A&S Newsletter Spring 2024 | GCSU

PESTICIDES ON YOUR PLATE:

STUDYING THE TOXINS THAT AFFECT OUR FOOD

DEAN’S WELCOME

DR. ERIC TENBUS, DEAN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

When I was a young boy, I sat eagerly in front of the television on Sunday evenings, fascinated by both Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. (Some of our alumni and faculty may be old enough to remember these shows, too!) Both Marlin Perkins and Jacques Cousteau were adventurers and explorers, but to me, they were heroes. These men traveled the world, discovered new species, and experienced cultures far different from mine. Each Sunday evening, they helped open my eyes to the excitement of learning, an excitement that has been a guiding light in my life and in my career.

Marlin Perkins and Jacques Cousteau are long gone, but in this newsletter, you’ll read about other adventurers. Like Dr. Doug Oetter, a geographic explorer here at GCSU. He has spent much of the last decade exploring and investigating how we can make geography into an exciting career path for students, while also using these skills himself to design the university’s Myrtle Ridge disc golf course. Thanks to Dr. Oetter, GCSU students are discovering that geographic information systems is a realworld destination for individuals who love maps and are interested in their interaction with technology.

Another explorer you’ll enjoy reading about is Dr. Sayo Fakayode, Professor of Chemistry and Department Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy. He has spent two decades working with undergraduates

to discover more economical and accurate ways to detect pesticides in our food and bodies. Inside this newsletter, you’ll learn about his academic journeys with GCSU students, leading to their success in getting the results of their research published. Such important work shows how closely the hard sciences correlate to our everyday lives.

One of the most exciting aspects of my job occurs at the end of the academic year as students are finishing up classes and projects. This past month, I have been honored to attend departmental award presentations to our best students. It brings me tremendous joy to see the faces of students who have won these awards, as well as the smiles of pride from their faculty members who have led these students on their academic journeys. These students are going places even Marlin Perkins and Jacques Cousteau did not dream of!

As I read this newsletter and marvel over all the wonderful things our students and faculty are doing, I am reminded that learning is basically about discovery, whether it is the discovery of new species, new ways to think about the past, or new creativity in the form of stories or music. In other words: “To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.” (From another favorite television show some of you may remember.)

FROM THE EDITORS

How often do you think about what you eat? When you do, do you consider the quality of the ingredients used to make it? When you begin to take notice of nutrition labels, an entire world could open up before you. Why are there so many ingredients in simple sauces, or cereal? Why can’t we pronounce them?

What are we sacrificing for shelf life?

The same conversation can be extended to produce. We must consider what varieites of produce are grown, and what methods were used to produce them. That’s what the cover story of this issue taps into. In “Pesticides on

your Plate: studying the toxins that affect our food,” Dr. Sayo Fakayode and his students work to understand how pesticides transfer to the food we eat. How much of that remains in our bodies?

This issue showcases the brilliant work of A&S faculty and the passion they pour into Georgia College & State University.

We thank you for taking the time to enjoy these stories, and we hope we can bring something valuable to your life.

CONTENTS

4 | A&S SUCCESS

⊲ Students work with sea turtles in Costa Rica

⊲ Grad student identified algae in North Carolina waters

⊲ Studentss create children’s books for ecology class

⊲ Immersive Chilean experience pays off for gcsu students

⊲ Recent graduate wants to repair the criminal justice system

⊲ Dilemmas direct math grad to her passion

⊲ Senior instills excitement for art in others

⊲ Campus celebrations for El Dia De Los Muertos

⊲ Old but not lost: Art students see a future for antique printing press

⊲ Students improve communication skills through action and adventure

⊲ GCSU opportunities will pay off big for future lawyer

10 | HIGHLIGHTS

⊲ Finding through lines in fault lines

⊲ Astronomy professor and recent graduate measure neutron star

⊲ Jain studies students see the great and ancient temples of India

⊲ Newll Scholar’s research synthesizes music and history

⊲ GCSU ecologist and students spotlight the unknown underworld of millipedes

⊲ GCSU astrophysicist’s idea among top for next NASA telescope

12 | COVER STORY

⊲ Pesticides On Your Plate: Studying the toxins that affect our food

16 | ALUMNI ACCOLADES

⊲ Black Barby Ink

⊲ Marine scientist plays vital role in oceanic fish population

⊲ GCSU alumna answers call to satisfy great community need

ARTS & SCIENCES

SPRING 2024 NE WSLETTER

ERIC TENBUS

EDITORS DR. WINSTON TRIPP

SIMPSON

A&S SUCCESS

DEPT. OF BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

STUDENTS WORK WITH  SEA TURTLES IN COSTA RICA

 Growing up with a love for animals, junior Parker Luke Wilson got his first crack at being a veterinarian assistant as a senior in high school working at Gadd’s Animals Doctors of Gray.

Since then, he’s been on track to double major in biology and Spanish at Georgia College, while getting

a minor in Latin American/Caribbean Studies and a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine.

