ULM TAKEFLIGHT Magazine – Summer 2021 / Volume 2

SUMMER 2021 | VOLUME 2

TEACHING • RESEARCH • SERVICE

1 SUMMER 2021

PRESIDENT'S LETTER

PRESIDENT

Ronald Berry, D.B.A. INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT & UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

Lisa Miller EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARKETING & UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Kelsey Bohl, Ed.D. (MBA ’13) DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

Hope Young CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Srdjan Marjanovic (BFA ’12) GRAPHIC DESIGN COORDINATOR

Shanette L. Washington (BFA ’02) VISUAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

Siddharth Gaulee (BFA ’20) CONTRIBUTORS

Sharon Bratton Mark Henderson Jeanette Robinson Keli Jacobi

TEACHING • RESEARCH • SERVICE

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

2 TAKEFLIGHT

Dear Warhawk Family and Friends, In March 2020, the world as we knew it changed forever. The COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed our buildings, but the work, learning, and research at the University of Louisiana Monroe was, and is, uncompromising.

When met with challenges, ULM students, faculty, and staff create opportunities. When faced with changes to work and study, the Warhawk Family adapts. Perhaps most importantly, we never give up.

In this issue of Takeflight magazine, you will meet two professors in the College of Pharmacy.

Their separate research projects show immense promise in treatments for lung cancer, breast cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

For MLK Day of Service in February, volunteers from ULM and Louisiana Delta Community College collected donations for the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, which will feed more than 3,000 in our community.

The ULM Museum of Natural History is on the path of progress, incorporating 21st-century technology with ancient artifacts.

In a partnership that’s a “win-win-win,” ULM’s Computer Science and Computer Information Systems programs are producing graduates ready to work in the technology industry right here at home.

Takeflight magazine provides a sampling of the innovative, progressive, forward-reaching, and forward-thinking programs, partnerships, and projects at ULM. After reading these articles, I believe that you will have a better understanding of how ULM is changing lives and changing the world.

Yours truly,

MISSION Takeflight magazine highlights teaching, research, and service to provide an overview of the significant achievements at the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Send letters & comments to: The ULM Takeflight Magazine Office of Marketing & Communications 700 University Ave. Monroe, LA 71209–2500 Any letters or comments may be published and edited for length and style.

Contents © 2021 by the University of Louisiana Monroe. All rights reserved.The University of Louisiana Monroe is a member of the University of Louisiana System.

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universitylouisianamonroe Ronald Berry, D.B.A. President University of Louisiana Monroe

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CONTENTS

SPRING 2021 | VOLUME 2 10 | RESEARCH

32 | SERVICE

Saving the alligator snapping turtle

More than soil and water

ULM Professor of Biology Dr. John Carr has devoted his career to the study of turtles. The unique alligator snapping turtle is at the edge of becoming a threatened species.

Environmental Analysis Lab plays a key role in monitoring the everchanging environment of Louisiana.

14 | SERVICE

Feeding the need For MLK Day of Service, ULM volunteers partnered to help the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana. The donations will allow the Food Bank to provide more than 3,000 meals.

20 | SERVICE

Combating COVID-19

16

FEATURE

Old Meets New

The University of Louisiana Monroe Museum of Natural History is “transitioning from a collections-based museum to an educational outreach facility,” says Director Dr. Kim Marie Tolson. Read about the changes at the museum.

ULM quickly evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

Colleges, programs, and people worked together for solutions.

Team-building involves conflict resolution. And today, medicine is moving more and more to a team-care concept. It’s all about team-building.

40 | TEACHING —GLENN ANDERSON, PHARM.D.

Dean ULM College of Pharmacy

22 | SERVICE

55,000 students TRIO Programs mark 40 years at ULM, with more than 55,000 students served by federally funded program.

42 | RESEARCH

$1.65 million for research Dr. Seetharama Jois of the College of Pharmacy is researching the potential of sunflower seeds as a treatment for lung cancer.

ON COVER La casa del Pantano, by Shanette Washington Louisiana is known for many wonderful things. Whether it’s the cuisine, music or a ride on a swamp boat, we keep close what resonates within. ULM students, faculty, and staff are from different backgrounds, cultures, and may even speak different languages, but we all call The Bayou our home. ­– Shanette Washington

3 SUMMER 2021

ON THE BOOKSHELF

Ancient Rome: Facts and Fiction

Nick and June Were Here

Author: Monica Bontty, Ph.D. Professor of History

Author: Shalanda Stanley, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Associate Director, School of Education

Monica Bontty, Ph.D., explores common perceptions and misconceptions in “Ancient Rome: Facts and Fictions.” Bontty examines mythologies which, over the last 2,000 years, have become cultural norms.

For example, the reference to Emperor Nero playing the violin while Rome was in flames is used to describe a person preferring selfish entertainment over addressing serious matters. Bontty ends this fiction – Nero wasn’t even there.

Published by ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA

In her second young adult novel, Shalanda Stanley, Ph.D., writes about relationships when coping with mental illness. Nick and June were best friends who became romantically involved. June, diagnosed with schizophrenia, hides that from Nick. “ … the characters are not just experiencing typical story arcs, but who are also trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world,” Stanley said.

Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, New York, NY

The Voodoo Encyclopedia: Magic, Ritual, and Religion Editor: Jeffrey Anderson, Ph.D. Professor of History, Associate Director, School of Humanities Jeffrey Anderson, Ph.D., compiled contributions from scholars to present a comprehensive overview of the religions of Voodoo from various perspectives. The compilation addresses both the deities and ceremonial acts of Voodoo and presents the history, culture, and religion of Haitian Vodou and Mississippi Valley Voodoo.

Published by ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA

TAKEFLIGHT

Examining the Emotional Dimensions of Academic Librarianship: Emerging Research and Opportunities Author: Megan Lowe, M.A. ULM Library Director, Associate Professor In her work, Megan Lowe, M.A., M.L.S., B.A., examines challenges modern librarians face in their career field. Academic librarians can face burnout in the wake of so many large-scale industry changes.

This text is a resource for librarians, academicians, students, and researchers highlighting topics like emotional exhaustion, research agendas, and deselection.

Published by IGI Global, Hershey, PA

Elder Abuse and Neglect: An Anthology of Essays Author: Anita Sharma, Ph.D. Gerontology program Director, Associate Professor “Elder Abuse and Neglect: An Anthology” is a collection of essays and articles written by professionals working in the field of gerontology.

Anita Sharma, Ph.D., conducted a two-year review of research published on elder abuse and neglect and compiled an anthology of articles and essays to provide information on incidence and types of elder abuse, theories and causes, interventions strategies, and community resources to assist the victims of abuse.”

Published by Cognella, San Diego, CA

Engagement in the City: How Arts and Culture Impact Development in Urban Areas Co-editor: Leigh Hersey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Political Science program Leigh Nanney Hersey, Ph.D., released “Engagement in the City: How Arts and Culture Impact Development in Urban Areas.” She co-edited the book with Bryna Bobick, of the University of Memphis. The collected volume examines how the arts impact the community.

In one chapter, Hersey collaborates with ULM Assistant Professor of Art Brooke Foy to showcase the Herons on the Bayou public art project.

Published by Lexington Books

FACULTY PUBLICATIONS

Ignacio D. Arellano-Torres, Ph.D.

Srinivas Garlapati, Ph.D.

Tammy Johnston, Ph.D.

Ignacio D. Arellano-Torres, Ph.D. Associate Professor of World Languages, published the articles:

Srinivas Garlapati, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, School of Sciences, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, with co-authors, published the article “Histone deacetylase inhibitors induce expression of chromosomally tagged variant-specific surface protein genes in Giardia lamblia,” in the BMC Res Notes.

Tammy Johnston, Ph.D., Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Social Sciences, with co-authors, published the article “Monetary Policy and House Price Index: A VAR Analysis for Saudi Arabia” in the Journal of Business Studies Quarterly.

Srinivas Garlapati, Ph.D., and Seetharama D. Jois, Ph.D.

Long Pham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Analysis, and Stanley Williamson, Ph.D., Boulware CBA Endowed Professor of Management, both in the College of Business and Social Sciences, with coauthors, published the articles:

• “ Espacios y dinámicas subversivas en Madeinusa” in El ojo que piensa.

Revista de cine iberoamericano, 20.

Playing with Fire: The Strange Case of Marine Shale Processors Co-author: John W. Sutherlin, Ph.D. Chief Innovation and Research Officer, Professor of Political Science John W. Sutherlin, Ph.D., co-authored the ongoing struggle facing Louisiana families trying to live and work against the backdrop of corrupt politicians and corporate greed. The story presented here is relevant wherever low-income, disenfranchised people are not included in decisions about their health and environment. This book examines the tale of Marine Shale Processors, the world’s largest hazardous waste company, and the women who fought to protect their community and their children.

Published by Hamilton Books

Caroline Carpenter, D.N.P., Samuel Shannon, Ph.D., Jana Sutton, Ph.D., Theresa Thomas, Ph.D., Ashley Wiltcher, M.S.N. Caroline Carpenter, D.N.P., Assistant Professor of Nursing, and from Marriage and Family Therapy, Samuel Shannon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Jana Sutton, Ph.D., Professor, and Theresa Thomas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and Ashley Wiltcher, M.S.N., Assistant Professor of Nursing, and co-authors published the article “An interprofessional approach to a service learning health project for area homeless: A case study” in the Online Journal of Interprofessional Health Promotion.

Patrick Exmeyer, Ph.D. Patrick Exmeyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Administration with co-authors, published the articles: • “ The 8-Bit Bureaucrat: Can Video Games Teach Us About Administrative Ethics?” in the Public Integrity.

• “ Public-Private Partnerships in the Preservation of Presidential Records” in the Administration & Society.

Principles of Accounting: Volume 1 Financial Accounting Author: Janis Weber, D.B.A. Instructor of Accounting Janis Weber, D.B.A., authored two chapters relating to inventory and cash flows along with end-of-chapter materials for three chapters regarding foundational concepts surrounding the accounting cycle. This open-source textbook provides a strong foundation of accounting that can be applied to all fields of business.

Published by OpenStax, Houston, TX

• “ E xamining Changes in State Whistleblower Laws Following Passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012” in the Review of Public Personnel Administration.

• “ Papers and Presidencies: Encouraging Adherence to the Presidential Records Act” in the PA Times Newsletter.

Srinivas Garlapati, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, School of Sciences, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, and Seetharama D. Jois, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, with co-authors, published the article “Translation initiation factors GleIF4E2 and GleIF4A can interact directly with the components of the pre-initiation complex to facilitate translation initiation in Giardia lamblia,” in the Mol Biochem Parasitol.

Deborah L. Golemon, J.D., Kathleen A. Kaminski, Ph.D., Michelle McEacharn, D.B.A. Deborah L. Golemon, J.D., Legal Scholar in Residence in Business Law; Kathleen A. Kaminski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Accounting; and Michelle McEacharn, D.B.A./ C.P.A./C.I.A., Professor of Accounting, published the article “The Switch: A Study of Promoting Introductory Managerial Accounting As the First Accounting Course for Business and Non-Business Majors” in The Accounting Educators’ Journal.

Veronika Humphries, L.L.M., and Tammy Johnston, Ph.D. Veronika Humphries, L.L.M., Assistant Professor of Management, and Tammy Johnston, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, both in the College of Business and Social Sciences, published the article “Empirical Investigation of Macroeconomic Outcomes of NAFTA and USMCA” in the Empirical Economics Letters.

SUMMER 2021

• “ Macho y bicha: fluidez de género y espacios liminales en Madame Sata” in the Spanish and Portuguese Review, Vol 6.

Long Pham, Ph.D., and Stanley Williamson, Ph.D.

• “ Individual Investors’ Satisfaction and Loyalty in Online Securities Trading Using the Technology Acceptance Model” in the International Journal of Management and Decision Making.

• “ Impact of Perceived Risk on Mobile Banking Usage Intentions: Trust as a Mediator and a Moderator” in the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets.

• “ Intention to Use Mobile Commerce: Evidence from Emerging Economies” in the International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems.

Long Pham, Ph.D. Long Pham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Analysis, with coauthors, published the articles: • “ U n d e r s t a n d i n g V i e t n a m e s e Consumer Intention to Use Online Retailer Websites: Application of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model” in the International Journal of E-Adoption.

• “ A n Investigation of Processes Linking Patient-Centered Communication Approaches to Favorable Impressions of Vietnamese Physicians and Hospital Services” in the International Journal of Society, Culture & Language.

▶

FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Long Pham, Ph.D., Stanley Williamson, Ph.D., and Peggy Lane Ph.D. Long Pham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Analysis; Stanley Williamson, Ph.D., Boulware CBA Endowed Professor of Management; and Peggy Lane, Ph.D., Interim Dean, all of the College of Business and Social Sciences, with co-authors, published the article “Technology readiness and purchase intention: role of perceived value and online satisfaction in the context of luxury hotels” in the International Journal of Decision Making.

Lisa VanHoose, Ph.D. Lisa VanHoose, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physical Therapy, published the article “Shaping Our Next 100 Years: Creating a Tool for Change” for the American Physical Therapy Association.

Gary L. Stringer, Ph.D. Gary L. Stringer, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Geology, School of Sciences, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, with co-authors, published the articles:

6 TAKEFLIGHT

Carl Thameling, Ph.D. Ahmad Reshad Osmani, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Economics College of Business and Social Sciences Dr. Osmani received the West Cancer Initiative Award from the West Cancer Foundation and the University of Memphis Division of Research and Innovation and $5,000 for his research proposal “Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare services utilization among uterine cancer survivors: New evidence from pre and post- Affordable Care Act of 2010.”

Professor of Communications College of Arts, Education, and Sciences Dr. Thameling received recognition for his service to the planning and delivery of the 2020 Let Us Dream virtual conference. The triennial international Let Us Dream conference focused on education, health, and social community improvement initiatives.

• “ First description of the fossil otolith-based sciaenid Equetulus silverdalensis n. comb., in the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA, with comments on the enigmatic distribution of the species,” in the PaleoBios.

• “ Fish otoliths from the late Maastrichtian Kemp Clay (Texas, USA) and the early Danian Clayton Formation (Arkansas, USA) and an assessment of extinction and survival of teleost lineages across the K-Pg boundary based on otoliths,” in the Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia.

• “ First Pliocene fish otolith assemblage from the Gulf Coastal Plain, Dauphin Island, Mobile County, Alabama, USA,” in the Historical Biology.

• “ O n the authorship of Actinopteri and Actinopterygii,” in the Cybium.

• “ Fish otoliths provide further taxonomic and paleoecologic data for the late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) Jones Girls site, Georgia,” in the Eastern Paleontologist.

• “ H ighly diversified Late Cretaceous fish assemblage revealed by otoliths (Ripley Formation and Owl Creek Formation, northeast Mississippi, USA)” in the Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia.

