Nancy L' Paiva, Ph'D'

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Nancy L. Paiva, Ph.D. Associate Professor of
Chemistry and Biotechnology Department of
Chemistry, Computer Physical Sciences
Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Durant,
OK Educational Outreach Summer Science
Workshops at S.O.S.U. Activities Undergraduate
research, graduate school and laboratory tours,
preparations for GRE, and undergraduate
presentations at professional meetings
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Class Size 75 percent of classes have lt30
students SOSU Student Composition Caucasian
62.4 American Indian 28.7 (primarily
Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes) AfricanAmerican
5.1 AsianAmerican .5 Hispanic 2.1
International 1.2 Many non-traditional and
first-generation college students from rural
communities, who cannot picture themselves in
science careers.
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Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Medicinal and
Edible Plants of Southeastern Oklahoma. At
SOSU, NSF-EPSCoR has funded undergraduate summer
students (4-5/yr) to participate in scientific
research and graduate school preparations. Purpos
es of Workshop 1) To introduce students to
current laboratory research science in a small
group setting via hands-on training and
application of laboratory techniques.
Chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology
techniques and advanced instrumentation are used.
2) To make students aware of scientific
activities and career opportunities in the
region, and how to prepare. Students take
paid field trips to universities, graduate
schools and private research institutes, or
attend presentations by institutional
representatives at SOSU. GRE prep help.
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2004-2006 EPSCoR Project Example 1) Gas
chromatography/mass spectroscopy and adult
mosquito repellency bioassay analysis of volatile
components of Monarda species in Oklahoma was
presented at the 231st American Chemical Society
National Meeting, Atlanta, GA, March 26-30, 2006,
Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division
Sci-Mix posters. (Updated at ACS-SWRM, Houston,
Oct. 2006)
Isothymol
Thymol
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Wide selection of research-grade analytical
instrumentation, readily available to undergrads
Varian Cary Eclipse fluorescence spectrometer
Agilent GC-MS with auto-sampler, plus 2 GC-FID
HPLC-UV/Vis DAD, HPLC-MS, FPLC, Thermo-Nicolet
380 FT-IR with an ATR module DNA and Protein
isolation and analysis equipment.
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Interspersed with summer research
activities. 1) Describe typical graduate
programs in the region, including admission
requirements, scholarships, job
opportunities. 2) Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
prep use a mix of both self-paced CD software
and paper-based drills, plus group math practice,
plus on-line writing evaluation. (use funds for
materials) 3) Graduate school and laboratory
tours ?OU-HSC and professional programs,
Oklahoma City ?OSU Biochemistry and Chemistry,
Stillwater ? U. Tulsa OSU-Tulsa Forensics (use
funds for transportation and overnight hotel
stays)
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Successful students often continue on other
projects On-campus 1) continuation of EPSCoR
project by 1 or 2 students during semester, if
funds remain. 2) external research funding from
NIH-MBRS-SCORE, NIH-INBRE, NSF, NASA OSGC
in-house funds. Past NSF-EPSCoR
experience was very beneficial in obtaining a
recent grant from the OCAST RD Faculty and
Student Intern Partnership program to collaborate
with the newly constructed Earth Biofuels, Inc.,
biodiesel plant about 2 miles from the SOSU
campus. Working on more biomass
(e.g., sweet sorghum) projects for Summer
2007 ???
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Successful students often continue on other
projects Off-campus 2 EPSCoR students
advanced to more competitive NIH-INBRE summer
internships at OUHSC. seeking other such
opportunities, for prepared students (NSF-REUs,
etc)
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Future ? Would be interested in continuing
past workshop as is, or expanding size
slightly. (currently trying to tie-in with
NSF-STEM and other scholarship grant
applications) ? Would also be interested in
aligning scientific theme of SOSU summer workshop
closer to main theme(s) chosen for EPSCoR
proposal, if feasible.
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