Chicago Heights, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Three Prairie State College (PSC) students will spend part of the summer expanding their science knowledge, thanks to the encouragement of two PSC chemistry professors, Dr. Christine Brooms and Dr. Medhat Shaibat.
Cecelia Reyes will be conducting research in the Behavioral Research Advancements In Neuroscience (BRAIN) Program at the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience in Atlanta, Georgia. She will conduct research with a faculty mentor and participate in seminars on attending graduate schools.
Christian Luna and Anthony Merisko will attend a conference at Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind., examining the quality of undergraduate chemistry laboratories. Brooms and Shaibat also are scheduled to attend the conference.
Additionally, Merisko has been working with Shaibat as an undergraduate research assistant, investigating the amounts of metals in minerals and soils samples taken from the PSC community garden. He presented his findings at the 2012 Annual Skyway Competition. Merisko also was selected for a Prairie Builder Biology Internship at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa where he also will receive a stipend and gain valuable research experience.
“All three students have a love of learning and an innate understanding of chemistry,” said Brooms, who also is coordinator of the chemistry program at PSC. “They are exactly the type of students that makes our jobs as professors rewarding.”
