CASE Magazine 2018

5 YEARS ago FIU saved the world’s only underwater research lab.

WHAT’S NEXT?

CONTENTS

THE AQUARIUS EFFECT Global FinPrint leads to action in Dominican Republic, Belize

Researchers battle mosquitoborne diseases

Spatial language can change it all for girls in STEM

Gift from retired professor and wife could transform tropical ecology

Professor reintroduces Yiddish into the lives of those who dared not speak it

FIU shapes future of forensics

Teachers can help reduce mental health problems in children

FROM THE DEAN

Mike Heithaus, Dean William Anderson, Vice Dean Ady Arguelles, Executive Director of Development

Dear friends, I recently received a folder full of fax transmissions from my parents — yes, I said fax — from 1994. I was an undergraduate student doing field research

Maureen Donnelly, Associate Dean

in Shark Bay, Australia. I didn’t know it at the time, but my experiences that

Hector Junco, Executive Director of Finance and Operations

summer would launch my career as a marine biologist that ultimately led me

Jeremy Rowan, Assistant Dean

to FIU. The faxes between me and my family are fun to read 24 years later. Back then, the chance to do field research as an undergraduate in a far-off place was not the norm. Those opportunities were mainly for graduate students. But, with Mike Heithaus in Australia during his college days, 1994

Maricel Cigales, Associate Dean

a little luck and willingness to take a risk, I had an experience that changed the trajectory of my life.

Today, things are a little different for our students. For starters, they have email and cell phones. They may never lay eyes on a fax machine and they certainly don’t talk in terms of “local calls” versus “long distance.” (My 1994 landline calls home cost me $2.50 per minute!). But, the value of getting involved in real research, creative works, and career experiences as an undergraduate is more important than ever. In the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, we are trying to make sure that all of our undergraduate students have those experiences at FIU, around South Florida and throughout the world. We create opportunities that provide the experiences that will help them to build the skills, passion, and networks that will launch their careers!

These days, it seems like the world is changing at a whirlwind pace. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But, when I walk around campus and visit with our students, faculty and staff or hear from our alumni I am filled with optimism. They are curious, driven and are doing their part to help others and to make the world better. I am inspired by their stories every single day. They are leading conservation and environmental restoration initiatives in Florida, the Dominican Republic, Belize, and around the world. They are transforming STEM education. They are patenting new forensic technologies to assist law enforcement. They are working on treatments for cancers and mosquito-borne diseases that will improve and save lives! They are improving treatment for childhood mental illness, ensuring women feel safe in the workplace, inspiring the next generation in K-12 classrooms, unraveling the universe’s biggest questions, and so much more.

We are tremendously grateful for all of our partners and supporters who help our students through scholarships and internships. We also are fortunate to have the support of amazing partners in research, education and creative works who have helped us maximize our impact! Paul G. Allen, the Medina Family Foundation, Rosalie and Walter Goldberg, and Allan Wessler have provided tremendous support to advance global conservation of sharks and rays, allowed the Medina Aquarius Program to transform lives around the world, advance tropical conservation, and support our explorations of deep history and consciousness. Their contributions show how much more positive impact we can have with the right support.

I hope you enjoy reading about our scientific advances and creative endeavors in this issue of Arts, Sciences & Education. These stories are just a snapshot of what we are capable of and the inspiring future we will help create.

Mike Heithaus Dean, College of Arts, Sciences & Education Florida International University Arts, Sciences & Education is an annual publication produced by the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and the Division of External Relations, Strategic Communications and Marketing at Florida International University.

College of Arts, Sciences & Education | Florida International University | 11200 SW 8th St., ECS 450 | Miami, FL 33199 305-348-2864 | casedean@fiu.edu | case.fiu.edu

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Designed and printed by FIU’s Division of External Relations, Strategic Communications and Marketing 18196_09/18

Laura Dinehart, Executive Director, School of Education and Human Development Walter Van Hamme, Executive Director, School of Integrated Science and Humanity JoAnn C. Adkins, Editor, Arts, Sciences & Education Magazine Oscar Negret, Art Director Barbarita Ramos, Graphic Designer Aileen Solá-Trautmann, Graphic Designer Writers Ayleen Barbel Fattal, Evelyn S. Gonzalez Chrystian Tejedor Photographers Carl-Frederick Francois, Douglas Garland, Ben Guzman, Timothy Long, Kristen Mayoral, Christopher Necuze, Ivan Santiago College of Arts, Sciences & Education Dean’s Advisory Board Gonzalo Acevedo Mariel Acosta-Garcia Victor Balestra Sandy Batchelor Manya “Terry” Blechman Stephen E. Davis Suleyman Demir Steven Dinh Frank DuMond Sharon Fine Robert Fitzsimmons Patricia B. Keon Paul D. Landrum Grace Lohn Brian Machovina Nancy Gray Maynard Olga Melin Michael Mendez John Mills Esther Moreno Michael Rosenberg Sevi Sari Kevin Senecal Richard Standifer Carl Stocker Dan Tasciotti Fiorella Terenzi Jennifer Tisthammer Cenk Tuncay Mine Üçer FIU Board of Trustees Claudia Puig, Chairperson Jose J. Armas, Vice Chair Mark B. Rosenberg, Secretary Cesar L. Alvarez Leonard Boord Dean C. Colson Gerald C. Grant, Jr., ’78, ’89 Michael G. Joseph Natasha Lowell Justo L. Pozo ’80 Marc D. Sarnoff Rogelio Tovar Faculty Member Joerg Reinhold, Chair, FIU Faculty Senate Student Member Jose L. Sirven, III Student Trustee, MMC Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 1

DNA could be superbugs’ greatest foe The National Institutes of Health has awarded researchers in the FIU Biomolecular Sciences Institute nearly $2 million to battle antibioticresistant superbugs.

The pioneering work by Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh and Fenfei Leng is looking at how bacterial DNA can be used for new treatments to kill antibioticresistant bacteria.

Tse-Dinh, the institute’s director, received a four-year $1.3 million grant to advance her research on enzymes that could be targeted to interrupt bacteria growth — specifically, the enzyme that helps bacterial DNA split and recombine.

With a two-year $470,000 award, Leng is testing thousands of chemical compounds at the same time using a method developed at FIU. This allows him to quickly see which have the highest potential to block a bacterial enzyme called DNA gyrase from working correctly, thereby killing the bug.

At least 2 million people in the United States are infected annually with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control. World health leaders are concerned that there are not enough new medications being developed to treat tuberculosis, pneumonia or urinary tract infections that have adapted to prevent antibiotics from working, according to a report from the World Health Organization. This research could produce a new line of life-saving treatments.

2 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

Jun Li

DISCOVERY Science Researchers battle mosquito-borne diseases

By Chrystian Tejedor

R

esearchers at the Biomolecular Sciences Institute armed with grants totaling more than $3.1 million are waging war against mosquito-borne diseases.

Jun Li, associate professor of biology, is leveraging a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to discover how to block the transmission of malaria, a tropical disease that affects 200 million people annually, according to the World Health Organization. Because malaria is only spread through the bite of an Anopheles mosquito, not by person-to-person contact, preventing mosquitoes from spreading malaria would stop this killer disease. Li and his researchers discovered one protein, that when blocked, significantly reduces the mosquito’s ability to transmit the disease.

Li’s team is working with naturally occurring and easy-to-acquire fungal molecules that could interfere with these proteins and eliminate the

New patent could stop cancer in its tracks Biochemist Yuan Liu has developed a new patent to fight cancer. It is a simple, fast and accurate method to measure the capacity of DNA cells to repair. With this method, hundreds of thousands of samples can be tested simultaneously. It can determine which anti-cancer drug provides optimal results or which environmental factors can contribute to disease prevention.

The technology successfully identified new compounds that can significantly suppress prostate cancer progression.

Laura Serbus

FIU’s Biomolecular Sciences Institute is dedicated to fighting diseases at the molecular level.

transmission of malaria from patient to mosquito.

“If we can find these powerful molecules, then we can develop a drug for malaria patients,” Li said. “After malaria patients take this type of drug, they won’t be able to transmit the disease to mosquitoes. We can break the transmission cycle of malaria.”

Laura Serbus, assistant professor of biology, is using a three-year $650,000 National Science Foundation grant to model the growth of Wolbachia bacteria in fruit flies. Her work has the potential to help researchers find ways of curbing the spread of mosquito-borne viruses including Zika.

“Mosquitoes with higher amounts of Wolbachia are less likely to transmit Zika or other viruses,” Serbus said. “One of the big questions for my lab is

Inside the battle against a deadly brain tumor By exploiting a brain tumor’s own biology, researchers at the Biomolecular Sciences Institute hope to destroy glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer with no known cure. The team is working on a two-pronged method of stamping out the tumor. Director Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh and chemist Yuan Liu are trying to inhibit the tumor from repairing its own DNA. Jeremy W. Chambers, in the Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, is studying whether changes in mitochondria, the powerhouses of a cell, can trick cancer cells into dying. With these new approaches, the researchers hope to reduce the toxic effects of chemotherapy and improve the outcome of glioblastoma treatment.

how do Wolbachia interact with insect cells overall.”

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 3

FLORIDA COUPLE ESTABLISHES PROFESSORSHIP FOR TROPICAL ECOLOGY

“ A

professorship for tropical ecology has been established in the College of Arts, .Sciences & Education thanks to a gift from FIU Emeritus Professor Walter Goldberg and his wife, Rosalie.

The Walter and Rosalie Goldberg Professorship in Tropical Ecology is designed to expand FIU’s alreadygrowing expertise in conservation, sustainability, resilience, impacts of invasive species and other human disruptions to tropical ecosystems. The search for a top scholar in tropical ecosystems will launch later this year.

Natives of Massachusetts, Walter joined FIU’s faculty in 1973 and Rosalie spent her career in Miami working for BellSouth and later AT&T. For the next 39 years, Walter taught many general biology, oceanography and zoology courses and focused his research on the biology of corals. He retired in 2012 but returned one year later to teach a scientific writing course for honors students, a course he still teaches today. A professorship in marine sciences might have seemed an obvious choice for the couple who has been married for 47 years, but the Goldbergs wanted to do more.

“We have all kinds of problems with every ecosystem you can think of, so we wanted it to be all-encompassing,” Walter said. “This is not a position I’m creating in my own image. The person hired for this professorship is going to be a world-class expert in resilience and sustainability of tropical ecosystems regardless of the type of ecosystem. Terrestrial, marine or aquatic.”

4 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

To have this opportunity to make a difference, to do something like this, I wouldn’t have believed it back then.

But I’m glad we are able to do it.

