STAR Program Description
The STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) program offers pre-service and early career K-12 STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) teachers paid summer research experiences in leading national, independent, and university laboratories thereby allowing participants to pursue a prestigious dual "teacher-researcher" career path. With the guidance of a research mentor, STAR Fellows work on original science projects for 8 to 9 weeks. Weekly education workshops and an opening and closing conference provide context and opportunities for STAR Fellows to consider how the "doing of science" may be translated into the "teaching of science." At the closing conference STAR Fellows present their research in a poster session or oral presentation. The ultimate goals of the STAR program are to enhance the recruitment, preparation, and retention of quality science and math teachers. The STAR program was founded and implemented by the Cal Poly Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education (CESaME) and administered on behalf of the California State University (CSU) system. Through 2012, the program's sixth year, STAR has supported 290 internships for participants representing 22 CSU and 21 others campuses and has included placements at 20 different lab sites. Examples of STAR Fellows' research posters and presentations are available below sorted alphabetically by lab site.
For more information visit: www.STARteacherResearcher.org
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About STAR - STEM Teacher and Researcher Program
Poster presented at the Teacher Research Experience Conference
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0952013 and contributions from philanthropic foundations. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Growth and Hydrogen Production of Rubrivivax gelatinosus CBS, Shannon A. Swanson and Karen Wawrousek
Catalytic Upgrading of Pyrolysis Vapors, Caryn Burnett, Alexander Stanton, and Kristiina Iisa
An Evaluation and Preliminary Update for the LBL Circumsolar Telescope, Elin Deeb and Daryl Myers
Sulfur Characterization of Biochar, Shealyn Malone and Singfoong Cheah
Identification of the Enzymes Responsible for the Detoxification of Furfural and 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furalaldehyde in Zymomonas moblis, Joshua Myatt, Mary Ann Franden, and Min Zhang
Determination of an Efficient Method for the Extraction of Xylan from Delignified Corn Stover Using Dimethyl Sulfoxide, John Rowley and Stuart Black
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Molecular Modeling of Novel Fuel Cell Membranes, Tessa Brown and Ram Devanathan
Further Development of the Chemical Mixture Methodology (CMM) Wizard, Sarah Horn, Cliff Glantz, Xiao-Ying Yu, and Alex Booth
Improving the Efficiency of Homologous Gene Replacement by Disrupting Non-Homologous End Joining Pathway Gene KusA in the Oleaginous Fungus Mortierella alpina, Kathleen T. Krueger, Ziyu Dai Dr, Ugur Uzuner, and Scott E. Baker Dr
Further Development in Nondestructive Methods to Gauge Life Expectancy in Ferromagnetic Components, David Millard, Pradeep Ramuhalli, and Jacob Fricke
Steroids and SSRIs in Wastewater and EE2 Uptake in FHM, Elizabeth Ellen Wittenberg and Irvin R. Schultz
Migrating the CMM Wizard to a Robust ASP.NET Format, Alexander E. Booth, Jeremy Rishel, Cliff Glantz, and Xiao Ying Yu
Spectroscopic Properties of Lanthanide (III) Compounds in Aqueous and Ionic Media, Orissa A. Burghard, Sayandev Chatterjee, Zheming Wang, and Samuel A. Bryan
Interspecies Comparison of αII-Spectrin Abundance Between Chinook Salmon and Steelhead, Brielle D. Kemis, Ann L. Miracle, Katie A. Wagner, and Christa M. Woodley
Velo: A Knowledge Management Platform for Modeling and Simulation, Molly K. Kessie and Ian Gorton
Modeling Non-destructive Methods to Gauge Life Expectancy in Ferromagnetic Metals, David Millard and Jeff Griffin
Quantitative Characterization of Microstructure Features for 1st Generation Advanced High Strength Steels, Margarita Vidrio, Ellen Liu, Donsheng Li, Kyoo Sil Choi, and Xin Sun
Enhancing Emergency Preparedness: The Chemical Mixture Methodology Wizard, Kimberly Schutte and Xiao-Ying Yu
Acoustic Health Monitoring of Electronic Devices, Tim Smith and Morris Good
Assessing Nuclear Proliferation by Using System Dynamics Modeling, Samuel V. Stafford and Alan Brothers
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies (RTC)
The Abundance and Distribution of Gelatinous Zooplankton in the San Francisco Estuary, Amalia Borson, Lindsay Sullivan, and Wim Kimmerer