Michelle McEacharn, D.B.A., Kriti Chauhan, Ph.D., Katherine Boswell, Ph.D., and Sarah Siereveld, M.B.A. College of Business and Social Sciences College of Business and Social Sciences received the 2020 KPMG Outstanding Published Manuscript Award by the American Accounting Association for the article “Tenure clock policy transparency for biological clock (family friendly) events” published in 2019 in the Administrative Issues Journal: Connecting Education, Practice, and Research. related to equity issues for women and men surrounding the tenure clock during family events such as pregnancy and birth of a child. This also is a collaboration of faculty from the accounting discipline, computer information systems discipline, and a graduate student.

Wendy Bailes, Ph.D., R.N.

Director, Associate Professor Kitty DeGree School of Nursing Dr. Wendy Bailes, was accepted into the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Advancing Academic Leadership for New Deans program. The program is designed as the gateway to success and sustainability for new nursing deans and chief academic officers. The goals are to enhance the executive leadership skills of individuals who seek a high-level skill set to maximize opportunities and meet challenges. AACN, in collaboration with the Center for Creative Leadership, has developed an innovative, forward thinking, 13-month immersion program that features four face-to-face meetings and work done virtually between sessions.

James Boldin, D.M.A. Associate Professor of Music College of Arts, Education, and Sciences

Long Pham, Ph.D.

Dr. Boldin was appointed publications editor for the International Horn Society Journal. Boldin’s appointment was the result of an international search.

Assistant Professor of Operations Management and Quantitative Analysis, College of Business and Social Sciences Was awarded the Freddy and Reba Nolan Professorship in Business Analytics.

Anita Sharma, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Gerontology Program Coordinator College of Business and Social Sciences Dr. Anita Sharma created the radio program “Life Transitions” for 90.3 KEDM Public Radio that discusses issues relating to aging. She developed the online directory “Finding Help for Senior Citizens” with resources for the elderly population. She received support from CABLE - Communities Acting to Benefit Louisiana’s Elderly (CABLE). Sharma was nominated for best exhibit at the Gerontological Society of America Conference for showcasing the ULM Gerontology Program.

7

Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology College of Arts, Education, and Sciences Dr. Bhattacharjee was awarded an EPA – Environmental Education Grant of $133,720. His work will address local environmental issues through educational activities and stewardship using actionoriented research. It’s been more than 15 years since a ULM faculty member received an EPA-EE grant. Of the three awards out of 300 applicants this year in EPA Region 6, ULM was the only educational institution that received the grant, the other two being notprofit organizations. Kevin Baer, Ph.D., Professor of Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy is the grant’s co-principal investigator.

Ashley Wiltcher, D.N.P.

Assistant Professor, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program Leader Dr. Wiltcher was awarded the Board of Visitors Endowed Scholarship in Doctoral Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She received the Louisiana Council of Administrators of Nursing Education Workforce Grant in May 2020. In July 2020, her Doctor of Nursing Practice Project “Implementation of Urinary Incontinence EvidenceBased Care Bundle” was presented. On Aug. 15, 2020, she was awarded her Doctor of Nursing Practice from UAB School of Nursing.

Mel Mobley, D.M.A.

Associate Professor of Music College of Arts, Education and Sciences Dr. Mobley was named the 2020 Performing Artist of the Year by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council.

Mobley also had an original composition, “Walrus Tails” from “Shades of aLis” performed on a livestreamed chamber concert by the members of the New World Symphony of Miami, FL.

SUMMER 2021

Ignacio D. Arellano-Torres, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences Dr. Arellano-Torres has received two fellowships, the John H. Daniels Fellowship, National Sporting Library & Museum, Middleburg, VA, and the Harry Ransom Center Research Fellowship in Humanities, at the University of Texas at Austin. He was recently included in the repository Diversity Scholar, National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan.

TEACHING A $20,000 grant from Delta Dental was used to supply personal protection equipment for ULM Dental Hygiene program students. The campus clinic was closed from mid-March until July 1, 2020, because of COVID-19. When it reopened to serve the campus and community, enhanced safety measures were in place to protect students, faculty, and patients.

Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

Dental Hygiene adds extra safety measures thanks to $20,000 grant

By HOPE YOUNG

The Dental Hygiene program at the University of Louisiana Monroe purchased additional personal protective equipment – commonly known as PPE – thanks to a $20,000 grant from Delta Dental Community Care Foundation.

TAKEFLIGHT

Jordan Anderson, M.A., Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene in the School of Allied Health, College of Health Sciences, secured the relief grant, which provides unrestricted funds to organizations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These funds were also utilized to improve technology capabilities in our clinic and classroom to comply with state regulations due to COVID 19.

—JORDAN ANDERSON, M.A.

Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene

technology to maintain social distancing mandates.

“With these funds, we sustained and improved infection control procedures in our ULM Dental Hygiene program clinics. These funds were also utilized to improve technology capabilities in our clinic and classroom to comply with state regulations due to COVID 19,” Anderson said.

“As a university and a professional healthcare program, it is our duty to protect our students, faculty, and patients,” she said.

The program has received two previous grants from the Delta Dental Community Care Foundation. In 2018, a grant funded radiology equipment, including digital sensors, phosphor plates, and scanners. A 2019 grant purchased patient treatment equipment, patient education supplies, and iPads and computer equipment for the campus clinic. With this grant, the total grant funding from Delta Dental is $60,000.

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“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an obvious infection control issue for those in the dental field and healthcare setting,” said Anderson, who has a bachelor’s in Dental Hygiene from ULM and a master’s in Dental Hygiene from the University of Tennessee in Memphis.

The Dental Hygiene Clinic on campus and the mobile clinics closed in mid-March 2020, because of COVID-19. The clinics reopened in July 2020.

Anderson said the PPE provided additional protection for students, faculty, and patients in the Dental Hygiene Clinic, and helped the program comply with new guidelines established for the pandemic by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American Dental Association, and state regulations.

The Delta Dental Community Foundation $20,000 grant was used to purchase PPE such as N95 masks, ASTM Level 3 masks, face shields, disposable gowns, goggles, plexiglass panels, disinfectants, sterilizers, thermometers, and disinfecting treatments for water lines for the ULM Dental Hygiene program.

Some of the grant funds were used for air purifiers and new

Jordan Anderson, Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene in the School of Allied Health, College of Health Sciences, secured funding for additional health and safety equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21.

RESEARCH Dr. John W. Sutherlin is the University of Louisiana Monroe Chief Innovation and Research Officer. At ULM, Sutherlin has served as director of the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research and professor of Political Science. Sutherlin is an author, patented inventor, and film producer.

Our fear of failure holds us back. It takes dedication to remain open to change and to stay relevant and innovative.

—DR. JOHN W. SUTHERLIN

ULM Chief Innovation and Research Officer

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

Fearlessness fosters innovation and change

By KELI JACOBI | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

“Fearlessness” is what John W. Sutherlin, Ph.D., — now serving as the University of Louisiana Monroe’s first Chief Innovation and Research Officer — puts at the top of the list.

Whether tech wizards or social justice activists or pop music boundary-breakers, they all take significant risks and “force a different way of looking at things,” according to Sutherlin, providing examples for how to approach entrepreneurial innovation at the university.

“Our fear of failure holds us back,” Sutherlin said. “It takes dedication to remain open to change and to stay relevant and innovative.”

This very willingness to take risks is what young university students often have in droves, Sutherlin said, which is why he will strive to reach first-generation students and those from diverse backgrounds to stoke their interest in research and innovation.

“People of different backgrounds can bring good ideas and need to be encouraged to pursue their interests without fear,” he said.

Sutherlin said his role is to act as a facilitator,

searching for innovative work-study opportunities and internships through partnerships with the public/private sector. At the same time, he identifies internal opportunities with the assistance of faculty and staff across all disciplines.

“We do not want to exclude any decent ideas,” he said. “We want to do the things that matter, that will have an impact.”

Some of these ideas may lead to commercial developments, while others will be more academic. Much of Sutherlin’s new role is based on research into similar innovation hubs at universities across the state and the nation.

These hubs have emerged in response to the nation’s pivot toward a project-based economy. The need for agile solutions to real-world problems is pressing, and having idea-fostering environments is essential to creating change.

As Chief Innovation and Research Officer, Sutherlin is exploring several possibilities, including stackable microcredentials — short courses that will develop specific, relevant skillsets within a student — which may be paired with a more traditional degree.

For example, there could be opportunities for a student to earn a certificate in computer coding

paired with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, according to Sutherlin.

Sutherlin said the best synergy occurs when everyone, whether a member of the ULM community or a member of the business community, comes together to identify challenges and workable solutions that will benefit the region.

“There’s a give-and-take that occurs, a free flow of information from the community to the university and back. This give-and-take is essential to doing research and innovation with impact,” he said.

Sutherlin is not entirely new to the innovation mindset.

A professor of Political Science in the College of Business and Social Sciences, Sutherlin served as director of ULM’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research for three years. He developed the first licensing agreement for a ULM invention that continues to pay royalties to the university.

Sutherlin also co-founded the Social Science Research Lab at ULM and recently participated in the development of King Springs, a bottled water company in Ouachita Parish. He joined the university in 2005 and is an author, film producer, and patented inventor.

■

SUMMER 2021

What are attributes shared by visionary tech billionaire Bill Gates, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and rock legend David Bowie?

RESEARCH

SAVING THE ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE John Carr

By MARK HENDERSON | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

10 TAKEFLIGHT

If Mother Nature decided to build a tank, it would resemble an alligator snapping turtle.

By any measure, the turtles are large, occasionally reaching more than 200 pounds.

They are covered in their own armor, a shell more than 30 inches long with three dorsal ridges that look like the back of an alligator.

Intimidating in appearance, the alligator snapping turtle spends most of its life in freshwater bayous, rivers, and streams. They can stay submerged for 40 to 50 minutes before needing to surface for air.

They can be found primarily along the Gulf Coast but also in parts of Oklahoma and Texas and as far north as Iowa.

The biggest freshwater turtle, an adult alligator snapping turtle is threatened only by humans. They seem invincible.

Once the turtle reaches maturity, said John Carr, Ph.D., Professor of Biology in the School of Sciences, College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, little can stop it. Getting there is

another story.

As a herpetologist, Carr is an expert in reptiles.

“I have been into turtles since I was about 14, and the alligator snapping turtle is a really cool one,” said Carr.

He’s holding one in a picture on his faculty web page (https://www.ulm.edu/~carr/).

Carr has teamed with researchers working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the status of the alligator snapping turtle. The research came on the heels of a suit filed by the Center of Biological Diversity to get certain species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The alligator snapping turtle is one of the animals it wants to protect.

Carr worked with researchers from Illinois, interested in reintroducing the animal, and the University of Missouri, concentrating on populations in Oklahoma.

“We were looking at the success of raising and releasing young alligator snapping turtles

into the wild. We were reintroducing them in Illinois, where we found none, and augmenting the population in Louisiana.”

Researchers released hatchlings from 201416 and followed them through 2017. Carr was tracking turtles ranging in age from 2-4 years old.

“The animals all were equipped with the same radio tracking devices to see if they would survive,” Carr said.

The transmitters were placed in between the ridges of the shell so they would have a low profile.

“It did not work really well. We had radio problems.”

The first problem was the epoxy used to attach the radios. When it dried, the epoxy turned white. Carr said the epoxy had to be painted black on each turtle to avoid drawing a predator’s attention. The turtles were able to rub off the epoxy.

In 10-12 months, the transmitters were all gone.

▶

11 SUMMER 2021

So were the turtles.

A VULNERABLE SPECIES

“If we didn’t find a body, we didn’t know what happened. We attempted to do an annual roundup. We did find some radios that were ripped off the animal, with parts of the shell intact that had canine marks. And while we can’t say for sure, it appears the animals suffered a violent death.”

Carr said the young turtles most likely fell prey to raccoons.

The assessment on the status of the alligator snapping turtle was due to be released by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year, but the report is still in its draft stages.

While the research came to less than certain results, Carr said enough was learned to confirm other studies that the alligator snapping turtle faces an uncertain future.

Carr’s work with the animal began when he arrived at ULM in January 1996. He had earned his Bachelor in Zoology from Texas A&M and his Doctorate in Biology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. When he joined ULM, he met Neil Douglas, Ph.D., now retired, and a former graduate student, Brent Harrel.

“They took me out to Black Bayou Lake. This was before it became a National Wildlife Refuge, and they knew the owner of the land. They introduced me to trapping the turtles. The best chances to know anything about them is to catch them.”

Harrel, in a study of turtles in Bayou DeSiard in Monroe, discovered they tended to hang around the edges of the bayou and never crossed from one side to the other. When the young turtles came up for air near the banks, they were susceptible to predators.

It was the first animal Carr was introduced to at ULM, and with Black Bayou Lake and Bayou DeSiard nearby, Carr had a fruitful area of study.

In 2008-09, Carr participated in a nest ecology study at Black Bayou Lake, working with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which considers it a “vulnerable” species.

TAKEFLIGHT

ULM’S Dr. John Carr has teamed with researchers working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine the status of the alligator snapping turtle.

The research came on the heels of a suit filed by the Center of Biological Diversity to get certain species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The alligator snapping turtle is one of the animals it wants to protect.

Female turtles leave the water and lay eggs in nests along the banks. The number of eggs laid are relatively few compared to other turtles. It takes two days for the hatching process to complete. The time leading up to hatching is when the turtles are at the greatest peril, Carr said.

Carr set up artificial nests and worked to make sure the eggs hatched and the babies made it to the water. They took hardware cloth and nailed it to the ground over the nest to keep raccoons away.

Again, the researchers were thwarted.

“We found nests and eggs scattered all over the place. We also discovered underground factors. We found holes in the eggs and the presence of fire ants and humpback flies.”

Although Carr never could prove that ants had penetrated the eggs’ shells, it seemed likely.

Alligator snapping turtles - did you know?

• Can reach 200 pounds • Able to stay underwater for 40-50 minutes • The largest freshwater turtle in the U.S.

The nest also is susceptible to flooding.

In short, Carr said, the alligator snapping turtle “is not built for the ground. They are very much exposed.”

Carr would not speculate about what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife assessment will say or whether the alligator snapping turtle will gain protection as an endangered species. It’s clear what he believes, however.

At Black Bayou Lake, Carr said he seldom sees young turtles in the traps.

“In 2020, we saw only two juveniles out of 24 trapped animals.”

That’s a small percentage for an animal with such a long life expectancy. To Carr, the turtles are breeding at an unsustainable slow rate.

“There’s no question this animal is up against it.”

■

About JOHN CARR, PH.D. • John L. Carr earned his B.S. in Zoology and M.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University and his Doctorate in Zoology from Southern Illinois University.

• He joined the ULM faculty in 1976. Dr. Carr holds the Lillian L. and Fred A. Marx Endowed Professorship in Biology.