— Walter Goldberg

In less than 50 years, more than 60 percent of the world’s population is expected to live in tropical regions, deriving nearly all of their food, medicines and shelter from tropical species. FIU Tropics, which includes the Tropical Conservation Institute, is an initiative within the College of Arts, Sciences & Education to advance research that provides meaningful solutions needed for a sustainable future in these regions. Currently, more than 50 faculty members focus their research on the tropics.

“Throughout his career, Dr. Goldberg has been central to the development of FIU, the Department of Biological Sciences and the Marine Sciences Program,” said Mike Heithaus, dean of the College of

Arts, Sciences & Education and colleague of Walter’s.

“It’s very special that he is continuing to help FIU grow and providing a legacy that will be meaningful to students and the department and will help protect tropical ecosystems for generations to come.”

Walter was only 27 when he joined the FIU faculty in 1973 — one year after the university first opened its doors — and says he basically grew up in the Department of Biological Sciences.

“To have this opportunity to make a difference, to do something like this, I wouldn’t have believed it back then. But I’m glad we are able to do it,” Walter said. “The development of the Department of Biological Sciences at FIU has always been and will always be very important to Rosalie and me.”

Search for vanishing frogs leads to DISCOVERY of NEW SPECIES

By JoAnn C. Adkins

F

IU biologist Alessandro Catenazzi went in search of vanishing frogs in

the Amazon. What he found

was an entirely new species.

A fungal disease is wiping

out large populations of

amphibians in the cloud forests of the Andean

Amazon. Catenazzi spends

much of his time searching for areas where the deadly

fungus has not yet hit, hoping

to find remaining populations of nearly 20 species of frogs that have been devastated

by the disease. Many of the frogs are tiny, which means Catenazzi spends his days turning over rocks and

digging through leaf litter.

With a keen eye for detail, he

find something new.

said the discovery of a new

cleared but treacherous

first step in conservation.

He hiked along recently

terrain, eventually finding a

pristine cloud forest. Digging through leaf litter, Catenazzi discovered a tiny frog with

reddish-brown coloring and blue-gray flecks. For the

scientist who has discovered 28 new species already and spent much of his career in

museums studying the world’s frogs, he knew this tiny frog was a new discovery. He

named it Psychrophrynella

glauca, denoting its similarity

to other species in the region and for its unique coloring.

species is the all-important

“I believe in documenting

biodiversity,” he said. “We

know the Andes are extremely rich in biodiversity, but

people don’t spend a lot of

time looking for small things.

It’s tedious work. But there is a high value for

conservation if we take the time to document.”

Today, Catenazzi’s search

for the vanishing frogs of

the Amazon continues. He is

hopeful he will find additional

areas untouched by the march

The discovery was confirmed

of the fungal disease.

of the frog to known species

understand that if frogs are in

by comparing the description

“People need to

and through genetic testing.

such big trouble, we should

documented species. During

remote location, little is

“These pandemics affect us.

Peru, he thought he might

discovered frog, but Catenazzi

diseases can be devastating.”

occasionally spots what he

believes to be a never-beforean unplanned excursion in

Because of its size and

still known about the newly

be worried too,” he said.

Plants. People. These fungal

#INAFLASH Brianna Chin Biological sciences sophomore Claim to Fame Zoo Miami intern Say what? Chin studied the movement, burrowing and habitat-use patterns of gopher tortoises, the only tortoise species native to Florida. Each gopher tortoise is tagged with a transmitter that sends out a frequency range. Chin used a hand-held radio receiver to pick up the range and GPS to determine its location.

What did she enjoy most? She loves how every day is a different day at the zoo. One moment she is looking into a tortoise burrow with a camera and the next day she’s taking a female tortoise to the vet to check for eggs. She finds it rewarding to know information she collects will help future research.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 5

SHARKS & RAYS

FIND NEW HOPE IN CARIBBEAN Global FinPrint leads to action in Dominican Republic, Belize

By JoAnn C. Adkins

6 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

T

he world’s largest survey of sharks and rays has led to new protections for them in the Dominican Republic and Belize.

Global FinPrint is a three-year worldwide survey and is led by researchers in FIU’s Center for Coastal Oceans Research.

After the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources issued a fishing ban on all species of sharks and rays in 2017, the government partnered with the FIU researchers to provide Global FinPrint data to inform future policy decisions. FIU scientists have become increasingly concerned about sharks and rays around the Caribbean nation as recent data shows populations of threatened and endangered species occupy its waters, according to post-doctoral researcher Mark Bond.

The resolution recently issued by the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources permanently bans fishing and trading of all species of sharks and rays. It also declares a moratorium on fishing of herbivorous fish including parrotfish and surgeonfish for two years, and sea urchins for five years in all the country’s jurisdictional waters. The ban also prohibits the trade of derivative products, both imported and exported.

Data provided by Global FinPrint will be used to monitor shark and ray activity and help guide future decisions based on scientific data, according to Francisco Domínguez Brito, environment minister of the Dominican Republic.

Also in 2017, the government of Belize established the first-ever nationwide ray sanctuary, motivated in large part, by data from Global FinPrint scientists at FIU. Globally, rays are threatened with extinction due largely to overfishing, habitat loss and climate change. They are even more at risk than sharks. More than 20 species of rays are known to populate the waters along Belize.

As part of Global FinPrint, FIU researchers have deployed baited remote underwater videos to monitor the abundance and distribution of sharks and

rays, hoping to fill critical data gaps and guide conservation strategies throughout the world. While combing through hundreds of hours of video footage to inform Belize’s National Plan of Action for sharks, scientists found thriving populations of rays. Global FinPrint researcher and FIU Ph.D. student Kathryn Flowers shared the find with officials from the Belize Fisheries Department.

“I was surprised to hear how threatened rays are globally and decided that Belize could be a good global citizen by protecting them,” said Belize Fisheries Administrator Beverly Wade.

“Neighboring countries are exploiting

rays, but here in Belize, rays are valuable to our tourism industry.”

Although there are shark sanctuaries in some parts of the world, only a couple include rays, and prior to the Belize announcement, none were specifically for rays. Belize is home to the world’s second largest barrier reef with a diversity of rays ranging from tiny yellow round rays to large manta rays. The critically endangered smalltooth sawfish and endangered Ticon cownose ray are also believed to be in Belize waters.

Global FinPrint is led by FIU Associate Professor Demian Chapman in collaboration with a team of FIU researchers, as well as teams from Dalhousie University in Canada, and Australia’s James Cook University, Curtin University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The project has received core funding from philanthropist Paul G. Allen and is one of several ocean health initiatives within the Microsoft cofounder’s portfolio.

“The establishment of new shark and ray sanctuaries such as this is exactly the reason we partnered with FIU to roll out the Global FinPrint surveys,” said James Deutsch, director of Biodiversity Conservation for Paul Allen. “We have been confident that data from Global FinPrint will catalyze conservation action to protect threatened shark and rays on coral reefs around the world.”

Researchers dive into Discovery’s Shark Week Mike Heithaus, marine sciences professor and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, starred in Devil Sharks during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. He was joined

by Associate Professor Jeremy Kiszka, research analyst Kirk Gastrich and Ph.D. candidate Frances Farabaugh. The FIU team went in search of answers to uncover why volcanoes can be shark hotspots. Heithaus has spent his entire career studying marine predators, specializing in the ecological importance of sharks and other large marine species including whales, dolphins and sea turtles.

Assistant Professor Yannis Papastamatiou also made an appearance in Shark Week with Chris Lowe from California State University in Sharks and the City: LA. That show investigated the recent increase of great white sharks along California’s coast and their out of season hunting behaviors. Papastamatiou deployed camera tags on great whites and went diving to retrieve underwater listening stations to find out why sharks aggregate around a small island in the Pacific Ocean.­

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 7

EXTINCTION Risk

Researchers zero in on illegally traded shark fins

By Chrystian Tejedor

N

early one-third of the shark species in the global fin trade are at risk of extinction, according to

are too expensive to purchase in bulk and

management practices are put in place

vendors aren’t likely to donate samples

locally and internationally. Additional

for studies. So the researchers took a walk

resources should also be invested to enhance

a new study led by Associate Professor of

through the markets of Hong Kong, quietly

the enforcement of existing regulations.”

Biological Sciences Demian Chapman.

purchasing thousands of trimmings from

Less than one-fifth of all shark species in this trade are fished responsibly, according

almost 100 vendors.

Using DNA testing, they found 80 shark,

to the study. It is the first time researchers

ray and chimaera species in the Hong Kong

have been able to estimate the number of

retail shark fin market. The team found a

species in the fin trade and categorize them

variety of species and one-third are listed as

by extinction risk.

threatened with extinction by experts

“Our team of Hong Kong and U.S.-based researchers did a little DNA detective work on scraps that are produced when traders

at the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

“Stopping illegal and unsustainable

Of the species in the Hong Kong shark fin trade that are fished responsibly, their fishing was managed in a few of the nations where the fish live. This is just the beginning for conservation efforts.

“The species diversity tells us the market sustains itself on many different fin types and that if supplies of one dry up as the species disappears in the wild, the trade can continue with the others,” Chapman said.

clean the fins for the retail market,”

trade in shark fins requires a comprehensive

Chapman said.

approach,” said Philip Chou, an officer with

“Because the fin trade is not tracked species-

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ global shark

by-species, this sets up a situation where

endangered shark species or a related

conservation campaign, which supported

some types of sharks can decline towards

species is difficult. Fins look alike after they

the research. “Threatened shark species

extinction unnoticed as the trade pushes

are prepared for sale. To top it off, fins

will survive only if better trade and fisheries

forward with more prolific species.”

Knowing whether a fin came from an

8 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

Student surveys sharks in French Polynesia

Top species found in Hong Kong’s shark fin market

1. Blue shark

2. Silky shark

3. Blacktip shark

4. Scalloped hammerhead

5. Smooth hammerhead

In a matter of a year, Ph.D. student Frances Farabaugh dropped 1,750 baited underwater remote video cameras along 35 reefs in French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. As part of Global FinPrint, a Paul G. Allen-funded initiative to survey the world’s reef shark and ray populations, Farabaugh covered an area the size of Europe. The reefs she surveyed represent 5 percent of the world’s coral reefs.

With more than 2,100 hours of footage acquired, she is helping to secure a critical baseline for what a healthy shark population should look like. Global FinPrint is the largest-ever-attempted shark and ray survey and could guide conservation efforts for decades.

Shark biologist teams up with aerospace engineer to study oceanic whitetips Oceanic whitetip sharks move with extreme efficiency, exploiting physics to maximize their energy for both hunting and downtime. FIU Assistant Professor Yannis Papastamatiou likens their open water habitat to the desert, a vast place where food is sparse. He wanted to know how a shark can maximize energy when hunting for food. Papastamatiou called on an aerospace engineer from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology to assist with basic calculations.

