As associate professor Dr. Esmeralda Adame puts it, “manufacturing is all around us” she said speaking to students from Mission Veterans Memorial High School and Hidalgo ISD. 

“It’s in the chairs you’re sitting on, the TV, your iPhones, the bus you rode on this morning, the list goes on and on because it takes a lot to become an engineer and designer," said Adame. “We have so many things happening and with the collaboration with other companies, we are celebrating this as a manufacturing month.”    

Local companies like Cinch Connectivity Solutions and IHC Suspension attended MFG Day where one STC alumni shared his experience as an IHC engineer for automotive drop kits and lift kits.  

“We’re one of the leaders in lifted trucks,” shares Horacio Salinas, IHC manufacturing engineer. “As an engineer, I usually bring the concepts to life, so every time a product is changing, I know of it because my department receives the blueprints from GM, Ford or Dodge.” 

Salinas credits STC for his path into the STEAM field when beginning his enrollment as a dual credit student in 2015, then graduating from high school in 2017 and earning his certificate in Advanced Manufacturing. He then earned his associate and graduated from STC in 2019.  

“STC is very helpful because they work with you while you get the experience, and I actually left a university and came back because they were just not as helpful and I’m very big on two-year technical schools before you go anywhere else,” he shares. 

The event also held a lab tour where students were able to get hands-on experience with manufacturing machines and ask questions from STC professors.  

“We want to teach and expose students to the amazing world of manufacturing that exists here in the Valley,” said Adame. “There are plenty of job opportunities here and a lot of the time students are not aware of [DA1] plastic, metal stamping, CNC (computer numerical control) machining, quality control manufacturing. There’s even a local manufacturing company making stick-shifts for Camaros.”  

Encouraging the STEAM field’s importance also comes with the importance of encouraging women to enter the field.  

“Women are multitaskers, and those same skills are needed in the workplace here,” said Erika Guerra, STC advanced manufacturing tech instructor. “Their interests lie within some of these STEAM and STEM fields.”   

While all STC’s manufacturing technology professors have made their contributions in the early start of their careers ranging from petroleum to mechanical engineering, Dr. Adame shares her early contributions to the community. 

“I contributed to the baseball stadium in Edinburg which used to be home to the Roadrunners but now is a part of UTRGV and I was able to work on floorplans that built the locker rooms, and I was a draftsperson for some time designing buildings with another company,” she said. 

Other STC Advanced Manufacturing Technology professors in attendance were Mario A. Olivera and Alberto "Bert” Farias and Cinch Connectivity Manager, Rubi Cantu.  

The Tech Campus will hold its next manufacturing event, Wednesday, Oct. 20.  

Dr. Emilie Prot is the Regional Medical Director at the Texas Department of Health. Dr. Prot is board certified in public health and general Preventive Medicine. She serves as a committee member on the Task Force of Border Health Officials, mandated by statute (S.B. No. 1680), and a committee member of the Public Health Funding and Policy Committee. She is a faculty member for the residency program in preventive medicine and public health at the Texas State Department of Health and is faculty member for UT Rio Grande Valley Medical School. She is passionate about global health, advocacy, health equity and strives to care for populations in Texas in particular Texas Mexico border region.

During our seminar, students and community members learned how vaccines work with our immune system to fight and prevent diseases. Dr. Prot described how a vaccine is developed and the phases of clinical trials that it must go through to be approved by the FDA. She described and compared the COVID vaccine candidates and at what phase in clinical trials are they currently in. Dr. Prot explained the technology behind the first two COVID vaccine approved by the FDA for emergency use and listed the reported and expected side effects. She explained who is at risk of getting COVID-19 and therefore are candidates for the COVID-19 vaccines. She shared a National Strategy to Reinforce Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines. Dr. Prot’s final take home message was “Vaccine confidence starts with you. Building defenses against COVID-19 is a team effort. Share your reasons for getting vaccinated and encourage others. Do not to forget to wear a facemask. Stay 6ft physical distancing. Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Stay home when you are sick. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.”

The South Texas College Biology Department, Speaker Series Committee, is committed to participating in outreach initiatives for students and community members. Speaker Series events are free of cost and are geared to bring awareness to various topics.

