On Tuesday, August

15, 2017, Dr. David

Lehmpuhl welcomed

back faculty and staff to

the Fall 2017 semester.

At the convocation

meeting, Dr. Lehmpuhl

presented Dr. Brian

Vanden Heuvel a wall

plaque and our thanks

for being the department

chair of biology from

2013—2017. As of

May 2017, Dr. Moussa

Diawara is now the de-

partment chair for biolo-

gy.

Dr. Chad Kinney in-

troduced the following

individuals as new fac-

ulty for the department

of Chemistry. They are:

Dr. Xuan Wang, Visit-

ing Assistant Professor;

Dr. Jonathan Velasco,

Assistant Professor; Dr.

David Boston, Visiting

Assistant Professor

(CBASE); Dr. Angela

Bellantoni, Adjunct Fac-

ulty and Dr. Indrani

Bhowmick, Research

Associate.

Dr. Bruce Lundberg

introduced the following

individuals as new staff

and faculty for the de-

partments of Mathemat-

ics and Physics. Ms.

Joleen Ryan is the new

Administrative Assistant

II, Mr. Jacob Buchholz

is the new Math Learn-

ing Center Director, Dr.

David Gollimund, As-

sistant Professor; and

Mr. Dan Nichols, Ad-

junct Faculty.

Dr. Moussa Diawara

welcomed to the depart-

ment of Biology, Ms.

Beth Huff, Visiting As-

sistant Professor; Drs.

Sang-Hyuck Park and

Elizabeth Peterson, Re-

search Associates.

Returning from aca-

demic year sabbaticals

are Drs. Igor Melnykov

and Bill Brown.

Welcome Back to Fall Semester

Congrats! The winners are . . .

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Committee on Minority Affairs selected Dr. Sandra Bonetti (Professor of Chemistry)

as the 2017 recipient of the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for Advancing Diversity in the Chemical Sciences for the Rocky

Mountain Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society. The award was presented at the ACS Rocky Mountain Region-

al Meeting held on October 25th—28th in Loveland, Colorado.

Dr. J. Jordan Steel (Assistant Professor of Biology) won the national award for teaching through the National Associ-

ation of Biology Teachers (NABT) Four-Year College and University. This award recognizes creativity and innovation in un-

dergraduate biology teaching. His award was presented at the 2017 NABT Professional Development Conference Honors

Luncheon on Saturday, November 11th in St. Louis, Missouri.

College of Science and Mathematics

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Biology Dept 2

Chemistry Dept 3—4

Mathematics &

Physics Dept

5

Wildlife & Natural

Resource Major

6

Miscellaneous 7

Student Spotlight 8

Dr. David W. Lehmpuhl,

Dean

Dr. Moussa M. Diawara

Chair, Department of

Biology

Dr. Chad A. Kinney

Chair, Department of

Chemistry

Dr. Bruce N. Lundberg

Chair, Departments of

Mathematics and

Physics

Fall

2017

Dr. Jim Satterfield working with Abby Davidson, the director of the Science Learning Center , secured spots for

ten of our best Wildlife and Natural Resources students to participate in a Conservation Career Symposium on Septem-

ber 29th at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver offered through the Fish and Wildlife Service. The C-BASE Depart-

ment of Education grant sponsored the students for this exciting opportunity.

Dr. Helen Caprioglio is par t of a National Institutes of Health grant sub-award to investigate antimicrobial coat-

ings for infection control on high-touch surfaces. The $30,000 award would analyze and test these surfaces and provide

hands-on research experience and monetary support to undergraduate students in biology.

Dr. Franziska Sandmeier submitted a proposal to the NSF CAREER program for almost $820K to investigate

the effects metabolism and temperature have on the modulation of immune responses in long-lived testudines (turtles

and tortoises). Dr. Sandmeier is well-equipped for this research as she is caretaker to 23 endangered Mojave Desert

Tortoises that are housed in the CSU-Pueblo greenhouse.

Dr. Jordan Steel had a lot of good activity in the past couple of months including:

Publishing a Curriculum Paper in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education titled: “Microbial Murders

Crime Scene Investigation: An Active Team-Based Learning Project that Enhances Student Enthusiasm and Com-

prehension of Clinical Microbial Pathogens.” JMBE Vol 18. No2 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v18i2.1298.

He was nominated and won for the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Four-Year College & Uni-

versity Biology Teaching Award.

