https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/Campus ConnectionPosts tagged with 'Scott Cooper':2024-02-08T15:12:21.783Zhttps://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/a-closer-look/A closer look2024-02-08T15:12:21.783Z2023-12-14T12:47:00ZKyle Farrishttps://uwlax.edu/profile/kfarris/kfarris@uwlax.edu
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<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">12:47 p.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Thursday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Dec.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>14</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2023</span></p>
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<figcaption>UWL biology major Ross Hobson and biology graduate student Kori Kruegel examine a sample using the Biology Department's new confocal microscope. This new device has allowed students and faculty to tackle microcopy projects that were impossible, or extremely difficult, with older equipment.</figcaption>
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<h3 class="tagline">New microscope unlocks research opportunities for students, faculty</h3>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">A new, high-powered microscope is already bringing benefits to UWL’s <a data-mce-href="/academics/biology/" href="/academics/biology/">Biology Department</a>.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The department, in partnership with Gundersen Health System, recently purchased a confocal microscope with many different settings and features. It not only magnifies and allows specimens to be imaged at an extremely close range. It also uses lasers for visualization of cell activity and permits condition modificiations allowing researchers to study a broader range of specimens.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The new technology has allowed for imaging and microscopy techniques for research, as well as the opportunity for students to learn more in upper-level courses.&nbsp; </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Associate Professor <a data-mce-href="/profile/asanderfoot/" href="/profile/asanderfoot/">Anton Sanderfoot</a> teaches an upper-level biology course called Advanced Microscopy, which consists of graduate and undergraduate biology students. Throughout the course, the students are given the training and knowledge necessary to understand different microscopy techniques. </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">They are then given a semester-long project to conduct research of their choosing, as long as it pertains to the training they were taught and revolves around microscopy. Enter, the confocal microscope.</span></p>
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<figcaption>In addition to magnification, the confocal microscope uses lasers for visualization of cell activity.</figcaption>
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<p><span data-contrast="auto">Since Sanderfoot is one of only a handful of individuals with training to use the new technology, he used these projects to get his students involved with the new microscope in a classroom setting. He implemented a unit that was specific for techniques, like Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), which can only be done on the confocal. </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Students used their new skills to assist professors across the Biology Department on microscopy research projects that were impossible, or extremely difficult, to perform prior to the arrival of the confocal. </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">The opportunity to use advanced techniques and assist in research helped make the course exciting for students. It also sparked newfound interest and appreciation for microscopy and research.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Along with the benefits students received, the microscope helped advance many campus research projects.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Two of these beneficiaries have been the cell biology labs run by faculty members <a href="/profile/jwisinski/" data-mce-href="/profile/jwisinski/">Jaclyn Wisinski</a> and <a href="/profile/scooper/" data-mce-href="/profile/scooper/">Scott Cooper</a>. Wisinski uses fluorescent techniques to study a protein found in megakaryocytes. Cooper studies platelets and needs the features of the confocal microscope to study cell surface proteins. </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Graduate cell and molecular biology students who work in these labs, Vanessa Kaja and Kori Kruegel, used the skills they learned through Sanderfoot to serve as the primary investigators for projects requiring the confocal microscope. </span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">Both labs have been utilizing technology and techniques that are only possible with the confocal, drastically impacting the trajectory of their personal thesis projects as well as the overall goals of their respective labs. </span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">“</span><span data-contrast="none">The confocal has played a big part in the second part of my research,” says Kaja, a graduate student studying cell and molecular biology. “In my research, I work with 13-lined ground squirrels and human platelets. I am looking at the Glycoprotein 1b alpha (GpIb</span>α),<span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;which are receptors found on the surface of the cell. For this project, I used two different fluorophores that allow me to use the confocal microscope to determine if proteins on the surface of the platelet are clustering. The way they work is that when one fluorophore gets excited, it emits a different wavelength that could excite the second fluorophore if the proteins are close together.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="auto">For more information, contact Sanderfoot at </span><a href="mailto:asanderfoot@uwlax.edu" data-mce-href="mailto:asanderfoot@uwlax.edu"><span data-contrast="none">asanderfoot@uwlax.edu</span></a><span data-contrast="auto"> or Sarah Lantvit at </span><a href="mailto:slantvit@uwlax.edu" data-mce-href="mailto:slantvit@uwlax.edu"><span data-contrast="none">slantvit@uwlax.edu</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p>
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<span class="title">A closer look</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">12:47 p.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Thursday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Dec.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>14</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2023</span></span>
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New microscope unlocks research opportunities for students, faculty
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<span class="read">Read<span class="sr-only"> more about A closer look</span></span>
