Discovery spring 2017 by Spencer Perry

college of science | UtahStateUniversity

DISCOVERY Spring 2017

Coming to Life Plans for a New Life Sciences Building at Utah State

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS OF UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY'S COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

FROM THE DEAN

From the Dean

MAURA HAGAN It is with great excitement that I’ve embraced the leadership of USU’s College of Science during this past year. Getting to know our students, faculty and staff and watching them in action is both gratifying and humbling. The talent, dedication and determination of our Aggie scientists and mathematicians shine through each endeavor as we collectively seek to teach, enlighten, conduct research, perform outreach and prepare our students for meaningful futures.

Utah State University’s College of Science presents Maura E. Hagan, who joined our college as dean on September 1, 2015. Hagan joins us from Boulder, Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, where she had served as interim director since 2013. Prior to that, the Massachusetts native served as deputy director at NCAR, which she joined as an entry-level High Altitude Observatory scientist in 1992. She was promoted to senior scientist, the NCAR equivalent of full professor, in 2003.

We are invigorated by the launch of our Coming to Life initiative and the genuine prospect of a brand new building for life sciences on our Logan campus. We have other big challenges ahead, as well: maintaining excellent teaching, meeting the needs of growing enrollment, continuing to foster innovative research and enhancing our graduate programs. But we have the commitment and tenacity to address each goal. We invite you, our alumni and friends, to join us in our quests and to enjoy this inaugural issue of Discovery. We hope our new publication will reflect our enthusiasm, provide inspiration and spark happy memories of your experiences at Utah State. I sincerely thank you for your continuing support of USU and I hope our paths cross soon.

Hagan earned a doctorate in physics from Boston College in 1987 and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Boston’s Emmanuel College in 1975.

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MAURA E. HAGAN Dean, USU College of Science

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CONTENTS

DISCOVERY MAURA E. HAGAN Dean LISA M. BERREAU Executive Associate Dean RICHARD MUELLER Associate Dean

MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO Editor/Writer/Photographer

Coming to Life Preparing for increasing enrollment, the College of Science is working toward a new Life Sciences building.

BRIANNA BYBEE Designer

Discovery, the magazine for alumni and friends of Utah State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College of Science, is published twice a year. Please direct inquires to the editor, Mary-Ann Muffoletto, at maryann. muffoletto@usu.edu.

7 New Wave of Astronomy Aggie physicists discuss exciting discovery of gravitational waves.

10 Energy's Future USU biochemists contribute to knowledge of nitrogen fixation.

From the Dean...................................................................2

Printed with Forest Stewardship Council certification standards.

ON THE COVER Biology doctoral student Alice Ruckert, left, discusses her research with Science Dean Maura Hagan. PHOTO BY DONNA BARRY

Incoming!..........................................................................4 USU Physics Day Update...................................................5 Science Unwrapped...........................................................6 Synthetic Spider Silk Research....................................... 18 Alumni Feature: Andy Taylor............................................20 Donor Spotlight...............................................................23 Development Column......................................................25 Stay in Touch....................................................................27

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INCOMING

INCOMING! Through varied activities and efforts, USU’s College of Science welcomes students, encourages aspiring scientists

 NASMP participant Cami Black, left, and research mentor Nan Jiang, a doctoral student in the lab of USU Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty member Yujie Sun, explore photochemical water splitting.

NATIVE AMERICAN STEM MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

 Undergrad Leander Rockwell, left, shares his research, conducted with iUTAH water science mentors, about the effects of vegetation on stormwater, with USU Science Dean Maura Hagan.

“The program is designed to expose students to the breadth of STEM research and studies beyond the Blanding campus and instill confidence in these students as they progress in their academic paths on a larger campus,” says Emily Sadler, a program coordinator and Biology doctoral student.

 Physics doctoral student Michael Negale, far right, mentors undergrads, from left, Onri Benally and Derrick Kettering, as they study the Earth’s mesosphere.

The undergrads spent six weeks in Logan and participated in research projects ranging from electrochemical water splitting to thermochronology of Utah’s Wasatch Fault to exploration of the Earth’s mesosphere with USU’s “Green Beam” lidar. ¢

 USU Geology faculty member Alexis Ault, right, guides undergrad researcher Dolphina Kaye in examination of Wasatch Front geologic samples.

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This past summer, 23 students from USU Eastern’s Blanding campus participated in the 2016 Native American STEM Mentorship Program on USU’s Logan campus. The gathering was the second year of a two-year pilot program funded by the national Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions initiative.

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PHYSICS DAY

USU PHYSICS DAY AT

Lagoon

In its third decade, STEM outreach event continues to deliver thrilling science fun USU’s 2016 Physics Day at Lagoon was, once again, a successful day of handson science fun. Its organizers, including USU physics professor J.R. Dennison, who was a founder of the gathering 27 years ago, have the spring event down to…yep, a science. Nearly 9,000 high school and middle school students, MESA program elementary students, along with their teachers, converged on Davis County’s über-playground for a day of science learning, competition and gut-churning fun. Physics Day participants, representing nearly 200 schools, traveled from throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona for the Intermountain West’s largest and longest-running STEM event. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Lagoon partnered with USU to coordinate the event, which is supported by a network of university, public and private sponsors. Dennison estimates some 150,000 aspiring scientists have participated in Physics Day since its 1990 inception. “What better physics lab to entice kids than an amusement park,” he says. ¢

 Physics Day coordinators, from left, Kristen Burns of INL, Professor J.R. Dennison and USU Physics alums Stephanie Peterson ’12 and Amberly Evans Jensen ’12, MS’15.

 Nearly 9,000 aspiring scientists participated in USU’s 2016 Physics Day at Lagoon, the Intermountain West’s largest and longestrunning STEM outreach event.

