Notre Dame College faculty and student STEMM collaborations once again have been featured at state and local conferences, including a first appearance at a Choose Ohio First forum and a 10th consecutive presence at a Science Olympiad.
This also marks the seventh straight year members of the College community have been chosen to present their research at the Ohio Academy of Science.
Four Notre Dame undergraduates, Sarah Grossman, Katelyn Karalic, Starr Minor and Alisha Noon, gave podium presentations at the 128th annual meeting of the Academy at Columbus State Community College in Columbus in April 2019 and will have their peer reviewed abstracts published in The Ohio Journal of Science.
Ohio Academy of Science
Grossman presented “Evaluation of TLR-induced Signaling and Cytokine Production after Treatment of Macrophages with Heat-killed Staphylococcus Aureus” with Angela C. Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at the College.
Karalic’s project was “In Vivo Evidence for the Role of CG15436 during Endoreplication within Ovary Follicle Cells and Salivary Glands” with Matthew Logan Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor biology and Marie Goetz-Geier Distinguished Professor of STEM at Notre Dame. Minor and Noon collaborated on “The Human Homologue JAZF-1/CG12054 Interacts Directly with Proteins in the TIP60 and Saga Complexes” with Logan Johnson.
Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholars
Grossman, Karalic and Minor are all Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholars at Notre Dame. The Choose Ohio First scholarship program of the Ohio Department of Education provides scholarships to undergraduates at Ohio colleges and universities based on academic performance and interest in education and careers in the STEMM disciplines.
Minor also was selected to present at the Northeast Ohio Choose Ohio First Poster Conference. This is the first year that Notre Dame was invited to join this forum, which featured students from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, the University of Akron and Youngstown State University, among others. The conference, also in April 2019, was on the campus of Case Western Reserve. Karalic and Jessica Stout, another Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholar, also attended.
In addition, Minor presented at the Choose Ohio First Scholar Showcase in 2019, where she was joined by fellow Notre Dame undergraduates and Choose Ohio first Scholars Shelby Benko and Mignon Moore. The program took place at the Columbus Convention Center and was held in association with the Ohio Educational Technology Conference.
Tracey T. Meilander, Ph.D., Marie Goetz Geier Distinguished Professor of STEM, associate professor of biology and Choose Ohio First STEMM @ NDC program director, attended both events with the scholars. Meilander also served as a judge for the poster conference.
Catholic Elementary Science Olympiad
Under the leadership of David Orosz, Ph.D., Marie Goetz Geier Distinguished Professor of STEM and professor of biochemistry at Notre Dame, students from the College have helped judge a regional Science Olympiad contest for a decade now.
Orosz, joined by Nirmala Krishnamurthy, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at Notre Dame, served as judges at the Tenth Annual Catholic Elementary Science Olympiad at John Carroll University in April 2019. The faculty members were accompanied by 10 Notre Dame students this year. In addition to Karalic and Stout, Aaron Bastick, Dawon Campbell, Alli Delaney, Jamien Fann, Amelia Kaeberlein, Jordi Markovic, Theresa Parr and Mikel Wilson assisted in judging the Mystery Powders event at the science contest.
Bastick, Delaney, Kaeberlein and Markovic also are Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholars at Notre Dame.
More About Choose Ohio First
Since its first Choose Ohio First Award in 2011 and through 2019-2020, the College has been granted more than $750,000 in funding for student scholarships through the state program. The most recent cohort of scholars have a 95 percent retention rate at Notre Dame, including 75 percent in STEMM disciplines, which is well-above the national average of 50 percent attrition.
To learn more about the Choose Ohio First STEMM Scholars program at Notre Dame, contact Meilander at tmeilander@ndc.edu or 216.373.5228.
April 2019
About Notre Dame College
For almost a century, Notre Dame College has educated a diverse population in the liberal arts for personal, professional and global responsibility. Founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1922, the College has grown strategically to keep pace with the rapidly changing needs of students and the dramatic changes in higher education. But it has never lost sight of its emphasis on teaching students not only how to make a good living but also how to live a good life.
Today, the College offers bachelor’s degrees in 30 disciplines plus a variety of master’s degrees, certification programs and continuing and professional development programs for adult learners on campus and online. Notre Dame College offers NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletic programs for men and women and is located in a picturesque residential neighborhood just 25 minutes from the heart of Cleveland. Hallmarks of the Notre Dame experience include stimulating academics, personalized attention of dedicated faculty and staff, and small class sizes.
Notre Dame College is located at 4545 College Road in South Euclid. For further information contact Brian Johnston, chief communications officer, at 216.373.5252 or bjohnston@ndc.edu.