• His primary study is the ecology and conservation of freshwater and terrestrial turtles in the United States and Latin America. His work centers on amphibians and reptiles of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Gulf Coastal Plain in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas.

• Since 2005, Dr. Carr has made almost annual research visits to Colombia, S.A., to study turtles.

• Dr. Carr co-authored with Jeff Boundy the “Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana: An Identification and Reference Guide” (2017), an identification guide to the state’s herpetofauna (the reptiles and amphibians of a particular region, habitat, or geological period). The guide is a valuable resource for students and naturalists in the state.

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

SUMMER 2021

• Carr has written, co-authored and contributed to hundreds of publications based on his research.

SERVICE

14 TAKEFLIGHT

FEEDING THE NEED

MLK DAY of Service ULM and LDCC provided 3,092 meals in the community

By KELSEY BOHL, ED.D.

Thanks to the contributors and volunteers for the University of Louisiana Monroe and Louisiana Delta Community College MLK Day of Service, more than 3,000 meals will go to feed the hungry in the community.

On Jan. 18, 2021, ULM's Division of Student Affairs and Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and LDCC collected 3,710 pounds of food that will allow the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana to provide a total of 3,092 meals.

For more than 10 years, ULM and LDCC have partnered to assist a local community organization on MLK Day of Service.

This year volunteers collected donations for the Food Bank, which provides thousands of meals in the region and supplies the ULM Student Food Bank.

"Service learning is an important part of the education that students are offered at ULM. The MLK Day of Service provides an opportunity for students to engage in learning outside of the classroom – an opportunity to learn about the needs and issues of communities. Issues and needs they are learning to address or may be facing themselves. What better way to enhance that learning than to engage in addressing it simultaneously?" said Pamela Saulsberry, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

"Dr. King is rightly remembered for his work in addressing civil rights issues. Often forgotten is that he was just as adamant about social and economic inequality as well. MLK once said, 'Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?' That, for me, encapsulates the reason behind ULM's

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

15 “The MLK Day of Service provides an opportunity for students to engage in learning outside of the classroom. An opportunity to learn about the needs and issues of communities. Issues and needs they are learning to address or may be facing themselves. What better way to enhance that learning than to engage in addressing it simultaneously?”

—DR. PAMELA SAULSBERRY

Executive Director, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

MLK Day of Service. This is an opportunity for students to learn and serve at the same time," Saulsberry said.

are in need," said Emily Essex, ULM Director of Student Engagement.

Canned goods and nonperishable donations were collected on ULM and LDCC's campuses for several weeks before the Day of Service.

John McKeel, a ULM student and president of the Campus Activities Board, was moved by his experience as a volunteer for MLK Day of Service, describing the experience as "amazing."

Working in shifts throughout the day, about 270 ULM and LDCC students, faculty, staff, and community members volunteered to participate. These volunteers transported and organized the collections at LDCC's campus for delivery to the Food Bank.

"This year, I was honored to have the chance to be more involved in the MLK Day of Service event, and it was a very humbling experience. It is always good to see the ULM community come together volunteering items as well as their time for such a great cause. I look forward to this event each year because it allows me the opportunity to give back to those that

"It was amazing to see everyone come together in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This was my first year participating in the Day of Service, and I can say that I felt an immense feeling of selflessness mixed with honor to have the opportunity to help out the community on this day. Personally, I loved how diverse the group of volunteers was because it represented Martin Luther King's ideology and furthered the message that the University of Louisiana Monroe will continue to uphold his dream of equality amongst all," McKeel said.

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SUMMER 2021

TEACHING

OLD MEETS NEW

Museum of Natural History Ancient artifacts, animals, and AR

By MARK HENDERSON | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

A half-forgotten museum tucked away on the first floor of Hannah Hall is being shaken awake from its slumber.

The University of Louisiana Monroe’s Museum of Natural History dates to 1962. Originally in Sandel Hall, the museum’s collection has been used for research by students and faculty members, but few outside the campus know it’s there.

No colorful signs invite visitors in.

Hours flex by semester based on the availability of student workers and the university calendar. Money is scarce to market it to the public.

TAKEFLIGHT

For those who manage to find their way in, the museum offers a multitude of treasures. A full-sized reproduction of a Tyrannosaurus rex skull is prominently displayed. Bodies of large cats, painstakingly preserved by the taxidermist art, line one wall. A table shows a collection of pelts that reflects the history of the fur trade and trappers.

Mounted heads, preserved birds, and antler sheds fill every nook and cranny.

And that’s just scratching the surface.

What’s on display is a fraction of the collection that totals more than 6 million items.

But the way the museum displays its artifacts is of another era. A new energy,

a new vision, and new tools are needed to find a new audience, and museum Director Kim Marie Tolson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, has taken up the challenge in her second year.

“We are transitioning from a collections-based museum to an educational outreach facility.”

STEAM-ing ahead The heart of the new approach can be found at the end of the hallway, an airy, open space compared to the packed museum galleries. Tolson calls it the STEAM room.

“You’ve heard of STEM?” Tolson asked. It’s an acronym based on an educational concept to focus learning on science, technology, engineering, and math. “Well, they’ve added the arts to the mix, so now it’s STEAM.” Tolson expects the STEAM room to be ready in the fall. The room has various stations, and many of them are designed for the community outside the university.

Tolson expects to use the space for interactive classes, field trips, birthday parties, and even summer camps.

A LEGO room, for instance, will allow budding young engineers to build imaginative structures with blocks designed for preschool, home-school, young siblings of visitors, and others.

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SUMMER 2021

Dr. Kim Marie Tolson, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of the University of Louisiana Monroe Museum of Natural History, holds the skull of a feral hog.

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

Tolson plans to install a 3-D printer in the room so visitors can interact with items.

“So many museums say, ‘Do not touch.’ We want to say, ‘Please do.’ And with the printer, we can create a facsimile of an artifact that we can replace anytime something breaks,” she said.

The STEAM room will feature the first augmented reality sandbox in the region. An AR sandbox is a 3D, interactive, dynamic educational tool to help understand mapping, topography, watersheds, and natural hazards. This tool uses a motion sensor and specialized computer software to map contour lines (lines of equal elevation) onto the sand that adjust to the elevation levels of the sand in real-time.

“And the math department wants a table, perhaps with tangrams math puzzles,” Tolson said.

Tangrams puzzles use geometric shapes that fit only one way into a frame, much like a jigsaw puzzle.

The room won’t be completely child-centric.

Another spot will feature artifacts from Poverty Point World Heritage Site, where a society of hunter-fisher-gatherers lived and created a complex of earthen mounds between 3700 and 3100 BP (Before Present). ULM Adjunct Professor Diana Greenlee, Ph.D., is station archaeologist at the West Carroll Parish site. Some of the artifacts unearthed there will be displayed in the STEAM room in museum-grade cabinets donated by the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas.

18

So many museums say, ‘Do not touch.’ We want to say, ‘Please do.’

—KIM MARIE TOLSON, PH.D.

Museum Director

TAKEFLIGHT

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

The Museum of Natural History’s STEAM room, which stands for sciences, technology, engineering, art and math, will open in fall 2021. Museum Director Dr. Kim Marie Tolson holds an artist’s interpretation of cells.

FAST FACTS

Tolson said a micro-macro wall is the museum’s first effort in incorporating art.

“Histology students and the art faculty here at ULM have worked together. The students study tissues under the microscope and then capture what they see on canvas. All of these paintings were done by biology students,” she said.

Set up next to the paintings is a microscope connected to a monitor, so visitors can see the true tissue specimen for themselves and compare it to the painting.

Another spot in the STEAM room is flex space adaptable to formal and informal sessions.

“I see us using this space for meetings, seminars, and classes. Graduate students might present their thesis defense here,” Tolson said.

“We’re expanding our physical footprint and educational outreach so we will not be associated with only one department. This will not be the biology department museum. This is the university’s Museum of Natural History.

Modernizing history Tolson is working with Paul Wiedemeier, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computer Science, to create a near-field chip reader so visitors can scan and get information about an artifact.

“We want to move forward into the 21st century,” Tolson said.

• ULM Museum of Natural History was founded in 1962 • The museum houses more than 6 million artifacts • It is supported mainly through ULM Foundation alumni donations, grants, and local schools • In 2017, ULM donated some of its collections of specimens to universities and institutions throughout the South. The specimens are available for researchers throughout the world to study: Fish – Tulane University Biodiversity Research Institute Reptiles and amphibians – University of Texas at Arlington Insects – Mississippi State University Herbarium ­– Botanical Research Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth

Tolson’s not forgetting all those bones, animal heads, and hides that have been the backbone of the museum. But she believes the way the artifacts are displayed fails to tell a cohesive story.

She wants to use the collection to tell the story of the evolution of species, for instance, or the differences in various big cats. Right now, the museum’s collection is displayed in a helter-skelter way, Tolson said. On one wall, birds give way to moose antlers without explanation or logic.

She wants the museum to teach.

And while she’s putting the finishing touches on the STEAM room, she is envisioning a first step in reshaping the established museum, using an empty room to create Bird World.

The room would be filled with sculptures, taxidermy, feathers, and even life-size wood carvings of an ivory-billed woodpecker and a pileated woodpecker – and their songs.

Tolson said the museum operates mainly through grants, donors, and volunteers. She said alumni have provided vital support, as have local schools.

Tolson was named the director shortly before COVID-19 hit, and that has slowed progress. But she is clear on her mission to bring the infrastructure up to date while paying homage to ULM's impressive holdings.

In other words, no more a sleepy museum.

“We want you to be engaged – to see something, touch something, hear something,” Tolson said.

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19 SUMMER 2021

SERVICE Ashley Barbo, Pharm.D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the College of Pharmacy prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at one of the vaccination clinics at ULM.

On March 13, 2020, the University of Louisiana Monroe announced all learning and campus operations would take place in a virtual format. Students, faculty, and non-essential staff studied and worked remotely while Louisiana was under a shelter-in-place order from March-June 2020.

ULM reopened buildings on July 1, 2020, and the fall semester began in August 2020, with some students, faculty, and staff returning to campus.

ULM had to adapt and work diligently to combat COVID-19 on campus and in our community. Each college at ULM – Arts, Education and Sciences, Business and Social Sciences, Health Sciences, and Pharmacy – had to make changes to course delivery and innovations to ensure students could continue their academic journey.

Additionally, new partnerships between ULM and Louisiana Delta Community College resulted in streamlined operations and the COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

COVID-19 vaccination clinics In a truly collaborative endeavor, ULM’s four colleges and LDCC partnered to provide vaccination clinics on campus for faculty, staff, students, and community members. Over the course of 15 clinics, ULM and LDCC students and faculty contributed to the administration of thousands of Moderna vaccine doses.

TAKEFLIGHT

Since early February 2021, ULM, joined by LDCC nursing students and faculty, hosted COVID-19 vaccination clinics on campus. Pharmacy and Nursing students, along with faculty from these programs, administered the vaccine and monitored patients for adverse effects after the vaccine was given. Students from the Colleges of Arts, Education, and Sciences and Business and Social Sciences assisted with check-in and transported patients with limited mobility. The University of Louisiana Monroe utilized all talent available on campus to “Defend the Nest” against COVID-19.

ULM Kitty Degree School of Nursing students assisted in vaccinations in Northeast Louisiana. Nursing students served at the following locations: • Morehouse Parish Hospital • Richland Parish Hospital • Richland Parish Civic Center • St. Francis Medical Center • Glenwood Regional Medical Center • CommuniHealth-Ike Hamilton Center to immunize Ouachita Parish teachers/staff

ULM collaborates and innovates to combat COVID-19

By KELSEY BOHL, ED.D.

• Ouachita Parish Correctional Center to vaccinate sheriff’s deputies ULM College of Pharmacy students also participated in vaccine clinics at various sites and pharmacies throughout Louisiana.

“The creation and delivery of the COVID vaccination clinic was a smooth, positive, and interprofessional process. Further validation was received from the communities that were served in the numerous emails and overwhelmingly positive feedback received from clinic patients,” stated Don Simpson, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Health Sciences.

School of Visual and Performing Arts goes digital The School of Visual and Performing Arts was a beacon for innovation during the onset of the pandemic. VAPA was in the midst of rehearsals for its spring play, “Jekyll and Hyde.” With the closing of Brown Theatre imminent, VAPA administrators and faculty quickly gathered students and recorded them singing in the studio. A soundtrack of the play was created to ensure students had digital recordings for their portfolios.

During the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, VAPA became quite inventive to allow students to perform plays, recitals, and ensembles. VAPA set up a YouTube channel and purchased the technology needed to livestream performances.

With Brown Theatre closed, audiences were still able to see live performances. Student performers were protected on stage with plexiglass and social distancing, where possible.

When this was not possible (fall opera), they became even more imaginative. Students individually recorded their songs, Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

The Office of Marketing and Communications provided signage, print and digital materials, and social media content with information on COVID-19.

which were then digitally merged. Even while wearing masks on stage, students mimed the action when their songs played.

“I doubt that there are too many other performing arts programs in the U.S. that have continued to have the level of student performance during this pandemic. VAPA has been able to do this all while maintaining safety for students and faculty,” stated John Pratte, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences

College of Business and Social Science faculty develop technical skills to better serve students The College of Business and Social Science faculty collaborated internally to share ideas, techniques, and technology skills to ensure students’ virtual needs were met. CBSS faculty met biweekly to discuss pedagogies and collaborate on instruction methods.

Some faculty members attended the University of Louisiana System “Bridging the Divide” Summer Series and learned new technology to increase student engagement in virtual learning environments. Programs such as FlipGrid, Wakelet, and Zoom were incorporated to promote more active learning.

Faculty members familiar with technology helped colleagues, especially those who had never taught online. The Office of Informational Technology hosted multiple sessions to educate faculty on Zoom and the university’s learning management system, Moodle.

When faculty members noticed students sitting in their cars to attend Zoom between their face-to-face classes, those faculty members alerted administration about the situation. As a result, spaces were created which students could reserve to attend virtual classes while on campus.

Some faculty members, such as Deborah Goleman, Legal Scholar in Residence, taught HyFlex classes. During the HyFlex model, half of the students would attend the class face-to-face, and half the class would Zoom.Then, the students would switch, so all students were able to meet face-to-face on different days of the week. Goleman taught virtually, and a graduate student would attend each class in Hemphill Hall to serve as the technology liaison.

“My goal was to make students feel as if I were in the classroom. Once I had my image set up, I would start my lecture and use a Smart Podium to write on the PowerPoints as I lectured. I think this combination of visual imagery helped maintain a face-to-face ‘feel’ during the lectures. This method also gave students the same experience regardless of whether they attended class in Hemphill Hall or joined via Zoom,” stated Goleman.