</span>https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/a-culture-of-teamwork--and-transformation/A culture of teamwork — and transformation2023-10-03T10:14:42.093Z2022-07-29T10:03:00ZBritney Heinemanhttps://uwlax.edu/profile/bheineman/bheineman@uwlax.edu<style>.post-content .content-section > p:first-of-type::first-letter {font-family:'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-weight:800; initial-letter: 5; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; font-size: 5.5rem; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: -5px; color: #5d8a17; display: block; float: left; box-sizing: border-box;}</style>
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<h2 class="head">A culture of teamwork — and transformation</h2>
<h3 class="subhead">Student-mentor relationships are the root of UWL’s research prowess </h3>
<p class="sr-only">UWL senior Annie Panico with mentor, Anton Sanderfoot, associate professor of Biology. Sanderfoot's lab students conduct experiments with green algae, a one-celled plant. Panico has expanded the research to pursue her environmental interests. She is using green algae to better understand the effects of nitrates in drinking water.</p>
<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">10:03 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Friday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>July</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>29</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2022</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Rewind more than 2,400 years ago to ancient Greece. Education was not yet institutionalized. Universities, as we know them, didn’t exist.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Mentoring was how knowledge and inspiration were shared.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Everyday concepts of life today from ethics to science and mathematics began with the wisdom and experience of one great thinker passed to the next. Socrates mentored Plato. Plato built on those ideas, wrote famous works, founded what many consider to be the first Western university, and became a mentor to Aristotle.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Today, this tradition of passing and expanding knowledge through mentorship continues. We seek out mentors in business, arts, science, parenthood and personal struggle. At UWL, mentorship is one of the cornerstones of the university, says Chancellor Joe Gow. &nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“Because we're not a huge university, our faculty and staff have the ability to devote personal attention to our students,” notes Gow. “I've always felt our faculty and staff are great role models, and the fact that we've hired so many UWL alumni is a clear indication of how well our system works.”&nbsp;</span></p><div class="list-item-1 ">
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<figcaption>UWL student Annie Panico examines green algae in the lab. Panico, who earned a biology degree in May, will be working at Charles River Laboratories in Illinois doing in vitro toxicology to determine if certain products are toxic to cells. The work is similar to her UWL research.</figcaption>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">For student Annie Panico, mentorship started her first year on campus. She was awarded an Eagle Apprentice scholarship that allowed her to work with a faculty mentor as a new, incoming student.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Anton Sanderfoot ran a lab on the fourth floor of the Prairie Springs Science Center where a group of students was learning more about green algae, a one-celled plant often used in experimentation because how easy and inexpensive it is to grow. They learned how to grow green algae in a petri dish, nurture it in the right conditions, and break different parts of it at the molecular level to figure out how it worked. In other words, they learned how to be scientists.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">But Panico wanted a little more than that. She was interested in the environment and had been reading about nitrates in drinking water. It was inconclusive if they were detrimental to human health. She wanted to know if they caused cancer.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">It was a big question, and she shared it with Sanderfoot. It turns out, Sanderfoot explained, that what they had been doing in all those petri dishes could potentially help answer her question. While they couldn’t try the nitrate experiment on humans — moral philosophy reminds us of that — it could be tested out on the one-celled green organisms in the lab.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Panico received undergraduate research and creativity grants to keep investigating her questions about nitrates throughout her four years as a biology student. All the while Sanderfoot listened to her questions, provided some answers, but also got out of the way.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“Sometimes some of the best lessons are the ones learned the hard way — when the consequences are mild,” explains Sanderfoot.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">And while the university can’t afford to have a one-to-one student-to-teacher ratio, professors like Sanderfoot are very conscious of the mentoring relationships they build with students. They keep their office doors open for questions and build classroom projects or labs that allow hands-on time with the academic material. The research culture on campus has grown to the point where any student who wants a research experience can have one.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">In fact, UWL’s diverse undergraduate research and creativity programs that give as many students as possible hands-on experiences are so strong that the university received a national award for it from the Council for Undergraduate Research in spring 2022.</span></p><p><strong>The history of research on campus</strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">UWL's undergraduate research focus started about 20 years ago when UWL initiated the first UW System Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship program was founded by Mike Nelson, former College of Science and Health dean. The symposium allowed students across the system to showcase their research publicly. The fellowship program made research experiences with mentors possible for talented students with interest in science.&nbsp;</span></p>