To watch this seminar and our previous events, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel called “STC Biology Department”

Sonia Rivera is native of the Rio Grande Valley and a licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas and nationally Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She has worked as a counselor for South Texas College since February of 2000.

During our seminar, students and community members learned that stress is a state of mental or emotional tension resulting from very demanding or adverse circumstances. Ms. Rivera explained the biology of stress and explained that stress is a normal response of the body’s way of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psychological barrier. She shared with our public stress management tips, recommendations for our students on reducing stress while taking a test and shared two relaxation techniques called Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Meditation through Guided Imagery.

If you feel that you need counseling, you can contact South Texas College, Counseling and Student Accessibility Services by calling (956) 872-2173.

The South Texas College Biology Department, Speaker Series Committee, is committed to participating in outreach initiatives for students and community members. Speaker Series events are free of cost and are geared to bring awareness to various topics.

To watch this seminar and our previous events, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel called “STC Biology Department”

Dr. Gabler leads the Plant Ecology and Sustainability Lab at UTRGV and focuses on global change and finding practical ways to reverse the current rapid decline in biodiversity and ecosystem function. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 2012 and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Houston and the USGS National Wetlands Research Center. Dr. Gabler joined the faculty at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2016. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences with a joint appointment in the Department of Biology. Dr. Gabler is also the Program Coordinator for UTRGV's B.S. program in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. His research focuses mainly on ecological restoration, climate change, invasive species, and sustainable agriculture, and he works most frequently in coastal habitats, wetlands, forests, and urban agroecosystems.

Students and community members learned about the critical ecological, economic, and social impacts of climate change on the U.S. Gulf Coast people and ecosystems, focusing on the Lower Rio Grande Valley. After an enlightening and reality check that climate change is already affecting our planet and it will get worse, Dr. Gabler spoke about ways to reduce our carbon footprint and otherwise act to help mitigate climate change in the coming decades. He explained that the significant components of carbon footprints are transportation, energy use, food, goods, and services.

Dr. Gabler listed recommendations on what each of us can change in our daily lives that will help reduce our carbon footprint.

• Drive less, walk, or bike when feasible. Plan and take fewer trips by minimizing connecting flights or teleconference when possible.
• Reduce home energy consumption by setting your thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter
• Reduce appliance use by hanging your clothes to dry, hand wash dishes, and disconnect devices when they are on standby.
• Transition to cleaner energy sources by incorporating on-site generation-solar roofs and choosing cleaner fuels when selecting appliances and energy providers.
• Eat less meat by minimizing beef and lamb or eat lower on the food chain. Avoid anything produced unsustainably and buy locally sourced foods to reduce food miles.
• Spread the word, get involved and help alter the current course of society.

Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel called "STC Biology Department to watch this seminar and our previous events."

The South Texas College Biology Department, Speaker Series Committee, is committed to participating in outreach initiatives for students and community members. Speaker Series events are free of cost and bring awareness to various topics.

As many of the Rio Grande Valley community faced the effects of historic freezing temperatures and power outages during Winter Storm Uri, South Texas College’s Pre-Pharmacy Club took the initiative to provide resources to a local nursing home.

On February 20, several club members and club sponsor Dr. Reginald C. Gonzales traveled to the San Juan Nursing Home to donate cozy blankets to the entire center’s 80 residents.

“To us, we must help those in need,” said Gonzales. “Many of us can positively impact these individuals and families by supplying assistance to local organizations that support our community.”

The San Juan Nursing Home (SJNH) is a faith-based, not-for-profit corporation under the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville. The San Juan Nursing Home was founded by Fr. Jose M. Aspiazu, OMI, in 1965 and opened its doors to the public in 1966.

Visit the department page for more information about the Pre-Pharmacy program

Students and community members learned about HIV, how it affects Latinos on the Texas-Mexico border, the stigmas attached to HIV, and where to seek medical attention. Towards the end of the discussion, an HIV test was performed during the live stream for awareness of the process. Additionally, the event was also featured in the local news on December 2nd by KRGV.  

Oscar Lopez is the CEO and National Policy Director for Poderosos, a national Advocacy and Capacity Building Organization based on the U.S- Mexican border focusing on improving the wellness of the Latinx community.

Armando Molina serves marginalized populations through education, testing, and counseling. He began working for Valley AIDS Council in 2007, conducting outreach and providing testing to high-risk communities. 