 Leland Rasmussen, left, of USU Admissions presents scholarship checks of $4,000 each to the first place Physics Bowl team of Albert Hanks, Tanner Niel and Chase ZaguerreMarks of Utah’s Alta High School.

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SCIENCE UNWRAPPED

College of Science’s Public Outreach Program

SPRING 2017 SERIES

‘UNWRAPS’ THE MYSTERY AND FUN OF SCIENCE

“SCIENCE FACT, SCIENCE FICTION” Friday, Jan. 27 Paleontologist Ben Burger Assistant Professor, Geology

Entering its eighth year, the college’s popular Science Unwrapped public outreach program continues to draw inquiring minds, ranging in age from preschoolers to seniors, to its monthly events. What if artificially intelligent machines take over the world? If no human ever saw a dinosaur, how do we know what they were like? The Great Salt Lake is ten times saltier than the ocean, so nothing should be able to live in it, right? Those questions and more have been explored at recent gatherings, which draw some 400 guests to each event. “We ask our guests to bring their science questions and we promise to supply scientists to address them,” says Nancy Huntly, Biology professor, director of the USU Ecology Center and chair of Science Unwrapped. “It’s a lot of fun and we always have a great time.” Each event features a talk, followed by hands-on learning activities provided by student, faculty and community volunteers. “Our activities create a multigenerational environment that allows people of all ages to enjoy learning together,” Huntly says. “They also provide a rich training environment for budding science communicators.” To learn more, visit www.usu.edu/ science /unwrapped and the “Science Unwrapped at USU” Facebook and Twitter pages. ¢

Friday, Feb. 10 Physicist Maria Rodriguez Assistant Professor, Physics Friday, March 17 Ornithologist Kimberly Sullivan Associate Professor, Biology/USU Ecology Center Friday, April 7 Wildlife Ecologist Dan MacNulty Assistant Professor, Wildland Resources/USU Ecology Center ALL EVENTS BEGIN AT 7 P.M. IN THE ECCLES SCIENCE LEARNING CENTER EMERT AUDITORIUM ON THE USU CAMPUS.

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USU Scientists React to

‘NEW WAVE’ of Astronomy

Aggie physicists discuss exciting discovery of gravitational waves

instein was right. In the Feb. 11, 2016, issue of Physical Review Letters, a team of scientists announced they’d heard and recorded, for the first time, a long-predicted, but elusive phenomenon that’s sent ripples of excitement through the globe, including the Utah State University community. 

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FEATURE

"When my colleagues and I received confirmation later in the day that LIGO had indeed detected the waves, we were beyond excited." —SYDNEY CHAMBERLIN ‘09

 USU alum Sydney Chamberlin '09, a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State, is among Aggie participants in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, which announced the ground-breaking discovery of gravitational waves on Feb. 11, 2016.

On Sept. 14, 2015, the massive Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, known as “LIGO,” detected gravitational waves that vibrated antennas at its facilities in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana. The observatory detected a second signal on June 15, 2016. As Einstein imagined on paper 100 years ago, the waves were created by the collision of two black holes whirling through space more than a billion light-years away. “I was actually asleep when the waves were detected at 5 a.m. on Sept. 14th,” says USU physics and mathematics alum Sydney Chamberlin ‘09, who joined the LIGO Scientific

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Collaboration during graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “I woke up to a flurry of email messages.” Initially, Chamberlin, who completed her doctorate in 2015 and is a postdoc at Penn State, thought the detected waves were routine “blind, injected signals” the researchers used to test the monitoring system. “When my colleagues and I received confirmation later in the day that LIGO had indeed detected the waves, we were beyond excited,” says the 2008 Goldwater honorable mention recipient and 2009 Rhodes Scholar finalist. “But we had to sit on the information until the February 2016 official announcement.” The observatory’s dual facilities, which operate in unison, are located more than 1,800 miles apart to ensure local vibrations are not mistaken for signals from gravitational waves. Each facility consists of an L-shaped, ultra-high vacuum system, with steel vacuum tube arms, encased in concrete, extending 2.5 miles in length. Laser beams shine down each arm from the crux of the “L” and are reflected back by mirrors at the end of each arm. If reflected beams from both arms return at the same time, it’s an indication no wave has been detected. However, a slight difference indicates a galactic disturbance from space. “When the gravitational waves passed through the observatory, one arm stretched and the other one compressed,” says Maria Rodriguez, assistant professor in USU’s Department of Physics. “And so, the lasers that were pointing and measuring the distance between these two arms are actually measure the deformation, or the compression and stretching, of each arm.” Chamberlin and Rodriguez are among a bevy of Aggie scientists who are LIGO collaboration members or involved in gravitational waves research and teaching, including USU Physics faculty members Oscar Varela, Charlie Torre and David Peak, along with former USU Physics faculty member

FEATURE

and Science Unwrapped founder Shane Larson. Peak calls capture of the “almost unimaginably weak” gravitational ripples the most sophisticated engineering feat in human history. “That gravitational waves have finally been directly measured is not the big deal,” he says. “What’s amazing about this discovery is the waves could be detected at all with earth-bound instruments and the relatively small size of the orbiting bodies that produced them.” Detecting the waves in this manner, Peak says, provides a whole new way of probing the structure of matter that, until now, could not be directly studied. Among the LIGO founders credited with the breakthrough is Logan, Utah native Kip Thorne, son of renowned USU faculty member and administrator D. Wynne Thorne and USU lecturer Alison Thorne. The Caltech physicist reported to media, “We’re seeing what I like to call the warped time of the universe for the first time.” USU Science Dean and physicist Maura Hagan marvels at the discovery and its meaning for the scientific community. “When I first heard the news, I thought how lucky we are to be alive at a time when LIGO scientists confirmed Einstein’s prediction,” she says. “It’s important for our students to know this long-awaited discovery was built on the persistent efforts of a team of talented scientists from multiple institutions, which relied on considerable investment from the National Science Foundation and international partners.” Chamberlin, who returned to Utah State Oct. 14 to deliver a Science Unwrapped talk, says her classroom and undergraduate research experiences prepared her well for rigorous graduate studies and her work with LIGO. “I had wonderful mentors, including Charlie Torre and David Peak in Physics, Ian Anderson and Mark Fels in Mathematics and Shannon Peterson in Political Science,” she says. “They’re not only great teachers and researchers; they gave me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and aim higher.” ¢ —MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

"What’s amazing about this discovery is the waves could be detected at all with earth-bound instruments and the relatively small size of the orbiting bodies that produced them."

