Fearless Friday: Kirsten Crear

Even in her last semester here at Gettysburg, Kirsten Crear ’14 is fearlessly working to make changes for the future of the campus community. This semester, Kirsten introduced a STEMinists club on campus that will give female students who are STEM (an acronym for Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) majors the opportunity to come together and create a community, share and discuss the difficulties they face as women in their fields of study, and support and mentor each other as they prepare to enter their fields. Kirsten is passionate, driven, and determined, taking the initiative to bring this group of women together on campus so that together they can begin to challenge the norms and stereotypes about women in their fields, creating change for the future. [excerpt

Assessing The Variability In Distribution Of Four Shark Species Within The Mississippi Sound

Global declines in shark populations have been observed, including several species indigenous to the northwest Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Attributing to these declines is a lack of abundance and distribution data of early life stages, particularly within essential habitats such as nursery grounds. Previous research has defined the Mississippi Sound as a multispecies shark nursery, therefore determining how abundance and distribution patterns change will aid in verifying where these species are throughout the year within this shark nursery. Thus, the objectives of the current study were to describe the variability in distributions of four shark species in the Mississippi Sound. From March 2009 to October 2011, 1,309 sharks including, 737 Atlantic sharpnose, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, 332 finetooth, Carcharhinus isodon, 151 blacktip, Carcharhinus limbatus, and 89 bonnethead, Sphyrna tiburo, sharks were collected within the Mississippi Sound. Male Atlantic sharpnose were present in the sound throughout all life stages where as females left the sound once maturity was reached. Immature finetooth and blacktip utilized the Mississippi Sound as a nursery and left before maturity was reached. Low abundances of bonnethead suggested that this area is not as important for this species. All species preferred the Central and East Areas within the Mississippi Sound in 2010 and 2011, demonstrating the possible effect of environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen on shark distribution. Relatively higher abundances were observed in the summer compared to spring and fall for all species of sharks. This study confirms that the Mississippi Sound is an important nursery ground for Atlantic sharpnose, finetooth, and blacktip sharks

Adaptation of Dry Collection Methods to Quantify Extraction Efficiency of Staphylococcus aureus from Environmental Samples

The Gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus can survive in indoor environments in the community, such as schools and homes, contributing to public health concerns related to human exposure and transmission. While convenient methods that do not require refrigeration or surface wetting have been described for identification of environmental S. aureus, these methods currently only provide a positive or negative result. Therefore, the goal of this project was to adapt and validate a dry collection method to provide quantification of S. aureus from indoor environmental samples comparing culture-based and culture-independent approaches, and then apply this method to environmental surface samples from local schools. For this project, S. aureus ATCC43300 was inoculated onto autoclaved Swiffer cloths. Then, S. aureus colonies were extracted from the cloths in 100ml of 1x solution phosphate buffered saline (PBS), the PBS extract was concentrated by vacuum filtration, and colony forming units (CFUs) enumerated on CHROMagar staph agar. S. aureus was successfully enumerated from experimentally-inoculated cloths. The findings from this work demonstrate that S. aureus can be recovered and quantified from dry cloth surface samples. This work also displays that the culture independent method was optimum for extraction efficiency and ease of use. This work highlights the importance of methodological development for S. aureus exposure assessment from indoor community environments

Adaptation of Dry Collection Methods to Quantify Extraction Efficiency of Staphylococcus aureus from Environmental Samples Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The Gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus can survive in indoor environments in the community, such as schools and homes, contributing to public health concerns related to human exposure and transmission. While convenient methods that do not require refrigeration or surface wetting have been described for identification of environmental S. aureus, these methods currently only provide a positive or negative result. Therefore, the goal of this project was to adapt and validate a dry collection method to provide quantification of S. aureus from indoor environmental samples comparing culture-based and culture-independent approaches, and then apply this method to environmental surface samples from local schools. For this project, S. aureus ATCC43300 was inoculated onto autoclaved Swiffer cloths. Then, S. aureus colonies were extracted from the cloths in 100ml of 1x solution phosphate buffered saline (PBS). The PBS extract was concentrated by vacuum filtration, and colony forming units (CFUs) enumerated on CHROMagar staph agar. S. aureus was successfully enumerated from experimentally-inoculated cloths. The findings from this work demonstrate that S. aureus can be recovered and quantified from dry cloth surface samples. This work also displays that the culture independent method was optimum for extraction efficiency and ease of use. This work highlights the importance of methodological development for S. aureus exposure assessment from indoor community environments

A Case Study Exploring Organizational Development and Performance Management in the Operational Infrastructure of a Professional Working Organization, Using Academic Constructs

Curriculum, as a concept, has been historically associated with traditional schooling, but the reality is that its application extends to many arenas beyond academia. Through the case study lens, this dissertation utilized the ideologies of curricular theorists John Dewey, John Franklin Bobbitt, and Ralph Tyler to explore how intended, enacted, and assessed curricula phases can integrate into a professional working organization’s comprehensive functionality and materialize into the planning and implementation of its operational infrastructure. Following content analysis of a selected institution’s operational system, using closed codes, a descriptive comprehensive curriculum was designed to address the research purpose of understanding employee performance and organizational outcomes. Findings indicated that curricular phases are inherently embedded into the organizational development and performance management of nonacademic spaces; moreover, the framework of an organization’s operational infrastructure consists largely of curriculum elements. The primary research implication invokes being able to manage the efficiency and effectiveness levels of (a) personnel unit performance and (b) the workplace environment, through curriculum analysis and prescription

Swimming Upstream to Achieve the Dream: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study of the Postsecondary Experiences of Foster Care Alumni

Education has been deemed the great equalizer for the condition of man (Horace Mann, 1848). Studies have found that years of education and income are highly correlated--the higher the educational level, the higher the income (National Center for Education Statistics, 2017). Numerous studies highlight the benefits of attaining a college degree; however, college enrollment and graduation rates among young adults with foster care experience lag significantly behind those of their non-foster care peers. Despite increased policies and efforts at the federal, state, and local levels to improve the educational outcomes of this vulnerable population, poor educational outcomes are still prevalent. Although numerous studies have addressed the educational plight and outcomes of children and youth in foster care, limited studies have explored the postsecondary educational experiences of persons with foster care experience. Findings from this study addressed this gap and contributed to existing research regarding the postsecondary educational experiences of this vulnerable population. The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the postsecondary experiences of 16 foster care alumni who attended an accredited, public, state-funded, postsecondary institution. The study explored factors that influenced their decision to enroll in college, obstacles that have hindered their college success, what has helped them to be successful in college, and what they deem necessary to complete a postsecondary degree