When they realized basic wouldn’t cut it, the engineer turned to calculations for optimal flight performance of planes. In addition to swim speeds, the team predicted the sharks should dive at small angles and maintain constant speed throughout a dive, which should be difficult because sharks naturally sink when not swimming. When the team tagged oceanic whitetips with sensors, they discovered the sharks instinctively behave in the very manner physics dictates they should — even controlling their speed when ascending and descending.

To protect whale sharks, we follow their young An international team of researchers including FIU Assistant Professor Jeremy Kiszka have uncovered the migration routes for whale sharks around Madagascar. Surprisingly, they consistently use two major hotspots along the country’s west coast, off the island of Nosy Be and near Pointe d’Analalava. Why? They’re following their food. Most whale sharks found there are juveniles. By understanding where the younger members of this endangered species live, researchers can better inform governments on how to protect them. Fisheries and boat collisions are the biggest threats to these animals, so knowing their migration routes and habitats is critical for conservation, Kiszka said.

Photo above courtesy of Simon J. Pierce

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 9

SEAGRASS

SAVING

One scientist’s fight in the race against climate change

10 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

By Evelyn S. Gonzalez and JoAnn C. Adkins

J

ames Fourqurean witnessed the unprecedented degradation of Florida Bay in the 1980s, and he watched the seagrasses recover as the bay healed itself in the following two decades. Now, he’s watching that unprecedented event happen for a second time in his lifetime, only there are no guarantees the same healing will occur.

Fourqurean is the director of FIU’s Center for Coastal Oceans Research and one of the top seagrass experts in the world. He is a member of the scientific working group for the International Blue Carbon Initiative, a global program focused on mitigating climate change through the conservation and restoration of marine ecosystems. Seagrass meadows act as a massive carbon sink, capable of storing as much carbon as forests, according to Fourqurean. His research was the first to produce a global inventory of carbon stored in seagrasses.

There’s only one problem: due to poor watershed management and declining water quality near shorelines, seagrasses are disappearing at alarming rates. This is part of the problem in Florida Bay. He believes Florida Bay has plenty of fight left, but more has to be done to make the system resilient. Even with management plans that target overfishing, pollution and other local threats, these plans can do little to combat global threats such as climate change. And no location is immune.

In 2011, Shark Bay, Australia was afflicted with a heat wave that lasted two months and saw water temperatures rise as high as 7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

More than 22 percent of the area’s seagrasses died. The CO2 they were storing was released back into the air in amounts that would equal the emissions of 1.6 million cars. This data, provided by Fourqurean and an international team of scientists, was

only available because of his long-term

seagrasses are capable of storing carbon,

waters of Shark Bay.

and plants that release large amounts of

research projects in the historically pristine “As the Earth’s climate changes, we

expect to see more and more intense heat waves,” Fourqurean said. “This release

of carbon to the atmosphere as carbon

dioxide will only cause further heating of the atmosphere, heating of the oceans and climate change.”

Although the devastating temperatures

warmed Australia’s waters nearly seven years ago, its full effects have yet to be seen. The scientists estimate the dead

seagrasses could release up to 21 million

some meadows are home to algae, corals carbon dioxide. He recently compared

Florida meadows to those in southeast Brazil, where meadows are smaller,

waters are cooler, and plant and animal

abundance is lower. With fewer emitters,

he found the Brazil meadows to be better for storing carbon. Fourqurean published

this research in 2017, hoping conservation officials will use this new information to

target their efforts in areas where carbonstoring potential can be maximized.

Fourqurean knows the world’s

metric tons of carbon dioxide in the 40

seagrasses are capable of storing carbon

event. The lesson here — even the most

healthy. Recovery of imperiled seagrasses

years following the extreme weather

pristine environments are feeling the

effects of climate change and Fourqurean said strategies are needed to address extreme climate events.

In recent years, Fourqurean has started

to identify which regions have the most lucrative seagrasses. Even though all

for thousands of years, if they can just stay is slow. His research efforts continue because he knows the challenges

continue. But he also knows that with

strategic conservation initiatives and some patience, one of the world’s greatest

assets to fight climate change will remain in that fight.

#INAFLASH Wuying Lin, M.S. Environmental Studies 2012 Claim to Fame Pew Marine Fellow Say what?

Lin began a three-year appointment with FIU’s Institute of Water and Environment to address threats to the world’s oceans and protect marine species. She will study waters in South China where endangered species of sea turtles, giant clams, and horseshoe crabs live. She will also study the markets where these species are sold illegally. Lin was named one of eight Pew Marine Fellows in 2018.

What is next for Lin? Lin will engage local volunteers to help survey local markets. She’s producing short films and hosting at least 10 public events aimed at changing local attitudes toward the purchase of illegally sourced, endangered seafood.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 11

RISING STARS

EMERGING POETS TO READ FIU is no stranger to the world of poetry.

Creative Writing Program alumni have gone on to achieve greatness, including inaugural poet Richard Blanco and P. Scott Cunningham, founder of O, Miami. They learned from some of the best, including Pulitzer Prize finalist Campbell McGrath.

But on the horizon are the rising stars of the poetry world. You’ll want to keep an eye on them.

Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello M.F.A. 2014 Calabretta Cancio-Bello was born in South Korea and raised in New York.

Hour of the Ox is inspired by haenyeo, pearl-diving women in their 60s and 70s. They are the breadwinners of their culture, but the tradition is dying out. Calabretta Cancio-Bello is a program coordinator for the Miami Book Fair. She is working on a manuscript examining the history of neocolonialism between Korea and the United States.

12 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

“

Poetry is a weird way to make sense of the world and my experiences. I take something that happened or a memory and try to dive into it and pick it apart and make connections to what I’m feeling and what’s going on in the world.

— Ariel Francisco

Ashley M. Jones M.F.A. 2015 Jones uses poetry to study her roots.

Magic City Gospel explores what it is like to grow up African-American in the south. From Hernando De Soto’s exploration of Alabama to George Wallace’s stance in the schoolhouse door and the murders of black men in modern day America, Jones weaves personal history with Alabama’s complicated and triumphant history.

Jones teaches at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Ariel Francisco M.F.A. 2017 Born in the Bronx, Francisco’s family moved to Miami when he was 11.

All My Heroes Are Broke explores his family history, what he considers the shortcomings of the American dream, and what it’s like to work hard and still be broke. Besides writing, Francisco translates Spanish poems into English.

He is an adjunct professor at FIU and Broward College.

How people speak Spanish drives judgment People in Miami judge others on how they speak Spanish, according to a study by FIU linguist Phillip M. Carter.

In the study, participants listened to audio recordings of native Spanish speakers from Spain, Colombia and Cuba. They rated the accents for attributes tied to income, profession and family background.

Spaniards are perceived as being more educated, having higher income and coming from a family with more money.

Cubans are perceived as being less educated, having lower income and coming from a family with less money than Spaniards. Colombians fall somewhere in between, depending on the category.

Participants had the strongest opinions on the European and Cuban varieties.

“I’m surprised this is happening here in Miami,” Carter said. “Cubans have had the most success here, yet people don’t embrace Cuban Spanish, at least when making snap judgments about income and employment. You’d think people in Miami would look favorably on it given the successes of Cuban-Americans in these domains.”

The study was completed by nearly 300 participants — more than half identified as Latino/ Latina. It is a collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin and was published in the academic journal Latino Studies.

Hidden Tapestry

Center of Dreams

In Debra Dean’s latest book, she unravels a bizarre tale of love, lust, creativity and lifelong friendships.

Hidden Tapestry: Jan Yoors, His Two Wives, and the War That Made Them One tells the story of Jan Yoors — one of the 20th century’s most important textile artists — and the polygamous family he formed with his wife, Annabert van Wettum, and her childhood friend, Marianne Citroen.

Yoors was born in Belgium and fought in the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, he married van Wettum and began an affair with Citroen. The three moved to New York City as Yoors pursued an art career.

His photographs and tapestries were exhibited in prominent museums, galleries and public buildings in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Yoors’ story is well documented.

He wrote two memoirs before he died. Although he received help from his wives in making art, they stayed behind the scenes. Hidden Tapestry is the first biography to take van Wettum and Citroen center stage.

Dean has written three fiction novels. Hidden Tapestry is her first foray into non-fiction.

Les Standiford has a knack for telling stories. His are often about real events that seem obvious until you realize you don’t know the story at all.

In his latest book, Center of Dreams: Building a World-Class Performing Arts Complex in Miami, the Creative Writing Program director reveals the unknown and forgotten details behind one of the most costly and controversial public works project in Miami — the Adrienne Arsht Center.

Though he uncovered no corruption or scandals surrounding the project which took 34 years to plan and build, he did find a variety of culprits that added to the excessive timeline. There was great competition over the choice of sites, architects and contractors.

There were those who did not believe Miami needed a performing arts center that could rival the Lincoln Center in New York. With an initial budget of $169 million, costs ballooned over the years to $469 million as political bickering, construction problems and other issues led to costly delays. Most of the funding came from bed taxes paid by tourists.

“Today the center is the crown cultural jewel of the city,” Standiford said, “but few realize how hard it was to build and how close it came to oblivion.”

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 13

THE

YIDDISH

RENAISSANCE

By JoAnn C. Adkins

14 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

Asher Milbauer has never been ashamed to speak aloud in Yiddish.

The child of Holocaust survivors, Milbauer was born in a post-World War II Soviet Union. He never met his grandparents. They were all murdered in concentration camps. Many of his aunts and uncles were too. He knows the life of exile. As a child, his parents taught him and his two brothers Yiddish even though it was suppressed in the Soviet Union. For them, it was a matter of pride, a matter of preservation.

“They instilled in me a love for this language,” Milbauer said. “That love – as a language of resistance and language of exile – has stayed with me all my life.”

But Milbauer knows many Jews who were once ashamed or afraid to speak in their mother tongue. With the help of the owners of The Betsy South Beach hotel, he is reintroducing Yiddish into the lives of those who dared not speak it for decades.

On a recent rainy Sunday morning, people casually walked into The Betsy for a conversation. They didn’t speak Yiddish to one another. Many don’t speak Yiddish very well, some not at all. Most were eager, however, to say hello to Milbauer. The soft-spoken English professor with a faded Eastern European accent is not one to call attention to himself. But those arriving at The Betsy for a monthly Yiddish salon look upon Milbauer with admiration and affection. After all, he is helping them regain something they once thought lost.

Prior to World War II, approximately 11 million people spoke Yiddish worldwide. Of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, as many as 5 million were Yiddish speakers. After the war, some continued to speak the language, however, many stopped – some in fear of antisemitism and others chose to assimilate, speaking instead the language of the countries where they found refuge. Over time, the number of Yiddish speakers dwindled and today less than 1 million people speak the language, about 250,000 in the United States. Most of those are from Orthodox communities. By many accounts, it is an endangered language.