Maria Rodriguez, assistant professor

David Peak, professor

Oscar Varela, assistant professor

Charlie Torre, professor

—DAVID PEAK

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FEATURE

AGGIE SCIENTISTS Paving The Road

ENERGY’S FUTURE

Biochemist Lance Seefeldt and students pioneering discoveries about life-critical enzymes

tah State University biochemist Lance Seefeldt, pushing a shopping cart groaning with 50-pound bags of sugar, drew curious stares from fellow shoppers as he approached the checkout counter at a local Walmart. “The clerk commented, ‘You must have big baking plans,’” says Seefeldt, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “I think one of her co-workers suspected I was making alcohol. We shared a laugh and I explained my purchases were for my biochemistry research.” Attracting a small gathering of attentive listeners, the unassuming scientist briefly described his work in exploring how nitrogen is converted to a life-sustaining compound essential to our survival. “It was great to have an impromptu opportunity to talk about science,” he says. “Everyone was genuinely interested.”

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The well-stocked shelves of a supermarket couldn’t have been a more appropriate place to discuss nitrogen fixation, the chemical process by which atmospheric nitrogen, known as dinitrogen, is converted into ammonia. “We live in a sea of nitrogen, yet our bodies can’t access it from the air,” says Seefeldt, an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow and 2012 recipient of USU’s D. Wynne Thorne Career Research Award. “Instead, we get this essential element from protein in our food.” The world currently depends on only two known processes to break dinitrogen’s ultra-strong bonds and allow conversion to a form humans, animals and plants can consume. One is the natural, bacterial process on which farmers have relied since the dawn of agriculture. The other is the century-old HaberBösch process, which revolutionized fertilizer production, spurred unprecedented growth of the global food supply and makes it possible for shoppers, like Seefeldt, to choose from a

 From left, USU biochemistry doctoral students Supita Shaw and Derek Harris, along with Professor Lance Seefeldt, investigate nitrogen fixation.

dazzling selection of groceries at their neighborhood market. Haber-Bösch, developed by German chemists Franz Haber and Carl Bösch as World War I raged, enabled industrial-scale fertilizer production and now sustains most of the world’s population – but at a high environmental cost. “Haber-Bösch currently consumes about two percent of the world’s fossil fuel supply,” Seefeldt says. “Any way you slice it, nitrogen fixation, the process of converting dinitrogen to ammonia, is an energy-intensive process.” He’s studied nitrogenases, the bacterial enzymes responsible for nitrogen fixation, for more than 20 years and, with his students and colleagues recently reported a breakthrough with a light-driven process that could, once again, revolutionize agriculture. The research, reported in the journal Science in April 2016, demonstrates how photochemical energy can replace adenosine triphosphate, which is typically used to convert dinitrogen in the air to ammonia for fertilizer. 

“Haber-Bösch currently consumes about two percent of the world’s fossil fuel supply. Any way you slice it, nitrogen fixation, the process of converting dinitrogen to ammonia, is an energyintensive process.” —LANCE SEEFELDT

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FEATURE

Renewable Energy Lab, received a fouryear, $10 million grant.

SEEKING A BIGGER PICTURE, ADVANCING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

 USU biochemist Lance Seefeldt and his team recently reported a new process, using nanomaterials to capture light energy to power nitrogen fixation, could be a ‘game-changer.’ Image courtesy Al Hicks, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Seefeldt says the new process, which uses nanomaterials to capture light energy that can power nitrogen fixation, could be a “game-changer” by reducing the world’s food supply’s dependence on fossil fuels and relieving Haber-Bösch’s heavy carbon footprint. Energy-efficient production of ammonia holds promise not only for food production, but also for development of technologies that enable use of environmentally cleaner alternative fuels, including improved fuel cells to store solar energy. Seefeldt’s work on the project is part of a seven-institution team that was one of 32 projects selected nationally for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Frontier Research Center grant program aimed at accelerating scientific breakthroughs needed to build a new energy economy, then-DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz announced the awards in June 2014. DOE secretary Ernest Moniz announced the awards in June 2014. Known as the Center for Biological Electron Transfer and Catalysis – BETCy, for short – the team, which includes USU, Montana State University, University of Georgia, University of Washington, Arizona State University, the University of Kentucky and the Golden, Colorado-based National

