Evaluating Procedures for Cleaning Birds and Other Wildlife Affected by Oil Spills
DATE: December 2020
Walsh University | Mathematics and Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences
Peter Tandler, PhD. | Chief Scientific Officer

Walsh University strives to provide students with hands-on laboratory experiences with modern instrumentation. The requested syringes will primarily be used by students in their organic and upper-level laboratory experiences for injection into GCs, GC/MS, LCs, LC/MS systems. The use of modern analytical instrumentation in undergraduate teaching laboratories helps to engage students and stimulate their interest. In upper-level courses, the incorporation of instrumentation helps develop students’ chemical knowledge and problem-solving skills as well as it can provide job training. Additionally, using modern instruments in the laboratory opens opportunities to students to investigate topics of current concerns such as studying vapors produced from e-cigarettes. The 50 mL air-tight sample lock syringe will be used for drawing and collecting e-cigarette vapors. The requested syringes will be central to the students’ laboratory experiences and ultimately, the syringes will enrich the students’ education and better prepare them for careers in science.

Walsh University has a distinctive science program that focuses on developing students’ ability to use their science knowledge to address socially-relevant issues and to provide meaningful laboratory experiences that will better prepare students for post-bachelor careers. In 2014, the program was recognized by the National Science Foundation and awarded an S-STEM grant to support students interested in chemical-related fields. Through the scholarship program, 19 academically-talented students with financial need have received four-year scholarships to pursue their interests. One of the distinguishing components of the program is a three-semester integrated laboratory experience where students participate in research-like experiences that are related to local industry or national needs. For examples, students synthesize resins and formulate paints because seven of the ten largest paint manufacturers have facilities in northeastern Ohio. In another experience, students develop methods to analyze e-cigarette vapor to better understand community and personal safety issues related to e-cigarette use. There are integrated laboratory experiences that address biological (drug development), environmental (biodegradable plastics, microplastics), and energy issues (solar cells and batteries).

Another hallmark of the science program at Walsh is to provide students with career-ready experiences; so to further enhance the program, a suite of instruments was purchased through Shimadzu’s Academic Grant Program (SPARQ) in December 2019. The new instruments, an LC-MS, GC-MS, GPC, GCs, ICP-OEM, and an FTIR microscope, are being incorporated into the integrated laboratory experience and create an industry-like analytical experience. The instrumentation also increases our research capability; so students can use their integrated laboratory experiences to springboard them into a full-fledged research project. The instruments and experiences enable students to have multiple hand-on experiences with modern instrumentation while addressing and researching real society issues.

Websites: https://www.walsh.edu/star.html / https://www.walsh.edu/news/2020/01/shimadzu-announcement.html

Related Pages

Apply for a Hamilton Syringe Grant Today

SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION

Help Us Spread the Word

Know someone who could benefit from this grant? Help us support research and higher education by sharing this page on social media.