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<figcaption>Professor Scott Cooper, UWL’s first undergraduate research and creativity coordinator </figcaption>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Undergraduate research experiences grew exponentially when Biology Professor Scott Cooper became UWL’s first undergraduate research and creativity coordinator in 2011. Cooper believed that every student who wanted a research experience should have one. He believed it so firmly that at any given time he has anywhere from 15-30 students working in his biology lab, helping him better understand the blood and hearts of hibernating ground squirrels.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Outside of class, students were working on the big goal of&nbsp;gathering more information that could translate to treating human heart conditions and bleeding disorders.&nbsp;All the while they were also learning about the scientific process, teamwork and mentoring one another. &nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“Working in Dr. Cooper’s lab helped prepare me more for medical school than any high-level biology class. Dr. Cooper facilitated a gradual increase in responsibility while encouraging critical thinking,” says UWL alum Michael J. Gyorfi, MD at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. “Most importantly he demonstrated how to be a great mentor, educator, and friend.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">The research experiences across campus don’t all look like Cooper’s lab. It may be a one-on-one, student-mentor relationship or a class all working together to solve a problem for a community client. Sometimes a program helps underrepresented students warm up to research, mentorship and eventually graduate school. And sometimes a student simply attends a research symposium for credit for class with the assignment of asking a peer about their research. The commonality is that all of these experiences start with a simple relationship that shows students there is a doorway to higher learning, growth and possibility.</span></p><p><br></p><blockquote><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">The program changed the trajectory of my life. It provided me access to a R1 institution. I had the opportunity to start seeing myself as a scholar and engage in the work that is important to me.” - José Rubio-Zepeda, '14&nbsp;</span></blockquote><p><br></p><p><strong>A natural exchange emerges&nbsp;</strong></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Panico recalls the first time she set foot in Sanderfoot’s lab. She was nervous. She had never met someone with a Ph.D. Would he be mean? Would he think she wasn’t smart enough? Should she ask a question or just keep quiet?&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Sanderfoot has gotten this vibe from students before. A Ph.D. isn’t a magical thing, he says. It means he’s been studying the stuff he is interested in for a long time. One of his favorite things is getting new questions from curious students.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“That is part of what we do in science — you acknowledge the question, try to answer it, and science marches on,” he says.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Panico says one of the ways she’s grown the most over her four years on campus is learning how to problem solve on her own while also understanding when it is time to ask a question.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">And then, somewhere along the way, the questions turn into more profound discussions between teacher and student. The assignments, grades and tests fade into the background, making room for genuine curiosity.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">The mentor and the student begin a natural exchange about the world and the way things are — just like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.</span></p><h3><br></h3>
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<figcaption>“For me graduate school wasn’t really in the picture until I went to an information session about McNair,” says José Rubio-Zepeda, '14. “The program changed the trajectory of my life. It provided me access to a R1 institution. I had the opportunity to start seeing myself as a scholar and engage in the work that is important to me.” Rubio-Zepeda, a former McNair Scholars Program participant, is currently the assistant director for retention at UWL.</figcaption>
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<h3><strong>National honors&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h3><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">UWL received a national award for providing high-quality research experiences to undergraduates in April — the 2021 Campus-Wide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments from the Council on Undergraduate Research.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“It recognizes the countless, unseen hours of faculty working with students across many disciplines,” says Provost Betsy Morgan. “For many years we have been able to celebrate the outcomes in terms of scholarly research, presentations, and the graduate school and career options our students have embraced.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">The award wouldn’t have happened without faculty mentors stepping up to work with hundreds of students through the years, says Biology Professor Scott Cooper.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">“It recognizes all the great things going on our campus with undergrad research,” he notes. “We hope it will attract more interest and attention in supporting this work.”</span></p><h4>How UWL stood out among highly qualified applicants for the national undergraduate research award:&nbsp;</h4><ul><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Leadership in undergraduate research&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Outreach to audiences beyond the university&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Facilities dedicated primarily to undergraduate research&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Success with competitive external funding&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Strong dissemination through student presentations and co-authorship&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Effort to develop substantial foundation support for the undergraduate research program</span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"><br data-mce-bogus="1"></span></li></ul><h4>How can alumni support UWL research and creative projects?</h4><p><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Where some campuses have had to cut research opportunities out of declining budgets, UWL has been able to grow them by coming up with multiple revenue streams to support research and creative programs. One of those primary revenue streams is from alumni and donors who support research with funds or time, explains Cooper.&nbsp;</span></p>
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<figcaption>“I love being able to work directly with students through hands-on research projects,” says Amy Nicodemus, assistant professor of archaeology and anthropology.</figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Become a mentor to students:<span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Even after you leave UWL physically, you can stay connected to the university through the UWL Alumni Association, UWL events or by partnering with the university through UWL Community Engagement at <a data-mce-href="/community/" href="/community/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">uwlax.edu/community/</a> — Click on “community partners” to see how you could partner with a student, faculty member or class.</span></em></strong></p>