Few languages are born of exile, created out of existential and cultural necessity for people without a country.

Yiddish is one of those.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 15

more young faces in the crowd. The

Emmy. She also dabbles in Shakespeare

and culture with artists and scholars who

salon, first in English.

gatherings celebrate Yiddish language frame the conversations.

On the recent rainy Sunday, the

audience is somewhat diverse. Seated in the front is David Schaecter, who at the

age of 11 was sent to Auschwitz and is

the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. In the back are a few

young people. But most in attendance are from the generation born after

World War II, the children of families who lived in exile.

Milbauer begins the program by

welcoming everyone, alternating

English and Yiddish with great ease — a Jonathan Plutzik and Deborah Briggs threw their support behind the FIU Yiddish salons as a way to honor their own parents.

Photo credit: Flickr.com/Betsy_hotel

The Yiddish salons at The Betsy are

part of the community programming developed by FIU’s Exile Studies

Program. Milbauer, a fluent speaker of Yiddish, Hungarian, Russian, English

and Hebrew, founded the Exile Studies

Program in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education seven years ago. The

owners of The Betsy hotel have long been supporters of the program —

Jonathan Plutzik and his sister Deborah Briggs are resolute advocates for arts and culture. They are the children of

Tanya Roth Plutzik and the late poet and Pulitzer finalist Hyam Plutzik, who was

the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants.

During a conversation in 2015,

Milbauer imparted his love of all things

Yiddish to Plutzik and Briggs, a language the siblings often heard their parents speak to each other but one they

were never taught. Plutzik was quick

to suggest they create a Yiddish salon series at The Betsy.

“I told them to just schedule it.

Schedule the first one,” he said. “If only

eight people show up, it doesn’t matter.”

Ten showed up.

Two years later, the gatherings are

growing in popularity and drawing 50 or more people, sometimes as

many as 90. While those attending still

largely represent the older generations, Briggs says they are seeing more and

16 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

characteristic of people who know what it is to live in exile.

“German is spoken in Germany.

French is spoken in France. Yiddish

is spoken all over the world,” Milbauer said. “That makes us one big

people speaking a language that defies borders.”

Some easily follow along with

Milbauer’s Yiddish, laughing at all the

right moments and nodding in unison.

Others lean in, listening intently trying to learn.

Lucy Felcher understands Yiddish but

only speaks a little.

She was born in Poland in 1946. Her

parents met while boarding a train

bound for Poland at the end of World

War II — her father was in the Polish Army and her mother spent part of the war

and offered a little Hamlet at the recent “To be or not to be, that is

the question…”

Then in Yiddish, which brings out

some giggles that turn into full-blown laughter in the audience by the time she’s done.

“Ah, there’s the rub,” she says.

Yiddish is full of rich expressions and

terms of endearment. It also offers some very colorful complaints and even more colorful insults. Often, metaphors are

involved. Hoffman later does her best to translate her Yiddish Hamlet back into English.

“To be or not to be. That’s where the

dog is buried. It’s a common way of

saying in Yiddish, ‘that’s the problem,’” she said before a brief pause. “I didn’t say it was academic Shakespeare.”

There are many efforts under way

to carry Yiddish into the 21st century.

Two language conservationists recently published an English-to-Yiddish

dictionary adding words for things like email and binge watch. Facebook is adding Yiddish translations to the social media platform. Some

universities are adding Yiddish to

their language offerings. Efforts are

being made to produce more songs in Yiddish and publish new Yiddish

literary works. Earlier this year, a Yiddish-

language film — Menashe — was released

in a Russian labor camp. They hid their

in the United States.

children. When a 7-year-old Lucy Felcher

Menorah Miami is teaching Yiddish

her mother revealed the truth. Felcher

the salons at The Betsy. As for the

a Jew.

Betsy, the popularity of the salons has

feels very differently. She is proud.

Yiddish symposium dedicated to the

Jewish heritage even from their own

In Miami, a member of Temple

made an offhand remark about Jews,

there, an idea he got after attending

was devastated. She didn’t want to be

collaboration between FIU and The

Today, the Hollywood, Fla. resident

led to the creation of an annual day-long

She is eager to learn more about her

world of exile.

in attendance at the recent salon were

annihilated off the planet in the last

writer, Yiddish playwright and retired

in the 21st century. For the foreseeable

sometimes translates famous works

continue at The Betsy. For Milbauer,

family’s heritage. Felcher and others

Though the language was nearly

there to listen to Miriam Hoffman, a

century, Yiddish is making a comeback

scholar of Germanic languages. She

future, the monthly Yiddish salons will

to Yiddish, including Neil Simon’s The

Plutzik and Briggs, they are doing their

Sunshine Boys. That one earned her an

part to ignite a Yiddish renaissance.

THE

DENNIS LEHANE NARRATIVE

TALENT, GRIT AND MAKING HIS OWN LUCK

By Evelyn S. Gonzalez

“

The brain controls pain.

It controls fear. Sleep.

Empathy. Hunger.

Everything we associate with the heart or the soul or the nervous system is actually controlled by the brain. Everything. What if you could control it?

–Shutter Island

Controlling the brain. It’s a skill Dennis Lehane has yet to master. But, it’s a skill he might not want to master.

His award-winning stories are woven from the chaos in his mind.

Lehane has published 13 novels.

Five — Mystic River, Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island, The Drop and Live by Night — have been made into movies.

He also wrote for the TV shows The Wire and Boardwalk Empire.

Today, Lehane lives in Los Angeles.

He is writing the screenplay of his latest novel, Since We Fell. But before Hollywood came calling, Lehane was working hard to become a writer.

“Plans are just dreams until they’re executed.”

— Live by Night

Lehane grew up in Boston’s historic Dorchester neighborhood, the son of a foreman and school cafeteria worker. His parents wanted him to pursue a career as a utility man or letter carrier.

“I’m only good at one thing and that’s making stuff up,” Lehane admitted, so he earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Eckerd College in 1988.

Lehane enrolled in FIU’s Creative Writing Program to pursue a master’s degree in 1991. Graduate school fed his craving for collaboration and deadlines. He was living the writer’s life. He met Professor Lynne Barrett, who taught him to hone narrative structure — the framework that gives order to a story. Known for his witty dialogue and gripping storylines, Lehane admits putting it all together in a way that makes sense to readers never came naturally. He also found a mentor in Professor John Dufresne.

The two often talked about their craft well into the night.

Ready to graduate, Lehane submitted his master’s thesis in 1994. The series of short stories were fantastic, according to Dufresne, all except for one which lacked a complete plot. Knowing he could do better, his professors asked him to work on it. “It will only take you a few weeks to fix it,” they advised. Seven years followed. He published his first novel A Drink Before the War. Four other books followed. Then Lehane finished his most acclaimed novel to date. Born from the incomplete short story that stalled his thesis years prior, Mystic River was published in 2001.

That same year, Lehane scrapped his original thesis from 1994 and returned to FIU with the gripping crime thriller. He graduated with his master’s degree later that year.

Lehane’s popular appeal and literary excellence earned him the 2018 Lawrence A. Sanders Award for Fiction, which is presented annually

by FIU. Past recipients include Isabelle Allende, Amy Tan and Pat Conroy. Lehane is the first alumnus to receive it.

“The foundation of your life is luck. Hard work and talent make up the difference.”

— Live by Night

Dennis knows how to tell a gripping story, but those stories are grounded in characters that people care about…,” said Les Standiford, director of FIU’s Creative Writing Program. “I tell my students there’s a formula for success in writing: 25 percent is talent, 25 is hard work, 25 is persistence and 25 is luck. Dennis has done so well on the first three counts he made his own luck.”

Photo courtesy of Gaby Gerster/Diogenes, Zurich

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 17

TEACHERS ARE ON THE FRONTLINE FOR CHILD MENTAL HEALTH

By Ayleen Barbel Fattal

S

chool-based mental health services delivered by teachers and staff can significantly reduce mental health

problems in elementary-aged children.

The implications of this research from

FIU’s Center for Children and Families are

significant considering nearly 40 percent of

youth in the United States will be diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder by adolescence.

“More than half of children in the U.S.

who receive mental health care receive

those services in a school setting, which

makes educators frontline mental health

Researchers reviewed 43 studies and

services targeting behavior problems

50,000 children. Services targeted anxiety,

attention, mood, anxiety and substance use.

mental health services provided to nearly depression, and attention and substance use problems. The authors found mental health services blended into routine

academic instruction in the classroom are

particularly effective, compared to pull-out

18 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

that is only implemented on a weekly (or less) basis.

The authors caution that many schools,

or expertise to implement quality mental

and greatly impact long-term quality of life.

“Treating children in schools can

restrict children from receiving mental

and Families.

more than twice as effective as treatment

mental disorders can persist into adulthood

curriculum altogether. If left untreated,

senior author and director of the Mental Program at the Center for Children

Treatment multiple times per week is

particularly those in low-resourced

powerfully overcome issues of cost,

Health Interventions and Technology

are more effective than those targeting

services or using a separate mental health

providers for affected children,” said

psychologist Jonathan Comer, the study’s

Other study findings show school-based

evaluated the effectiveness of school-based

transportation and stigma that typically health services,” said lead author and psychology graduate student Amanda Sanchez.

communities, do not have the personnel

health services without additional support and partnerships with mental health

professionals. They call for increased

support, training and resources for schoolbased staff to optimize the success and

sustainability of school-based mental health services for the large number of students in need.

FIU’s Center for Children and Families is revolutionizing treatments for child mental health through research and clinical work.

40

%

of children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with

at least one mental health disorder by adolescence

Can adults get ADHD? Adults likely do not develop ADHD, according to new research by clinical psychologist Margaret Sibley. More than 80 percent of people diagnosed with adult-onset ADHD probably don’t have ADHD at all. Those who actually have the disorder likely went undiagnosed as children. According to Sibley, false positive late-onset ADHD cases are common without careful assessment. Late-onset symptoms can be explained by the cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use, traumatic brain injury, psychological trauma, environmental stressors, medication side effects or physical illnesses. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Making landfall on the brain FIU psychologists are discovering how hurricanes and other natural disasters contribute to increased post-traumatic stress symptoms in children. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study — the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the U.S. — Jonathan Comer and Anthony Dick are comparing child brain function before and after 2017’s Hurricane Irma to identify key factors that can promote resilience in children exposed to disasters.

The teen brain on e-cigarettes Psychologists from the FIU Center for Children and Families are leading one of the first studies to examine the impact of e-cigarette-use on the developing brain.