He was awarded a grant from the Institute of Cannabis Research (ICR). The proposal titled “Analysis of the Meta-

bolic Pathways Affected during Cannabinoid Receptor Activation and Its Impact on Viral Replication using a Sea-

horse XF Analyzer” was fully funded at $183,355.

Submitting a proposal to the Beckman Institute Young Investigator program titled “Development of NS3 protease

reporter for Zika virus detection.”

He took undergraduate research student Joseph Lopez to the Chemistry and Pharmacology of Drug Abuse confer-

ence in Boston, MA to present a poster on their research titled “The Impact of Cannabinoid Receptor (CB1) Antag-

onism/Agonism on Alphavirus Replication.” August 2017.

He gave a talk at the American Society for Microbiology Conference for Undergraduate Education (ASMCUE) in

Denver, CO titled “Comparing Apples and Oranges: an in-class activity to help students appreciate the diversity of

bacteria and the gram stain.” July 2017.

He took 2 graduate students and 3 undergraduate students to the Rocky Mountain Virology Association Meeting in

Pingree Park, Colorado.

Dr. Franziska Sandmeier had two publications:

Weitzman, C.L., R. Gov, F.C. Sandmeier, S. Snyder, and C.R. Tracy. 2017. Co-infection does not predict disease

signs in Gopherus tortoises. Royal Society Open 4:171003.

Weitzman, C.L. F.C. Sandmeier, and C.R. Tracy. 2017. Prevalence and diversity of the upper respiratory pathogen

Mycoplasma agassizii in Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii). Herpetologica 73:113-120.

In the Department of Biology Page 2

What do you call a cow

with a twitch?

Beef Jerky!

Drs. Bonetti, Cranswick, Dillon, and Druelinger worked with the Amer ican Chemical Society Project Seed Stu-

dents. Project SEED is a program that gives underrepresented and/or economically disadvantaged high school students

an opportunity to work under a faculty mentor on a research project over the summer. Students receive a stipend but

faculty time is donated.

Highlights:

4 local high school students participated - 2 from East High School, 1 from Central High School, and one from

Centennial High School.

$5,000 in local funds were raised to support the students; another $2,500 from ACS Colorado Local Section; and

will get another $2,500 from ACS Project SEED (Washington)

CSU-Pueblo has the only ACS Project SEED program in Colorado

M. Druelinger presented “Responsible Conduct in Research – Ethics in Science”, to the ACS SEED Research

Community, June 12, 2017, Pueblo, CO

Dr. Matthew Cranswick is co-author on an invited manuscript accepted to the Israel Journal of Chemistry:

Alexander M. Khenkin, Madhu Vedichi,[a] Linda J. W. Shimon, Matthew A. Cranswick, Johannes E. M.

N.Klein, Lawrence Que Jr., and Ronny Neumann “Hydrogen-Atom Transfer Oxidation with H2O2 Catalyzed

by [FeII(1,2-bis(2,2'-bipyridyl-6-yl)ethane(H2O)2]2+: Likely Involvement of a (μ-Hydroxo)(μ-1,2-peroxo)

diiron(III) Intermediate”, (accepted). Dr. Chad Kinney completed a peer review of an ar ticle for the journal Environmental Science and Technology . Dr. Chad Kinney was an invited speaker as par t of a special symposium entitled “Emerging Contaminants” at

the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) Annual Meeting on Sept. 14th : Chad A. Kinney, Jessica Sherburne, Amanda Anaya, Kristi Bartolo, Brian Vanden Heuvel, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Kim J. Fernie, Jennifer S. Forbey. Transfer of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in terrestrial systems. Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) Annual Meeting, Septem-ber 12-16, 2017, Colorado Springs, CO.

Dr. Melvin Druelinger had a very productive per iod:

He was an invited Facilitator and mentor at the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) – Proposal Writing

Institute. He lead several grant related presentations and part of a team to facilitate young faculty members from all

over the country on learning how to write competitive research grants. July 13-17, Concordia University, Moor-

head, MN

He was awarded 2017 SURP grant – faculty mentor - summer research work with UG student Andrea Beltramo on

fluoroamidation reactions of alkenes via thermal and microwave chemistry. Additionally, Dr. Druelinger mentored

other undergraduate students including Andrew Shannon on the synthesis of tetrazines as polymer precursors and

multiples students participating in the CBASE program (Cassie Perlick and Sarah Lira on the synthesis of te-

trazines as polymer precursors (Perlick) and organofluorine chemistry (Lira)). Three of these students have contin-

ued on in his research group this fall.