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Seefeldt’s journey to this point is built on years of careful deciphering of the intricate chemical and mechanical steps of the nitrogen fixation process. “The structure of nitrogenases and the general site at which nitrogen gets bound and reduced has been known for about 20 years,” he says. “We’ve been working to establish the bigger picture: the mechanistic pathway by which this process takes place.” To identify the process, Seefeldt, with his students and colleagues, developed and refined a chemical methodology to trap and detect intermediates in nitrogen-catalyzed reductions and flash-freeze samples. Brett Barney, a former USU postdoctoral fellow who worked with Seefeldt and is now a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, likens the effort to capturing single frames of a movie on a moving film reel. “You have to capture each step of the process in the act and freeze the frame, so you can actually examine it and understand what it does,” he says. Zhi-Zong Yang, a recent doctoral graduate from Seefeldt’s lab, says the team now has the whole “reel” and is working to define each frame of the “movie.” Armed with this knowledge, Yang and Seefeldt, along with colleagues at Virginia Tech and Brazil’s Federal University of Paraná, used genetic engineering to remodel a nitrogenase and enable it to convert carbon dioxide into methane. “We took a greenhouse gas and converted it to fuel,” Seefeldt says. “That’s a step toward a current ‘holy grail’ of science. Imagine the far-reaching benefits of capturing environmentally damaging byproducts of burning fossil fuels and using them to make alternative fuels.” Further research led to discovery of a molybdenum nitrogenase capable of converting carbon monoxide into usable hydrocarbons. The reaction is similar, they say, to another early 20th century discovery known as FischerTropsch or “FT” synthesis.

INCOMING

Stinging from humiliating defeat in World War I, Germany’s Nazi regime seized on the FT synthesis technology developed by chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch that enabled the coal-rich, petroleum-poor country to produce synthetic fuels for its military machine. Research on the technology waned in the latter half of the 20th century but, like “a bubblin’ crude,” has resurfaced in recent years with growing interest in alternative fuels. “There’s tremendous interest in converting various kinds of waste into fuel and, especially, in finding cost-effective and environmentally clean ways to do it,” says Yang, who earned his first doctorate in organic chemistry at China’s Nankai University. Unlike coal, Fischer and Tropsch’s source for synthetic fuels, carbon monoxide produces hydrocarbons with much less pollution. The substance provides an added benefit: it allows scientists to produce longer chain, double and triplebond hydrocarbons, which provides a richer feedstock for production of refined transportation fuels. “Like many waste-to-energy processes, we’ve found we can produce such hydrocarbons as propane and butane from carbon monoxide,” Yang says. “But using this process, we may also have the potential to produce transportation fuels like diesel and gasoline that are readily adaptable to today’s vehicles.” “This is pretty profound,” Seefeldt says. “Understanding this process paves the way of converting carbon monoxide, a toxic waste product of combustion, into transportation fuel and precursors for plastics without the time and energy required for conventional extraction of fossil fuels.” The team reported a yet another breakthrough – the use of a phototropic bacterium as a biocatalyst to generate methane from carbon dioxide in one enzymatic step – in the August 22, 2016 Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “It’s a baby step, but it’s also a big step,” Seefeldt says. “Imagine the far-reaching benefits of large-scale capture of environmentally damaging byproducts from burning fossil fuels and converting them to alternative fuels using light, which is abundant and clean.” ¢

 In Seefeldt’s lab, doctoral student Rhesa Ledbetter preps for a lab procedure.

—MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

 USU alum Karamatullah Danyal PhD’15, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vermont, uses a quench flow instrument in a glove box in USU’s Seefeldt Lab.

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Students change classes in the Eccles Science Learning Center. To accommodate increasing enrollment, the College of Science seeks to build a new Life Sciences Building.

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ON THE COVER

Coming TO

LIFE

College of Science Makes Plans for New Building UTAH LEGISLATURE ALLOTS $38 MILLION TOWARD LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING

“I

thought we were early,” whispered one student to another as they entered the Emert Auditorium of USU’s Eccles Science Learning Center on the first day of Biology 1610. “You can see the shock on students’ faces when they walk into class,” says Lisa Berreau, professor and College of Science executive associate dean. “They’re given tours of large, empty classrooms during orientation, but when they see and hear what a full, 400+-student class is like and start looking for a seat, it’s an eye-opener.” Biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics: all foundational courses required of Utah State’s aspiring scientists, physicians, engineers, science teachers, dentists and more. And all classes taught by USU College of Science faculty. “We’re carrying a substantial responsibility in providing core courses needed by thousands of Aggie students 

“We’re Utah’s land-grant university and the heart of our mission is to educate our citizens, provide a path to prosperity and strengthen Utah’s quality of life.” —MAURA HAGAN, DEAN

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 In the lab of Biology faculty researcher Ricardo Ramirez, doctoral student Madeleine Dupuy, foreground, studies billbugs, while, from left, doctoral student Alice Ruckert, undergrad Jacob Rudd and doctoral student Gunbharpur Gill collaborate on a research project.

enrolled in more than 30 majors,” Berreau says. “And we’re out of room.” Packed classrooms are just the beginning. Science faculty scramble to provide laboratory sections Monday through Friday from early in the morning until 8 p.m. at night. This past year, Saturday sections were added to keep up with demand. “Imagine you’re a student, who has to get on a waiting list for a required class,” Berreau says. “Some students have to delay graduation to meet their degree requirements, which is an extremely frustrating situation.” And that, says USU College of Science Dean Maura Hagan is why the university needs the new Life Sciences Building. “Utahns are counting on us,” Hagan says. “We’re Utah’s land-grant university and the heart of our mission is to educate our citizens, provide a path to prosperity and strengthen Utah’s quality of life.” USU’s existing facility, the Biology-Natural Resources (BNR) Building built in 1958, is no longer cutting the muster, she says. “Our labs are outdated and crowded,” Hagan says. “Our limited capacity threatens student retention and hinders our efforts to meet the needs of a growing student body.” In Fall 2015, Utah State saw a surge in enrollment with the return of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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missionaries following the church’s age change decision in 2012 that sent a larger-than-usual cohort of high school graduates into the mission field. “That phenomenon caused a temporary influx, but numbers of students going on missions is expected to ‘normalize,’” Hagan says. “Yet make no mistake, our enrollment, overall, is rising and is projected to continue to increase over the next decade.” Utah’s five-year population growth rate ranks fourth in the nation, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May 2015. And most new Utahns aren’t from outof-state: they’re bundles of joy born each year, earning the Beehive State the nation’s highest birthrate. Along with increased enrollment needs, Utah’s workplace needs are changing. The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development estimates 40 percent of the state’s fastest-growing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree with foundational biology courses. Medical sciences and biomedical engineering jobs are projected to grow annually at 5.3 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively, through 2020. “These jobs include high-paying, community-sustaining careers with our state’s technology leaders,” Hagan says. “These figures put our role in perspective and highlight the urgency of our ability to provide educational opportunities.” Hagan and her USU colleagues received welcome news in March 2016, with the Utah State Legislature allotting $38 million toward construction of the new Life Sciences Building on the Logan campus. The 103,000-square-foot facility is expected to be constructed next to the BNR on the site of the old Peterson Agriculture Building, which was torn down in 2012.