Elisa Trucco and Matthew Sutherland are following hundreds of teenagers over the next three years to determine risk and protective factors associated with e-cigaretteuse, identify factors promoting the shift from e-cigarettes to cigarettes and illicit drugs, and determine their negative health effects on the brain using magnetic resonance imaging.

Results could lead to improved routine screenings, substance-use counseling and prevention.

The study is part of a $13 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to build Florida’s first Health Disparities Research Center at a minority institution. Michelle Hospital, research associate professor for the School of Integrated Science and Humanity, is the administrative co-leader for the grant.

Housed in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, the new center focuses on reducing substance use problems and HIV.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 19

Girls in words

HOW CAN CH A N G E I T A L L

By Ayleen Barbel Fattal

T

he gender gap in STEM can start when children are just learning to speak, and the words parents choose to describe their child’s world could be the reason boys are outpacing girls.

A recent study by FIU psychologist Shannon M. Pruden shows boys are hearing spatial language at higher rates than girls and, by default, using it more as they grow. In other words, girls are not born with a disadvantage. Early use of spatial language — the words and ways people describe things, people and places — can be a predictor of future success in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, according to Pruden, who is the lead author of the study. It is the first study to identify a male advantage in early exposure to spatial words and increased spatial language-use.

20 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

“I would like to encourage parents to increase their use of spatial language with their young children, particularly with their daughters,” Pruden said. “It does not require the use of expensive toys like Legos or puzzles. It is as simple as pointing out the sizes and shapes of objects in the natural world.”

Pruden and co-author Susan C. Levine from the University of Chicago studied children at home starting at 14-months-old and followed them until 46 months. They zeroed in on words describing the spatial properties of objects and spaces. Overall, boys heard and used 25 percent more unique spatial words than girls. The difference becomes more evident between 34 and 46 months.

It is possible parents use more spatial language with boys because boys play more with blocks and building sets. Also, boys may have more opportunities for spatial play because of unintended stereotypes that suggest boys are better at those activities than girls. Pruden says more research is needed to fully understand why this is happening.

The future FIU Panthers pictured are daughters of staff members from the College of Arts, Sciences & Education and Division of External Relations, Strategic Communications and Marketing.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 21

22 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

L

By JoAnn C. Adkins Cover art and illustrations by Oscar Negret

5 YEARS IN, FIU explores what’s next for the only underwater research lab

iving in Aquarius changes a person’s relationship with water.

The descent doesn’t take long. Minutes. But the impact is unending. There is that moment one emerges into the wetporch and takes their first breath underwater without the assistance of an oxygen tank. The first time they speak, finding their voice seems an octave higher. The first time they approach the window. They already know they are encased in an 82-ton habitat beneath the ocean. But this is the first time they see it from the place they will call home for a few days, maybe a few weeks.

Aquarius is not exactly James Cameron’s The Abyss, but its seduction is real. Situated in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Aquarius has become part of Conch Reef as corals take up residence along the 43-foot-long cylinder. It shows signs of aging, which should come as no surprise. Aquarius has spent 25 years underwater in the sanctuary off the coast of Key Largo. The metal structure shows a little rust and is missing its signature yellow paint in more than a few spots. But it is a scientific tool unlike any other, the only place on the planet where marine scientists can live among their research subjects. Its potential is limited only by imagination.

“Of all the amazing places my studies have taken me, none has captured the thrill and magic that can be found in scientific exploration quite like Aquarius,” said biological sciences Ph.D. student Frances Farabaugh. She spent time there in 2016, studying the impact sharks have on the behaviors of other fish. “Not only does Aquarius offer the opportunity to do experiments and answer questions that would be practically impossible anywhere else but working there is the adventure of a lifetime.”

Deron Burkepile, an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, shares that sentiment. He once spent 10 days there as a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech.

“One of my favorite things was that we were often out on the reef early in the morning around sunrise and late in the evening around sunset,” he said. “So we would get to see the reef wake up and go to bed.”

Burkepile recalls the strain on his joints from working in water for up to nine hours a day. His wetsuit chafed at his knees and elbows.

He was always cold. But asked today if he would ever be willing to do another mission at Aquarius, he says he would return tomorrow if he could.

Only 399 people have earned the title of aquanaut by saturating in Aquarius, which has hosted 136 missions. Many have been for marine research — searching for solutions to dying coral reefs, vanishing fish populations, and struggling seagrasses. More than 800 research papers have been published in the past 25 years to advance this research. This work has helped shape two decades of marine conservation policy. And that is just scratching the surface of Aquarius’ potential. NASA astronauts are regulars, training for space. It is the closest thing to spaceflight on Earth, according to NASA official Bill Todd.

The United States Navy is also a frequent customer. At Aquarius, the environment is extreme. It is isolated. And Aquarius is highly advanced, offering sea to land communications, in-house lab facilities and an experienced crew that runs the facility with precision from a land-based operations center in Islamorada, Fla.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 23

The fan base rallied. They went in search of a research team that could not just operate the facility but also develop a business plan to fund it.

They knew any plan would be risky without federal dollars to underwrite it.

James Fourqurean was just one of many scientists approached for

For the past five years, Aquarius has been part of FIU. In that time,

it has hosted 20 missions, including the longest in its 25-year history.

For that one, Fabien Cousteau spent 31 days saturated with research

scientists, including two students from FIU, who were examining impacts of climate change and pollution on marine environments. FIU scientists have conducted research missions to study predators and their prey,

coral reefs, and seagrasses. Research scientists from North Carolina sent a team down in 2017 to continue long-term studies on barrel sponges.

Unlike any other research facility at FIU, Aquarius has a cult following.

Its fan base is a mix of scientists, ocean enthusiasts, astronauts, business owners, schoolchildren, college students and countless more. Yet, Aquarius was almost lost in 2013.

The facility was originally commissioned by the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration in the late 1980s and deployed at its current location in 1993. The crippling recession of the early 2000s left federal budgets in limbo and NOAA decided it was time to shutter Aquarius.

Decommissioning began in 2013. It was to be pulled from the water by year’s end.

possible solutions to keep Aquarius open. The FIU marine biology professor and director of FIU’s Center for Coastal Oceans Research has dedicated his career to saving the world’s seagrasses. He and marine sciences professor Mike Heithaus, who now serves as dean of FIU’s College of Arts, Sciences & Education, created a business plan. They just needed base funding to help set that plan in motion.

In a moment of serendipity, Manny Medina, founder of Terremark Worldwide, CEO of Medina Capital Partners and founder of Cyxtera Technologies, was approaching university officials about Aquarius.

A self-proclaimed ocean enthusiast, he believed the marine habitat was a perfect fit with the research mission of Miami’s only public research university. More than an idea, Medina wanted to help. He presented FIU with a $1.25 million gift from the Medina family to create the Medina Aquarius Program. Decommissioning of Aquarius was stopped.

By the fall of 2013, Aquarius was back in operation, this time as an FIU research center.

“At its core, Aquarius is all about learning about the oceans so that we can understand how best to protect it for future generations,” Medina said. “My family and I have been blessed to gain so much from the ocean. By helping fund Aquarius, we’re fortunate to be able to play a role in ensuring that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren can continue to enjoy all that the ocean offers.”

Five years have passed and Aquarius continues to contribute to the very things Medina hoped it would — advancing understanding of the oceans and helping endangered

SATURATION DIVING allows divers to live and work underwater for days and weeks at a time without fear of getting decompression sickness. ESSENTIALLY, IT GIVES MARINE RESEARCHERS THE GIFT OF TIME.

24 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

ecosystems. There have been challenges along the way, most notably Hurricane Irma, which ravaged the facility in 2017. It took almost a year to restore Aquarius back to normal operations, but the important thing is that it’s there — no small feat for a marine facility that has been sitting at the bottom of the ocean for 25 years, offering 25 years of ecosystem observation and 25 years of data. The Aquarius crew knows the day will come when Aquarius will have to be retired. But that doesn’t mean the program will end. FIU officials are already thinking about Aquarius 2.0.

“There have been a lot of technological advances since she was first built in the 1980s,” Fourqurean said. “We definitely have ideas of how to keep this program going and making it even better when the time comes to pull this Aquarius out of the water.”

The goal is to maintain a habitat in the same spot in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for generations to come. It’s a tall order that will come with a large price tag. To push the limits of science will require significant financial support.

“The value of data from a long-term observatory becomes exponentially more valuable the longer it is there,” Fourqurean said.

“Aquarius provides irreplaceable data on the health of the reef that supports zoning strategies to ensure the things we have there are preserved and protected for many future generations.”

The FIU team has time to plan for Aquarius 2.0. With a routine maintenance schedule and an expert crew that operates the habitat with extreme efficiency, Fourqurean said Aquarius has many missions still in its future. Aquarius Operations Director Roger Garcia is making sure of that. It’s a labor of love for the rugged United States Navy veteran who has worked at Aquarius since 2003.

“There is no other place where people live and work underwater for extended periods of time,” Garcia said. “I can honestly tell you, from the bottom of my heart, that I enjoy waking up in the morning and coming to work. Yes, I enjoy my job.”

The discussions are beginning about what the next habitat will offer, how big it will be, what shape it will take. Some aspects will be nonnegotiable. It must offer scientists a place to reside for days and weeks at a time to advance their research. It must offer companies, military agencies and others a place to test and train for new technologies.

It must remain a destination for the world’s astronauts to train in an extreme environment. And perhaps one of the most important components of the Aquarius mission, the next Aquarius must be available to schoolchildren all across the world — a place to virtually visit to learn more about oceans and inspire them to become the great stewards of the planet’s imperiled ecosystems.

When FIU took over Aquarius in 2013, the university launched a public outreach campaign, hosting schoolchildren from all across the world on virtual field trips. To date, more than 1 million kids have skyped with aquanauts from classrooms in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

For college Dean Mike Heithaus, that’s a good start but he wants to be reaching 1 million school kids every few months through virtual field trips.

“Live interactions with real scientists doing cool and amazing things can literally change the trajectory of a student’s life,” Heithaus said.

“Expanding our education programs for schools and the public is a big priority for us. Aquarius has the power to inspire like almost nothing else on Earth.”

The demographics of the students virtually visiting Aquarius are as diverse as their locations. Some come from large urban schools, others from small towns. One field trip was hosted for six high school students in Comunidad Nativa de Diamante, an indigenous community in the heart of the Amazon rainforest of Peru. That link-up was arranged by the non-profit organization Environmental Growth and Sustainability. For those isolated students, a virtual visit to Aquarius was the closest they have ever come to visiting an ocean. For Manny Medina, powering the minds of children is the very definition of success. If Aquarius continues to do that for future generations, he says the investment in the world’s only remaining underwater research lab will be well worth it.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 25

INTEREST IN SCIENCE IS CONTAGIOUS

E

xcitement is contagious in a science classroom and could lead to greater interest in science careers, according to a study by STEM Transformation Institute professors Zahra Hazari and Geoffrey Potvin.

