiac regulatory protein and family medicine, in particular – because she likes the activity. She also spent two years working in the lab of interface between biology and the human dynamic. Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty member Joanie “Each person’s experience with their health is unique, Hevel, where Thomas continued her research in cell but affects the family unit as a whole,” Thomas says. “It’s signaling. very rewarding to work with multiple members of a family In 2004, Thomas was honored as a Goldwater Scholar and see their health improve individually and as a family by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in unit.” Education Foundation, one of the nation’s top science and Undergraduate research, she says, laid a solid foundation mathematics recognition programs for undergraduates. for her pursuit of a medical degree and a career. “Utah State has been ahead of its time in engaging undergraduates in research,” Thomas says. “By “So many women tell me they want to be a participating in research, you learn how to communicate with a team, organize and test potential solutions to doctor, but also want to be a mother. So, they problems and even develop such skills as keeping good whittle down their dreams. There’s a need records. These are all things I learned and practiced as to show women it’s possible to balance their an undergraduate researcher and use every day in my medical practice.” n
dream careers with motherhood and family.”
-Stephanie Chambers Thomas, M.D.
-MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
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Beloved physics professor, respected researcher honored for dedicated service
A Road Well-Traveled Farrell Edwards Retires from Teaching after 58 Years at Utah State
In 1959, when physicist W. Farrell Edwards joined the faculty of Utah State University, a loaf of bread was about 20 cents and a gallon of gas wasn’t much more. The sci-fi thriller “Twilight Zone” debuted on (black and white) television and engineers developed the first microchip. A lot has changed since those days, though what hasn’t is Edwards’ devotion to his students, his colleagues, his family and to USU, his academic home. But a big change came about as Edwards announced his retirement from teaching this past spring from the faculty of USU’s Department of Physics. Family and colleagues gathered to celebrate Edwards’ career and wish him well in new pursuits.
USU Physics Professor Farrell Edwards, circa 1970 USU Archives
“We want you to know we are in awe of your decades of unparalleled devotion to Utah State and most especially to your students,” wrote USU President Noelle Cockett and Interim Provost Larry Smith in a congratulatory message to Edwards. “Your longevity speaks to a deep passion for physics and for sharing that passion with your colleagues and students, who you have mentored and taught with neverwavering enthusiasm.” College of Science Dean Maura Hagan praised Edwards’ contributions, which included his role in establishing USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory, serving as Physics Department head from 1966-1971 and director of USU’s Honors Program from 1988-1989. She also noted he was honored as Family Edwards Courtesy USU’s Professor of the Year in 1977 and received Utah’s Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology in 2010, the state’s highest award for achievements in science. “Yours has been a truly remarkable career and Utah State University is the better for it,” Hagan said. Speakers also lauding Edwards’ achievements were Department of Physics head Jan Sojka, Doug Lemon, former student, retired SDL director and USU Research Foundation president, as well as colleague Doran Baker, professor in USU’s Department of Electrical and Computer
Farrell Edwards, left, in his trademark, neon orange “Phearless Farrell the Fizisist” cape with son Boyd Edwards, also a USU physics professor. M. Muffoletto
Engineering and director of the Rocky Mountain Space Grant Consortium. (Baker, notably, joined USU the same year as Edwards and now, likely holds the record for USU’s longest serving faculty member.) Highlights of the evening included musical and comical entertainment by Edwards and nine of his 10 children. Reprising his role as “Phearless Farrell the Fizisist,” the orange-caped superhero persona the professor employed, starting early in his career, to ease undergrads’ fear of physics, Edwards galloped to the rescue in a melodrama starring his daughter, Catherine Edwards Idso, as the dastardly villain and Sojka as a damsel in distress. (Science was saved.) “Dad never takes himself too seriously,” says his son Boyd Edwards, also a USU physics professor, who served as emcee for the evening. “He’s dedicated to his students
and gravitates toward original, controversial ideas for research pursuits.” The younger Edwards praised his father’s teaching and mentoring efforts and recounted the story of a student, who struggled At the 2014 USU Physics Day at Lagoon, Edwards, right, and USU grad student academically yet Jon Pugmire finish a day of volunteering ultimately with the “Colossus’ Colossal G-Forces triumphed Contest.” During the outreach program’s with the 28 years, Edwards has missed volunteering at only one event. professor’s M. Muffoletto encouragement. “Dad praises everyone’s talents and urges his students to ask deep questions, take risks, enjoy the journey and be satisfied with the result,” he says. “He’s a role model and a tremendous At a Spring 2017 gathering honoring his retirement, Edwards, left, holds inspiration.” n a gift presented by USU Physics Department Head Jan Sojka, right.