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<p><strong><em>Show your support through the UWL Foundation:</em></strong><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> A UWL Foundation endowment is set up to support undergraduate research grants for 80 students from all disciplines. Your funding could support an incoming student researcher, a student and faculty mentor pair or a course-embedded class project. “This funding has been critical with budget issues over the years as we have tried to get more students involved in research,” says Cooper. “An undergraduate research scholarship provides funding for a student’s research experience going forward into the future vs. a traditional scholarship that is for something they have done in the past.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong><em>Support an Eagle Apprentice</em></strong><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">: Annie Panico was an Eagle Apprentice. This program recruits and financially supports 25-35 students doing research with a faculty mentor in their first two years on campus. It is funded through Financial Aid, which awards students with a $1,000 research scholarship&nbsp;each year. Generous support from donors also helps fund Eagle Apprentice opportunities.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><h4><strong>&nbsp;How UWL continually shows innovative research.&nbsp;</strong></h4><ul><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> UWL has supported Course Embedded Undergraduate Research projects, many that involve community partners as “clients.”&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> In 1999 UWL Biology Professor Scott Cooper and Chemistry Professor Aaron Monte initiated the UW-System </span><a href="https://www.washington.edu/undergradresearch/symposium/" data-mce-href="https://www.washington.edu/undergradresearch/symposium/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Undergraduate Research Symposium</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Over 20 years ago, former UWL College of Science and Health Dean Mike Nelson began the </span><a href="/news/posts/more-than-20-years-of-deans-distinguished-fellows/" data-mce-href="/news/posts/more-than-20-years-of-deans-distinguished-fellows/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Dean’s Distinguished Summer Fellows (DDF)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">, a program that has recently expanded under the leadership of current Dean Mark Sandheinrich.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> UWL is one of few campuses nationwide to have hosted the </span><a href="https://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/" data-mce-href="https://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> twice, led by CSH Associate Dean Gubbi Sudhakaran in 2009 and 2013.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> Led by Tony Sanderfoot, Biology, UWL has been a partner with the </span><a href="https://wiscamp.engr.wisc.edu/" data-mce-href="https://wiscamp.engr.wisc.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> (WiscAMP) since 2008, serving underrepresented students in STEM disciplines.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><a href="/mcnair-scholars/" data-mce-href="/mcnair-scholars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">The McNair Scholars Program</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">, a federal TRIO program that prepares undergraduate students for doctoral studies through research and other scholarly activities, came to campus under the leadership of CSH Associate Dean Roger Haro in 2009.&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><a href="/mcnair-scholars/fyre-first-year-research-exposure/#:~:text=First%20Year%20Research%20Exposure%20(FYRE,enroll%20in%20gateway%20classes%20together." data-mce-href="/mcnair-scholars/fyre-first-year-research-exposure/#:~:text=First%20Year%20Research%20Exposure%20(FYRE,enroll%20in%20gateway%20classes%20together." target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> is an academic diversity initiative in the CSH</span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;">where 15 undergraduate students of color have opportunity to participate in career and major exploration activities and enroll in gateway classes together. </span></li><li>Professor Victor Macías-González and Vice Chancellor for Diversity &amp; Inclusion Barbara Stewart designed the <a style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,;" href="/diversity-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-scholar-programs/eagle-mentoring-program-emp/" data-mce-href="/diversity-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-scholar-programs/eagle-mentoring-program-emp/" data-mce-style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,;" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eagle Mentoring Program</a><span style="font-weight: 400;" data-mce-style="font-weight: 400;"> in 2008, a retention initiative for under-represented, second-year students. It offers students credit while they prepare for research, and explore and apply to graduate school programs. The program has continued with leaders: Former Associate Dean Charles Martin-Stanley from 2016-21 and Director of the Center for Transformative Justic Tara Nelson starting in 2021.</span></li></ul>
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<img loading="lazy" src="/contentassets/d2492d337f8a4841b98d59100cb0f8ab/lantern-archive/22-lantern-cover-story.jpeg/Medium" alt="UWL senior Annie Panico with mentor, Anton Sanderfoot, associate professor of Biology. Sanderfoot's lab students conduct experiments with green algae, a one-celled plant. Panico has expanded the research to pursue her environmental interests. She is using green algae to better understand the effects of nitrates in drinking water." />
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<span class="title">A culture of teamwork — and transformation</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">10:03 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Friday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>July</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>29</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2022</span></span>
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Student-mentor relationships are the root of UWL’s research prowess
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<span class="read">Read<span class="sr-only"> more about A culture of teamwork — and transformation</span></span>
</span>https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/research-through-the-years/Research through the years2022-02-28T12:04:56.69Z2022-02-16T14:21:00ZNhouchee Yanghttps://uwlax.edu/profile/nyang2/nyang2@uwlax.edu
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<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">2:21 p.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Wednesday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Feb.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>16</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2022</span></p>
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<figcaption>The First Year Research Exposure (FYRE) program is one of several programs on the UWL campus that aims to engage first generation and underrepresented students in research early in their college career. Photo of students in the program in 2016. </figcaption>
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<h3 class="tagline">From dean’s fellows to eagle apprentices, here are the innovative ways UWL has expanded student research opportunities </h3>