The South Texas College Biology Department, Speaker Series Committee, is committed to participating in outreach initiatives for students and community members. Speaker Series events are free of cost and are geared to bring awareness to various topics.

• To watch our previous events, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel called “STC Biology Department.”
• For a list of future speaker series and STEM events visit https://events.southtexascollege.edu/events/category/stem/list/

The program will provide support to STC students enrolled in Associate Biology programs to research in biomedical sciences. It provides stipends, tuition, and research and academic advising support to the students. Megan Zamora, Karina Cantu, Natasha Garcia Rodriguez, Viviana Villalobos, and Elias Martinez were selected as the first cohort of students through a competitive selection process. This grant offers STC biology students opportunities to engage in research and a smooth transition to the UTRGV biomedical sciences program.

The NIH-funded grant is a multi-institutional collaborative effort written by Dr. Sue Anne Chew (PI-UTRGV), Dr. Saraswathy Nair (Co-PI UTRGV), Ruben Reyes (PI-TSC), and Dr. Shima Chaudhary (PI-STC). Direct all queries related to this program to schaudhary@southtexascollege.edu 

For more information, visit https://www.southtexascollege.edu/info/b2bmed/.

South Texas College Library Art Gallery presents the first in a monthly spring semester series that highlights the connections between seemingly unconnected disciplines—Mathematics, AEDT, History, and Science-- with Art.

In collaboration with the Mathematics and Fine Arts Departments at STC, the Gallery presents: “A Common Journey of Mathematics and Art.”

The monthly series of exhibitions will be supported by virtual lectures, book displays and a library database exploring how, working between disciplines, we can achieve better outcomes—moving from STEM to STEAM and foster the creation of art by thinking across boundaries.

“A Common Journey of Mathematics and Art,” will be on view at the STC Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery, Jan. 19 to April 23, 2021. The STC Pecan Campus Library Art Gallery is located at 3201 W. Pecan Blvd., Bldg. F in McAllen, Texas.

There will be a virtual conversation and tour on Tuesday, Feb. 16th at 3 p.m. with the curators of the exhibit, STC Faculty Mario Morin and Nathan England, as well as select artists they have chosen.

“Throughout human history, two natural elements of human thought and progress can be evidenced by mathematics and art,” said Morin, an organizer of the exhibit and STC Mathematics Chair and Instructor. “While not usually combined in outright terms, the nature and behavior(s) of the two schools of thought both complement one another. and sometimes are necessitated in the study of the other.

“Our Spring 2021 Mathematics + Art Exhibit will highlight these interactions through three themes: Geometry, the Golden Ratio and Infinity,” Morin added. “Each of these concepts spans hundreds, if not, thousands of years of human history and has had remarkable impact on our everyday lives (whether we may recognize this or not). Our intention is to both expose this marriage of thought & art but also to encourage further exploration into the possibilities that may exist.”

STC’s Library Art Gallery Program organizes exhibitions and educational programs to engage student understanding of art and its role in culture, support academic curriculum, and inspire continued education through direct engagement with artists, scholars, and original works of art.

For more information contact gotvos@southtexascollege.edu or visit https://library.southtexascollege.edu/libraryart.

The first year of SEA-PHAGES course at STC was very engaging as the faculty were busy not only teaching and guiding students but also publishing scholarly work. SEA-PHAGE faculty across the country collaborated in the annotation and publication of Mycobacterium phage BodEinwohner17, Complete Genome in the Genbank. (Accession number MN945900)1. 

SEA-PHAGES Administration organized a summer workshop and invited SEA -PHAGES faculty to develop online teaching resources for teaching bioinformatics in Fall 2020. The necessity for this workshop was driven by the current COVID-19 pandemic. The teaching resources developed by the faculty team were published in QUBES (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis), a resource for education, research, and collaboration in quantitative biology.  