He served as an external reviewer for a faculty promotion and tenure decision for a faculty member at Texas A&M

Commerce.

He also served as a peer reviewer for two articles submitted to Tetrahedron Letters.

He also had a manuscript review for the New Journal of Chemistry and performed a review of a book proposal for

Organic Chemistry (A Headley, author) for J. Wiley publishers.

Three chemistry faculty members, Drs. Cranswick, Farrer and Velasco participated in an American Chemical Socie-

ty General Chemistry Performance Expectations workshop in Washington D.C. from September 29th through October

1st. The workshop is part of an intensive process to develop performance expectations for General Chemistry nation-

wide.

In the Department of Chemistry Page 3

The newest faculty member in chemistry joining the department this fall, Dr. Jonathan Velasco, is quickly becoming ac-

tive:

has begun implementing classroom response strategies involving the use of clickers across various question formats

(one- or multiple-answer multiple choice, numeric) to diagnose student knowledge as well as foster class discussion

by encouraging students to speak with each other regarding the question/topic at hand. Additionally he has begun a

draft of a guide to support other faculty interested in using the clicker system in their classrooms as well as carrying

out various types of question formats and implementing a system in which students may borrow clickers for use in

the classroom, tracking their progress throughout a semester.

has undergone training with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) under CSU – Fort Collins to

update/extend his credentials from his previous institution, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

is collaborating with a research community involved with the development of the Laboratory Observation Protocol

for Undergraduate STEM (LOPUS) under the purview of the Center for Educational Effectiveness (University of

California – Davis). He will be developing the LOPUS instrument by making it applicable to non-traditional labora-

tory chemistry classes. He will do so through observations of the General Chemistry studio classes offered in the

Chemistry Department as part of the U.S. Dept. of Education supported C-BASE program.

The Chemistry Department hosted more than 50 students from 4 local high schools who participated in a series of

hands on activities that were related to the National Chemistry Week theme of “Chemistry Rocks”. Faculty and students

from the Chemistry Club provided an exceptional educational and fun experience for these students. Contribution facul-

ty included Drs. Bhowmick, Bonetti, Boston, Dillon, Farrer, Kinney, Lehmpuhl, Velasco and Wang. Also as par t of

National Chemistry Week activities the American Chemical Society put on a webinar program (Program –in-a-Box) en-

titled “Chemistry Rocks”. The Chemistry Department served as a host site for this activity. About 20 participants at-

tended this activity, including several community members.

Dr. Bonetti, along with Dr . Crans from CSU Ft. Collins and Dr . Chen, presided over the Young Scholars Sympo-

sium, (10/26, 8:30-10 a.m.) at the 2017 American Chemistry Society Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting. Three presen-

tations were made at three different sessions with Dr. Bonetti, including undergraduate students Brent Schofield and

Brooklyn Trujillo, and Ph.D. student and CSU-Pueblo Stockroom Coordinator Jim Carsella.

Dr. Matthew Cranswick had two presentations at the 2017 American Chemical Society Regional Meeting with

undergraduate student co-authors Jillian Manikoff, Daniel Conroy and David Clair II, and Marcos Ortega-Keshmiri

and our Science Learning Center Director Abby Davidson.

Dr. Matthew Cranswick also reviewed a manuscr ipt for the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, and he

completed a series of webinars called ACS Reviewer Lab which aid manuscript reviewers and inform then of conflicts of

interest, responsible conduct and correct presentation.

Dr. Chad Kinney and Dr. Kristina Proctor participated in an NSF-sponsored workshop on active-learning strategies

for the analytical chemistry curriculum held at California State University Long Beach.