<p><span data-contrast="none">UW-La Crosse research has led to the discovery </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/salmonella-search/" data-mce-href="/news/posts/salmonella-search/"><span data-contrast="none">of a novel protein,</span></a><span data-contrast="none"> explored the </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/students-tackle-big-issues/" data-mce-href="/news/posts/students-tackle-big-issues/"><span data-contrast="none">pressing economic and social issues of local residents</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, and </span><span data-contrast="none">matched a </span><a href="https://issuu.com/uw-lacrosse/docs/uwl_lantern_winter_2017-18-web/12" data-mce-href="https://issuu.com/uw-lacrosse/docs/uwl_lantern_winter_2017-18-web/12"><span data-contrast="none">student’s love of medieval history.</span></a><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span id="_mce_caret" data-mce-bogus="1" data-mce-type="format-caret"><span data-ccp-props="{"></span></span><span data-contrast="none">UWL has a rich culture of undergraduate research that has formed over decades and involves wide interests, diverse students and faculty, and a variety of campus offices. It benefits local residents, national initiatives, and even takes students on international trips to solve global issues.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p>
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<div class="video"><figure><div class="video-container"><iframe data-src="https://youtu.be/xA_hnPZnpGY" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xA_hnPZnpGY?rel=0" title="Students explore climate change in Nepal using drones " allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></div><figcaption aria-hidden="true">Students explore climate change in Nepal using drones </figcaption></figure></div>
<p><strong>How research grew on the UWL campus&nbsp;</strong></p><p><span data-contrast="none">More than 20 years ago, UWL started the <a data-mce-href="/csh/deans-distinguished-fellowship/" href="/csh/deans-distinguished-fellowship/">Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship program</a> under Mike Nelson, former College of Science and Health dean. Nelson recalled urging former UWL Chancellor Judith Kuipers to invest in a more formal research scholarship program for students, covered in </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/more-than-20-years-of-deans-distinguished-fellows/" data-mce-href="/news/posts/more-than-20-years-of-deans-distinguished-fellows/"><span data-contrast="none">an article in UWL’s College of Science and Health News</span></a><span data-contrast="none">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">“I said, if you hook your wagon to the undergraduate research star, I’m going to make you and the university famous,” Nelson told Kuipers. “We’ll be the best in the nation.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">UWL has made a national reputation for undergraduate research, hosting the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) twice and being ranked among the top 23 colleges nationwide recognized by U.S. News &amp; World Report’s Best Colleges Rankings for stellar undergraduate research and creative projects in 2016.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">UWL created an undergraduate research office in 2011, led by an inaugural undergraduate research and creativity director Scott Cooper. The office supports student research and other scholarly and creative activities in all academic disciplines. With innovative programs and support, research has grown to the point where faculty members are expected to mentor students in some type of research or creative project.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">National Survey of Student Engagement data shows about 30% of all UWL seniors report having participated in undergraduate research with faculty, a significantly higher amount than similar universities.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong><span data-contrast="none">How UWL keeps research sustainable</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">Where some campuses have had to cut research opportunities out of declining budgets, UWL has been able to grow them by coming up with multiple revenue streams to support research and creative programs, explains Cooper.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">The university’s unique </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/urc/eagle-apprentices/" data-mce-href="/urc/eagle-apprentices/"><span data-contrast="none">Eagle Apprentice Program</span></a><span data-contrast="none"> was made possible through the collaboration of campus offices including Undergraduate Research &amp; Creativity, Admissions, and Financial Aid. The program recruits and financially supports 25-35 students doing research with a faculty mentor in their first two years on campus. It is funded through Financial Aid, which awards students with a $1,000 research scholarships. </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/apprentice-awarded/" data-mce-href="/news/posts/apprentice-awarded/"><span data-contrast="none">Generous support also continues to come from donors</span></a><span data-contrast="none"> to an endowment through the UWL Foundation who see the value of coupling a scholarship with experiential learning through research.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">Professor Victor Macías-González and Vice Chancellor for Diversity &amp; Inclusion Barbara Stewart designed the <a data-mce-href="/diversity-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-scholar-programs/eagle-mentoring-program-emp/" href="/diversity-inclusion/diversity-and-inclusion-scholar-programs/eagle-mentoring-program-emp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eagle Mentoring Program</a> in 2008, a retention initiative for under-represented, second-year students. It offers students credit while they prepare for research, and explore and apply to graduate school programs. Macías-González and Stewart obtained a $30,000 UW System grant to run a two-year pilot of the program, partnering with the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota. The College of Arts Social Sciences and Humanities (</span><span data-ccp-props="{">CASSH) hosted the Eagle Mentoring Program originally. The program has continued with leaders: Former Associate Dean Charles Martin-Stanley from 2016 to 2021 and Director of the Center for Transformative Justic Tara Nelson starting in 2021. The first eight cohorts had a 96% graduation retention rate with 57% going on to graduate and professional programs, and 24% participating in other high impact practices.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">Research is also embedded into UWL classes, providing more students access to these opportunities. Projects often also benefit community partners such as policy makers, businesses and non-profits by structuring projects around their needs.</span></p>
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<div class="video"><figure><div class="video-container"><iframe data-src="https://youtu.be/-A2XCWVjX60" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-A2XCWVjX60?rel=0" title="Community Engaged Learning | Human Resources Management project " allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></div><figcaption aria-hidden="true">Community Engaged Learning | Human Resources Management project </figcaption></figure></div>