ULM continues to adapt and serve students The innovation and adaptation do not end at ULM once classes resume face-to-face. Necessity is the mother of innovation. ULM was forced to adapt and meet these challenges, and the university has served students despite the difficult circumstances. We are more equipped to meet challenges, not just brought on by COVID-19, and become a better institution for the innovation, creativity, and passion our faculty provides students.

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SUMMER 2021

• CommuniHealth-Morehouse

40 YEARS SERVICE

TRIO Programs Assistant Director Dr. Mystee Burrell, left, provides information on TRIO services to student John McKeel.

22 TAKEFLIGHT

Jasmine Thenekhamsyharath, 21, does not know the meaning of the word "quit."

In June, the Glenmora native was accepted in the University of Louisiana Monroe’s top-rated Dental Hygiene program.

She will start classes in Fall 2021 as a junior.

Jasmine is a first-generation college student whose parents immigrated to the United States from Laos, a tiny country in Southeast Asia known as much for its struggles with economic depression as for being culturally rich.

Jasmine’s father never graduated from high school, and both parents lacked insight into the many steps involved in the college application and enrollment process.

TRIO Programs steps in With help from TRIO Programs at ULM, grant-funded through the U.S. Department of Education to assist those from disadvantaged backgrounds, TRIO stepped in to help Jasmine navigate the enrollment process and continues to help her and many others on their college journeys.

Launched in 1965, TRIO derived its name from the fact it provided aid through three of federal programs — Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, and Student Support Services — though the total number of programs has grown in subsequent years.

Since 1981, ULM is home to two TRIO Programs. It started with Educational Talent

TRIO PROGRAMS marks 4 decades at ULM

By KELI JACOBI | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

Search to assist middle and high school students on the journey to achieve a higher education. Later, Student Support Services was added to help retain and guide ULM students to graduation.

TRIO Programs provides additional grant-funded support for childcare assistance and mentoring.

TRIO’s federal grant funding exceeds $928,000, Educational Talent Search: Cultivating a college mindset

Since 1981, ULM is home to two TRIO Programs: Educational Talent Search, a precollege program to assist middle and high school students on the journey toward achieving higher education, and Student Support Services, for those enrolled at the university to help retain and guide them through to graduation.

Now in its 40th year at ULM, Educational Talent Search is the oldest federally funded TRIO program on campus. Over the last four decades, some 55,000 students in 16 high schools throughout Ouachita and surrounding parishes have been helped by this facet of TRIO.

she was the only one of her siblings to graduate college.

TRIO Executive Director Catherine Estis, Ph.D., is in her 29th year at the university.

She’s held several positions during her tenure, much of it as a field specialist working in nearby parish schools until taking over as director in 2008.

"They don't have any idea where to start," she said.

Educational Talent Search targets eighththrough 12th-grade students from lowincome and first-generation households in which neither parent has obtained a four-year degree, according to Estis.

Students are guided to take core courses in high school that will prepare them for the rigors of college while also maintaining at least a 2.5 GPA. The goal? To enroll and graduate within six years from a postsecondary school, either at ULM or another university.

Associate Director Debbie Upshaw, also a first-generation college graduate and ULM alumna, is fully aware that just the thought of university life can be intimidating.

"They have no clue how to afford college, what kinds of aid may be available. They don't know how to apply for admission or how to choose a college major or how that relates to choosing a career," Upshaw added.

"They have no idea about any of that."

Often, students in targeted parish schools are without a single guidance counselor, and they come from families who simply do not know how to help — whether failing to realize important application deadlines or

▶

23 Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

It is a formidable challenge The region's poverty level hovers around 34 percent, and high school graduation rates typically run lower than the state averages.

Estis notes the effort it takes to convince students from impoverished backgrounds to imagine a future brimming with possibility.

"If you can get them to envision where they can be, it's significant," she said.

Research shows students succeed when encouraged to begin thinking about their life’s plan by the eighth grade.

Instead of guiding them to choose a college, then a major, and a career, program directors work to cultivate within the students a vision of their future lives, working backward to assess the steps needed to achieve it.

Estis and other TRIO Programs directors know a thing or two about being firstgeneration students. Estis' own father was a dairy laborer, and, as one of eight children,

Jasmine Thenekhamsyharath credits ULM’s TRIO Programs with providing her – and her parents – the guidance and support needed as a first-generation college student. She will enter the Dental Hygiene program in Fall 2021.

SUMMER 2021

The TRIO Program’s Diamond students with Talons Out! include, from left, front, Ambernae Williams and Brook Little; middle, John McKeel, Yo’Lecia Addison, Jyssica Hattaway, Jasmine Thenekhamsyhrath; and back, Terrishan Howard, Co-Assistant Director Dr. Mystee Burrell, Jaden Saunders, and Tia Smith.

TAKEFLIGHT

how to apply for campus housing and meal plans, Upshaw said.

Educational Talent Search has several interventions to address these gaps, offering career workshops, identifying potential majors with aptitude tests, campus tours, job shadowing, even STEM camps.

Shifts in the American economy have necessitated a college education to be competitive in the job market, while it might not have been as vital 40-50 years ago, Upshaw said.

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

After the 2008 Great Recession, Georgetown University researchers found workers who were able to rebound most quickly held at least some postsecondary education. These workers now make up 65 percent of the total employment, plus 57 percent of all wages.

Some 831 high school students receive assistance through the program, which has met the grant's objectives, said Upshaw.

"Our numbers are good," she said, noting 45 percent of the students served earned a degree within six years, better than the state average of 37

percent. The national average is 46 percent.

And, while many students have chosen to remain in Northeast Louisiana, others expanded their horizons.

"They go all over," Upshaw said. "One went to Harvard; one went to China … It's so fulfilling to see the realization dawn on them what can be achieved."

The students who choose ULM are invited to use Student Support Services for continued support and a sense of belonging that increases the likelihood of graduation.

Continuing the journey: TRIO Student Support Services A little more than half of ULM students met TRIO's Student Support Services' eligibility requirements by the fall of 2019.

The federal program, created to increase retention and graduation rates, supports low-income students, first-generation college students, and disabled students at every stage of their college education.

Roughly one-third of U.S. college students are the first in their families to attend college. Because of the

In 2015, ULM was awarded a $1.1 million grant to launch Student Support Services, providing free help for 140 students.

Support comes through a variety of services. Career and academic counseling, financial literacy seminars, tutoring, life skills workshops, and assistance with graduate school

on-campus housing before the start of Jasmine’s freshman year — an option that seemed almost too good to be true.

spring 2019. Of the 15 in the first cohort, five have since graduated, and 10 continue to be enrolled.

"I thought it was fake," Jasmine said, laughing. "I didn't make the connection that the Talent Search in my high school was part of the same TRIO program as Student Support Services … I didn't know what would come with saying yes."

The program assists an average of 30 student-parents annually, providing help with everything from field trip transportation with their children to purchasing parenting books.

That "yes" has led to several "friendships of a lifetime" and reliable

A lot of students have said they could not have stayed in school without the help.

The majority are excited and enjoy the workshops — they often go above and beyond the required number.

—TAMMY ANDERSON

TRIO Child Care Coordinator/Outreach Specialist

applications, as well as scholarship and financial aid forms, are just a few ways students get help navigating college.

support from a network of advisers.

"Basically, we're here to make a difference," Estis said. "We want to remove barriers to success."

Making a difference through additional programs

The barriers are quite real for students like Jasmine, who acknowledged, "I didn't know how to do just the basic things."

"Getting a parking sticker, operating Moodle (ULM's online learning platform), learning how to navigate all the systems that ULM provides … I would have stressed a lot more (without support)," she said.

Today, Jasmine serves as a peer mentor, guiding others by sharing what she has learned. She said even without Student Support Services, she might still be enrolled in school because she is so persistent, but things would be much different for her.

"They've become a big and important part of my life," Jasmine said.

CCAMPIS (Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools) and a mentoring program are also housed with the TRIO Programs, aiding even more students.

CCAMPIS helps with childcare costs for ULM students who are enrolled and in good academic standing. In addition to meeting financial eligibility requirements, the student must complete at least one financial literacy workshop, one parenting workshop, and attend one parenting event each semester, said Tammy Anderson, TRIO Child Care Coordinator/ Outreach Specialist.

Because of a brief misunderstanding, she almost did not get involved with the program at all.

"It's made a big difference," she said. "A lot of students have said they could not have stayed in school without the help.

The majority are excited and enjoy the workshops — they often go above and beyond the required number."

ULM TRIO Co-Associate Director Mystee Burrell, Ed.D., had sent an email offering an early opportunity to settle into

ULM was the first Louisiana university to receive grant funding for the program, which Anderson has helped lead since

As TRIO Programs Outreach Coordinator, Joe Riser enjoys opportunities to connect with students from the same Northeast Louisiana community where he grew up.

Coming out of Richwood High School and attending the University of California at Berkeley, he appreciates growth that happens when stretched outside one's comfort zone.

"I learned so much just by being around people of different backgrounds and cultures," he said. "It was a good experience for me."

Today, he enjoys watching achievers through TRIO, especially those receiving guidance through a high school mentoring program started in 2014.

The program seeks to "paint a picture of what the possibilities could be," said Riser, "regardless of what college they choose to attend."

One aspect of the mentoring program includes hosting business and community leaders who share with students how they could achieve some of their life's goals. Other benefits include assistance with social and business etiquette, study skills, and decision-making, as well as excursions to stoke intellectual curiosity.

The students have traveled to the Louisiana Capitol to witness lawmakers in session and been inspired at the Johnson Space Center outside Houston. Riser joined 30 students on a career exploration trip to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory Science Center in Livingston.

More trips will be planned in the future, as the pandemic comes under control.

"We've had students who, because of the exposure to things they might not have otherwise seen, you see them blossom," he said.

"When they talk about the program, you see how much they have grown."

SUMMER 2021

high demand to assist these students, grants are highly competitive.

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RESEARCH

KITCHEN CABINET SECRETS Khalid

26 TAKEFLIGHT

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

El Sayed Professor researches olive oil as treatments for breast cancer and Alzheimer's

By MARK HENDERSON | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

Dr. Khalid El Sayed discusses the components of olive oil with ULM College of Pharmacy doctoral students. El Sayed’s research into the healing properties of olive oil may lead to treatments for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Khalid El Sayed, Ph.D., calls himself a medicinal chemist.

He’s a detective in a white coat, and molecules are his version of fingerprints.

As a Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry Professor in the School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences at the University of Louisiana Monroe’s College of Pharmacy, El Sayed seeks out new applications for naturally existing substances with the goal of saving lives.

“About 75 percent of drugs are natural products or based on a natural product parent,” El Sayed said.

His most recent research, getting recognition among his many colleagues, involves an item found in many kitchen cabinets and frequently used in cooking: virgin olive oil.

But El Sayed isn’t sautéing onions with it. He hopes to use it to inhibit breast cancer and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

In Louisiana, breast cancer strikes 126 of every 100,000 women. That’s the highest incident rate among cancers in women in the state. Breast cancer is the second most deadly, behind only lung cancer.

“The current treatment hits both the target cells and healthy cells,” El Sayed said.

27 SUMMER 2021

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Although the chances of surviving a cancer, diagnosis are better today, the destruction of healthy cells and the inability to kill dormant tumor cells leave patients vulnerable.

“The cancer survivors are living with the nightmare of watching for a recurrence,” El Sayed said.

So, the hunt for a substance that would reduce the possibility of a recurrence was on. It led El Sayed to look to the Mediterranean.

The countries along the Mediterranean Sea have a noticeably lower rate of breast and colon cancers. El Sayed studied the eating habits of the Mediterranean people and realized the diet made frequent use of virgin olive oil. Based on corroborating epidemiological evidence of the medical benefits of olive oil, El Sayed started his research.

In breaking down the olive oil molecule, El Sayed began focusing on oleocanthal, a natural phenolic compound found in the oil.

“It took a lot of trial and error. In looking at the chemical structure of the molecule, it became

apparent that we could fish the oleocanthal from the oil. But it took eight years to figure out how to do it,” El Sayed says.

In the end, it was so simple.

“All we do is shake it with water, freeze and entrap on a resin.”

That breaks up the molecule and separates the oleocanthal. With enough samples, El Sayed was able to experiment, and while studies using test tubes proved unpromising, he started oral dosages with mice.

The findings: oleocanthal reduced the recurrence of one type of breast cancer in mice and limited the growth of other types of recurrent tumors.

The amount of olive oil needed to be consumed to achieve a similar result in adults, however, is impractical. So, El Sayed has joined with other researchers in Shreveport and a former ULM colleague, Dr. Amal Kaddoumi, now working at Auburn University, to form a company, Oleolive, to produce a supply of oleocanthal to use and to sell to researchers.

In 2020, with El Sayed serving as the principal investigator, the company received an award from the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health to fund research on the preventive and therapeutic benefits of oleocanthal in triple negative breast cancer recurrence. The award included a $240,000 share for ULM. Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

TAKEFLIGHT

ULM College of Pharmacy doctoral students, from left, Mohammed Qusa, Dr. Soumaya Souid and Khaldoun Abdelwahed work with Dr. Khalid El Sayed on olive oil and other research projects.

El Sayed is convinced; however, that’s just the tip of the iceberg concerning virgin olive oil.

“A few years ago, I went to Greece,” El Sayed says. “I met a farmer there, about 90. He still worked in his field every day.

He showed no sign of aging impairment.”

A quick check of statistics, and another quick confirmation. Mediterranean countries had a much lower rate of Alzheimer’s and other neurological inflammatory diseases.

It took a lot of trial and error. In looking at the chemical structure of the molecule, it became apparent that we could fish the oleocanthal from the oil. But it took eight years to figure out how to do it.

—DR. KHALID EL SAYED, PH.D.

Professor, College of Pharmacy

Dr. Khalid El Sayed began studying the healing properties of olive oil after finding lower rates of breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease in people living in the Mediterrean, whose diets are rich in olive oil.

So, it was back to mice, specifically those suffering neurological inflammation. After four months of treatment, the mice had reduced symptoms. Auburn University’s Kaddoumi has begun a pilot study to see if oleocanthal is useful in humans to reduce Alzheimer’s.

The state Board of Regents’ Industry Tie Research Subprogram has awarded ULM a $225,000 grant to develop the olive phenolic oleocanthal as functional food and dietary supplement products with suitable pharmaceutical dosage forms for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease prevention.

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SUMMER 2021

All this is possible in today’s

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

30 TAKEFLIGHT

Mohammed Qusa, seated, and Dr. Soumaya Souid, right, discuss data from research into the medicinal properties of olive oil. They are doctoral students in the ULM College of Pharmacy who work with Dr. Khalid El Sayed. El Sayed and his team have discovered a component of olive oil that one day may be used to treat breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

marketplace because of a ruling by the Federal Drug Administration in 1994 allowing the sale of herbal supplements if the label does not claim to fight a specific disease.

