9 minute read
Student Impact Stories
Making a World of Difference
LANGA BAKHULUMA-NCUBE ’18 AND JOHANE SIMELANE ’13
Above and opposite page, far right: Langa Bakhuluma-Ncube ’18 Opposite page, left: Johane Simelane ’13
Academic projects, summer experiences, and wellness initiatives at Skidmore have helped international alumni to launch careers with a social impact and promote public health solutions across the globe . Langa Bakhuluma-Ncube ’18 and Johane Simelane ’13, both Davis United World College scholars from the Waterford Kamhlaba United World College in Swaziland, pursued self-determined majors in public health at Skidmore followed by master’s degrees at Ivy League graduate schools .
Langa was a lead peer health mentor at Skidmore, part of a group of student volunteers who promote healthy choices and lifestyles among peers . For her final project at Skidmore, she considered the “double burden” of undernutrition and obesity across sub-Saharan African countries .
She went on to pursue a master’s in public health degree from Brown University School of Public Health and is a clinical research assistant at the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health . She graduated in May and will begin working as a patient-centric associate consultant at Trinity Life Sciences, outside Boston, in late summer .
“At Skidmore, I had many opportunities to take my interests in public health beyond the classroom,” Langa reflected . “The most impactful being the summer-funded internships that allowed me to complete two international internships, including one in my home country . These experiences provided real-world contexts for improving health outcomes and continue to inform my own work in public health . ”
Johane received a SEE-Beyond academic grant from Skidmore to examine public health practices and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS in Swaziland, one of the most severely HIV-affected countries in the world . He provided the findings of his research to the country’s Ministry of Health to improve public health programming .
“Growing up in a community that is highly affected by diseases, poverty, and poor education, I wanted to make a difference . SEE-Beyond has taught me that there’s a lot that I can do with small funding . ”
Johane completed a master’s degree program at Columbia University and is now a clinical researcher, leading a team of 17 nurses and coordinators for the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care system . His program served on the front lines of the pandemic through its involvement in trials for various COVID-19 treatments and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine . Other VA facilities regard the program he leads as a model for others .
— Johane Simelane ’13
Groundbreaking Inventions Powered by Creativity
ELLIOT “MO” KREITENBERG ’14 AND LEEJAY POLLACCHI ’13
Elliot “Mo” Kreitenberg ’14 has always had an entrepreneurial dream . At Skidmore, research opportunities, hands-on experiences, and encouragement from his professors gave him the confidence to pursue it . Today, he’s the co-founder of Dimer UVC Innovations, an ultraviolet disinfection technology company .
“I learned at Skidmore not to view markets with an established bias and to consider all perspectives,” said Elliot . “Since then, I saw firsthand how many people were stuck looking at disinfection technology the same way . With a little creative thinking, we found a market gap and continue to use that same energy to do things differently, from product design to marketing and fundraising .”
One of Dimer’s breakthrough inventions is the GermFalcon . It uses short-wavelength ultraviolet light (UVC) to sanitize interior surfaces of aircrafts . Another is the UVHammer, a mobile UVC unit designed to kill 99 .9% of germs on surfaces in schools, businesses, government facilities, and elsewhere . Both have been shown effective against SARS and MERS, two members of the coronavirus family, and SARS-CoV-2 when it lands on surfaces .
Elliot’s college roommate, Leejay Pollacchi ’13, a marketing and design professional, serves as brand manager at Dimer . The longtime friends both studied management and business at Skidmore and played for the men’s baseball team .
Working together, the alumni are celebrating one major milestone after another, including an exclusive strategic partnership with Honeywell International to clean JetBlue, Qatar and Azul Airways planes traveling around the world .
Time Magazine included the GermFalcon on its list of “The Best Inventions of 2020 .” SXSW invited the Dimer team to pitch the UVHammer at its startup competition . And journalists from Good Morning America to Forbes and the BBC are eager to learn their secret .
“Our dream,” said Elliot, “is that technology like ours becomes ubiquitous with everyday life, putting it in every major transportation intersection, classroom, public space, and more, so we can prevent the catastrophic pain and suffering the COVID-19 pandemic wrought around the world .”