<p><span data-contrast="none">UWL has a database designed to help community groups and faculty and staff on campus connect with community members for collaborative </span><a href="https://www.uwlax.edu/community/uwl-community-idea-exchange-submission/" data-mce-href="/community/uwl-community-idea-exchange-submission/"><span data-contrast="none">community-engaged learning and research projects</span></a><span data-contrast="none">.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong><span data-contrast="none">At UWL research is not happening in one place — it is everywhere&nbsp;</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><p><span data-contrast="none">Programs across campus are working to improve access to research opportunities early in students’ college career while improving six-year graduation rates. They reach a variety of groups such as first-generation, low income, and minority students. Among them:</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></p><ul><li><span data-contrast="none">The College of Science and Health (CSH) funds 24 Dean’s Distinguished Summer Fellows (DDF)&nbsp;</span></li><li>UWL has been partner with the Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation (WiscAMP) since 2008, annually serving 12 underrepresented students in STEM disciplines.<span data-ccp-props="{" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,;" data-mce-style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont,;">&nbsp;</span></li><li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">The McNair Scholars program has served 145 students since it began in 2009, with 103 of 130 (79%) graduates enrolling or planning to enroll in graduate school.&nbsp;</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></li><li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">The McNair office also coordinates the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program, which exposes underrepresented students in the STEM fields to research opportunities. Since 2009, 117 students have participated.</span><span data-ccp-props="{">&nbsp;</span></li><li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1"><span data-contrast="none">The Eagle Mentoring program benefits second-year underrepresented students and is a stepping stone to UWL's TRIO McNair Scholars Program. Since 2009, 118 students have taken a one-credit course helping them develop a research proposal.&nbsp;</span></li></ul>
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<img loading="lazy" src="/contentassets/d2492d337f8a4841b98d59100cb0f8ab/2016_uwl_fyre_students_research_017.jpg/Medium" alt="The First Year Research Exposure (FYRE) program is one of several programs on the UWL campus that aims to engage first generation and underrepresented students in research early in their college career. Photo of students in the program in 2016. " />
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<span class="title">Research through the years</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">2:21 p.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Wednesday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Feb.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>16</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2022</span></span>
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From dean’s fellows to eagle apprentices, here are the innovative ways UWL has expanded student research opportunities
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<span class="read">Read<span class="sr-only"> more about Research through the years</span></span>
</span>https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/quick-pitch2021/Quick Pitch2021-12-30T11:32:58.907Z2021-12-24T15:00:00ZNhouchee Yanghttps://uwlax.edu/profile/nyang2/nyang2@uwlax.edu
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<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">11:32 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Thursday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Dec.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>30</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></p>
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<figcaption>Christine Starshak, a first-year student majoring in biology (biomedical science concentration), won the WiSys Quick Pitch competition at UWL this fall. The contest challenges students to present their research to a panel of judges in three minutes or less.</figcaption>
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<h3>UWL’s Christine Starshak takes first place with presentation on skin graft donors</h3>
<p><span id="_mce_caret" data-mce-bogus="1" data-mce-type="format-caret"><em>By Maddie Kozel, English student</em></span><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p>In November, UW-La Crosse held a WiSys Quick Pitch competition that challenged students to present their research to a panel of judges in three minutes or less.</p><p>Christine Starshak, a first-year student majoring in biology (biomedical science concentration), won this year’s competition with a concept about skin graft donors, which she’s been dreaming of since she was a junior in high school.</p><p>“I was sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for my mom to get off of work,” says Starshak, who came up with the idea of using leftover tissue from plastic surgery to perform skin grafts. “I’ve just always been interested in random medical innovations like that.”</p><p>Starshak says she discovered the Quick Pitch competition through the <a data-mce-href="https://uwlmyorgs.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/premed" href="https://uwlmyorgs.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/premed">UWL Pre-med Club</a>. At the time, she said she almost didn’t sign up because she was worried about the time constraints.</p><p>After reaching out to <a data-mce-href="/profile/scooper/" href="/profile/scooper/">Professor of Biology Scott Cooper</a> and discovering it was simply an opportunity to express her ideas, she decided to participate.</p><p>“At worst,” she notes, “it would just be a really good experience.”</p><p>To explain her concept, Starshak wrote a three-minute pitch titled “Cosmetic Donation and Decellularization as a Graft Resource.” In basic terms, it calls for tissue left over from plastic surgeries to be used in skin grafts and other procedures.</p><p>According to her research, which involved contacting hospitals and medical universities, this process would reduce the risk of rejections and infection by replacing the DNA with that of the recipient using cell transplantation technology.</p><p>Winning the competition took Starshak by surprise, she says. It also validated her research and gave her confidence that follow through with her experiments and ideas.</p><p>Starshak plans to earn her doctorate of medicine and become a practicing doctor. Additionally, she’d like to stay involved with research, whether it’s this topic or new ones that emerge along the way.</p><p>“All in all,” Christine says, “it’s just about improving people’s lives in any way we can.”</p><p><strong>About WiSys Quick Pitch</strong></p><p>WiSys Quick Pitch is a research-focused student pitch competition that inspires UW System students to consider the impact of their research and learn how to effectively communicate it to a general audience.</p><p>Participants have three minutes to impress a panel of judges with their ability to explain the value of their research to society.</p><p>The top presenters win cash prizes and secure a spot in the Quick Pitch State Final.</p><p><br></p>