In the Chemistry Department (Continued) Page 4

Dr. Shamim Akhtar, visiting Assistant Professor of Physics, is currently conducting exper iments with

the 4.5-MV accelerator at Edwards Accelerator Laboratory at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. The reaction

studied 12C(alpha,gamma) influences the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements and the final fate of massive

stars i.e. black hole or neutron star. She is using asymptotic normalization techniques to analyze her experi-

mental results, and is writing up results for publication. Dr. Akhtar gave a talk on her ongoing research April

25, 2017 at CSU-Pueblo. (http://inpp.ohiou.edu/~oual/news/news.php)

Dr. Jonathan Poritz, Associate Professor of Mathematics, had an ar ticle " Academic Governance on

the Virtual Shop Floor" published in the May/June 2017 issue of Academe: Magazine of the AAUP. He

gave a presentation "Digital Security HOWTO: Protect your Data, Communications, and Activities, & Pain-

lessly Integrate Teaching Simple Security Into Classes" at a meeting in Oklahoma City called "Domains

2017: Indie EdTech and Other Curiosities" in early June. He was chosen as one of four faculty members to

serve on an "Open Educational Resources Council." He has completed a version of his open statistics text-

book: "Lies, Damned Lies, or Statistics: How to Tell the Truth with Statistics."

Drs. Caixia Gao and Shamim Akhtar, Visiting Assistant Professors of Physics, par ticipated in a work-

shop for New Physics and Astronomy Faculty in College Park, MD, June 12-15, 2017. Each applied for and

received grants supporting this from the American Association for Physics Teachers.

Dr. William Brown, Associate Professor of Physics, is a co-author on the paper “Experimental Test of

Maximum Likelihood Thresholds based on Kalman Filter Estimates in On-Off Keyed Laser Communica-

tions in Atmospheric Turbulence” to be included in Principles and Applications of Free Space Communica-

tions, published by The Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK.

Mr. Jake Buchholz is the new director of our Math Learning Center and began on the first day back.

He is a CSU-Pueblo alum that went on to earn a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Michigan State Uni-

versity. We’re excited to have him join the team!

Dr. Igor Melnykov, Associate Professor of Mathematics, has returned from a year working at Naz-

arbayev University, Astana Kazakstan, where he led curriculum and faculty development of a Master’s pro-

gram in Statistics. He also continued his research in statistics, producing several papers.

In the Departments of Mathematic and

Physics

Page 5

Page 6 New Major in the Biology Department

The College of Science and Mathematics is pleased to announce a very successful start to our new Wild-

life and Natural Resources (WANR) program. Back in the fall of 2015, the CSU System issued a call for

new programs from CSU-Pueblo that would be seed-funded by the system. Dr. Jim Satterfield and Dr. Bri-

an Vanden Heuvel from the biology depar tment worked with Dean David Lehmpuhl and Provost

Rick Kreminski to submit a proposal for Wildlife and Natural Resources in the Spr ing of 2016. After

approval by the system at a spring Board of Governors meeting, the new curriculum was approved by the

University to be added to the Fall 2017 Catalog as a new program.

The Wildlife and Natural Resources Major, housed within the Biology Department, leads to a Bachelor

of Science (BS) Degree. The program offers two emphasis areas, Aquatic and Terrestrial, with curriculum

meeting the certification requirements of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) or The Wildlife Society

(TWS), respectively. The major emphasizes understanding of fish and wildlife ecology and management,

with practical skills obtained during laboratory and field exercises. Graduates will be prepared for positions

with state and federal agencies, tribal departments, and conservation organizations, or higher academic de-

grees.

While the approval process was ongoing, Dr. Jim Satterfield began developing and offering as special

topics some of the exciting new coursework that is offered as a part of the program. Dr. Satterfield has more

than 30 years of experience as a wildlife biologist and has been critical in designing the curriculum and get-

ting the program started.

The new courses added as a part of the major include WANR 302, Principles of Wildlife Management;

WANR 303, Natural Resource Policy & Administration; WANR 304, Human Dimensions in Natural Re-

source Management; WANR 401/L, Fisheries Science and Lab; and WANR 402, Management of Endan-

gered Species. The major is off to a good start with 24 majors already and 21 students taking the WANR

304 course this fall. We will be actively recruiting in the high schools to let students know about the oppor-

tunities in this major, something that until now students had to go all the way to Ft. Collins to obtain. Col-

laborations with the programs in Ft. Collins are ongoing to possibly provide additional coursework or ad-

vanced degrees in the discipline.

The initial funding by the CSU System will allow the development of the program to levels that can be

self-sustaining. Included in the proposal is a new graduate student TA position, resources for developing the

internships and fieldwork opportunities, and a new faculty member in the department to help with the addi-

tional coursework.