Two SEA-PHAGES faculty from the STC Biology department, Dr. Thomas Ndolo and Dr. Shima Chaudhary, volunteered to collaboratively develop online teaching materials over the summer 2020 session. The completed resources were then made available to all faculty for use in their courses. The SEA-PHAGES team showcased these resources prominently on the program website to facilitate peer-review and promote recognition to those individuals that aided in the development of these materials.  The workshop focused on the following areas of the SEA-PHAGE course: 

1. Develop Teaching Resources  

SEA-PHAGE faculty expressed interest in developing shared teaching resources, particularly for the Phage Genomics/Bioinformatics component. Such shared resources are invaluable given that Phage Genomics was likely to feature prominently during the upcoming academic year.  

2. Discuss Implementation Strategies  

a. to share and discuss strategies that did and did not work well during the 2020 spring semester. 

b. to propose and receive feedback on ideas for the coming semester. 

The outcome of 10-day long virtual scholarly exchanges led to the development of peer-reviewed teaching resources3,4. The reference to the publication is given below.  

1. Anders,K.R., Asai,D.J., Barmoy,M.A., Bates,T.C., Biederman,W.H., Breakwell,D.P., Bullock,S.K., Butela,K.A., Chan,K., Chaudhary,S., Chien,P., Church,J.C., Clifton,K.B., Crane,A.E., Cresawn,S.G., Davila-Aguer,C., Elwess,N.L., Gallagher,C.J., GarciaCostas,A., Garlena,R.A., Gibb,B.P., Gleichsner,A.M., Grasis,J.A., Gusky,S.B., Heller,D.M., Heninger,S.G., Holloway,J.R., Jacobs-Sera,D., Joshi,G.S., Kanther,M.L., Labonte,J.M., Landry,C.A., Lavallee-Adam,M., Lee,L., MacLea,K.S., Mahmoudian-Geller,M., Markov,S.A., Maughan,J.A., Molloy,S.D., Nance,H.A., Ndolo,T.M., Pfeifer,S.P., Phillis,R.W., Pope,W.H., Rivera-Figueroa,F.J., Rocheleau,J.M., Rudner,A.D., Russell,D.A., Sivanathan,V., Starkey,K.D., Sunnen,C.N., Sweet,T.S., Teschke,C.M., Vazquez-Montes,A., Walker,J.R., White,G.J., Williams,D.C., Wisner,E.M. and Hatfull,G.F. (2020). Mycobacterium phage BodEinwohner17, Complete Genome. Genbank. MN945900. 2020. 

2. De La Garza,D., Acevedo,C., Camacho,M., Castro,L., Chavez,L., Dominguez,K., Lopez,T., Martinez,N., Narvaez,S., Nava,M., Rodriguez,H., Thomas,D., Vasquez,A., Winkler,K., Montalvo,D., Ndolo,T., Cervantes,M., Whitefleet-Smith,J.L., Garlena,R.A., Russell,D.A., Pope,W.H., Jacobs-Sera,D. and Hatfull,G.F. (2020). Mycobacterium phage DelaGarza, Complete Genome. Genbank. MT889371. 2020. 

3. Diaz, A., Lee-Soety, J., Chaudhary, S., Pollenz, R. (2020). Writing Genome Announcements Collaboratively. HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) Faculty Group, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/DFVG-BG93 

4. Rocheleau, J., Mastropaolo, M. D., Sunnen, C. N., Beyer, A. R., Ndolo, T., Williams, D., Saha, S., Dean, N. (2020). Exploring Functions for Common Phage Proteins. HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) Faculty Group, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/3YA4-H358 

Between COVID-19, politics, and financial uncertainty it is important to understand anxiety, learn about useful tools, alternative treatments, and understand when professional help is necessary.

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome that is often related to a sense of helplessness and losing control. It can be divided into physical, psychological, and behavioral symptoms.

Behavioral symptoms are often identified by others, as you may present anger or irritability, negativity, avoidance, overplanning or sleep problems.

Physical symptoms often force patients to seek medical treatment including visiting an ER. These include shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, fast heartbeat, and chest pain, which make people believe some serious medical condition is affecting them. You will most easily identify anxiety when psychological symptoms like excessive worry, indecisiveness and overthinking occur. To deal with anxiety, and control it, a balanced diet, regular cardiovascular exercise, and meditation techniques are required. The most beneficial techniques include deep breathing exercise, yoga, mindfulness, and tai chi.

Some easy steps that can be taken to minimize and control anxiety during COVID-19 lockdown include staying connected with others via video or phone, taking regular walks around your neighborhood, talk with neighbors while maintaining social distance, picking up hobbies or learning new things.