“It has to be general, such as saying ‘useful for antiinflammatory and/or-aging,’” El Sayed said.

El Sayed speaks energetically about his work, often placing his hands on his cheeks as if his discoveries surprise even himself. Born near Alexandria, Egypt, he earned his doctorate through a program between an Egyptian governmental university and the University of Mississippi. He completed his dissertation in Egypt, taught and trained at Ole Miss for six years, and then came to ULM in 2001.

“I was a visiting professor, my first year as an independent professor. At the time, there was one medicinal chemistry professor here, and my dean wanted another,” said El Sayed.

And El Sayed is well-positioned at ULM for his research.

“ULM is one of the few universities that offer an herbal medicine elective. The thing is, health physicians are not well-educated in the use of herbals, and there’s a bunch of pseudoscience out there, which is bringing confusion,” El Sayed said.

When exploring the use of herbals, your pharmacist is an outstanding counselor.

And they are the most accessible and approachable health provider.

—DR. KHALID EL SAYED, PH.D.

Professor, College of Pharmacy

“When exploring the use of herbals, your pharmacist is an outstanding counselor. And they are the most accessible and approachable health providers.”

El Sayed is even networking to build a home-grown supply of olive products.

In Florida, a disease called citrus greening, known as HLB after its Chinese name huang long bing, is decimating citrus groves. A gnat-sized insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, is spreading the disease that causes leaves of the infected trees to fall off. Without leaves, the trees can’t absorb sunlight for photosynthesis to produce the needed sugar to develop the fruit.

“I’ve been working with a farm owner to plant olive trees where citrus plants once grew. Now he’s making extract from the olive leaf. He’s been selling it to people he knows, and he says not one of them has come down with COVID-19,” El Sayed said, suggesting with a bit of a chuckle it shouldn’t be considered a substitute for a vaccine.

El Sayed does believe the time is coming soon to move his breast cancer research to the next level, human tests like the pilot program Auburn is doing on Alzheimer’s.

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RESEARCH Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

Will Rogers, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of English at ULM, received an ATLAS grant –Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars – to complete his study titled “Haunted Chaucer.”

University of Louisiana Monroe Assistant Professor of English Will Rogers, Ph.D., received a prestigious ATLAS grant – Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars – from the Louisiana Board of Regents.

The grant will support Rogers as he completes his study, “Haunted Chaucer: Trauma and Narrative in ‘The Canterbury Tales.’”

"At first glance, Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' written in the last quarter of the 14th century, is a foreign narrative, unconnected to the 21st-century reader.

But my research centers on how Chaucer's collection of tales is useful to our present moment, as the text gives voice to the thencontemporary upheavals and developments of what has been called the "calamitous 14th century," a global pandemic, a debate about the role of women, and various political strife," Rogers said.

My research centers on how Chaucer's collection of tales is useful to our present moment, as the text gives voice to the then-contemporary upheavals and developments of what has been called the "calamitous 14th century," a global pandemic, a debate about the role of women, and various political strife.

—WILL ROGERS, PH.D.

Assistant Professor of English

Prestigious ATLAS grant allows Dr. Will Rogers to explore ‘Haunted Chaucer’

By KELSEY BOHL, ED.D.

"Central, however, to my monograph 'Haunted Chaucer' is the way in which the text papers over these events and developments, and how, though repressed, they return in unexpected ways. This repression and return is aptly described by modern understandings of trauma and memory," he said.

Rogers' grant was fully funded at $36,750.

The Board of Regents ranks each grant application, and Rogers' application was the highest-ranked out of all the other institutions in the University of Louisiana System.

This project has previously been funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities and is currently supported through the Tommy and Mary Barham Endowed Professorship in the School of Humanities in the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences.

Rogers has a reduced course load in order to complete this project. Rogers said his students had an integral role in helping him complete his proposal.

"I am grateful for the support from Board of Regents and from ULM — I will, however, miss the dynamic in the classroom that allowed me to complete this proposal: the students from English 4036 have been essential as readers and critics of my work.

In fact, an article version of chapter two of ‘Haunted Chaucer’ was published in fall 2020 in The Chaucer Review, a piece that only happened because of my students’ questions and critique,” said Rogers.

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31 SUMMER 2021

SERVICE Kimberly Moore performs specialized chemical and microbiological testing in the ULM Environmental Analysis Lab.

Environmental Analysis Lab Testing goes beyond earth and water IMPROVING LIFE THROUGHOUT LOUISIANA

By KELSEY BOHL, ED.D.

TAKEFLIGHT The Environmental Analysis Lab at the University of Louisiana Monroe is a hidden gem on the 200-plus-acre campus.

Inside the lab, located in the Chemistry and Natural Sciences building, are multiple testing rooms filled with beakers and jars of samples. You hear the whirring of large lab equipment and computers spitting out reports. This is a highly sophisticated lab that tests and analyzes many environmental elements and works with numerous clients across all of Louisiana.

An all-female-led lab, the EAL was established in 1979. Originally named the Soil-Plant Lab, it supported the local agriculture community by testing soil, plant tissue, water, seeds, and fertilizer.

Over the years, the EAL has refocused its testing priorities to keep pace with emerging environmental demands. Today,

the EAL analyzes water, wastewater, soil, and fish tissue. The name was changed to the Environmental Analysis Lab to reflect the increased scope of the services provided.

“We are always cognizant of the environmental issues because they frequently change, and what is coming down from the Environmental Protection Agency and what they are going to be regulating,” said Terri Lancaster, Director of the EAL. The EAL is the only environmental lab in Northeast Louisiana accredited through the Louisiana Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The EAL was first accredited in 1998.

For more than 40 years, the EAL has been self-sustaining by charging nominal

fees for testing. The approximately $500,000 generated annually covers salaries, supplies, and operating expenses.

Serving the state The EAL serves clients in industry, environment al companies, and municipalities, including the cities of Monroe, West Monroe, and Ruston.

The state DEQ contracted the ULM lab more than 20 years ago to test fish for mercury. Fish from five or six sites are collected and brought to the lab. Between 40-60 different fish samples are tested each month.

During dove hunting season, the EAL has worked with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to test South Louisiana fields to determine how much lead from shotgun shells is in the soil.

Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS LAB FACTS

• Tests 40-60 samples of fish tissue each month • Only accredited environmental lab in Northeast Louisiana The EAL has an ongoing project with the city of Monroe, testing Bayou DeSiard every month. There are 12 sample sites along the bayou, stretching north to Bayou Bartholomew and south to Bayou DeSiard Country Club. The lab examines the bayou's water quality, which is the city’s source of drinking water.

• Self-sustaining, generating $500,000 annually • Tests Bayou DeSiard monthly for water quality

Mollicy Farms Unit of Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge, located along the east side of the Ouachita River in Morehouse Parish, is the site of one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the country. The EAL worked with The Nature Conservancy on the Mollicy Farms project by analyzing nutrients in the water.

• Services provided to the public for nominal fees

The lab also supports academic research at the university. Kevin Baer, Ph.D., Associate Director of Toxicological Sciences, has used EAL services for more than 10 years. ULM’s Diana Greenlee, Ph.D.,

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The EAL has even tested mercury levels in crawfish for the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

34 TAKEFLIGHT

Terri Lancaster, left, Director of the ULM Environmental Analysis Lab, discusses a project with Marguerite Dozier, Client Services Specialist, as they walk in the lab, located in the Chemistry and Natural Sciences building.

Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

station archeologist at Poverty Point World Heritage Site, has ancient soil samples tested there, and EAL staff have helped the Chemistry and Biology program with numerous projects.

"The lab provides accurate results in a timely manner.

The reliability of our data helps customers make important decisions in meeting their regulatory goals.” Lancaster said.

Environmental Analysis Lab public services Along with large clients, the EAL serves the general public. Some available services include testing on soil, water and wastewater, and microbiologicals.

Soil samples are analyzed for nutrient levels, and results are used to make recommendations for the addition of fertilizer and lime, which ultimately results in achieving conditions for optimal plant growth.

“Most tests requested by the public are for well water and soil samples. We provide water quality testing for the well water samples and recommendations for fertilizer for garden, lawn, or flowerbeds. We analyze soil samples on wildlife food plots for all the hunters in the area.

We’ve also tested the athletic fields on campus and golf

Sandra Winding specializes in water quality and microbial studies at the Environmental Analysis Lab.

The lab’s goal is to promote the vision of excellence at ULM. We provide premier customer service and uncompromising scientific integrity.

—TERRI LANCASTER

35 SUMMER 2021

Renee Wade is the manager of the Environmental Analysis Lab at ULM.

Environmental Analysis Lab Director

courses in our area, and we provide testing for several lawn care services,” she said.

Water and wastewater are tested for many different types of metals, minerals, microbiologicals, and nutrients.

The EAL can also customize tests for clients.

The EAL services are open to the public, and price quotes are upon request. Discounts may be given for multiple samples which are submitted at the same time.

Once the tests are completed, the reports are mailed to clients, and test results are confidential. Report data may be shared upon request from the client.

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If you are interested in services offered by the Environmental Analysis Lab, call 318-342-1948

TEACHING

Climate Change and Chenier Forests STUDENT NAUTICA JONES MAKING A CONNECTION

By HOPE YOUNG

University of Louisiana Monroe biology major Nautica Jones loves Louisiana’s semi-tropical climate and its variety of ecosystems, from the marshes at the Gulf of Mexico to the pine-covered hills in the northern region of the state.

Jones’ interrelated interests in climate change and nature led her to write a research grant proposal to study one of Louisiana’s threatened terrains, the chenier forests.

Cheniers (French, chene meaning oak, [shin’-yay]) are coastal live-oak forest communities that were historically

TAKEFLIGHT

expansive. These unique forested ecosystems are now reduced to remnant patches.

Jones’ “Reassessment of vegetation diversity in a relic Louisiana Chenier,” was accepted by the Garden Club of America and funded with a $3,000 grant.

Working with her research mentor, ULM Professor of Biology Joydeep Bhattacharjee, Ph.D., Jones will be investigating the effects of climate change and invasive species on the remaining chenier forests of southern Louisiana.

Jones’ interest in the impact of climate change on plant communities came after witnessing the disproportionate effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in minority areas – before and after the devastating storms.

Nautica Jones is an undergraduate majoring in biology. Thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Garden Club of America, she will be able to study Louisiana’s diminishing chenier forests.

“Plant communities are our greatest allies in the climate crisis,” said Jones, “however, access to green spaces and the resources necessary for their management are not equitably distributed, forming a barrier to the equitable adaptation of all humans to climate change.”

The cheniers are also heritage sites for the Atakapa Native American people of Louisiana.

Archaeological finds from the cheniers have been important in documenting the tribe’s history, according to Jones.

Ecologically these forests play a key role in preventing coastal erosion and act as barriers to Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

Plant communities are our greatest allies in the climate crisis, however, access to green spaces and the resources necessary for their management are not equitably distributed, forming a barrier to the equitable adaptation of all humans to climate change.

—NAUTICA JONES

ULM student

hurricanes. Jones hopes that her research findings can help develop effective management plans to conserve the cheniers and contribute to the solution set for human climate change adaptation.

“Nautica has been working in my lab for about a year now, and this project has been in development since then. We plan on using a combination of multispectral imagery obtained by UAVs, drones, and vegetation data collected on-ground for this project,” Bhattacharjee said. “Above all, the Garden Club of America grant awards are extremely competitive and are only awarded nationally to only four to seven students a year. It is a testament to the type of research and competitiveness that ULM undergraduates are capable of.”

Jones has an internship at the Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology.

She is working on forest carbon sequestration. Jones uses time-lapse digital photography to study how forests in the northeastern United States combat climate change.

Jones’ internship opportunity is in line with the research Bhattacharjee’s lab is undertaking at ULM. “I would like to compare data collected at the Harvard experimental forest with the data collected at the ULM carbon tower in Russell Sage Wildlife Management Area, as a part of a separate project. I hope that my work and presence in the scientific community will inspire children, especially girls, of color to pursue careers in avenues where they may not have been able to see themselves before,” said Jones.

Nautica Jones was selected for the Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology. She uses time-lapse photography to study how forests adapt to climate change.

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RESEARCH

Policing and Public Safety MKAY BONNER TRAINING LAW ENFORCEMENT, FIRST RESPONDERS TO MANAGE HIGH-STRESS SITUATIONS

By HOPE YOUNG

In 2020, Mkay Bonner, Ph.D., found her two decades of research and work in the psychology of police and public safety practices in demand as never before.

Social outrage over violence involving law enforcement, coupled with frustration and fear caused

by COVID-19 and a thousand other reasons for fury, seemed to converge at once.

Bonner specializes in training and teaching people in high-stress, potentially hazardous roles – particularly law enforcement and first responders – to manage themselves and others to prevent a dangerous situation from turning into a deadly one.

As a Licensed Industrial Organizational Psychologist and University of Louisiana Monroe Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Bonner relies on the science of what makes people react as they do to show them ways to modify their behavior.

De-escalation and crisis intervention

38 TAKEFLIGHT

In early 2021, Bonner became one of only seven national instructors with the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project. The ULM Police Department employees have been trained in the innovative ABLE Project by Bonner and UPD administrators. Now, they are making the program accessible to the UL System and local law enforcement agencies.

Bonner stressed that preparation and attention are required in all policing and public safety situations.

“We have had great success with training law enforcement and fire department personnel in realistic de-escalation. Important to this success is using experiential learning techniques during the training.

This turns a dry lecture into interactive problemsolving,” said Bonner.

Getting away from a “dry lecture” setting and being on the ground with officers and first responders provide the insight required to deliver the quality training Bonner described as “crucial.”

“Instructors must learn and understand the culture and environment of the work of public safety personnel. As professors, we cannot leave our office, open a book, lecture to them for two hours on mental illness, and expect it to make a difference,” Bonner said.

Her successful training methods come from oneon-one discussions, spending time on the job with public safety personnel, attending training classes, and even going on midnight ride-alongs.

“Public safety psychologists must understand law enforcement officers, how to talk to them, and how to identify the best methods for them to learn. In doing this, we have the potential to make a realistic difference,” Bonner said.

The classroom and beyond For 11 years, Bonner has taught criminal justice

I am very honored to be associated with ULM, our Criminal Justice and Psychology programs and students, and law enforcement, public safety, and fire department personnel. I diligently strive to make a real-world difference in the lives of everyone I teach and work with.

—DR. MKAY BONNER

Associate Professor Criminal Justice

in the School of Social Sciences in the College of Business and Social Sciences.

Previously, she was an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at ULM for a decade.

Currently, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses, including criminal behavior, criminal justice ethics, research methods, administration & management in criminal justice agencies, industrial and business security, internships, psychological assessment, industrial organizational psychology, and advanced forensic psychology.