When students see their science classmates as very interested in the class, they are more likely to develop an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. This infectious trend can also help improve grades.

“People have been found to readily catch the emotions of others and we see this happening in science classroom environments,” Hazari said. “This really emphasizes the importance of having engaging environments to hook students to science and motivate them toward learning.”

How a student perceives the level of their peers’ interests has a significant effect on their science career choices even after accounting for differences in their prior interest in STEM classes, their level of family support for science, academic achievement, gender and quality of teaching.

This positive effect was consistent across biology, chemistry and physics. Even students who had little prior interest or support in science showed greater interest in science careers when they saw high levels of interest in their classmates.

26 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

FIUTEACH STUDENT READY TO FILL A VOID

K

evin Castillo wants to teach where he’s needed most, which just happens to be where most don’t want to teach.

As school districts grapple with teacher shortages, Castillo hopes to teach science in high-needs, lowincome schools. Castillo enrolled in FIUteach, part of the National Math and Science Institute’s UTeach program and is supported by the Robert R. Bellamy and Robert Noyce scholarships.

Castillo hopes he will have the opportunity to inspire high school students and leverage their own curiosity to explore and challenge new scientific discoveries.

“In science, you have to learn new things,” he said. “It’s a field where people will ask for evidence and if you can prove your theory with facts and reason, no one can question you. The truth is the truth.”

#INAFLASH Krista Shuckerow, B.S. Statistics 2018 | Claim to fame: She just got her first job and it's at Google Say what?

Shuckerow found her passion for programming and coding after participating in her first hackathon in the spring of 2016. In her junior year, Shuckerow secured an internship with Fidelity Investments — the fourth largest asset management company in the United States. That summer, tech leaders were recruiting at FIU where she received an offer from Google. She headed to Seattle this summer to become an engineering resident for the tech giant.

What was it like interviewing for Google?

She remembers mid-interview being stuck on one of the problems and thought, ‘why do I even bother, I’m not going to get it.’ Thankfully, she did not give up.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 27

EDUCATING ADULTS

BOOSTING CRUISE BOOKINGS WITH VIDEO GAMES

By Chrystian Tejedor

F

or travel companies with anemic cruise bookings, video games might be the cure, according to a new study.

Travel agents who completed a video game showing them the ins and outs of the cruise business were more likely to improve their knowledge of a Miami-based cruise line’s offerings and book more cruises. According to the study, travel agents improved their performance regardless of age, gender or whether they worked in the United States or Canada.

“We had no idea what was going to be the outcome,” said Lizette Calvo, an alumna of the FIU doctoral program in curriculum and instruction, who is the study’s lead author and a co-designer of the game.

The game developed for Carnival Cruise Line was intended to help agents sell cruises to people who are new to cruising, which requires an agent to know the options available that would appeal to young, single customers or to those traveling with children. Part of the game’s appeal was that it was fun and educational, Calvo said. In fact, various companies already use serious games – those designed to educate rather than entertain – to train employees.

Calvo’s game rewarded travel agents with achievements and points that are assigned based on difficulty, accuracy and the speed at which questions were answered. The cruise line has since developed a second game aimed at helping agents better understand the experiences available at various ports of call. The study was co-authored by Thomas G. Reio Jr. adult education and human resource development professor.

28 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

G

CULTIVATING

HOPE IN LITTLE HAVANA

rowing up in an underserved community, David Riera learned about the power of gardening. Now he wants teens to reap its rewards.

Riera and other volunteers built the Urban K Garden at Kinloch Park Middle School in Little Havana.

It boasts tropical trees, vines, a butterfly garden and raised beds for vegetables, herbs and flowers. It serves as a living laboratory where students apply what they learn in the classroom.

“This garden is a vehicle for students to have an experiential learning experience and to embed a culture of doing for themselves, their families and their neighborhood,” said Riera, a Ph.D. student in the School of Education and Human Development. “If kids can work with their hands and see their hard work pay off, it can positively influence other areas of their lives.”

He hopes the Urban K Garden will be an outlet for the school’s underrepresented and at-risk youth to learn, work, socialize and gain selfconfidence.

“After growing up where I grew up and serving in the military, gardening is therapy for me,” Riera said. “The effect at Kinloch is not just providing students with hope, but empowering them and the community with the tools to grow hope for themselves.”

#INAFLASH Irene Delgado B.S. Early Childhood Education 2018 Claim to Fame Reading for the record Say what?

Delgado and fellow Early Childhood Education Club students read the book Quackers to drum up interest in reading among the 2- to 5-year-olds at the Children’s Creative Learning Center at FIU during Read for the Record Day. Even though the youngest children couldn’t read, the illustrations were enough for them to follow the story, answer basic questions and interpret the emotions of the characters.

In some cases, they predicted what would happen next – strong foundations for building good reading skills.

What is her favorite book to read to kids?

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. She loves it because it teaches children how to love and appreciate what makes each one of us unique.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 29

LOVE FOR DANCE + PASSION FOR TEACHING = WINNING COMBINATION

By Ayleen Barbel Fattal

30 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

D

aniela Chavarriaga steps in time with Amanda Gottardi, a 14-year old practicing one of two solos she performs in competitions. Chavarriaga knows every step, every hand gesture, every move.

Her time exists in increments of eight.

Her starting line for every dance — five, six, seven, eight.

Chavarriaga, an FIU alumna with a bachelor’s in elementary education, is owner and founder of Elite Arts Academy — a competitive dance studio in West Kendall. To most people, she’s just Dee. To Gottardi and the other Elite Arts students, she’s family.

“I practically live here and I love it,” said Gottardi who has been training at Elite Arts Academy since she was 4.

Ten years after opening its doors, Chavarriaga and the Elite Arts Academy family have lots to celebrate.

Elite dominated the 2017 Starbound National Talent Competition in San Antonio with grand championship wins in three group categories — the first sweep in studio history.

But success didn’t come easy.

“In the beginning, it was rough,” Chavarriaga said. “There’s a learning curve to knowing how to separate the dance part from the business side. I’m all about the dance part. My husband is the voice of reason when it comes to the business side.”

Elite is in a competitive market with plenty of well-established dance studios. It was not easy to be the new kid on the block. A good studio has trophies lining the walls. In the beginning, Chavarriaga only had fresh paint to show.

“We did a lot of walking. Passed out a lot of flyers, but when that first person signed up, it was all worth it,” Chavarriaga said.

Born in Venezuela, Chavarriaga participated in competitive gymnastics when she was only 2. She traded the balance beam for the dance floor at age 12. She became one of the founding members of the Coral Reef Senior High School dance team. When Chavarriaga earned her degree from FIU in 2008, the wheels for Elite Arts Academy were already in motion. With

the help of her parents and husband, she drafted a business plan. When the studio where she used to train went up for sale, she took a chance.

Chavarriaga relies on her education background to instill discipline and passion in her dancers. For three years, she taught second grade by day and ran the dance studio by night. But when her first daughter Andrea came along, she turned her focus to the studio full-time.

“I was able to take everything I learned about teaching and apply it to dance,” Chavarriaga said. “Discipline, positive reinforcement, consistency and repetition are all techniques I take from the classroom and apply to teaching dance. I am a teacher, just not in a traditional classroom.”

Of the 250 students at Elite Arts Academy, 60 compete. Forty have solos — all requiring private instruction from Chavarriaga. She has a quiet command of the dance floor and an infectious exuberance when her dancers take the stage.

Some of Chavarriaga’s students have been with her from the start.

Catherine Uribazo is one of them.

A psychology major at FIU, Uribazo started as a student at Elite Arts Academy at 11. Today, she is an instructor and part of the Elite winning team.

“My first official training in dance was at Elite,” Uribazo said. “To have the first dance I ever choreographed win at nationals was amazing! For me, what sets Elite apart is the environment — it feels like home.”

Elite Arts Academy is truly a family affair. Chavarriaga’s husband Mauricio, an FIU College of Business alumnus, manages the business side of Elite.

Her mother helps run the front desk, designs costumes and props.

Chavarriaga is the backbone — teacher, cheerleader and mentor.

For Chavarriaga and Elite, the sky is the limit. She admits the sweep is a tough act to follow but she has not shied away from the challenge.

“I knew I wanted to be a studio director since I was 17,” Chavarriaga said. “I’m living my dream.”

#INAFLASH Angelic Cox Psychology senior Claim to Fame The Jerk Man Burger Say what?

Cox created a burger inspired by her Caribbean roots and the quintessential Jamaican jerk man — a street vendor peddling jerk chicken, jerk ribs and other Caribbean comfort foods. The burger features a spicy, jerkseasoned beef patty topped with muenster cheese, jerkflavored barbecue sauce and sweet mango salsa piled on a potato bun. She entered it into this year’s Red Robin Golden Robin contest at the South Beach Food & Wine festival, taking home the top prize — a $10,000 scholarship and a spot on Red Robin’s Burgers and Brews menu.

How good is it?

She spent the festival grilling up sliders alongside 42 of the nation’s most popular burger joints for festival-goers.

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives star Guy Fieri stopped by to sample. “You’re a rock star,” he said as he finished off his Jerk Man. “It’s delicious.”

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 31

#ITSO

By Ayleen Barbel Fattal

M

ore than educators. More than researchers. Their charge is greater. They are advocates. In a center founded on the basis of solutions for women and gender issues, psychologists Vicki Burns and Asia Eaton are just two of the many solution-finders in the FIU’s Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. They are working among the many women and men educating, fighting for policy changes and bringing down social norms that cultivate discrimination and social injustices. In 2017, they really got people talking.

Conversation on sexual assault comes to the classroom FIU has joined an elite few universities offering an academic course on understanding and preventing campus sexual assault.

The course — “It’s Not Just Locker Room Talk: Understanding and Preventing Campus Sexual Assault” — was first offered in the spring of 2018. It covered factors contributing to the incidence of sexual assault and ways to prevent it. Instructor Vicki Burns had been developing the course since first joining the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies in 2015. The curriculum discusses the media, alcohol, parties and the role of consent and why it matters.

“The United States is confronting an epidemic that has always existed,” Burns said.

“Sexual assault is now front and center in the national conversation. Understanding and preventing sexual assault, especially on college campuses, has become a priority.”

Burns is a member of FIU’s Title IX Committee and faculty advisor for the Women, Sexuality and Gender Studies Student Association.

Her research focuses on how gender, race or ethnicity and other demographic factors relate to sexual assault prevention efforts with a particular focus on bystander intervention strategies. Her work was recognized by the Society for the Psychology of Women of the American Psychological Association. With this course, Burns hopes to provide a platform for students to be better educated about what sexual assault is and what consent is.