We are very excited about this new venture and welcome any questions or inquiries. Please contact the

Department of Biology and Wildlife and Natural Resources at (719) 549-2743 for additional information.

www.csupueblo.edu/

college-of-science-and-

mathematics/

index

Colorado State

University—Pueblo:

College of Science

and Mathematics

13th Annual CSM Student Research Symposium

On Thursday, October 12, 2017, the College of Science and Mathematics host-ed its 13th Annual Science and Mathematics Student Research Symposium. We had 19 students from Biology, 10 from Chemistry, 1 from Math and 3 from Engi-neering for a total of 33 participants.

The event was from 12:00—2:00 p.m., with students, faculty mentors and off-campus visitors stopping by to listen to the students present their research. The research performed was during the Spring and Summer 2017 semesters.

Dr. Dan’s Memorial Scholarship 5K

On Saturday, October 14th beginning at 9:00 a.m., Dr. Dan’s Memorial Scholarship 5K race was held. The event was held at the Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl and all proceeds went to benefit Dr. Dan Caprioglio’s scholarship fund for undergraduate research.

Thanks to those who participated!

2nd Annual CSM Chili Cook-Off

On Wednesday, November 8th, the 2nd Annual CSM Chili Cook-Off occurred with 10 homemade chili’s being entered by faculty, staff and a student from the college. The entries consisted of green, red, chicken, black bean and vegetarian options for taste-testing. Beginning at 11:30 a.m. and ending at around 1:00 p.m., we had 72 brave students, faculty and even top administrators taste the entries. First prize was $100, 2nd prize was $75 and 3rd prize was $50 and the winnings will be deposited into a CSM club or re-search account of the winner’s choice.

1st place—John Obrin

Department of Chemistry

2nd place—Theresa Jiminez

Department of Biology

3rd place—Jacob Aragon

Wildlife & Natural Resources Major

Page 7

Page 8 Student Spotlight— Phil Hopkins

Los Alamos- The Lab on the Hill

Los Alamos National Laboratory has been a major contributor to scientific advancement since its estab-

lishment in 1943. The Laboratory was established secretly, with the intention of creating nuclear weaponry.

This controversial goal was achieved; since that time, the laboratory has grown to focus on all types of sci-

ence, with a continued emphasis on nuclear science.

The town of Los Alamos is unexpected compared to the rest of New Mexico. Located in a secluded area

of the mountains, the town is home to around 12,000 people. The laboratory itself has around 11,000 em-

ployees, and the town shows this clearly. The town consists mostly of support for the laboratory- restau-

rants and hiking trials, ice rinks and movie theatres, golf courses and opera houses. Although many of the

businesses in Los Alamos are unexpected in a town of 12,000, it still feels like a small town- the nearest

Wal-Mart is an hour drive, there is one road into the town, and everyone shops at the same places. Because

so many people in the town work at the laboratory, traffic is unbearable for around 5 minutes every day-

locally called “Rush Minute.”

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Los Alamos for a summer internship. The research group at the

laboratory that I was involved with was the Inorganic, Isotope and Actinide Chemistry group. Everyone in

the group was very welcoming to me- everyone was willing to answer questions, and people were happy to

guide me any way that they could. My mentor in the group was Michael Ernst Fassbender, and I was tasked

with working on chemical separations of actinides. This involved using various concentrations of nitric and

hydrochloric acids to find the ideal concentrations for elemental separations.

Working in a laboratory with radioactive materials presents its own unique risks, and Los Alamos Na-

tional Laboratory is committed to safety. Before being allowed in the lab at all, weeks of training must first

be accomplished. During this training, all aspects of the safety are covered- from personal protective equip-

ment, to alarm protocols, to general principles to reduce radiation exposure. There are staff specially dedi-

cated to maintaining radiation safety, and they are always willing to help.

At the laboratory, I learned a lot of things about research at the

national laboratory level. The meetings amongst the peers in the

group were always very productive, and everyone was able to come

together to achieve a common goal. Everyone had respect for eve-

ryone else in the group, and this led to high productivity. The expe-

riences that I had at Los Alamos National Laboratory solidified my

intentions for pursuing nuclear science at a graduate level, and gave

insight into the option of working at a national laboratory in the

future. My internship also gave me the opportunity to further speci-

fy what interests me within the bounds of nuclear science, as I was

able to see many different components of the science and weigh my

feelings towards them in my mind. Overall, my internship in Los

Alamos was a great experience, and I am very glad that I had the

opportunity.