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<img loading="lazy" src="/contentassets/d2492d337f8a4841b98d59100cb0f8ab/2021-uwl-wisys-quick-pitch-0039.jpg/Medium" alt="Christine Starshak, a first-year student majoring in biology (biomedical science concentration), won the WiSys Quick Pitch competition at UWL this fall. The contest challenges students to present their research to a panel of judges in three minutes or less." />
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<span class="title">Quick Pitch</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">11:32 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Thursday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Dec.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>30</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></span>
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UWL’s Christine Starshak takes first place with presentation on skin graft donors
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<span class="read">Read<span class="sr-only"> more about Quick Pitch</span></span>
</span>https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/something-new-to-call-their-own/'Something new to call their own’2021-11-05T09:31:24.293Z2021-11-08T07:00:00ZBritney Heinemanhttps://uwlax.edu/profile/bheineman/bheineman@uwlax.edu
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<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">7 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Monday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Nov.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>8</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></p>
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<figcaption>Each house is covered in blackboard paint, allowing children to decorate them and exercise their imagination.</figcaption>
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<h3 class="tagline">UW-La Crosse faculty, staff create handmade toys for Afghan child evacuees </h3>
<p>Child evacuees from Afghanistan residing in Fort McCoy will have new toys to play with thanks to the handiwork of UW-La Crosse staff and faculty members.</p><p><a data-mce-href="/profile/scooper/" href="/profile/scooper/">Scott Cooper</a>, professor in the Biology Department, <a data-mce-href="/profile/kgrunwald/" href="/profile/kgrunwald/">Kurt Grunwald</a>, laboratory manager in the Biology Department, and <a data-mce-href="/profile/msandheinrich/" href="/profile/msandheinrich/" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">Mark Sandheinrich</a>, dean of the College of Science and Health, used their woodworking skills to create about 200 toy houses.</p><p>The houses are covered in blackboard paint, allowing children to decorate them with windows, doors and anything else that enters their imagination.&nbsp;</p><p>This week, Catholic Charities of La Crosse delivered the toy haul to Fort McCoy.</p><p>“I don’t know how to explain it. There’s just something about having a new toy,” Grunwald says. Often, donated toys “are used, and not very gently used. We thought it would be nice if kids could have something new to call their own.”</p>
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<figcaption>Scott Cooper, a professor of biology at UWL, delivers handmade toy houses to Catholic Charities of La Crosse. The toys are being donated to child evacuees from Afghanistan staying at Fort McCoy.</figcaption>
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<p>This has become <a href="/story/a-heartwarming-holiday-hobby/" data-mce-href="/story/a-heartwarming-holiday-hobby/">a longstanding tradition for Cooper and Grunwald</a>, who have been making and donating toys, usually to the Salvation Army or the Family &amp; Children’s Center of La Crosse, for more than two decades.</p><p>Cooper and Grunwald both grew up with an interest in woodworking. About 20 years ago, they were volunteering at a Thanksgiving food drive through the Salvation Army when they noticed that many children only had access to secondhand toys.</p><p>Looking back on that day, Grunwald remembers one boy who wanted to test out a refurbished bicycle.</p><p>“This kid wiped out on the concrete, bonked his head. But he didn’t cry, because he wanted the bike so badly and didn’t want to make a scene,” Grunwald says. “I thought, ‘This is probably the only newish thing this kid could get all year, and he didn’t want to ruin it.’ That pulled at my heart.”</p><p>Their first year in the workshop, Cooper and Grunwald made 50 wooden grasshoppers.&nbsp;</p><p>The next year, they made 50 dump trucks.</p><p>The year after that, 50 tugboats.</p><p>To date, they have made and donated more than 1,000 toys. Their operation has grown as well, with Sandheinrich, senior lecturer of biology <a data-mce-href="/profile/rredman/" href="/profile/rredman/">Renee Redman</a> and others joining the cause.</p><p>With the recent arrival of 13,000 Afghan evacuees — roughly half of whom are children — at Fort McCoy, the group knew they could make a difference.</p><p>“We know that kids appreciate new and handmade toys,” Cooper explains. ”They like something more earthy compared to plastic. And since most toys today are plastic, they probably don’t have many of those.”</p><p>Redman, who calls herself the “accessorizing elf” in this operation, puts the finishing touches on the toys — whether that means buying dolls to go with wooden cradles, or buying chalk so the children can customize the wooden houses.</p><p>“A lot of care was put into these toys,” Redman notes. “They won’t just break because your sibling took it and dropped it. They’re the kinds of toys that will last, that an older child could maybe pass on to their younger sibling someday.”</p><p>The group insists their work for the year is not done. They also plan to make their annual donation to the Family &amp; Children’s Center around the holidays.</p><p>“We’ll definitely be making more toys,” Cooper says. “It’s something we plan to keep doing.”</p><p><strong>Additional efforts to help Afghan evacuees</strong></p><p>This is the latest example of UWL’s efforts to help the community welcome Afghan evacuees to the Coulee Region.</p><p>In early October, <a data-mce-href="/news/posts/toy-drive/" href="/news/posts/toy-drive/" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">the university completed a toy drive that collected more than 400 toys</a> for children at Fort McCoy.&nbsp;</p><p>Along with collecting toys, UWL has partnered with Viterbo University and Western Technical College to offer educational programming about Afghan people and culture.&nbsp;</p><p>The third event in this series, “Voices of Uprising: Refugees and the 20-year Conflict in Afghanistan,” will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, in room 1309 of UWL’s Centennial Hall.</p><p>For more information about the event, visit <a href="http://www.uwlax.edu/community/afghan_support" data-mce-href="http://www.uwlax.edu/community/afghan_support">www.uwlax.edu/community/afghan support</a>.</p>