Bonner is a ULM alumna, earning her bachelor of arts and master’s degrees in psychology here before earning her doctorate in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

“I am very honored to be associated with ULM, our Criminal Justice and Psychology programs and students, and law enforcement, public safety, and fire department personnel. I diligently strive to make a real-world difference in the lives of everyone I teach and work with,” Bonner said.

Bonner also serves as the public safety psychologist for several police, sheriff, and fire departments. She has extensively worked with or trained law enforcement and public safety personnel throughout Louisiana and the nation. She is the consulting psychologist for the crisis negotiation team for a state law enforcement agency.

“I have found the foundations of the crisis intervention team to be very valuable in many aspects of policing and public safety work. The core of this work

involves dealing with someone who is in some type of crisis such as a car wreck or victim of theft. Understanding the fundamentals of de-escalation can be helpful techniques in most public safety situations,” she said.

Bonner is the co-coordinator and the co-lead instructor for the Northeast Delta Crisis Intervention Team. She has helped train more than 1,000 people in more than 80 classes.

Her expertise is in police and public safety psychology, workplace safety, and stress management. She has served as an investigator in Title IX, sexual harassment, and workplace violence cases.

In November 2020, Bonner was asked to serve on the Louisiana Legislature’s Joint Committee on Police Training, Screening and De-escalation Task Force as the public representative of the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA).

Earlier in 2020, Bonner received the LPA Psychology in the Public Interest Award.

The LPA notified Bonner in a letter stating, “ … We were especially impressed with your work and its impact for police and first responders handling of various crises that could result in disparate use of inappropriate force or other behaviors.”

The Psychology Times presented Bonner with the 2020 Community Award for Innovation, recognizing her contributions to police psychology, especially by developing evidence-based training to deter police misconduct and lessen the use of inappropriate or deadly force.

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39 SUMMER 2021

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

TEACHING

Fostering creative thinking and team-building COLLEGE OF PHARMACY CREATES $250,000 ACTIVE LEARNING CLASSROOM

By MARK HENDERSON | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

The team behind the ULM College of Pharmacy’s active learning classroom are, from left, Marcia Wells, Manager of Technology Services, Dean Dr. Glenn Anderson; and Greg Andrews, Classroom and Audio Visual Coordinator.

TAKEFLIGHT

A new approach to learning needs a new kind of classroom.

That's the belief of Glenn Anderson, Pharm.D., Dean of the University of Louisiana Monroe's College of Pharmacy.

He took that belief, and a magazine article, to Greg Andrews, ULM's classroom and audio-visual coordinator.

He pointed to a picture accompanying the article about an active learning classroom in Cincinnati and told Andrews, "I want this." Andrews delivered.

That active learning classroom, the first of its kind in Louisiana, is now in use. It's clear something different happens here.

"We wanted to create a learning environment that goes beyond memory. Students, we know, are going to learn more here," Anderson said.

Creative thinking enhanced by technology A traditional classroom emphasizes the instructor, and large lecture halls resemble recital halls. The students all face the instructor, with their backs to their fellow students.

A teacher shares expertise with the expectation that students take notes, memorize those notes, and then be able to state those facts when test time comes.

Team-building involves conflict resolution. And today, medicine is moving more and more to a team-care concept. It's all about team-building.

—GLENN ANDERSON, PHARM.D.

Dean ULM College of Pharmacy

"That's really the lowest form of learning, the regurgitation of facts," Anderson said, referencing Bloom's Taxonomy, a classification system used to define and distinguish different levels of human cognition. "At this level, students can tell you only what a drug can do."

It doesn't encourage students to think for themselves, however.

"We want our students to move to the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy, creative thinking. We want them to be able to build a treatment plan."

The studio classroom resembles a stage set up for an orchestra rather than a soloist. In the center of the room, a workstation sits with an interactive smartboard. That's for the instructor, who will serve as the maestro. The students sit all around the instructor at 14 different tables, similar to the way musicians of an orchestra are arranged by various strings, woodwinds, and brass sections around a conductor.

As the maestro, the instructor (usually a professor) is expected to set the stage, make sure his charges are ready to perform, and then let them play.

Each table features a 360-degree microphone, plug-ins for laptops, and a large terminal. The technology enables

"The idea is if you sit here in the classroom, you should always see content from the learners and from the instructor. Students will learn faster and deeper through group learning," Anderson said.

Anderson explained how the classroom functions. He said a class period likely would begin with a lecture of 12 to 15 minutes.

"That's about the expected attention span," Anderson said. In lecture halls, instructors start to lose students' focus after that.

The instructor sets up a case study that the group at each table will be expected to tackle. Each group consists of about six students. They will be able to share up to four screens at a time on the big monitors on the table, similar to Zoom.

Team-building and innovation The students will work together to answer a series of questions posed by the instructor to guide the team to building a plan for the specific case – whether it be a difficult diabetes diagnosis or a cancer patient with other underlying problems.

At the end of the work, each team will be able to present its findings and proposals from its table, with the other teams in the room able to view the presentation on the monitor at their own tables.

At the instructors' discretion, students at more than one table can form teams by sharing screens and talking via the built-in microphones.

What is an active learning classroom?

• Studio-style classroom • Instructor workstation with smart board in the center • 14 tables seating six students surround the instructor • Each student table has a 360-degree microphone, large terminal, and laptop plug-ins • Instructors and students wirelessly share notes, presentations, project materials, and other content • Students work as teams to develop a treatment plan for a specific patient • Instructor in Monroe can reach satellite campuses in New Orleans and Shreveport

Dean Dr. Glenn Anderson, right, and students in the College of Pharmacy’s active learning classroom, the first of its kind in Louisiana.

Students will work together to find answers, challenge each other, and call upon the instructor as a resource.

"It's an active learning environment," Anderson said. "The problem with that is that they are a bit chaotic."

It's much noisier than the typical classroom.

Andrews said the students are much more comfortable with the technology than the faculty. "The younger generation, more than the teachers, have really embraced it," said Andrews.

The technology expands the reach of the classroom as well, Anderson said. ULM's College of Pharmacy has two satellite campuses in New Orleans and Shreveport. A 360-degree camera and up-to-date technology allow the instructor in the Monroe classroom to extend learning to include teams there.

That's what the technology would do in a perfect world, anyway. Marcia Wells, Technology Manager for the College of Pharmacy, said COVID struck just as the classroom was being completed. "Right now, we have limited the room's use to one class with 10 students." That class is one on leadership.

The limited use will give faculty members more time to get comfortable with the concept of this "educational experimental lab," as Anderson called it.

"An instructor may not always know how to work the technology. One of our biggest hurdles is that the faculty member has to understand the technology and the teaching practices. They have to prepare lectures, activities, the cases, and the readings to accompany the cases. It doubles the prep time," Anderson said.

Wells said the classroom cost $250,000 to set up. Anderson said the college used endowment money to fund it. The college teamed with the Phoenix-based technology company Trox in developing the room.

Although the technology seldom poses a problem for students, Anderson said, working within a group does. One of the biggest obstacles is the age-old problem with group projects – the equal sharing of the workload.

"There's always the problem of some people doing more work than others.

We have each member of the team sign a statement that the work represents the equal work of every member," Anderson said.

As the team's individuals compare notes, swap ideas, and resolve conflicts, creative thinking evolves, he said. The students learn to think for themselves and prepare themselves for the workforce.

"As professionals, we don't get to pick who we work with. Team-building involves conflict resolution. And today, medicine is moving more and more to a team-care concept," Anderson said. "It's all about team-building."

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professors and students to wirelessly share notes, presentations, project materials, and other content from any laptop, smartphone, or tablet between the teacher station and the tables where students collaborate as a team.

RESEARCH

42 TAKEFLIGHT

SUNFLOWER SEEDS INSPIRE DRUG DESIGN FOR LUNG CANCER

Seetharma Jois Receives $1.65 million grant to fund research

By MARK HENDERSON | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

What I am researching is a targeted therapy, a drug that will keep the proteins from dancing together. It’s a like partners dancing, and another cuts in, breaking up the dance.

—SEETHARAMA JOIS, PH.D.

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

Seetharama Jois, Ph.D., a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences at ULM’s College of Pharmacy, is looking into a lung cancer treatment method he believes holds the promise to be better than any current option.

And the second-largest grant in the history of the University of Louisiana Monroe will fund that research.

The National Institutes of Health awarded $1.65 million to fund cancer research by Jois in collaboration with Yong-Yu Liu, M.D., Ph.D., a cancer pharmacologist at the College of Pharmacy, and a lung-cancer researcher from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Jois, who came to ULM in 2006, is working with proteins

protein with what I created in the lab,” Jois said.

The grafted sunflower seed protein with the modified peptide is being tested to see if the chemical interaction that causes cancer to spread can be interrupted.

Jois, who obtained his undergraduate and doctorate in his native India before coming to the United States 20 years ago to do post-doctorate work at the University of Kansas-Lawrence, wants to block proteins in a cell from interacting that would lead to the adhesion of one cell to another. Cancer grows when a mutant cell begins to duplicate itself. The adhesion of mutant cells leads to the development of a tumor.

Jois is concentrating on non-small cell lung cancer because 80 percent of those diagnosed die in five years. “This type of lung cancer is hard to cure, and the survival rate of these patients is poor,” Jois said.

“What I am researching is a targeted therapy, a drug that will keep the proteins from dancing together,” Jois said. “It’s like partners dancing, and another cuts in, breaking up the dance.”

Current lung cancer treatments have drawbacks, Jois said.

With chemotherapy, healthy cells die with the cancerous ones.

Other available therapeutic agents help only a small number of patients, and they often develop resistance.

Jois said he is concentrating on a portion of the lung cell protein structure that other therapies do not.

Jois is testing the grafted protein on cancer cells grown in a lab. “We have to make sure is does not kill noncancerous

Dr. Seetharama Jois, of the ULM College of Pharmacy, is researching the use of mini-proteins extracted from sunflower seeds which could be developed into a drug which could slow the growth of some lung cancer cells.

43 SUMMER 2021

Photos by Siddharth Gaulee

from sunflower seeds, modifying them in the laboratory using mini-proteins called peptides, attempting to create a small molecular drug that would arrest the rapid growth of lung cancer cells.

The process is called grafting.

Peptides consist of between two and 50 amino acids, and most of the body’s hormones are peptides. Proteins are large, complex molecules consisting of more than 50 amino acids and play many critical roles in the body. They do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs.

Properties inside the peptides can be beneficial to the body, but the problem, Jois said, is finding a way to deliver those benefits.

“If we give the peptide drug orally, it will be digested, and it won’t work. We can deliver the drug through IV, and it would work for a short time, but it will eventually get digested as well.”

The use of the sunflower seed protein provides a stable platform, keeping the peptides from breaking up.

“I can make the unstable peptide stable through grafting, replacing some of the chemical group of the sunflower seed

cells,” he said.

If successful, the next step is testing the process on mice.

Jois will inject cancerous cells onto the surface of the mice, and then treat those cells with the grafted protein.

“What we are looking for is this: Will it work orally? We will check for the development of resistance, and we have to make sure it works better than any other drugs on the market,” Jois said.

The NIH grant will support research for five years. Jois said the process from research to market can be tedious. Any successful outcome will have to undergo stringent review by federal agencies, then there’s a patent process and convincing a company that the product is worth developing and marketing.

That whole process could take up to 15 years, Jois said.

He doesn’t dwell on the future, however; he’s a scientist just looking for answers.

“I started my research out of curiosity. Can I make this thing work? If so, I can contribute to society. Lung cancer is one of the main killers. I looked at the statistics that 80 percent of patients die in five years. Then I looked at the proteins involved and saw it was a good target. It’s in my wheelhouse.”

■

TEACHING Visualize yourself enrolled in a college course in which the professor has displayed two newspaper clippings showing images from Hurricane Katrina.

set a goal of becoming a university professor who taught his students to “treat each other as equals” and to “respect one another, regardless of race.”

Rideaux said it is important to have those sometimes difficult conversations surrounding implicit bias, as well as diversity and inclusion, to make continual progress.

One image is that of an older white couple, holding a bag of bread and walking through several feet of swirling water. The other is of a young black man, holding a carton of soda, wading through similar water.

Later, Rideaux became a Spanish language teacher and then an administrator within innercity high schools, where he witnessed firsthand the difference it made when students from impoverished communities were able to gain access to the same educational opportunities afforded peers from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

“Conversations bring healing,” he said.

If you find yourself making certain assumptions about the subjects in the images, you are not alone.

Addressing implicit bias Implicit bias, an unconscious way of stereotyping that influences our understanding of the world around us, affects most humans at one time or another.

Tarrieck D. Rideaux, Ed.D., is Program Coordinator for Educational Leadership and an Assistant Professor in the School of Education, College of Arts, Education and Sciences at the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Rideaux is dedicated to heightening awareness of the “blind spots” that come with implicit biases. Anyone is susceptible, including teachers and administrators.

Implicit biases surface when an individual places broad stereotypes (either positively or negatively) on an entire group of people. The stereotype could be based on gender, race, class, or even age, appearance, and religious affiliation.

The most challenging part about these biases is that they arise involuntarily because they are firmly rooted in the subconscious, according to Rideaux.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Rideaux said. “It doesn’t mean you are trying to exclude; you often just don’t think to include.”

By being open to recognizing and addressing implicit biases, leaders position themselves to make better informed decisions, which can advance the culture and trajectory of an entire organization, he said.

TAKEFLIGHT

It fueled his decision to pursue his doctorate and to write a dissertation centered on how the behavior of leaders affect the campus culture, which in turn impacts student achievement.

Diversity in education In addition to helping train future teachers to become better leaders, Rideaux is part of an effort at ULM that seeks to develop teacher diversity in area elementary and secondary schools, by increasing both the number of teachers of color who are in majority-minority school districts and boosting the rates of males in the teaching profession.

According to Rideaux, although students of color respond well and show better outcomes when taught by teachers of color, research indicates the benefits extend to all students by preparing them for an increasingly diverse society.

In addition, the ULM School of Education is taking an aggressive look inward to increase cultural awareness among faculty, revising the curricula to address diversity and inclusion, and developing a grant-funded mentor program whereby student teachers of color are paired with professional teachers of color.

Rideaux serves as chair of the Diversity Committee within the School of Education and collaborates with the Diversity Committee for ULM.

“It starts from the top down,” Rideaux asserted.

As moderator for a focus group formed at the request of ULM President Ron Berry, Rideaux said it became clear that the word “diversity” needed to be included in the strategic plan currently under development.

His passion for initiatives focused on diversity and inclusion, particularly within the field of education, stretches far back. In a letter written during his own high school education, Rideaux

“I feel good about Dr. Berry’s leadership, and I know he’ll listen to the focus groups,” he said.

Dr. Tarrieck Rideaux Shining a light on the ‘Blind Spots’

By KELI JACOBI | Special to the University of Louisiana Monroe

Under Rideaux’s leadership, the teaching program has grown exponentially. When he arrived at ULM in 2018, there were about 43 students; now it is approaching 200. Each semester, the program graduates about 25 new professional educators equipped to enter the field.