Most recently, he completed a two-week, study-away, veterinarian-in-training program called Loop Abroad Costa Rica. There, he got to work with sea turtles firsthand.

“Sea turtles always have been special to me. I am genuinely taken away by love for these animals and plan to devote my life to helping them,” Wilson said. “Many people feel a closeness to them, and it’s a very curious phenomenon. They have this beautiful nature and are such an important part of the ecosystem within the ocean.”

DEPT. OF BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

GRAD STUDENT IDENTIFIED ALGAE IN NORTH CAROLINA WATERS

 Anna Agi, ’23, was able to introduce the water-quality company she interned for in 2023 to a few things about diatoms—a form of microscopic, single-celled algae with glass cell walls that converts light into energy.

Diatoms generate up to 25% of the earth’s oxygen and are found in almost every aquatic environment.

“It’s important to get involved in research if you’re in a science background, because it opens your mind and doors to so many opportunities,” Agi said. “I didn't learn about diatoms until I volunteered in the phycology lab and did undergraduate research.”

Agi graduated from Georgia College & State University in May 2023 with a degree in biology. She was a cross-country runner and two-time All-Peach Belt Conference record-breaker. In addition, she was in Tri-Beta Biological Honor Society, the Order of Omega honor sorority and fraternity, Delta Gamma Sorority, Botany Club and the GCSU Orchestra.

Anna Agi collects algae samples at an internship this summer in North Carolina.

STUDENTS CREATE CHILDREN’S BOOKS FOR ECOLOGY CLASS

 In time for this year’s international World Soil Day celebration, students in Dr. Bruce Snyder’s soil ecology class finished their final project for the semester— children’s books about dirt and critters of this unseen underworld that help nourish the Earth’s soil, water, forests and air.

Students could choose any topic, as long as it featured soil. Books could be fiction or nonfiction, simple or complex, online or bound.

“Just as you would for a term paper,” Snyder said, “you still have to find primary literature; you still have to write something that’s scientifically accurate and flows. It has to have good grammar and all the same writing skills.”

“With kids, it can be more challenging, so it’s the same amount of work,” he said. “It’s just a different format and audience. Plus, it’s more fun.”

DEPT. OF WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

IMMERSIVE CHILEAN EXPERIENCE PAYS

OFF FOR GCSU STUDENTS

 During this past summer, Georgia College students participated in an internship while learning about Chilean culture and enhancing their Spanish language skills.

Dr. Brantley Nicholson, associate professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies and director of the Chile Study Abroad program, emphasized two points about the program. Students are exposed to language in a way that can’t be

replicated, he said, and they get to experience a real international experience.

“The students begin to feel differently about the language—it’s not just something that’s in a textbook,” Nicholson said. “They interact with others daily. So, there’s an emotional connection students make when they meet people in a foreign country—it’s the sink-or-swim aspect that makes them acquire a second language more quickly.”

Students visit Imagine Ventures, a venture capital firm.

RECENT GRADUATE WANTS TO REPAIR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

DEPT. OF GOVERNMENT AND SOCIOLOGY

 For people to respect law enforcement, the criminal justice system must be fair and reasonable— creating policies that make citizens of all classes and races feel safe.

These are the words and hope of Montavious Taylor Sr., a Marine veteran, who earned his master’s in criminal justice at Georgia College in December.

He wants to be part of the change that makes justice equitable for all people.

“I grew up witnessing the good and bad of the criminal justice system,” Taylor said, “from seeing it save families from abusive and negative situations to innocently ripping families apart, and I could never understand the why’s of the situation. So, I took my grandfather's advice. He always told me, ‘If you don’t like what you see—be the change you want to see.’”

Taylor lives in Perry, Georgia, with his wife and three children: his daughter Kamari is 7 years old, and his sons, Montavious Jr., and Anthony are 4 and 1.

DILEMMAS DIRECT MATH GRAD TO HER PASSION

In fall of her sophomore year, 2021, Monica Lichtenwalner got COVID-19 during the first week of class and was very sick for two weeks. A month and a half later, she hadn't fully recovered and dropped half her classes because she was falling behind.

She knew this would cause her to graduate later than she planned.

But Lichtenwalner soon realized it was a gift in disguise.

“That delay established my desire to study math, specifically abstract algebra, at the graduate level,” she said. “So, the advice I would give incoming students is focus on doing what you can, and everything else will work itself out. You never know what the future holds, and something that might seem bad at the time could eventually result in something good.”

SENIOR INSTILLS EXCITEMENT FOR ART IN OTHERS

 Growing up, studio fine art senior Mattie Thompson of Savannah was never one to color inside the lines. Instead, she spent most of her life not believing in her art ability until her sophomore year of high school. She took a class in painting in order to graduate and fell in love with it.

Thompson’s creation, “Milly Squared,” was on display at the Leland Gallery in November as part of Georgia College’s Art

Department exhibit, “Ephemera.” The exhibit celebrated senior art students and their capstone projects.