Vicki Burns, left and Asia Eaton, right 32 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

ONUS Sexual harassment in the workplace: organizational policies can make a difference Employees are more likely to report sexual harassment they witness at work when there is a zero-tolerance policy in place.

A recent FIU study indicates companies where zero-tolerance policies are a top-priority are particularly effective in increasing the reporting of the most common forms of sexual harassment.

The study is the first to show organizational policies can actually influence a person’s willingness to report sexual harassment they witness.

“We have known for some time that organizational policies around sexual harassment are related to employee harassment behavior, but it wasn’t clear if the policies were actually responsible for employee behavior,” said Asia Eaton, psychology professor and study co-author.

According to the study, a standard policy statement saying “we are an equal opportunity organization and subscribe to federal and state laws which forbid discrimination and harassment” is not as effective as a zero-tolerance policy that provides a clear framework for interpreting and acting on what someone may witness or experience. For this study, Eaton and Ph.D. student Ryan K. Jacobson conducted two assessments — one with undergraduate students using a fictitious company and policies and another with human resources professionals using real-life policy statements.

Student and employee participants in both scenarios indicated they would be more likely to formally report instances of sexual harassment when they were shown an organizational policy that was explicitly zero-tolerance. Results also show a zero-tolerance organizational policy can increase the likelihood that more severe harassment, including ‘quid-pro-quo’ — where the harasser offers the employee something in return for satisfying a sexual demand — would be reported.

Implement an effective zero-tolerance policy: 1. Look at your policy: Does your organization have a zero-tolerance policy that explicitly prohibits both moderate and severe sexual harassment?

2. Encourage diversity: Organizations and industries that have less gender diversity may be more likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace. Diversity in leadership is also important.

3. Follow-through: Leaders must set the tone for the organization and be clear in their expectations. When harassment is reported, perpetrators should be held accountable.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 33

FIGHT WATER

WITH WATER

To combat sea level rise, scientists recommend more freshwater in the coastal Everglades

By Evelyn S. Gonzalez

34 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

#INAFLASH

T

he Florida Everglades needs more freshwater to fight sea level rise. That’s because more parts of the Everglades are susceptible to salt water intrusion.

Resource managers currently release freshwater during the wet season when sea levels are highest. But, saltwater can still move inland in the dry season when freshwater is not being released. There are things managers can do to save freshwater in the Everglades, according to scientists in FIU’s Institute of Water and Environment.

“We need to fight water with water,” said Rene Price, chair of FIU’s Department of Earth and Environment and co-author of the study. “To combat sea level rise in the Everglades, we recommend additional freshwater be delivered throughout the year, not just in the wet season.”

In a new study, the scientists found sea levels rose 2.2 centimeters every year from 2011 to 2015. In 2012, there was a notable increase of 10 centimeters in the dry season months when sea level is typically at its lowest. Many factors caused the drastic increases in sea level. Melting ice sheets, a strong La Niña season in 2011, and slow ocean currents allowed seawater to pile up along South Florida’s coastlines. Sea levels have not subsided. Parts of the coastal Everglades that were once flooded by seawater about 70 percent of the time are now covered by seawater 90 percent of the time.

The scientists relied on data collected by the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research (FCE-LTER) program. Housed at FIU and funded by the National Science Foundation, the FCE-LTER studies how water, climate and people impact the Everglades. For nearly 20 years, it has led some of the longest and largest studies in the tropical wetlands.

The most important source of freshwater for people in Florida, the Everglades also offers storm protection, recreation and tourism revenue. It is home to diverse species of plants and animals, 68 of which are threatened. The Everglades is also a delicate ecosystem that depends on just the right balance of freshwater and saltwater to stay healthy. Low ground level, tides, flooding and excess marine nutrients allow saltwater to encroach, threatening to throw off the balance.

To help maintain the delicate balance, freshwater levels in the Everglades need to be maintained higher than sea level. Delivering freshwater throughout the year, not just in the wet season, can help achieve this. Even a small amount of freshwater released at the right time of year can make a big difference.

DID YOU KNOW? FIU’s College of Arts, Sciences & Education is developing an Everglades Observatory for field operations, research, education and public outreach. It will feature a collaborative hub of scientists, educators and community partners focused on a vibrant future for the River of Grass. To support this project, visit case.fiu.edu.

Rene M. Price Chair, Department of Earth and Environment Claim to Fame Answered the question: How soon will Miami residents know what sea levels will be in 2100?

Say what?

The hydrogeologist teamed up with an Australian oceanographer to examine historical data and extend projections through 2100.

They determined that by 2030, scientists will be able to predict sea levels with statistical certainty, giving communities 70 years to plan. With predictions ranging wildly as to the height and acceleration of sea level rise, the scientists’ findings provide a first step in developing real solutions for rising seas.

What else does she do?

Price studies the movement of ground water in soil and rocks. She also studies hydrological conditions throughout the coastal Everglades, including conditions in tree islands and mangrove lakes, as well as sea level rise and its impacts on South Florida’s natural resources.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 35

NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN Mangroves are out of options from rising seas

By Chrystian Tejedor

M

angroves running for their lives may have just hit the end of the road. The problem is so clear, it might be the first real sign Earth has entered a new geological era.

Using a combination of aerial photographs from the 1930s, modern satellite imagery and ground sediment samples, FIU Sea Level Solutions Center researchers Randall W. Parkinson and John F. Meeder tracked the mangroves’ westward retreat from the coastal Everglades. Now, their backs are to the wall.

Having reached the L-31E levee in southeast Miami-Dade County, there’s nowhere left for mangroves in that part of the Everglades to flee.

“You can see migration westward has 36 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

stopped right where that levee is,” Parkinson said. “In many cases there's no space for them to migrate into — there’s development or some feature that blocks their migration.

They’re done. That’s it.”

Parkinson estimates that in 30 years, the land now occupied by mangroves could be open water. For people living nearby, it would mean the loss of one of the natural barriers to storm surge and saltwater intrusion. For the rest of the Everglades, their survival might hinge solely on ongoing restoration efforts.

Scientists have seen mangroves make the same desperate moves elsewhere on the planet in response to climate change caused by people. These migrations are so

clear and pervasive, they argue it’s a sign the planet has entered a new geological era, one that is marked by man’s emergence as the dominant influence on the planet. Other researchers have proposed that this new era — the Anthropocene — should coincide with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution or the dropping of the first atomic bomb, among others.

Because mangroves are reacting to climate change globally and their movements are easily recognized, Parkinson argues this is the true start of the Anthropocene.

“So, what we have proposed is reasonable and justified,” he said.

The research findings were published in the Journal of Coastal Research.

ForEverglades: Scholars boost sustainable Everglades FIU is training the next generation of scientists whose knowledge, creativity and passion will help solve some of the Everglades’ biggest challenges. Their research is as diverse as the Florida Everglades itself, a tropical wetland made up of swamp, mangrove forests, hammocks, pine rockland and marine environments. The Everglades Foundation’s FIU ForEverglades scholars are conducting research and outreach to help inform policy, conservation and management.

Anteneh Abiy Ph.D. Geosciences The year 2017 was drier than usual with the Everglades receiving 6 inches of rainfall less than the annual average.

Small-scale droughts like these have cropped up in the past 20 years. Anteneh Abiy is examining how drought, sea level rise and water consumption impact the Everglades. His work will inform water resource management.

Cody Eggenberger M.S. Environmental Studies The recreational fishing industry is worth $7.6 billion to Florida’s economy, but little is known about how Everglades restoration affects fish. Cody Eggenberger is examining how oxygen levels and predators in the water influence where snook and tarpon travel and live. This information can pave the way for better restoration policy and resource management.

Chloe Vorseth M.S. Environmental Studies Chloe Vorseth wants to speed up Everglades restoration. She is examining what people know about the Everglades, how they use it and their attitudes on restoring it. By understanding the needs and wants of the public, Vorseth’s work can inform restoration policy and implementation.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 37

38 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

COLLABORATION AND ACTIONABLE SCIENCE New director of Sea Level Solutions Center gets to work

By JoAnn C. Adkins

J

“

ayantha Obeysekera wants to engineer greater community engagement and collaboration among local governments to combat sea level rise.

Obeysekera joined the College of Arts, Sciences & Education as director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center in 2018. The research, education and outreach hub is designed to develop and implement solutions for the impacts caused by rising seas, one of the greatest environmental threats facing Florida today.

Founding Director Tiffany Troxler is leading research programs within the center as the director of science.

As director, Obeysekera is focusing on developing national and international collaborations, expanding research initiatives and assisting local and regional governments with adaptation and resilience. The center is a key program in FIU’s Institute of Water and Environment.

“In the face of sea level rise, cities and towns working independently is dangerous,” Obeysekera said. “A successful strategy to ensure South Florida’s resilience requires strong coordination, commitment, financing and collaboration among academic partners and government agencies at all levels.”

A successful strategy to ensure South Florida’s resilience requires strong coordination, commitment, financing and collaboration among academic partners and government agencies at all levels.

— Jayantha Obeysekera Director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center

He says the center will provide actionable science for resiliency efforts, providing data that can help with difficult decisions including how, where and when to develop infrastructure projects, flood protection and alternative methods for supplying freshwater.

Obeysekera previously served as chief modeler at the South Florida Water Management District, where he had a leading role in modeling of the Everglades and Kissimmee River restoration projects. He was co-author of the sea level rise projections report published

by NOAA for the National Climate Assessment and a lead author for the Southeast Chapter of the National Climate Assessment. He served on the federal advisory committee which directed the development of the National Climate Assessment in 2014. Obeysekera was a member of multiple National Research Council panels dealing with water resources issues, focusing on the Edwards Aquifer system in Texas, Klamath River in California and Oregon, and the California Bay Delta. He also served on the Coastal Assessment Regional Scenario Working Group associated with the Department of Defense and co-authored a report on regional sea level projections for Department of Defense facilities across the globe.

“We are delighted to bring Dr. Obeysekera.

He brings additional expertise to already strong group of hydrologists and also brings an engineering perspective to our coastal systems,” said Todd Crowl, director of the Institute of Water and Environment.

Obeysekera earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Colorado State University, a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Roorkee in India and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Sri Lanka.

He previously worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University and a research affiliate professor at Florida Atlantic University. He also has taught courses in water resources at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Obeysekera is the 2015 recipient of the Norman Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 39

GLOBAL FORENSIC AND JUSTICE CENTER LAUNCHES AT FIU Collaboration could shape future of forensics

By Ayleen Barbel Fattal and Chrystian Tejedor

PATENTS Faculty in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education have been awarded 40 patents since 2000. The majority of those are held by faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and more than half belong to researchers in the International Forensic Research Institute. Their discoveries are advancing forensic detection of drugs, explosives, human scent, and much more.