“We know this is critically important work and part of a larger puzzle to change the world, especially this year,” said Leejay . “Mo did a lot of the work to get us here, but I’m excited to be on board to see where our Skidmore creativity will take us next . ”
— Leejay Pollacchi ’13
Photos: Elliot “Mo” Kreitenberg ’14, with an assist from his father, loads the GermFalcon aboard an aircraft (inset photo, left). With “wings” deployed, the GermFalcon is shown at work sanitizing a plane interior (main photo, above).
ZOE PAGLIARO ’20 AND SHAY KOLODNEY ’21
From the Adirondacks to the Amazon and Al Gore’s farm, collaborative research projects with Skidmore faculty are providing students with unprecedented opportunities to learn about the intricacies of data collection and analysis while exploring ways to create a better future for the planet .
Environmental studies majors Zoe Pagliaro ’20 and Shay Kolodney ’21 both conducted groundbreaking research with Kristofer Covey, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies and sciences, in summer 2019 .
Their research began on a protected sanctuary in the middle of Lake George, then moved to two farms not far from Skidmore’s campus before taking them to Caney Fork Farms in Tennessee .
Zoe and Shay, both scholarship recipients at Skidmore, were the first college students ever to conduct scientific research on the family farm of former Vice President Al Gore, which is dedicated to sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, soil recarbonization, research, and conservation .
“Being part of something that many people are looking to as a solution to climate change creates comfort in that I’m helping to find solutions to this human crisis that we’re all facing,” said Shay, who returned to the farm to work as a research coordinator during her senior year at Skidmore .
In July 2019, Zoey joined Kris Covey and 28 other researchers in Manaus, Brazil, to review a decade’s worth of data on the drivers of resurgent change in the Amazon rainforest, including deforestation, development, mining, fires, and emissions of lesser-discussed greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide .
The result was a major study — “Carbon and Beyond: The Biogeochemistry of Climate in a Rapidly Changing Amazon,” published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change — that concluded for the first time that the Amazon rainforest is most likely having a net warming effect on global climate .
Opposite page: Shay Kolodney ’21, left, Zoe Pagliaro ’20 and Kris Covey, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies and sciences, log soil samples on Dome Island, a protected research site in Lake George, less than an hour from Skidmore’s campus. Above, left: Shay collects soil samples as part of rapid soil carbon assessment research conducted at Caney Fork Farms in Tennessee in July 2019. She and Zoe were the first two college students ever to conduct scientific research on the family farm of former Vice President Al Gore. Above, right: Hosted by the National Geographic Society, Kris Covey and Zoe gathered with 28 other researchers in Manaus, Brazil, in July 2019 to review a decade’s worth of data on the drivers of resurgent change in the Amazon rainforest, leading to the publication of a first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon and Beyond: The Biogeochemistry of Climate in a Rapidly Changing Amazon.”
“The main takeaway that the Amazon is most likely contributing to global climate change is huge, and I hope this study impacts how we think about and address climate change moving forward,” said Zoe .
Since graduating, Zoe has been serving in the “incredibly rewarding” role of sustainability coordinator for Clean Ocean Access, actively working to address some of the environmental challenges she studied at Skidmore . “My collaborative research experiences at Skidmore have been invaluable to my life post-graduation,” she said . “Not only did they help me land a great job right out of college working at an environmental nonprofit, but they were also an asset to my applications for graduate school, and I will be starting this upcoming fall at West Virginia University to continue my passion for research . I am so grateful for my time at Skidmore and for everyone who helped me get these amazing opportunities .”
Kris agrees that conducting in-depth collaborative research with Skidmore faculty allows for unique experiential learning opportunities . “It’s one thing to have ideas in the classroom, but it’s another to have contact with professionals who are out there working to solve the problems that you want to have an impact on,” said Kris . “Watching the students interact together, grow together, and take on independence and the “My collaborative research research has been really exciting .” experiences at Skidmore have been invaluable to my life post-graduation.” Shay, also an accomplished pianist, plans to continue her work at Caney Fork Farms after — Zoe Pagliaro ’20 graduating from Skidmore in May . “Skidmore provided me opportunities to pursue my passions both in the arts and the sciences,” she said . “I’m excited that I will be able to continue work addressing climate change in the next phase of my career .”