It is also very important to avoid further stress by minimizing the amount of news watched, and make plans with family and friends for when the pandemic is over.

If you feel that you need counseling, you can contact South Texas College, Counseling and Student Disability Services (non-emergent) by calling (956) 872-2173.

For professional help and counseling you can also contact Tropical Texas Behavioral Health by calling (956) 289-7000 for non-emergent appointments or the 24-hour Crisis Hotline: 1-(877) 289-7199. Help is also available for Starr County by calling Border Region Behavioral Health Center at 1-800-643-1102.

Students are being contacted via INVITATION ONLY to come and pick up the degree covers commemorating their hard work, according to STC staff and faculty. The Office of Admissions and Records continues to review graduation applications and confer degrees, so graduates should expect to receive their diplomas in the mail by mid to late June.

“The challenge is, since we have close to 2,000 traditional graduates or so, we cannot have them come in at the same time, so it was easier to do the Bachelor program graduates first,” said Elibariki Nguma, Director of Student Activities and Wellness.

Dual Credit Programs has coordinated with partnering school districts to distribute degrees to their graduates.

“Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday) district wide we are going to start distributing degree (covers) to other students,” Nguma said. “We cannot invite everybody the same day so students will be notified when to come in through their STC email. Since we also have pantry operations at the same time, we need to organize everything accordingly.

Distribution is taking place concurrently at STC’s three campuses in Weslaco and Starr County as well as Pecan. Students are being asked via email invitation only to stop by and pick up their degree covers at scheduled times.

“Students need to get an invite to come to campus through email telling them when to come on a certain day to come and pick up their degree,” he said.

Faculty with STC’s Bachelor programs were on hand in full regalia on Monday morning to distribute degrees to students.

“We know that all of our students are always looking forward to this moment, to be able to walk and receive their diploma,” said Dr. Ali Esmaeili, Dean for Math, Science, IT, and Bachelor Programs. “We know this a dream come true for our students and unfortunately due to COVID-19, we still tried our best to make this celebratory for them as well as respect and honor them.

“We are hoping that by being here with our cap and gown and giving them their diploma cover that they at least feel comfortable with the fact that they achieved their goal,” Dr. Esmaeili said.

South Texas College still wants to plan a virtual commencement for graduating students by this summer. The college says that in the coming weeks, it plans to send information to students via email on how to submit personal photos and messages to be included in the ceremony.

Once those submissions are in, third-party company will include student photos on a web slide along with a personal message printed with the students’ name, degree, field of study, and honors.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to offer our students a virtual graduation ceremony and wish all graduates the best in their future endeavors,” said STC Registrar and Director of Student Records and Registrar Cindy Blanco.

Seemingly without explanation, birds, sometimes more than a dozen a day, were striking the tall windows and dying upon impact. This phenomenon was alarming, to say the least, and especially concerning for those who worked and studied in the building on a daily basis.

Students, faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines and departments soon teamed up to study the situation and find solutions.

“Texas is very rich in bird species, both local and migratory,” says Dr. Ruben R. Garces, a biology instructor at the Starr Campus. He has an interest in birds and was part of the team that worked to stop the accidents from occurring.

Dr. Garces says the Rio Grande Valley sees a large number of birds flying through in different seasons of the year simply because of geography. The region is located beneath a major migration corridor known as a flyway.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says some 615 species have been documented across the state, 333 of them migratory, meaning they’re flying through on their way to North America, Central America or South America. The species range in size from tiny hummingbirds to the turkey vulture, which has a wingspan of up to 6 feet.

“Most birds won’t fly over the sea, and most won’t fly over deserts because there’s nothing to eat,” says Dr. Garces. That means many of them end up on a path directly through the Rio Grande Valley.

The location and the three-story building’s plate glass windows made an unexpected — but deadly — combination.

“It’s not surrounded by other buildings,” said Dr. Maria Cervantes, chairman of the biology department. “All of the windows are reflecting sky, unlike the other buildings. The birds kept flying straight into the windows because they’re so reflective.”

While birds hitting the glass of modern buildings is a generally common problem nationwide, usually little more is done than having personnel sweep up the fallen creatures. South Texas College was adamant that they had to do more.