The School of Education also routinely ranks highly for the quality of its online programs.

“It’s really great for working college students,” said Rideaux, who added that despite the pandemic, ULM students and faculty excelled and “didn’t miss a beat.”

Visit ULM’s School of Education in the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences at ulm.edu/education to read more about its programs.

■

TEACHING

$300,000 grant supports workforce development in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems

By KELSEY BOHL, ED.D. Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

Dr. Jose Cordova, Associate Professor of Computer Sciences, works with a student in the ULM College of Business and Social Sciences computer lab.

A $300,000 grant is benefitting the students at the University of Louisiana Monroe, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, and IBM. ULM students learn from top faculty on the latest technology and programs, IBM and other tech employers have a trained workforce, and ULM graduates land well-paying, in-demand positions. It all contributes to the economic growth of the region.

The grant from the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, is allowing ULM to enhance the Computer Science and Computer Information Systems programs to produce more graduates ready to enter the technology workforce.

The funds improve ULM’s Computer Science and Computer Information Systems programs in many ways, from faculty salaries and technology equipment to internship opportunities, including working with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center on campus.

As interns at the LSBDC, students work with small businesses to design websites and provide recommendations on technology solutions.

Elizabeth Peters is a ULM Computer Science alumna who had an LSDBC internship funded by the grant. Peters is currently a professional software engineer at Corelogic in Irving, Texas, and credits her career success to ULM’s program and her internship.

“Interning at the LSBDC was an amazing experience. Working closely with local business owners to create websites and logos to promote their small businesses helped sharpen my communication skills. At my current job, I’m working in a pair every day and communication is vital to being able to complete our tasks,” stated Peters.

The IBM Delivery Center grant is led by principal investigator Jose Cordova, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Computer Science program in the College of Business and Social Sciences.

The first IBM Delivery Center grant began in 2015 and was led by former CBSS Dean and current ULM President Ron Berry. Grants of varying amounts have continued annually.

The IBM Delivery Center grant supports both the Computer Science and Computer Information Systems programs, which in turn support each other.

“Computer science develops the software that makes use of the hardware to create applications that businesses can use. Computer Information Systems utilizes the applications created by developers to make businesses more efficient,” stated Cordova.

Students earn a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and earn Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems.

■

For more information on each program, please visit https://www.ulm.edu/cbss/.

SUMMER 2021

It’s a win-win-win.

KITTY DEGREE

The Kitty DeGree Bell Tower Society THE KITTY DEGREE BELL TOWER SOCIETY HONOR ROLL IS NAMED FOR THE UNIVERSITY’S MOST GENEROUS CONTRIBUTOR, DR. KITTY DEGREE. BELL TOWER SOCIETY MEMBERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED AT LEAST $50,000 TO THE UNIVERSITY AND HAVE EXTRAORDINARY HISTORIES OF SUPPORT TO ULM. THEIR NAMES ARE PERMANENTLY INSCRIBED ON ULM’S “WALL OF HONOR” LOCATED IN THE ULM CONFERENCE CENTER.

46 TAKEFLIGHT

KITTY DEGREE devoted her life to bettering her community. This true philanthropist showed unparalleled dedication to ULM. DeGree died on Oct. 25, 2012, leaving a lasting legacy as part of the ULM family. DeGree’s commitment to ULM ensured the remarkable progress of several university programs and facilities.

Kitty’s capital gifts include: the Kitty DeGree Computer Center, which is the key student resource area of the Clarke M. Williams Student Success Center; the Kitty DeGree Pharmacy Student Resource Center and Library; and the Kitty DeGree Speech and Hearing Center. DeGree also provided funding for the focal part of the University Library and Conference Center, including the entry tower. The Kitty DeGree Bell Tower is now an icon and was included in an official university logo in recent years.

After an additional seven-figure gift to the university, the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors approved the naming of the Kitty DeGree School of Nursing in June 2012.

On April 12, 2013, the university unveiled Kitty DeGree Hall, which houses the Kitty DeGree School of Nursing.

TOWER SOCIETY $1,000,000 AND ABOVE Kitty DeGree Chip Lyman Ella S. Johnson Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Thomas H. & Mayme P. Scott Foundation Emy-Lou Biedenharn Foundation David & Sharon Turrentine Stephen W. and Ernestine M. Brown CenturyLink Contractors Educational Trust Fund John and Billie Smith Jonathan and Sheila Davies Dr. Judy H. Diffley Chase St. Francis Medical Center Coca-Cola Refreshments Linda and Eric Liew Glenwood Regional Medical Center Lallage F. Wall The William D. Hoover Family Susan Denmon Banowsky William S. Banowsky, Jr. Nancy J. Johnston Estate of Hanna Spyker Monroe/West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau Milburn and Nancy Calhoun BAYOU SOCIETY $500,000 - $999,999 The Radio People Estate of Mildred Summers Maurer Patrick and Catherine Mitchell Mary Goss Charities Bennie and Nelson Abell Stephanie and Nelson Abell Louisiana Department of Insurance The Strauss and Mintz Families Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc. Regions Bank North Louisiana Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Clinic LA State Licensing Board for Contractors Buck and Libby Anderson

Willis-Knighton Health System James and Lynn Moore Bruce and Lizabeth Boulware Capital One Bank Johnny’s Pizza House John E. Huntsman and Sharon D. Harrison Elsie Webb Charles Freeman Stamper Bruce and Carol Hanks City of Monroe Carole and Tex Kilpatrick Kilpatrick Funeral Homes OUACHITA SOCIETY $100,000 - $499,999 Don Beach JPS Equipment and JPS Aviation Bonnie and Frank Maxwell, III The News-Star Clarion Inn and Suites John F. and Lucy Shackelford Guy and Loura Barr Carolyn and Harold Bates Bancroft Bag, Inc. T.O. Bancroft, Jr. Bernard W. Biedenharn P & S Surgical Hospital Origin Bank IberiaBank Joe and Linda Holyfield Michael H. Woods Lawrence J. Danna Entergy Services, Inc. Charles H. and Kay McDonald Kay and Hugh McDonald State Farm Insurance Companies Lev and Anne Dawson The Martin Foundation Central Management Company Teddy and Susan Price Graphic Packaging, Inc. Stephen M. Futrell Elee and Terri Trichel Mary Jo and B. J. Robison Dixie Shell Homes and Self Storage Johnny and Carleen Reeves Ronnie Ward Toyota of Ruston Ronnie and Sharon Ward

Lance and Tammy Jarrell Stanfill Louisiana Associated General Contractors Duke and Liesha McHugh Monroe Athletic Club Walgreens Comcast Cable Tag Rome Cayce and Vicky Hand Family Lincoln Builders, Inc. Evans Oil Company Sissie and Gary Jones Freddy and Reba Nolan Jay and Teri Lewis KTVE Channel 10 and KARD Fox 14 George L. Luffey Progressive Bank American Business Women’s Association Clarke and Mary Kathryn Williams Harold and Helen Turner Frances Hammond Linda Noe Laine Foundation KNOE TV Estate of Lewis Marvin McKneely Southern Pines f/k/a Calvert Crossing and Pine Hills Jack and Debbie Blitch J.D. and Annie Greco Noe Corporation, LLC Louisiana Cancer Foundation Evelyn and Jeff Johnson Alltel Corporation Mid South Extrusion Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation John and Debbie Luffey Geneve A. Castles Morris & Dickson Company, LLC Jim Doull James and Dot Mock Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association – LIPA Drew and Joe Farr Louisiana Lottery Corporation Vantage Health Plan, Inc. Waterfront Grill Ouachita Independent Bank Robert R. and Bobbye Earle John B. Gardner ULM Bookstore James Machine Works, Inc. The Atrium Hotel and Conference Centre Hixon Autoplex Lamar Advertising Van-Trow Toyota TBA Studio Tim and Jolie Brandon Land 3 Architect Jim and Debbie Rivers J.W. Wong Knowledge Enrichment Foundation John W. and Shiangling L. Wong Geo Surfaces Catfish Cabin of Monroe The Hearne Family Scott Powerline and Utility Equipment Leon and Gayle Miletello Tommy and Mary Barham Brian and Maxine Laird Moreau

Marsala Beverage, Inc. Lawson and Sharon Swearingen Lawrence A. Robinson Estate of James S. Taunton AT&T Lawrence I. White Louisiana Pain Care Julie and Dewey Weaver St Francis North Hospital Auxiliary John and Karen Wells Kirby and Susan Arceneaux Shawn D. and Donna Kay Murphy Dale and Jimmy N. Dimos AmSouth Bank Jody and Bishop Johnston ADIDAS Glen L. Davison Betty C. Ley Gary and Jan Luffey Sparks Nissan Kia Ryan Auto Group Ouachita Parish Chapter of the ULM Alumni Association James Kurt and Irmgard Kahn Fisher Phillip R. Smith Fred A. and Lillian Marx Mike and Loretta Ashbrook Christopher Youth Center Faulk Collier Moving & Storage Hertz Rent-A-Car Davis and Denise Hardy Larry and Cecille Bradley OEDC Land Corporation The Sol Rosenberg Family John and Rosemary Luffey Aramark Ouachita Parish Women’s Republican Club Stewart, Donna, Stewart, Jr.and Erich Cathey Brookshire Grocery Company Nick J. and Linda C. Bruno Katherine and Jerry Warner Michael C. Echols First National Bank Jim Taylor Chevrolet Dansby’s Taylor Rental Center Thomas Dansby, Sr. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of Louisiana Action Moving and Storage, Inc. George T. Walker Loucille G. Kinsey Lynn and Gail Lincecum Delta Ridge Implement, Inc. Randy Morris West Carroll Health System ONB Educational Trust Fund Paul Fink William T. And Kandy A. Little BancorpSouth Bank JBJ Foundation, Inc. Harry and Mary Lou Winters Raising Cane’s Suzzie Jackson Waste Management, Inc. Tim R. and Wanda Holcomb Scott Truck and Scott Idealease ESPN

Randy and Rosemary Ewing Louisiana Board of Pharmacy Charles E. “Chuck” Finley Kathryn Huff Insurance Agency Ken and Kathryn Huff OPUS Broadcasting Newcomer, Morris, and Young, Inc. Ray & Melba Scurlock Mark and Janet Mitchell Ken and Mary Parnell Renwick The Community Foundation of North Louisiana The Toggery/Her Toggery Salvador Scaccia Bertha Marie Masur Gorn Bob and Donna Brooks Steel Fabricators of Monroe, LLC Tom Scott, Jr. Scholarship Foundation Dan R. Johnston CORNERSTONE SOCIETY $50,000 - $99,999 William F. Crowder Moore Oil Company, Inc. Marilyn and Lou St. Amant CVS Health Sidney R. Wilhite Ken and Carol Holland Home Builders Association of Northeast Louisiana American Petroleum Institute KAQY TV Keith Ouchley Linda and George Campbell R. Stewart Ewing, Jr. Tom and Sue Nicholson Downtown Monroe Lions Club Shirley Buchanan TEXO Biedenharn Foundation Ed and Betty Davis John and Cyndy Perry Daniel and Trudi Wood Outback Steakhouse The Links at Muny, LLC Joey and Cyd Jacobs Lee Edwards Mazda Catherine and William R. “Billy” Boles Aeneas Williams Dealerships Marty and Catherine McVay Doug and Glenda Gates Otten T.J. and Wanda Shuflin David Doles McDonald’s Overton Brooks VA Medical Center Indian Aquatic Club Como Charitable Foundation, Inc. Michelle Egan Luv N’ Care, Ltd. HomesPlus Manufactured Housing, Inc. St. Francis North Hospital Blake and Juanita Pitre Ecoutez Press Ltd. Peter and Nancy Illing Louisiana Real Estate Commission Louisiana Tom’s Vending Yvonne and Kent Anderson Busch Media Group

Frenchmen’s Bend Gold & Health Club Thomas & Farr Agency, Inc. The Doug Pederson Family Harvey Marcus Eckerd Corporation Foundation Shirley Boyce John and Susan Jackson FedEx Express Billy and Florinell Laird Jackie and Ellen Yeldell Dan and Hope Robertson Guide Corporation Sandy and Thomas C. Dansby, Jr. Cross Keys Bank Wal-Mart Foundation American Medical Response Van E. Pardue Bobbie and Tommy Matthieu Christopher and Erin Horrell Estate of John H. Smith, III Cindy and Dennis Rogers Rig Site Rental, LP Rusty and Lisa Haile Fiesta Nutrition Center, Inc. Anne and Elton Kennedy Cooper Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Inc. Wimbledon Health Partners Louisiana Machinery, Inc. Central Oil & Supply Corp.

Judy and Francis Huffman Tom and Karen Torregrossa Stagg Cattle Company Estate of Ernest Duncan Holloway La Capitol Federal Credit Union Richard and Cheryle Dickenson Violet L. Liner Joe and Sandra Banks West Carroll Health System St Francis Medical Center Auxiliary James A. Thom, III Kenneth and Ann Wilson Jeanne R. And John H. Pere R. Britton Katz Farmers Grain Terminal, Inc. Leazel and Scott McDonald Northwest Louisiana Chapter of the ULM Alumni Association Richland State Bank Interstate Automotive Group TXI Texas Industries Simmons Sporting Goods Scott and Livvy Nunnelee Ray L. Crowell Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Louisiana AmWins Group, Inc. E. Orum Young AT&T Wireless Your Local Dodge Dealers Estate of Louise Briley Leake GlaxoSmithKline Estate of Gertie M. Allen Green Jim and Louise Altick Nonie and William McKie Doll and Ken Vines Basil and Gail Doles

47 SUMMER 2021

IN MEMORIAM

The George T. Walker Heritage Society THE GEORGE T. WALKER HERITAGE SOCIETY HONORS THOSE GENEROUS DONORS WHO HAVE INCLUDED THE UNIVERSITY AS A BENEFICIARY IN THEIR WILLS OR HAVE MADE OTHER PLANNED ESTATE GIFTS SUCH AS CHARITABLE GIFT ANNUITIES, LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES, AND CHARITABLE TRUSTS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF CHARITABLE ESTATE PLANNING, VISIT GIFTS.ULM.EDU

Dr. Walker, the university’s president from 1958-1976, is one of the individuals most responsible for the growth of this outstanding institution of higher learning.

In retirement, Walker remained among ULM’s civic boosters and was a familiar face at Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football games and other university events.

TAKEFLIGHT

Walker authored numerous academic and professional journal articles as well as several books on accounting and business education. Of his five copyrighted books, two were written during his retirement, The Building of a University (1991), which examines the early years of ULM, and the biographical Emy-Lou Biedenharn: Her Life and Legacy (1999).

Emy-Lou Biedenharn was a worldrenowned contralto from Monroe and the daughter of Joseph A. Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola.