ON THE COVER

It’s up to Utah State to raise private funding for the remaining $7 million to complete the new building. Utah State will return to the Legislature in 2017, with a $22 million request for renovation of the antiquated BNR. Private funding for this BNR renovation will total $3 million. “It’s a formidable task, but the state contribution boosts our resolve,” Hagan says. “And we’re excited about our plans and what the new facility will offer.”

“Investment in this kind of science education is vital to meeting the human resource needs of our businesses, while assuring our children have meaningful opportunities for employment at a globally competitive scale,”

professional schools.” USU alum Paul Campbell, associate and chairman of Logan, Utah-based Campbell Scientific, says laboratory experience with up-to-date technology is a critical skill his worldwide environmental monitoring business seeks in job candidates. “Investment in this kind of science education is vital to meeting the human resource needs of our businesses, while assuring our children have meaningful opportunities for employment at a globally competitive scale,” Campbell says. John Hall, manager of research and development at Utah’s Merit Medical Systems concurs. “We have great candidates to hire in Utah, but what separates graduates who end up getting hired are those with extensive lab and research experience,” he says. “These are the students the employers seek first.” ¢ —MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

—PAUL CAMPBELL, USU ALUM

Current plans for the new Life Sciences Building include 13 teaching laboratories, a lecture hall, 11 research labs and a state-of-the-art active learning classroom, along with a café and ample study, lounge and work spaces. “The modern lab environment calls for generous collaboration space and discovery-based lab instruction,” Hagan says. “Research experiences are critical for our undergraduates, as they prepare for advanced learning and competitive

 The Life Sciences Building will be located south of the Biology-Natural Resources Building and occupy the former site of the Peterson Agriculture Building, which was torn down in 2012. The planned 103,000-squarefoot facility will provide much needed teaching and student research space.

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FEATURE

Al Gore, Neil deGrasse Tyson Marvel at USU’s

Synthetic Spider

SILK RESEARCH

 A researcher in Professor Randy Lewis’ lab holds a golden silk orb-weaver spider, a source of genetic material for the lab’s synthetic spider silk protein.  From left, Biology professor Randy Lewis with students Tom Harris, Danielle Gaztambide and Breton Day in USU’s synthetic spider silk lab.

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FEATURE

When Al Gore and astrophysicist, science communicator-to-themasses Neil deGrasse Tyson sat down for a chat on the April 11, 2016, episode of the latter’s Innovators program on Tech Insider’s StarTalk Radio Show, the topic turned to the ethics of biotechnology. “You know about spider goats?” Gore asked. “Sounds interesting,” Tyson replied. The former vice president described USU’s research, led by Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) professor Randy Lewis, in genetically modifying goats to produce spider silk protein in their milk. The two marveled at the technology and, while both agreed they were “okay” with this type of research, they urged caution with emerging genetic engineering.  Astrophysicist and StarTalk Radio host Neil deGrasse Tyson, left, and former vice “That gets creepy,” Tyson said. president Al Gore discuss USU's synthetic spider silk research during the April 11, 2016, episode of Tech Insider’s 'Innovators’ program. Courtesy Tech Insider. Interestingly, “creepy” is exactly the word Gore frequently uses to describe a vague uneasiness many feel when confronted with findings on using the silk for gels, adhesives and coatings for rapid technological changes. medical implants at the 2016 Material Research Society Spring No, he isn’t making a clever pun about arachnids. Rather, Meeting in Phoenix. in his recent book, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, “Our silk solutions are made from protein and water,” Gore defines “creepiness” as “a comparably indeterminate says Gaztambide. “They don’t cause an immune response or ‘pre-fear’ that many feel when contemplating some of the inflammation when used in the human body, which greatly onrushing advances in the world of genetic engineering.” reduces the risk of infection and offers a tremendous advan Creepy? Most people describe USU’s spider goats as tage over conventional materials.” adorable. In fact, Lewis makes an effort to display his goats in With U.S. Army funding, Lewis is also investigating use public as much as possible to demonstrate their normalcy. No of synthetic spider silk fabric to produce military clothing one can tell the difference between the goats that have received that doesn’t melt (and cause further injury) during searing spider silk genes and those that haven’t. temperatures wrought by explosive devices. Even so, Lewis’ goats and his research continue to capture “Spider silk can produce fabric that’s lighter, stronger and people’s imaginations. In addition to the transgenic ruminants, stretchier than nylon,” Lewis says. “This could make a big the USU professor also produces synthetic spider silk from difference to troops carrying heavy gear in harsh conditions. transgenic alfalfa, silkworms and bacteria. He regularly Plus, in a fire or explosion, it simply chars and breaks down.” fields media inquiries from the BBC, Associated Press, the Additional applications for synthetic spider silk could Discovery Channel and more. include lighter, stronger and safer vehicle air bags and body Named the College of Science’s 2016 Undergraduate armor, as well as lighter and stronger vehicles with greater fuel Research Mentor of the Year, Lewis and his students are efficiency and more resistance to collision damage. ¢ exploring a variety of future applications for his lab’s products. Undergrads Breton Day and Danielle Gaztambide presented —MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