M. Muffoletto
-MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO
Edwards, 2008
USU RGS Archives
Does Giving Or Do Happier Make You People Give? Happier?
College of Science Development Director Patrick Svedin shares insights on giving cost-effective than simply striving to get more How is your pursuit of happiness money,” he writes.4 coming along? In my previous column, I left I know what you’re thinking: Sign me up for that you with the question: Does giving to charity make study! you happier or do happier people give to charities? Here’s another study I would have enjoyed Let’s look at the causal relationship of giving. In participating in: Retired adult volunteers received a 2008 study, subjects were asked to rate their Swedish massages three times a week for three happiness and given an envelope containing either weeks. For another three weeks, they gave $5 or $20. The participants were randomly assigned massages to infants at a nursery school three times to either spend the money on themselves or on a week. someone else by the end of the day.1 Patrick and friends enjoy a The study found, after they performed the Those who spent the money on someone else book at the Baphumelele Orphanage in Khayelitsha, massages, they had less anxiety, depression and reported happier moods than those who spent the South Africa. they had significantly lowered the “stress” money on themselves. A separate group was asked hormones cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. to predict outcomes of the experiment and most Researchers found the volunteers enjoyed the stress-lowering believed those who spent money on themselves would be happier. effects of giving the massage more than receiving them. Not only were they wrong, they were significantly wrong. The Studies using brain-scanning technology show increased research suggests “thinking about money may propel individuals activation in the reward area of the brain, when giving to charities. toward using their financial resources to benefit themselves, but But a 2007 study demonstrated participants had “stronger spending money on others can provide a more effective route in activation in the brain, when they freely donated to a local charity increasing one’s own happiness.” 2 So, are people’s intuitions about the relationship between money as compared to making a required donation. A 2010 study found “people experienced happier moods, when they gave more money and spending flawed? I mean, wouldn’t you be so much happier away—but only if they had a choice about how much to give.” if you got a big bonus and spent it on yourself, maybe indulging In a nutshell, giving to charity makes us happier; especially in the new iPhone 21.2? Sure, you’ll feel a momentary rush, but it when we freely choose to give. Whether we have a little or lot of won’t have a lasting impact on your overall happiness. money, how we choose to spend it matters most to our happiness. Studies have shown when an individual’s basic needs are met, 3 The same is true with our time. Volunteering at a charity will the amount of income as it relates to our happiness is weak. In do wonders for your emotional well-being. If your aim in life is his 2008 book Gross National Happiness, best-selling author for you and others to be happy, evidence suggests learning and Arthur C. Brooks says research reveals if you were to increase teaching others to be deliberate in giving of their time and means your wealth with about $100,000, you would increase your to charity will have the greatest impact in this noble pursuit. happiness level by two percentage points. “(This) suggests that other strategies (such as working on spiritual or family life, or volunteering for charity) might be more 1 Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Akin, Michael I. Norton (2008). Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness. Science 21 March 2008: Vol. 319, Issue 5870, pp. 16871688. 2 Elizabeth W. Dunn, Lara B. Akin, Michael I. Norton (2014). Prosocial Spending and Happiness: Using Money to Benefit Others Pays Off. Current Directions in Psychological Science 2014 23:41. 3 Ed Diener, Ed Sandvik, Larry Seidlitz, Marissa Diener (1993). The relationship between income and subjective wellbeing: Relative or Absolute? Social Indicators Research March 1993, Volume 28, Issue 3, pp 195 – 223.
PATRICK SVEDIN Director of Development, USU College of Science
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4 Arthur C. Brooks (2008), Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America –and how we can get more of it.
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