She and Andrea Fuentes of the speech department began logging the number of birds killed and their specific locations. Dr. Bean says the American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to a billion birds die every year in the United States from colliding with windows. They soon reached out to the biology department, and several others, to find a way to make the building visible and to protect the birds.

The solution was to install WindowAlert decals on the outside surface of each three-foot-by-three-foot plate of glass on the north side of the building, Dr. Bean says. The decals reflect ultraviolet light invisible to humans but highly visible to birds, appearing almost like a stoplight. From inside the building, the decals look like little more than a frosted portion of glass.

Dr. Bean says the first decals were applied during peak migration, and that the team has continued to monitor their effectiveness. “If successful, the plan will be to continue reapplying the decals every six to nine months,” she says.

Dr. Cervantes says having a team form and tackle the problem together was a rewarding experience that exemplified the community spirit of South Texas College.

“Actually, it was the first time I felt [that] the different departments had the same interests, and more than anything, we all had different ways we thought we could address these concerns,” Dr. Cervantes adds.

For her department, the focus was on biology.

“When do the birds migrate? Why is it called a corridor? What can we do to teach students and the community to protect birds during the migration?” she elaborates. For others, it was researching the technical solutions, observing flight patterns, and more. The Department of Architectural and Engineering Design faculty will be teaching students to take all aspects into consideration when designing a structure, especially the environmental impact of the buildings.

The one common goal was protecting nature, and thanks to the passion and grit of the South Texas College community, they have found a worthwhile solution.

Hosted by UTRGV Computer Science Department faculty member Gustavo Dietrich, the annual competition is an exhibition of problem-solving prowess, programming skills, and time management. Students are tasked with tackling ten programming challenges of increasing complexity in a period of only two hours and are awarded points for each solution that successfully solves a previously unseen judges’ set of input data. This year’s challenges included problems such as writing programs to identify triangles given triples of side lengths, and calculating a user’s cell phone bill based on daily usage data.

At the end of the day, despite many of them competing for the first time against veteran teams, the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th place spots were filled with teams of students pulled from the classrooms of Computer Science department faculty members Ernesto Gonzalez at Sharyland HS, Jose Jaramillo at Sharyland Pioneer HS, and Lucian Silcox and Nicolas Gutierrez at the STC Pecan campus. The first place spot went to the team from Edinburg North HS, sponsored by Miguel Ramirez, with a stunning performance! Congratulations to all of these amazingly talented students, and to our faculty for helping to train them.

The program is divided into a two-semester course in which students hunt for bacteriophage in their first semester. A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. By the end of the first-semester student not only have to isolate bacteriophage from the environmental soil samples but also must purify and submit for electron microscopy imaging and submit DNA for archiving and sequencing. After isolating their phage, students have the privilege of naming it. Then, the same student cohort moves to the next semester and carries out gene annotation. Gene annotation is a process where the gene is analyzed for their start and stop codons, and protein function.

Amazingly, the first batch of 14 students in this course achieved the success that is totally unheard of in this program. Generally, 1 to 2 purified viruses are isolated for first-timers in the program. Our students were able to obtain not 2 but 12 bacteriophages of bacterial host Microbacterium foliorum B-24224 SEA!

Also, it came as a pleasant surprise when we heard from the program director of the SEA-PHAGES program that Microbacterium Phage “Delagarza” is a singleton Phage and that is relatively new as not much is known about the characteristics of the genome of singleton phages. “Delagarza” phage was named by Daniela De La Garza in honor of her father.

Several studies have recognized the importance of research experience during undergrad education. Students with research experience have a higher chance of achieving academic success, learn to work in a team and acquire skills necessary to go into graduate school. Under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Thomas Ndolo, SEA-PHAGES students have transformed from mere high school students to scientists. The skill and experience they are getting in this program will help them achieve unprecedented academic and career success in the future. These students are also on their way to publish in prestigious journals reporting the discovery of new phages.