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ALUMNI FEATURE

Making a

DIFFERENCE USU Science Alum Aids Denverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Homeless Youths UNIQUE THRIFT STORE PROVIDES JOB TRAINING, REVENUE FOR AT-RISK TEENS

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ALUMNI FEATURE

 USU alum Andy Taylor (Geology, MS’02 ) relaxes during a recent visit to Zurich, Switzerland. Based in Denver, Taylor, general manager of Anadarko’s Wyoming and Utah Assets and the company’s lead geoscience recruiter, noticed teens panhandling for change near his downtown office. With encouragement from his employer, he got involved in a community effort to help.

n his daily commute to his job with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in downtown Denver, USU Geology alum and advisory board member Andy Taylor MS’02 sees them. On street corners, teens in the throes of homelessness panhandle for spare change and seek shelter in alleyways from summer’s blazing sun or winter’s blistering chill. “I see these kids and worry about their safety,” says Taylor, general manager of Anadarko’s Wyoming and Utah Assets and the company’s lead geoscience recruiter. “I wonder what will become of them.” While earning an executive MBA at the University of Denver (DU), the Midwest native worked with a team of business students to launch a social enterprise with Urban Peak, a non-profit devoted to providing outreach services to the city’s homeless youth. “The organization’s leadership team was very passionate and motivated to work with us, so we decided to team up with them for our social capital project – a requirement of DU’s executive MBA program,” he says. “The requirement of the social capital project is fairly simple. It involves translating business principles taught in the 18-month program into something that does good in the community.” Established in Denver in 1988, Urban Peak provides an overnight shelter, a daytime drop-in center, street outreach, meals, showers, basic medical care and other services to young people between the ages 15 to 24, who are experiencing homelessness. The program serves more than 2,000 teens and young adults each year. “Among the challenges facing this population is developing self-sufficiency,” Taylor says. “For most of Urban Peak’s clients, returning to a parent’s home is not an option.” The program’s staff helps clients write resumes, search for employment and study for GED exams. Urban Peak has typically paired youth with local businesses for their first jobs. “But many of these teens have no job experience nor have they developed the social and job-hunting skills needed to successfully compete in the workplace,” Taylor says. “To

address this, Urban Peak’s leadership was in search of an opportunity to provide a safe environment for youth to experience real-world job skill training. Like most teens, Urban Peak’s clients need to learn such basic skills as being on time for work and handling job duties responsibly. But the youth served by Urban Peak face distinct challenges. “Many of these young people have experienced significant trauma, abuse and neglect, so they need supervisors who understand their situations and are prepared to handle their special needs,” Taylor says. But what kind of social enterprise could a non-profit afford? And what kind of business could be successfully operated by young, unskilled and inexperienced workers? “A previous DU executive MBA team batted around a number of ideas with Urban Peak leadership,” he says. “They conceptually tested a coffee shop, a food truck and a screen printing service, but ultimately concluded the overhead would be cost-prohibitive and these business models were not the right fit for Urban Peak youth.” Brainstorming sessions yielded the solution: a thrift store – and plans for “Peak Thrift” began to materialize. 

“Support from people like Andy is imperative to the continued success of our organization…The energy, enthusiasm and professionalism that Andy and Anadarko bring…raises the spirits of other community members and board members, our staff and, especially, our youth.” —JOSHUA ZMROCZEK, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, URBAN PEAK

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“My team immediately got to work on a feasibility study, and we tested the thrift store business model in many of our MBA classes over the course of our year-and-a-half program,” Taylor says. Stock for the store? No problem. The team would solicit donations, tapping into the Denver community’s enthusiastic commitment to service and recycling. Employee training? The store would offer plenty of unskilled sorting positions, while also providing young employees with opportunities to advance and develop customer service, marketing, sales and management skills. As an added bonus, the store would provide a steady stream of donated provisions for Urban Peak clients in need of clothing and shoes. The next hurdle, Taylor says, was finding an appropriate and affordable location. “The store needed to be in a location accessible to both Urban Peak clients and customers,” he says. “It was important to find a site near public transportation and in an area that would appeal to a mix of socioeconomic levels. We also

 USU alum Andy Taylor MS’02 helped to find a location for Peak Thrift that met the needs of the organization’s clients as well as its customers. Courtesy Urban Thrift.

wanted to attract more affluent shoppers, who could expand our donor base.” In time, the ideal location was identified and Peak Thrift opened with fanfare and a celebratory proclamation from Colorado’s Governor, John Hickenlooper, in January, 2016. Situated in Denver’s Chaffee Park neighborhood, Peak Thrift offers simple, inviting displays of clothing, books and household items in a trendy atmosphere. To date, about a dozen youth have completed the store’s training-based Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act program, which includes 160 hours of paid training. Some of the trainees have secured jobs beyond Peak Thrift and others have accepted jobs in the store. Taylor, who subsequently joined Urban Peak’s board of directors, says his experience with the organization has been life-changing. “It’s very gratifying to see these young people build confidence and optimism and gain the means to live on their own,” he says. “It’s up to all of us to reach out and provide the necessary support to help these teens change their lives and get on a path to self-sufficiency.” Taylor says his employer is also supportive of Urban Peak’s efforts. “In addition to financial support, Anadarko coordinates monthly food pantry donations and organizes monthly opportunities for its employee teams to purchase and serve breakfast at the organization’s drop-in center,” he says. “It’s a great way to get our employees involved in the local community.” Joshua Zmroczek, director of development and public affairs for Urban Peak, applauds Taylor and Anadarko’s efforts. “Support from people like Andy is imperative to the continued success of our organization – especially when venturing into new territory; namely, Peak Thrift,” he says. “The energy, enthusiasm and professionalism that Andy and Anadarko bring to special events, board meetings and into the kitchen at our Drop-In Center, when they volunteer to serve breakfast or Tuesday Bar-B-Q, raises the spirits of other community members and board members, our staff and, especially, our youth.” ¢ —MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