In 1938, Walker married the former Mary Ellen Neal (1911–2002), his college sweetheart. They had a son, George T. Walker, Jr., of Monroe and a daughter, Ellen Claire Stephenson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Walker died of a lengthy illness at the age of 98. In addition to his children, Walker was survived by five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

In 1997, the Louisiana Board of Regents awarded Walker its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for his ongoing dedication to higher education. He is also honored by the Mary Ellen and George Thomas Walker Scholarship Endowment through the ULM Foundation.

Buck and Libby Anderson Thomas O. Bancroft, Jr.* Guy and Loura Barr Florence J. Blackstock* Jack and Debbie Blitch Scherck Bogen* Larry* and Cecille Bradley Stephen and Ernestine Brown Carl and Kaye Cloessner Curtis and Laurinda Crenshaw Ray Crowell Lawrence Danna Thomas* and Attie Day Kitty DeGree* Dr. Judy H. Diffley Jimmy and Dale Dimos Michael Echols Douglas and Kristy Farr James Kurt* and Irmgard Kahn* Fisher Billy and Patti Gammel Charlotte Diane Gilbert* Maurice and Anita Gold Ronald and Judith Graham J.D. and Annie Greco Marsha D. Griffin* Frances D. Hammond* Ressa and Joe Harris John E. Huntsman* and Sharon Harrison Terry Michael Hays Ernest Duncan Holloway* John James Nancy J. Johnston Dan R. Johnston* Britton Katz Tex* and Carole Kilpatrick William “Billy”* and Florinell Laird Paul and Carolyn Lasseigne Betty Ley Violet Liner Chip Lyman Marjorie Malone* Mildred Maurer* Claxton and Caroline Mayo Charles “Charlie Mc” and Kay McDonald Hugh and Kay McDonald Lewis Marvin McKneely* James* and Dorothy* Mock Shawn and Donna Murphy Thomas I. Parks Lawrence and Ann Robinson * – In Memoriam

Tag Rome Rodger Ross Linda and Paul Sabin Brenda Hensley Smith John and Billie Smith John H. Smith, III* Hanna Spyker* Charles Freeman Stamper Lawson and Sharon Swearingen James Taunton* Elee Trichel George T.* and Mary Ellen* Walker Jerry and Katherine Warner Elsie Webb* James E. Yeldell*

The University Of Louisiana Monroe Associates THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS DESERVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP SUPPORT AS UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATES. FROM JANUARY 1, 2020, THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020, THESE ASSOCIATES INVESTED $1,000 AND ABOVE TO THE FOLLOWING AFFILIATE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: THE ULM FOUNDATION, THE ULM ATHLETIC FOUNDATION, THE ULM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, AND KEDM PUBLIC RADIO. OUR UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATES PROVIDE THE MAJORITY OF PRIVATE SUPPORT ANNUALLY... WE HONOR AND THANK YOU! Patricia Chester Walter Chester John Clausen Dr. Henry Cole Curt & Stephanie Collins James Collins Don & Gwen Conlee Allen Cook Catherine & Clayton Coon Christopher Coon Robert & Tracie Coons Adam Cossey Susie Cox Bobby Craighead Eric & Pamela Craighead Michael Creighton Jason Crockett Camile Currier Jay Cuthbert Dr. Jonathan Davies Gretchen Dean Marvin & Cheryl Dearman Martin Degravelle Lee & Anna Denny Gary DeWitt Veronica Dickey Dr. Judy Diffley Jimmy & Dale Dimos David Donald Marguerite Dozier Terry Duke Thomas Dupuy Michael D. Durham Ellen Eade LTC Robert Edwards Mary Edwards Jolaine Edwards Governor John Bel Edwards Charlotte Eich Doug & Kristy Farr Paul Farr Joseph Farr Dr. Judy Fellows and Mr. Tony Arpino Amber Felux Ann Fichtner

Robin Fincher Morgan & Becky Flemister Ashley Fletcher Mike Fletcher Stephen Futrell Dr. Gloria George Clint Giddens Rev. William Gipson Dr. & Mrs. Hardy & Claire Gordon Dr. William Gordon Gary & Beverly Graham Mason & Shannon Granade Stefan & Tonya Green Alberta & Toby Green James & Frances Gregory John Guice Steven Gullatt Kenneth Gunderman Dr. Raymond Haik Lisa & Rusty Haile Bruce Hanks Tyler Harris Michael Harvey Larry Joe Head James Hearn Rene Hebert Charles & Susan Herold Dr. & Mr. Leigh & John Hersey Larry Hilburn Adam Holland Joe and Linda Holyfield Christopher Holyfield Dr. Janet Hood-Hanchey & Mr. J. Keith Hanchey Lena Hoonakker Ted & Janine Hopkins Christopher & Erin Horrell Erik Hsu Thomas & Maria Huckaby Denise & John Hull Paul & Penny Hutcheson Lisa Ingraham Mr. & Dr. Charles & Gwen Jackson John & Susan Jackson Robert James

SUMMER 2021

Jeff & Lori Adams Dr. Jo Ann Alley Kent Anderson Eugenie Ardoin Carl Aron Dr. Jan T. Bagwell Guy & Loura Barr Jim & Amanda Barry Harold Bates Joseph & Betsy Beard Michelle Bemis Drs. Ronald & Christine Berry Murray & Kathy Biedenharn Sharie Blankenship John C. Blitch Mike & Sheila Blount Bill & Scarlett Boles Mark Booth Jonathan Booth Cheryl Bourg Cynthia & Steven Boyd Jack & Monte Sue Bradberry Dr. Julie Breithaupt Robert Brooks Nathan Brown Jerry Brown Marlin Brown Jane & Kenneth Brown Lillian Brown Dr. & Mrs. Nick and Linda Bruno Michael & Susan Bruscato Virginia Buller Ron & Elizabeth Bush Louis Caldwell John Cameron Michael & Denise Camille Patricia Camp Guy Campbell Robert & Traci Canterbury Roger Carroll Stewart Cathey Daniel Caulkins Stewart Causey Susan Chappell Candace & Jody Chelette

Jeffrey & Evelyn Johnson David Johnson J. Bishop Johnston J. Dixon Johnston Dr. & Mrs. Gary Jones Marvelous Jones John & Susan Jones William Justice Cameron King Gene King Bill and Fay Kitchens Melton Knotts Kevin & Sally Koh Wendy Kreps Albert Ku Brent Lancaster Cecil Lara Jerry Lazenby Alisa & Bernie Lear Helen Ledbetter Lester Lee Joshua Leporati Jay & Teri Lewis Joann Lewis Richard Lipsey James & Anne Lockhart Samuel Lorenzo John & Debra Luffey Chip Lyman Andrew & Dianne Mapp Harvey Marcus Robert & Carolyn Marx Ronald & Cindy Mason Frank & Bonnie Maxwell Charles May Dr. William McCown Patrick McDonald Dr. & Mrs. Charles & Mamie McDonald Charles & Kay McDonald Scott & Leazel McDonald Addison McDougle Michael McGee Jon McGuff Gerald McHenry Judge Ann B. McIntyre

The University Of Louisiana Monroe Associates

50 TAKEFLIGHT

Sydney McKay Gary & Alice Merchant Cheryl & Jacob Metzger Dr. Sharon Meyer Dr. Travis Miller Jean Mintz Dr. Mark Mitchell Charles & Judy Mock Michael Monsour Judge Milton Moore James & Arabella Moore Jeremy & Miranda Moore Brian & Maxine Moreau Dustin Morris Randy Morris Tim Morrison Jay & Kristi Mount Wally and Terri Mulhearn Bret Munson Billy Myers Denise & Kelly Names Mark & Rhonda Neal Thomas & Susan Nicholson Kevin & Elizabeth Nunnelee Julie O’Brien Kurt Oestriecher Dr. Teri O’Neal Robert & Lydia Oswalt Joey Jacobs & Cyd Page Jacobs Dr. & Mrs. Eric & Denise Pani Michael Parenton Thomas Parks Shawn Patrick Gregg Patterson Doug Pederson Doug Perry John & Cyndy Perry

Jonathan & Holley Perry Freddie & Christine Philley Lannie Philley Markey Winfield Pierre Nancy & Walter Pierron Bill Pippin Victor Pisano Stephanie & Aaron Polk Barry & Diana Powers Dr. John Pratte Stephen Price Micah & Haley Pulliam Timothy Quinn Charles Ray Dr. & Mrs. William & Sarah Raymond Paul Raymond Tim Rightsell Mark & Lynn Robertson August Rocconi Adams & April Rodgers James & Frances Rogers Tag Rome Earl Roulaine Dr. Alberto Ruiz Kyle Russell Matt & Merion Sanderson Michael Savoy George & Stephanie Schaeffer Robert Schott Dr. Anita Sharma Ben Sheets T. J. and Wanda Shuflin Adam Siggers Dr. & Mrs. Donald & Shelley Simpson Jennifer Sirmon Stacey Smith Dr. Ruth Smith

Nathan Smith John & Billie Smith Andy Snelling Louis St. Amant Jayne Stagg Charles Freeman Stamper Lance & Tammy Stanfill Stephen Stephenson Dr. David Stewart Kevin and Leah Sumrall Bill Swander Joe & Melinda Tannehill Edward Taylor Robert Tew Clinton & Rachel Thibodeaux Dr. Lowery Thompson Cole Thornton Tom & Karen Torregrossa Dr. Michael Traxler Elee Trichel Randy Turner Daniel Tynes Ken Upshaw Bill Vallery John VanVeckhoven Steven Venters Matt & Schantel Viator Mike & Sammie Vining Paul & Teresa Von Diezelski Michael Walker Robert Ward Ruth Ward Martha Weant Ralph Webb John Wells Simon Weng Dean & Diana White

Clyde White Diane Wilfong Jill Williams Dr. Adrienne Williams Karen Williams Melinda & James Williams Wayne & Kathy Williamson Kenneth & Ann Wilson R. D. & Regina Wood Russell Woodard Kevin & Nita Woods Ray & Dorothy Young Dr. Michael Zambie CVS Health Foundation Johnny’s Pizza House State of Louisiana Governor’s Mansion Specialty Management Services of Ouachita, LLC (SMSO) Robertson Fruit & Produce, Inc. All Risks Limited Marie’s Medical Supply Charles Jordan DBA CFJ Enterprises MWN, Inc Sparks Nissan Kia Ryan Auto Group Insurance Systems, Inc. Jay Russell Campaign S & B Drugs Bayoulife Magazine Fiesta Nutrition Center, Inc. Electronic Business Systems, LLC Vantage Health Plan, Inc. Coca-Cola United IberiaBank Char 19 Jim Taylor Chevrolet Cross Keys Bank

Photo by Siddharth Gaulee

The University Of Louisiana Monroe Associates Sammy’s Plant World Progressive Bank Boeuf River Ventures, Inc Precision Builders, Inc Monago Investments, LLC B MO Ventures, LLC Premier Management Solutions, LLC Argent Financial Group, Inc. Uniforms For You LA Construction Group, LLC Dixie Floors Michael Echols Campaign Fund Fabulous Fabric Perry Development of Monroe LLC The Paper Market, LLC Herringstone’s Inc. HET Consulting, LLC Raymond Enterprises of Louisiana, LLC Regions Bank The Architecture Alliance Group, LLC Land 3 Architect Paramount Healthcare Consultants Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation LaSalle Management Company Arthur J Gallagher & Co. Trinity Diamonds Mid South Extrusion, Inc. Robert S. Tew, Campaign Account North Monroe Baptist Church Farm Bureau Insurance Silas Simmons Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts LA Thunder Gray Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) Material Things Northeast Louisiana Arts Council Blue Cross of Louisiana

Kitty DeGree Foundation Mary Goss Charities Vines Capital Management, LLC Border Olympics, Inc. NE Delta Human Services Authority Willis-Knighton Medical Center Walgreens Northminster Church Richwood Gardens Inc Creighton Enterprises, LLC Architecture + Greg Manley, Jr. Insurance Agency, LLC TNT Midstream Services, LLC Bart Dornier Insurance Agency, Inc. Ink’s Firestone, Inc. Scott Powerline & Utility Equipment Community Pharmacy Bayou Overhead Door Home Builders Association of NELA Kimpa Hayes Boyd, CPA, LLC Shell Chiropractic LLC Morehouse General Hospital The Dial Family Foundation First National Bank First United Methodist Church Skent-n-Dent The Community Foundation of North Louisiana Cameron Murray & Associates Louisiana Cancer Foundation for Research and Education Tag Rome Insurance Agency, Inc. Azalea Estates Hanna Media Inc AmWins Group, Inc Argent Advisors Leasing Services, LLC First Baptist Church Louisiana Plastic Industries, Inc.

Opierx, Inc Glenwood Regional Medical Center Waterfront Grill Louisiana Independent Pharmacies Association, Inc. LIPA Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Block Companies, LLC Louisiana Pharmacists Association The Clark Company, Inc. Waste Connections, Inc. Big Shot Bob Enterprise, LLC Louisiana Knights Baseball, LLC Haven Nursing Center Atmos Energy Corporation Young Contracting Foundation Marsala Beverage, Inc. McKay Consulting Turner Industries Group, LLC Coastal Risk Services Marion State Bank McCK Enterprises Donald Farms Inc. Smith Capital Holdings, LLC Western Nevada Supply Co Gretchen Stangier Inc Quota International of West Monroe The Martin Foundation Como Charitable Foundation, Inc. Embanato Enterprises, L.L.C dba Louisiana Benefits Counselin West Carroll Chamber of Commerce Brookshire Grocery Company Monroe/West Monroe Convention & Visitors Bureau Hanna Publishing Co. Inc Anderson Community Development Foundation Cajun Made Golf

Farmers Grain Terminal, Inc. Pfizer Foundation GB Investments of Gonzales LLC Thomas & Farr Agency, Inc. Centric Federal Credit Union North Delta Title Company Homeland Federal Savings Bank W. Elton Kennedy Foundation Eddie Neitz Insurance Agency Inc. Shawn Murphy Insurance Agency, Inc. Marcus, Robinson & Hassell Hudson, Potts & Bernstein Entergy Services, Inc. Lincoln Builders, Inc. Van-Trow Toyota Lumen Ouachita Enterprise Community J. E. Dupuy Flooring & Acoustical, Inc. Thomas H. & Mayme P. Scott Foundation Scott Truck Louisiana Wholesale Drug Company, Inc. Committee to Elect Charles R Chaney CRC Insurance Services, Inc. Strauss Interests B & J Pitre Pharmacy, Inc. Friendly Finance Corporation Twin City Mayors’ Committee on Disabilities (TCMCD) Abell, LLC Tom Scott, Jr. Foundation Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies Matching Gifts Program State Farm Companies Foundation Friends of Black Bayou, Inc. In-Sync Accounting & Consulting

51 SUMMER 2021

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