Functional Response of Protected Larval Stage Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), Jorge Ruiz, Lindsay Sullivan, Wim Kimmerer, and Joan Lindberg
Population Density of Carcinus maenas in Seadrift Lagoon, Khalila Sailor and Gregory Ruiz
Testing the salinity tolerance levels of similar invasive species found in the San Francisco Bay, Julia M. Smith, C. Sarah Cohen, and Elizabeth Sheets
Developing Monitoring Methods for Leptasterias spp. as Sentinel Species in Detecting Local Environmental Changes, Zachary Sturbaum, Kathryn Nuessly, Riley J. Smith, and C. Sarah Cohen
Using Stable Isotope Analysis to Study Zooplankton Trophic Ecology in San Francisco Estuary, Steven C. Westbrook, Julien Moderan, and Wim Kimmerer
A Comparative Study of Botryllid Tunicates Regeneration in the San Francisco Bay, Michelle Wray and C. Sarah Cohen
Tunicate Recruitment in a Temperature Fouling Community, Garrett Benjamin and Sarah Cohen
Imported Nereis virens and Glycera dibranchiata as a Vector for Invasive Species in San Francisco Bay, Jason Christopher Hayes and Gregory M. Ruiz
Contrasting Effects of Flow on Adult and Juvenile Ascidian Life History Stages, Including the Global Invasive Didemnum vexillum, Tren C. Kauzer and C Sarah Cohen
Analysis of San Francisco Bay Environmental Conditions as they relate to Organismal Abundance, Mary Dournaee, Toby Garfield, and Sarah Cohen
Settlement in Fouling Communities of San Fransisco Bay, Jacqueline Hill and Sarah Cohen
SETI Institute
Electric Currents Due to Stress-Activated Positive Hole Charge Carriers in Ice, Cary T. Keller P.E., Friedemann T. Freund, and Dale P. Cruikshank
Exploration of Charge Carriers in Obsidian, Ryan Nordvik and Friedemann Freund
Phoenix Mars Mission Wet Chemistry Laboratory Detection Limit of Martian Soil Oxidants, Lauren B. Petersen and Richard C. Quinn Dr.
Exploring Methods for Earthquake Prediction: The Effects of Water on the Flow of Stress-Activated Electric Currents in Igneous Rocks, Aaron M. Jahoda and Friedemann T. Freund
Radar Reflectivity Experiment: Measurements for Volcano and Earthquake Monitoring, Garrett Benjamin and Freidemann T. Freund
Radar Reflectivity Experiment: Infrared Measurements, Matthew Stemm and Friedemann Freund
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC)
Developing Software for the Beam Line Control Systems, Jennifer A. Beltran and Stefan Mannsfeld
Commissioning of the ASTA Laser Lab with UV Pulse Length Characterization, Daniel Kelley and Jeff Corbett
Electronics Development for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, Margaret C. Murphy and Justin Vandenbrouke
Determining the Elemental Composition of Naturally Reduced Sediments at Old Rifle Aquifers, Don Pham, John Bargar, and Noémie Janot
The Implementation of the Shear Correlation Function and the Matter Power Spectrum in R, Allison A. Scheppelmann and Deborah J. Bard
Beam Halo Measurements at the SPEAR3 Synchrotron, Jonathan B. Kamp and Jeff Corbett
Characterization of Uranium Species in Sediments under Iron and Sulfate Reducing Conditions Using Synchrotron-Based Techniques, Don Q. Pham and John Bargar
Supernova Remnants and Cosmic Ray Acceleration Mechanisms, Ariel L. Simons and Yasunobu Uchiyama
High Quantum-Efficiency Electron Gun Tests at SSRL, Deborah Robinson and Jeff Corbett
Nano Tomography of Fuel Cell, Michelle Wen, Yijin Liu, and Joy Hayter
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly SLO)
Examination of Thin Layers of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton with Emphasis on Bioluminescence, Jordan Anderson, Ian Robbins, and Mark Moline
A Seed Infecting Fungus (Tilletia ehrhartae) Could Provide a Partial Biological Control Mechanism for Invasive Veldt Grass (Ehrharta calycina), Briana Overman, Fritz Light, and Francis Villablanca
Acquisition of Morphological Variations of Mutant Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM Strains by Means of Atomic Force Microscopy, Daniel Ruiz, Derek Gragson, and Rafael Jiménez-Florez
Sandia National Laboratory/California (SNL)
Identifying Species in Mass Spectra Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Bradley Powers and Bernice Mills
Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology (CBST)
Discovery of an Apoptosis Inducing Ligand for Burkitt Lymphoma, Carolyn Laymon, Kyla Bradylong, Mary Saunders, David Olivos, and Kit Lam
Proteomic Sample Preparation Method: Rodent Blood High Abundant Protein Removal, Sasha Silvelstrini and Brett Chromy
Verification of the Kcat Value of AAT via COPASI, Jeremy A. Waddell, Roque Troz, Melissa P. Hill, and Delmar S. Larsen