Left to right: Wesley undergraduates Stacey Mlynarski and Kevin Shuman, Dr. Malcolm J. D’Souza, Dr. Dennis N. Kevill, and undergraduates Arnold Omondi and Fumie Koyoshi.  All four undergraduates were recognized at the 2007 American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago

March 31, 2007

Wesley College Biology undergraduates Fumie Koyoshi, Stacey Mlynarski, Arnold Omondi and Kevin Shuman, all mentored by Dr. Malcolm J. D’Souza, Professor of Chemistry, presented 3 posters at the recent 233^rd American Chemical Society National Meeting in Chicago, March 24-29, 2007.  All three posters were awarded the American Chemical Society’s Experiential Programs in Chemistry Recognition Certificate.  Fifty recognitions were awarded among a total of 1200 undergraduate posters.  “This national recognition at the ACS meeting is a great boost for our students and for the science program at Wesley College.  We greatly appreciate the support provided by NIH-INBRE that has enabled us to compete on this level,” states D’Souza.

Undergraduates involved within this Directed Research program are afforded an opportunity to publish and present data at scientific conferences, supported through the NIH-NCRR supported INBRE grant, 2P20 RR016472-06, administered by the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.

Since joining Wesley in 2000, Dr. D’Souza has provided the opportunity for undergraduates to begin original research in chemistry within a Directed Study program early in their careers, with some students beginning as freshmen.  D’Souza’s goal is to attract, train, and retain competent students who typically have a GPA ≥ 3.0 in Department of Science.  This research program is a collaborative effort with Distinguished Research Professor Dennis N. Kevill, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, and, was developed to involve undergraduates in a laboratory setting, working towards using novel approaches to solve chemical problems.  While at Wesley, 10 papers with seven undergraduates listed as co-authors have been published or are in press in refereed journals documenting this effort.