40

PATENTS

1

21

Psychology

Forensic

16

Other Chemistry

2

Physics

F

and institutes, FIU created the Global Forensic

first industry-university cooperative center

world’s most comprehensive providers of

Foundation. Its mission is to develop new

analysis, drug tests are all evolving and often,

services, research and education. The

orensics can make or break a case. In recent years cases that have sat cold for decades have been solved due to

advances in the field. DNA testing, fingerprint it’s because of discoveries made at FIU.

The university has four established centers

and institutes that provide the footprint of forensic science excellence: International

Forensic Research Institute (IFRI), Center for

and Justice Center. FIU is now one of the

forensic science and justice administration university provides unrivaled opportunities

for students, agencies, military operators and industry to collaborate on the latest groundbreaking research in the field.

Scientists at FIU’s International Forensic

Administration of Justice, Center for Advanced

Research Institute are conducting original

Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC).

other scientific disciplines for use in forensics.

Research in Forensic Sciences, and National

Together, these centers and institutes provide the basis for strong education and research

programs, collaboration with justice studies and service programs, increased industryuniversity collaborations, and training for forensic professionals.

To build on the successes of these centers

40 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

research and transferring technologies from They also provide scientific expertise to law

enforcement and legal communities as well as

started with support from the National Science technologies requested by industrial partners.

Also in 2017, Largo-based NFSTC joined

the university after 22 years as an independent organization. It provides forensic science

training, support and technology evaluations to the military and law enforcement, forensic scientists and crime laboratories worldwide.

The Center for the Administration of Justice is

renown as a leader in reforming justice systems in Latin America. It applies discoveries in the lab for national and global practitioners and

continuing education and advanced training

justice systems.

reach, FIU established the Center for Advanced

expands FIU’s efforts to train law enforcement,

former IFRI director José R. Almirall. It is the

set standards with groundbreaking innovations.

for practicing scientists. To expand its forensic Research in Forensic Science in 2017, led by

The Global Forensic and Justice Center

lab directors and scientists, influence policy, and

IS THAT COCAINE?

FIU patents tests that won’t steer you wrong

C

hemistry students and their professor have patented a series of tests that can quickly, accurately and cost-effectively confirm the presence of cocaine.

The tests can be carried out by police on the side of the road — one testing saliva, the other unknown powders. In each case, the substance to be tested is added to a liquid solution developed by FIU chemist Yi Xiao and her students Haixiang Yu, Juan Canoura and Obtin Alkhamis. If the substance is cocaine, the sample glows red under a green light in seconds.

“We’re trying to detect a grain of cocaine dissolved in a swimming pool,” said Yu, a biochemistry Ph.D. student. “But it is even more complicated because saliva has proteins and salts that are different from person to person.”

Existing roadside tests for cocaine leave too much room for error, according to the New York Times. One gives a positive result in the presence cocaine and 80 other substances, including cleaning products. Other tests can give a false reading if officers fail to follow a prescribed procedure or if the outside temperature is too hot or too cold.

Alternately, lab-based testing methods are expensive, complicated and timeconsuming. Instead of saliva, they require blood or urine samples that are then sent to a lab for analysis. Results take weeks and might still be faulty.

Whether powder or saliva, Xiao’s tests are completed in a one-step process that doesn’t require expensive equipment or lab-based services.

Tracing heroin to its source Researchers at the International Forensic Research Institute could potentially disrupt the nation’s illegal opioid supply.

A team led by chemistry Professor José R. Almirall discovered heroin’s chemical structure holds clues to the unique areas where it is manufactured. If drug enforcement agents can pinpoint where heroin

entering the United States is manufactured, they can better target domestic and foreign law enforcement efforts.

The Drug Enforcement Administration wanted to know specifically whether elemental analysis could determine where heroin was coming from, said Joshua DeBord, a chemistry Ph.D. student who co-authored the study.

It’s helpful for them to develop intelligence from heroin that is seized, he said.

Using heroin samples of known geographic origin provided to them by the DEA, researchers found ratios of strontium isotopes in samples known to come from the four distinct regions.

Heroin is one part of the opioid epidemic gripping the nation, claiming almost 13,000 lives in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 41

NUCLEAR MYSTERY

T

he United States has a pretty big problem on its hands – an 80,000-metric-ton radioactive problem. It will take more than 100,000 years to go away.

Ingrid Lehman-Andino, FIU’s first radiochemistry Ph.D. student and Nuclear Regulatory Commission fellow, is working on a solution with two nuclear chemistry professors. They believe the U.S. could lessen the impact of climate change by producing nuclear power with

On the hunt for a special molecule

“

People always think it’s so dangerous.

That’s what makes this project so interesting. It might be dangerous in some aspects, but I feel like I’m doing something good for people.

— Ingrid Lehman-Andino

42 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

smaller amounts of reused, short-lived radioactive waste.

Most of the radioactive waste comes from the production of Cold War-era nuclear weapons. Some comes from nuclear power plants, which produce energy with a low carbon footprint.

Lehman-Andino is searching for the molecule that could pull harmful radioactive isotopes from the nuclear soup that’s left when a reactor reaches the point that it needs to be refueled.

By removing these elements, LehmanAndino and professors Konstantinos Kavallieratos and Christopher Dares are hoping to make most of the waste less hot, less radioactive, less dangerous.

They also hope to inject these isotopes back into other reactors as a new source of nuclear fuel, increasing the amount of energy produced from uranium.

“My mom didn’t want me to do it,” Lehman-Andino said. “People always think it’s so dangerous. That’s what makes this project so interesting. It might be dangerous in some aspects, but I feel like I’m doing something good for people.”

Studying chemistry in Puerto Rico, Lehman-Andino hoped to do good by one day becoming a high school chemistry teacher. Plans changed. Now she wants to work in a national laboratory to gain experience before pursuing a career as a chemistry professor. But first, she wants to find that special molecule.

“How is this going to end? Is it going to bind,” she thinks out loud. “Will it extract those radioactive isotopes? I want to finish this project.”

A

MY FIRST JOB:

MAKING NUCLEAR FUEL SAFER

newly minted assistant in the lab of radiochemistry professor Konstantinos Kavallieratos’ lab, Matthew Fortunato starts his days with a task he knows well.

With a practiced hand, he collects just the right amount of powders and liquids and blends them together in a flask. He is not distracted by the intense, fishy smell or the bubbling of the liquid. He is focused. His movements are quick and precise.

By the time the mixture has been warmed and blended, it has taken on a thick, yellow appearance. Making this broth is the first step Fortunato must take on his journey to finding the right mix of ingredients that could rid nuclear waste of the most dangerous, long-lived radioactive elements.

Fortunato increased production of the molecule to a 40 percent yield from a 10 percent yield. He turned it into a crystal — a key step in understanding it’s shape and ability to bind to those more harmful elements of nuclear waste.

“This feels interesting and useful. If this works, it can be a good way to step away from fossil fuels,” Fortunato said. “It was something completely different than what I had ever done in a lab for class.”

#INAFLASH Alejandro Hernandez B.S. Chemistry 2017 Claim to Fame Nuclear chemistry intern Say what?

Hernandez was one of 12 students who joined the Nuclear Chemistry Summer School at San Jose State University, an intensive six-week program on radiochemistry. He studied radiochemistry applications in simple things like fire alarms, as well as more complicated applications including medical imaging and cancer treatments.

What did he do?

Hernandez participated in interactive courses and conducted handson laboratory work that introduced him to the stateof-the-art instrumentation and technology used in nuclear science. He also toured research centers and national laboratories.

The result? Hernandez has gained confidence in his abilities and believes he can accomplish his goals.

Arts, Sciences & Education 2018 | 43

Practical.

Sentimental.

Unexpected.

Our researchers can’t work without their…

Internet Debra Dean Creative writing professor I’m old enough to remember when the Internet wasn’t a default mode of research, but I’d be pretty lost without it now.

Polarized sunglasses Jeremy Kiszka Marine scientist Sunglasses are highly critical for marine research, particularly when spending hours looking for whales and dolphins. While they protect my eyes, polarized ones also help me to see through the water so I can see animals before they surface to breathe.

Flashlight Alessandro Catenazzi Conservation biologist When in the field I spend many hours searching for animals (frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes) at night, and so I always carry with me at least one flashlight.

Lego blocks Shannon M. Pruden Child psychologist Our studies utilize Tetris-like tasks to examine children’s and adult’s ability to mentally rotate figures. We also study how puzzles, blocks and Legos impact spatial abilities.

44 | Arts, Sciences & Education 2018

Game controller Matthew Sutherland Cognitive Neuroscientist I study how the human brain works.

A video game controller allows us to study different regions of the brain as participants play carefully designed games while in the MRI.

LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT HIS ROCKS

G Field notebook Rene Price Hydrogeologist The field notebook is the one item that reminds me of which days I was in the field. I often go back to them to check data, field conditions and what type of equipment I was using.

eologist Stephen Haggerty is learning what it’s like to work without some of his most useful research tools — his rocks.

The Smithsonian recently called asking to make his collection a permanent part of theirs.

“Who in their right mind would say no?” Haggerty mused.

More than 500 pounds of the rocks he’s collected during his 47-year career are now on their way to the world’s largest museum, research and education complex. These aren’t just your garden variety rocks. They are a peek into Earth’s history – something that otherwise might not be available to future geologists. Many rocks come from diamond mines all over Africa, ones that are closed, inaccessible, or difficult to reach due to civil unrest.

“He’s super famous in the field for his work on mantle xenoliths – rocks that have rocketed from depths in the Earth greater than 200 miles to the surface,” said Elizabeth Cottrell, a research geologist and curator-in-charge of the national rock and ore collections at the National Museum of Natural History.

It’s not every day the Smithsonian makes that kind of call, Cottrell said. The Smithsonian is interested in materials that have been heavily researched. In many cases, Haggerty’s research is the primary source of geological data in the locations where he has studied. His kimberlites, for example, are among the deepest and oldest rocks ever uncovered. Many hail from the now shuttered Jagersfontein diamond mine in South Africa, where the Excelsior diamond – one of the largest in the world – was found.

Others hail from Sierra Leone and Liberia, where civil wars put Haggerty’s research of kimberlite deposits on hold for a decade. It was worth the wait. Haggerty just recently discovered the pamaya plant tends to grow over these elusive geological formations that often lead to diamonds. In other words, when looking for diamonds in some parts of the world, pamaya marks the spot.

Haggerty’s packing days aren’t over yet. After five weeks of sorting and packing for the first shipment, he is now sorting through another batch that will be bound for The Smithsonian soon.

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