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<img loading="lazy" src="/contentassets/d2492d337f8a4841b98d59100cb0f8ab/2020-uwl-toy-donation-for-afghan-refugees-0035.jpg/Medium" alt="Each house is covered in blackboard paint, allowing children to decorate them and exercise their imagination." />
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<span class="title">'Something new to call their own’</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">7 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Monday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Nov.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>8</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></span>
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UW-La Crosse faculty, staff create handmade toys for Afghan child evacuees
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</span>https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/bridging-the-gap/Bridging the gap2021-10-15T12:33:03.66Z2021-10-17T09:00:00ZBritney Heinemanhttps://uwlax.edu/profile/bheineman/bheineman@uwlax.edu
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<p class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">9 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Sunday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Oct.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>17</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></p>
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<figcaption>ROTC students from UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University and Winona State University joined forced with La Crosse's Outdoor Recreation Alliance to replace a bridge on a hiking trail in Hixon Forest. “It’s cool to look back,” UWL junior Isaiah Voiland says, “and know that you’ve made a difference.” </figcaption>
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<h3 class="tagline">Local ROTC students give back through Hixon bridge project</h3>
<p>ROTC students from UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University and Winona State University are building bridges in the community, literally and figuratively.</p><p><a data-mce-href="/rotc/" href="/rotc/">The Eagle Battalion</a>, with students from the three universities, trekked into Hixon Forest Tuesday, Oct. 12, to replace an old bridge on the Oak Trail, part of the Lower Hixon Trail System in the city of La Crosse.</p><p>The project was a collaborative effort between the La Crosse Outdoor Recreation Alliance (ORA) and juniors studying under <a data-mce-href="/profile/wlueck/" href="/profile/wlueck/">UWL Assistant Professor of Military Science Will Lueck</a>.</p><p>“It’s good for us because we have a bunch of able-bodied young people to replace these bridges that are old and breaking down,” says <a data-mce-href="/profile/scooper/" href="/profile/scooper/">Scott Cooper, secretary of the ORA and a professor of biology at UWL.</a> “And it’s good for the students because, after an hour or so of work, they can look at the finished bridge and know they’ve accomplished something.”</p><p>The students, about a dozen of them, met at the second landing at Bliss Road.</p><p>After receiving instructions from Cooper, they loaded up power tools, hand tools and several hundred pounds of lumber, and marched one by one down the winding trail.</p><p>It was no easy journey — three-quarters of a mile across hilly terrain, the weight of their supplies growing heavier and heavier.</p><p>“I’m not joking,” Cooper says, “when I say that I save our hardest projects for these students.”</p><p>Finally, they came to the old bridge, which covers a shallow ravine that cuts through the forest.</p><p>The first order of business was tearing down the old structure — a good opportunity to let out some frustrations, the students joked.</p><p>Once the old boards were out of the way, the students began placing the new ones, being careful to keep them level.</p><p>There was a wide range of construction experience and expertise.</p><p>Isabella Rosa, an outdoor recreation management major from UWL, had done a little demo work in the past.</p><p>Naomi McClenahan, a biology major from UWL, had helped her parents remodel their house — “and they’re always remodeling their house,” she says.</p><p>And Isaiah Voiland, a computer science major from UWL, had helped build a house through the ROTC last year.</p><p>Constructing a new bridge for the trail, they explained, was meaningful from a teamwork standpoint. It was also meaningful from a community service perspective, since ROTC students frequently use the Hixon Trail System — including during the Northern Warfare Challenge, an annual skill and endurance challenge involving ROTC programs from across the country.</p>
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<figcaption>UWL ROTC student Isabella Rosa (right) drills a board into place Tuesday, Oct. 12, during a bridge-building project in Hixon Forest.</figcaption>
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<p>“Being in ROTC, we wanted to do something hands-on that would help the community,” says Rosa, who hopes to have a career in outdoor recreation management, serving marginalized communities specifically. “This is a nice way to give back.”</p><p>After screwing in the final boards, the students tested their handiwork by squeezing together for a group photo.</p><p>They also saw the first of many hikers cross the bridge — a man passing through with his dog.</p><p>“Well,” Cooper declared, “now we know that it works.”</p><p>On their way out of the forest, the group walked over not only their bridge, but also a bridge a different group of ROTC students had built a few years ago.</p><p>An hour of hard work, they learned, can last for many years and countless sets of footsteps.</p><p>“It’s cool to look back,” Voiland says, “and know that you’ve made a difference.”</p>
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<figcaption>Students took a minute to appreciate their handiwork after building a bridge on a hiking trail in Hixon Forest.</figcaption>
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<img loading="lazy" src="/contentassets/d2492d337f8a4841b98d59100cb0f8ab/2021-uwl-rotc-ora-trail-bridge-building-0074.jpg/Medium" alt="ROTC students from UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University and Winona State University joined forced with La Crosse's Outdoor Recreation Alliance to replace a bridge on a hiking trail in Hixon Forest. “It’s cool to look back,” UWL junior Isaiah Voiland says, “and know that you’ve made a difference.” " />
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<span class="title">Bridging the gap</span>
<span class="date"><span class="label">Posted </span><span data-part="time">9 a.m.</span><span data-part="weekday"><span> </span>Sunday</span><span data-part="month"><span>, </span>Oct.</span><span data-part="day"><span> </span>17</span><span data-part="year"><span>, </span>2021</span></span>
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Local ROTC students give back through Hixon bridge project
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