Last year, students Norma Barrientos, Brianna Miranda, Naidely Castillo, and Esmer Aguilar began the work and took it to a point where emerging evidence implicated one particular population (sorry, can’t say where due to proprietary considerations) as different from nominate C. adelaida in central Mexico. Most of those students have since moved on to new adventures. Enter current team leader Naidely Castillo and fellow students Alejandra Escobedo, Nathan Martinez, Galilea Casas, and Guadelupe Martinez who plow through genitalic microdissections with ease to look for morphological differences that distinguish populations from different places as probable different species. The premise of the work is that if male genitalic capsules and female genicalic plates differ between beetles from different places, they must be different species. This idea is based on a long-held tenet called mechanical isolation that means different species may have different genitalic structures that prevent them from mating with each other because they simply don’t fit together during copulation.

So, are there any morphological differences? The students can tell you that it is hard to discern by looking so we turn to careful quantitative methods. Math always seems to be the answer. Using a powerful dissecting microscope equipped with a built-in camera system (courtesy of the STC Biology Department), the students obtain images precise to tenths of a millimeter and determine the sizes and angles of the genitalic structures that simply could not be measured another way. Naidely has witnessed the results for 6 males from the nominate population compared with 7 from the study population and she can attest. “Yes, we can see that they are different” referring to males from the two groups. Statistical analysis of the data confirms what she observed. “It is exciting to realize we are discovering new species that no one else even knows about”.

There is still a lot of work to do but the research is progressing quickly to a conclusion – maybe by the end of spring semester 2020. “The reward is knowing we are doing science and seeing that these beetles are different, and then that the species we are discovering will get a name that will last forever”, says Naidely. Indeed, the students themselves will get to suggest a name that will become part of the legacy of Chrysina taxonomy.

Mr. Jeremy Hinck, STC Physical Science instructor was the coordinator for the region wide event, which was designed to educate Rio Grande Valley residents about the risks, dangers, and actions to take before, during, and after a hurricane.

The expo included exhibits and booths which provided information regarding hurricane awareness and preparedness. The Physical Science department faculty who participated in the event included Mario Lopez, Physical Science Instructor, Dr. Wendi Williams, Geology Instructor, and Dr. Guanghua Xu, Physics Instructor.

Impactful, high-quality undergraduate research opportunities often are few and far between even at well funded four-year institutions with strong research traditions. And yet STC — a two-year college serving a predominantly minority Hispanic population that includes many students who are the first in their family to pursue higher education — is doing just that.

Through a program known as SEA-PHAGES, STC is rising to the challenge and offering authentic, valuable, accessible undergraduate research opportunities designed to foster scientific inquiry and discovery among a relatively large cohort of 24 students.

The Science Education Association-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomic and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) is a program established by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and comprising a nationwide collaboration of 177 institutions that enlists students to help discover new bacteriophage species. Bacteriophages are a very diverse group of viruses that specifically attack bacteria. Given that bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics very quickly, bacteriophages’ natural tendency to mount lethal attacks on bacteria holds great promise for use in fighting resilient infectious diseases.

Featured on the “SEA-PHAGES in the News” section of the SEA-PHAGES website, many news stories describe the journeys of the participating students over the course of the 11 years since the program’s inception, highlighting their profound experiences in the pursuit of scientific discovery.

One such story is that of Jade Connor, who joined the SEA-PHAGES program at Baylor University. Connor, a senior biology major from Lewisville, Texas, interested in pre-med, was among 24 applicants selected prior to the start of their freshman year2.

“In high school, I wanted to be a journalist. I took AP Biology during my senior year because I wanted to get science out of the way,” Connor said. She explained that after watching a documentary in that same biology class about cracking your personal genetic code, she was shocked and inspired –– forever changing her career path.

In the SEA-PHAGES program, Connor’s interest in research was given space to blossom. She now serves as president of Baylor Undergraduate Research in Science & Technology (BURST), an organization for students interested in scientific research.

“The most ingenious aspect of this program is that it offers an opportunity to first-year undergraduate students to learn biology through practicing and experiencing the scientific methodology that may result in new discoveries,” said Dr. Mehrzad Mahmoudian-Geller, one of the Biology program faculty at South Texas College who is a member of the college’s SEA-PHAGES team. “As a faculty member of a two-year biology program, participating in a nationwide effort that can contribute to the body of knowledge used to treat antibiotic-resistant infectious diseases is an extraordinary opportunity beyond our wildest dreams.”

https://seaphages.org/

https://blogs.baylor.edu/artsandsciences/2017/05/09/biology2-0/