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DONOR SPOTLIGHT

USU Provided

STRONG FOUNDATION FOR

Rewarding Army Medical Career, Life Thomas Coppin, MD, reflects on Aggie experiences, opportunities

 In a 1955 photo, USU’s Army ROTC hosts a Pass in Review ceremony on the university quad. College of Science alum Thomas Coppin, MD, entered USU’s ROTC program in 1957 and cites it as a formative experience of his undergrad years. (Image courtesy USU Special Collections.)

When Utah native and long-time USU supporter Thomas Coppin first set foot on Utah State’s Logan campus in 1957, he was undecided about a major, but open to new challenges. “I was a guy with few goals, except I knew I wanted an education,” he says. His advisor and geography professor, the late Edwin L. “Eddie” Peterson, took the young Aggie under his wing and advised Coppin to take an Army ROTC class.

“Dr. Peterson was gruff, but he always made me feel as though I was worth his time,” Coppin says. “He said if I stuck with ROTC, it would lead to a commission and I’d be telling people what to do instead of them telling me what to do.” The undergrad took his mentor’s advice to heart and discovered he liked ROTC’s military history classes and strict physical education requirements. “Somewhere along the way, I had an epiphany – I wanted to study medicine,” Coppin says. “When I told Dr. Peterson about it, he was flabbergasted, but encouraging.” 

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 USU alum Thomas Coppin, M.D., urges current students to “to enjoy learning, don’t be in a hurry, take a variety of classes and be open to new ideas and opportunities.”

His new mentor, Professor Thomas Bahler, was less surprised and assured Peterson that Coppin “would do alright.” “So, I had a path forward and took my classes seriously,” Coppin says. “I loved the atmosphere at Utah State. It was so easy to get to know people and I always felt my professors were genuinely interested in me.” He convinced his brother, David, a Cache Valley physician, and another brother, Patrick, to become Aggies, as well. In those days, the student body barely hit 5,000, he says, “If the farm kids had the quarter off to attend classes.” Coppin, too, paused his studies to serve an LDS mission to The Netherlands. During summers and on weekends during the school year, he worked at his dad’s car dealership, Coppin Motor Company, in Brigham City. “I did everything except sell cars,” he says. “I worked at the lube rack, swept floors, knew the parts room inside and out and trained as an apprentice mechanic.” His savings from work and a 90-cents-a-day stipend he received as a third and fourth-year ROTC cadet paid for his schooling, room and board. Determined not to break his debt-free record, Coppin, who completed his bachelor’s degree in 1963, applied to only one medical school, the University of Utah. “The price was right – under $600 per year,” he says. “Dr. Bahler was not happy with my decision. He wanted me to apply to Baylor Medical School in Texas.”

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Coppin stubbornly stuck to his frugal guns and entered the U. While in Salt Lake City, he met up with Joanne Andersen, a former flight attendant and alumna of his high school, whose father, incidentally, was also a car dealer. “We hit it off and I married the competitor’s daughter,” he says. Upon graduation from medical school in 1967, as the Vietnam War escalated, Coppin accepted an Army residency in pathology. His military career, which lasted 30 years, took him to varied sites in the U.S. and overseas, including Germany and England. While in Germany, the father of four served as chief of the pathology service. He was selected as an exchange officer at the Royal Army Medical College in London, where he reviewed all pathology for the Royal Army. Coppin turned down a selection to the Command and General Staff College and, instead, opted to accept a position as chief of pathology at Fort Lewis’ Madigan Hospital in Washington, where he’d completed a residency years before. Madigan’s pathology residency was on probation, but Coppin worked to correct its deficiencies, enabling the residency to earn full accreditation within five months. During his Army career, Coppin also served as a pathology consultant to the U.S. Surgeon General. He retired from the Army in 1993, and continued his medical career in private practice. After fully retiring in 2006, he established a program to restore surgical pathology to a 1,000-bed teaching hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. He made multiple trips to the West African nation, on his own dime, to establish a functioning service and teach pathology to local physicians. His student recruitment efforts were supported by Pathologists Overseas, a non-profit network of volunteer pathologists, whose worldwide mission is taking surgical pathology to underserved areas. Reflecting on his USU years, Coppin says, “ROTC took me along and became a challenging and rewarding career – all because of Professor Eddie Peterson.” He advises current USU students “to enjoy learning.” “Don’t be in a hurry,” Coppin says. “Take a variety of classes and be open to new ideas and opportunities. There’s always something to learn.” Asked how he learned to give, Coppin cites his gratitude for education and credits his parents, Thomas Frank and Elisabeth “Lucy” Schinkol Coppin. “During World War II, they worked tirelessly to collect food and clothing for civilians in The Netherlands, who were living under Nazi occupation, and their service continued throughout their lives,” he says. “They left an exemplary legacy of giving and community service.” ¢ —MARY-ANN MUFFOLETTO

DEVELOPMENT

Money Doesn’t Buy

 USU College of Science Development Director Patrick Svedin lists the Declaration of Independence as a favorite historical document with its admonition of each citizen’s right to the “pursuit of Happiness.” Does giving make people happier, he asks? Detail from artist John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence painting in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

HAPPINESS,

Does It?

College of Science development director Patrick Svedin shares insights on giving I recently traveled to our nation’s capital and, whenever I’m in D.C., I make a point of visiting the Rotunda of the National Archives Building to see one of the most important documents ever penned, The Declaration of Independence. I love reading about the unalienable rights. (Don’t worry; this isn’t going to be a history lesson.) I particularly appreciate that we each have the right to the “pursuit of Happiness.” For each of us, this pursuit may have some similarities but, most assuredly, will have some differences as well. Here’s what’s on my short list for my pursuit of happiness:

Like many of you, I love to spend quality time with my family and friends. I also love going on hikes up in the mountains with my loyal dog, Hemp. My pursuit would also include spending some time on the river with my dad with a fly rod in hand. Traveling and seeing what this beautiful world has to offer certainly makes me happy. Most recently, it would include me coming back home to USU in my new role as the director of development for the College of Science. But if I were to tell you, you could increase your happiness – even if you’re already a happy person – would you be interested? I think most people are open to the idea of being happier. In his 2008 book, Gross National Happiness, bestselling author Arthur C. Brooks writes, “The true way to buy happiness is by giving away what we value.” According to Brooks, when we give charitably, either of our time, money or even our blood (yes, you read correctly, 

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“I’ve learned when people give something of value, they are giving their personal values; it’s a glimpse into their heart.” —PATRICK SVEDIN

even our blood), we’re happier than people who don’t give. He cites years and years of data that overwhelmingly support this idea. Brooks references a survey that reveals people who give money to charity are 43 percent more likely than nongivers to say they are “very happy.” He also points out that volunteers are 42 percent more likely to report being “very happy” than non-volunteers. Here are some additional compelling stats Brooks shares – starting with blood. You are 43 percent more likely to say you are very happy if you donate blood two or three times a year. People who give money are 34 percent less likely than non-givers to say they ever feel “so sad nothing could cheer [them] up.” Givers are also 68 percent less likely to report ever feeling “hopeless.” Apparently, it doesn’t matter whether a gift is religious or secular. “Both leave people equally happy, and far happier than people who don’t give,” Brooks writes. “If two people are identical in terms of income, education, age, religion, politics, sex, and family circumstances—but one volunteers once more than the other each week—the one who volunteers more will be half again as likely to say he or she is very happy.” I have witnessed this first-hand, multiple times as I’ve worked this past year and a half for the College of Science. When I tell people what I do for a living. I get all kinds of responses. Often, people say they could never approach others and ask them for their money. I fear they imagine me as a high-pressured used car salesman in a baby blue polyester suit trying to swindle people out of their money. Here’s what’s really going on: I get to be with people when they are their very best selves; that is, when they are their happiest selves. I have never received a gift from someone who is sad or remorseful, no matter the size of the gift. I’ve never met anyone who regrets giving. I have received donations from people of all income levels and various amounts. I can report that all have been very happy and, in many cases, I have

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witnessed tears of joy. It is a very humbling role, to witness the transaction of giving, which is far more than dollar signs. I see a visible positive change within that individual. I’ve learned when people give something of value, they are giving their personal values; it’s a glimpse into their heart. Brooks offers an important message that I think is worth repeating and teaching others. He says, “If you asked me how you could be happier and I told you to vote (a certain way) or go to church, you might justifiably tell me to go jump in the lake. But if I told you to give to charity, I would be giving you excellent advice. Everybody can give, and give more, today. Each and every one of us can afford to dig a little deeper— whether into our wallets or into our free time. So give—write a check, volunteer; donate the things you no longer need (or even better, things you still do need). And remember: I’m not trying to lecture you on how to be a better person—just a happier one.” While reading this article, you may have asked yourself this question: Does giving to charity make you happier or do happier people give to charities? Stay tuned for my next article in the Spring 2017 edition of Discovery, where I will address this question. Until then, trust me. Giving will make you happier.

PATRICK SVEDIN Director of Development, USU College of Science

STAY IN TOUCH

KEEPING IN TOUCH USU’s College of Science was delighted by a visit this past fall from alum Lars Hansen (Math ’74), a 2013 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Hansen, the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Statistics at the University of Chicago, and his wife, Grace Tsiang, stopped in Cache Valley to visit family and to see the portion of 800 East named in honor of the Logan native. The inaugural research director of the Becker-Friedman Institute, Hansen is son of the late R. Gaurth Hansen, renowned biochemist and former USU provost, and longtime USU supporter Anna Lou Rees Hansen, who resides in St. George, Utah. ¢

 During a recent visit to USU, Lars Hansen, right, Nobel Prize laureate and College of Science alum, and Dean Maura Hagan view at street sign along “Lars Hansen Drive,” a campus section of Logan, Utah’s 800 East, renamed in honor of the celebrated Aggie.

STAY IN TOUCH Thank you for reading this inaugural issue of Discovery Magazine. We invite you to enjoy future issues and to stay in touch with us through the following media: Via the Web Visit our newly updated website at www.usu.edu/science On Social Media Visit us on Facebook at “USU College of Science” On Utah Public Radio Hear about our research during “Science by the Slice” mini-casts Contact us by email at: science@usu.edu

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COLLEGE OF SCIENCE 3540 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-3540 science.usu.edu RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

 USU alumna Mary Ann Ebbeler, right, with Tim Wright, recipient of the Mary Ann McDonald Ebbeler Scholarship, was a featured speaker at the USU College of Science Fall Convocation, held Oct. 27, 2016, on campus.

 College of Science ambassadors and scholarship awardees Danielle Johnson, left, and Marcus Jackman, right, with Science Dean Maura Hagan, were featured speakers at the college’s inaugural Fall Convocation and Banquet held Oct. 27, 2016, at Utah State.