Milly Squared is comprised of two community paint-grid projects, showcasing two Milledgeville icons—famed American author Flannery O’Connor, ’45 and Country Music Artist Logan Crosby, who Thompson has known since their days attending John Milledge Academy.

having a blank piece of paper in front of you and making whatever you want is the most freeing feeling in the world. it’s a great outlet for anyone.

— MATTIE THOMPSON

DEPT. OF WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

CAMPUS CELEBRATIONS FOR EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

 Georgia College students, faculty and staff celebrated El día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in several locations on campus this year.

Working with faculty in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, students in SPAN 1002 built an altar—called an ofrenda—in the front atrium of Arts & Sciences. Members of the GCSU Latino Student Association (LSA) built their ofrenda in The Hub last week, where it has since been on display.

Members of the LSA were encouraged to participate in the ofrenda tradition “to welcome our loved ones visiting from heaven and honor them.” Students remembered their loved ones by including pictures of relatives and friends, candles and images of ornate decorated skulls— called calaveras.

Mattie Thompson shows kids how to paint their square.

Mattie Thompson stands in fron of Milly Squared in the Leland Art Gallery.

OLD BUT NOT LOST: ART STUDENTS SEE A FUTURE FOR ANTIQUE PRINTING PRESS

 A Chandler and Price machine from the late 1800s was purchased by the university a few years ago. In the summer, it was dusted, greased and put in Ina Dillard Russell Library’s upcoming book studio.

Now, it’s a visual reminder of the past and motivation for a new generation of artists.

“The tactile and time-honored methods of printing help us understand the digital age more fully,” said Jolene Cole, interim associate director of Instruction and Research Services and professor of library science.

By acquiring this letterpress and others in the future, she hopes to “inspire individuals to engage with the past while shaping the future of printmaking.”

DEPT. OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

STUDENTS IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS THROUGH ACTION AND ADVENTURE

 On Front Campus, students were seen building tall towers, piece-bypiece with plastic piping. On the walkway between Arts & Sciences and Beeson Hall, groups moved slowly, tightly gripping brightly-colored bandanas and balancing cups of water.

These activities were used in Dr. Lee Gillis’ senior capstone class “Experiential Therapies.” The psychology chair is a leading researcher of adventure therapy, which uses challenging ventures for healing and treatment.

“In traditional therapy, you have the therapist and client sitting in chairs,” Gillis said. “We want to get them out of their chairs and out doing something. I have broadened the class beyond my area of expertise, Adventure Therapies, to include other experiential therapies like art, music, the wilderness, equine and gardening.”

Senior art majors Emma Leach and Emma Avery listen to Clemens Bak.

GCSU OPPORTUNITIES WILL PAY OFF BIG FOR FUTURE LAWYER

DEPT.

OF GOVERNMENT & SOCIOLOGY

 Vivian Cassaniti applied herself 110% at Georgia College & State University. She’ll graduate in December with a degree in both political science and philosophy.

In addition, she’s graduating with a concentration in pre-law, several accolades and priceless experiences.

Cassaniti is a recent recipient of the Pajari Best Undergraduate Research Paper Award at the Georgia Political Science Association Annual Meeting. She was also named the 2022 Newman Civic Fellow, is a member of the John E. Sallstrom Honors College and an alumna of the Leadership Certificate Program.

That certificate program included a study abroad program to Strasbourg, France.

The 40-plus page paper took Cassaniti nearly a year to write. It examines the influence of partisanship and different identities on gender disparities in attitudes toward social welfare policies. She’s always been interested in the concepts of justice and equality and what peoples’ roles are regarding government programs.

i’m ready to use everything i’ve learned at gcsu in my studies and career. i’m especially excited about continuing my research. all of my involvement was well worth it.

Additionally, she’s a member of the Georgia Education Mentorship Program and served as a student ambassador, during which she gave tours to prospective students and led new students as an orientation leader.

- VIVIAN CASSANITI

An undergraduate research paper she spearheaded delved into the systematic examination of gender differences in attitudes toward public policy issues and their profound impact on American politics.

“Her work offers invaluable insights into the intricate patterns of gendered public opinion in the United States, elucidating the driving factors behind these patterns and exploring how gender intersects with other identities to shape political attitudes,” said Dr. Min Kim, professor of public administration and Cassaniti’s mentor.

“Dr. Kim was incredibly supportive and encouraging,” Cassaniti said. “I learned a lot, attending the conference and presenting my research. It was super helpful to have my mentor there for support and guidance.”

“This paper was a great introduction to empirical research and research in political science,” she said. “It provided a great avenue for me to explore some of the questions I had. Now, I’m interested in researching more.”

Cassaniti met many successful people at Georgia College. She’s grateful to count on them as role models, including Kim, Stanford “Stan” Wilson, ’77, her attorney mentor through the GEM program who serves as a Georgia College Foundation trustee and Dr. Harold Mock, director of Leadership Programs and assistant professor of history.

“They've helped me step out of my comfort zone,” Cassaniti said. “I've gotten really comfortable with public speaking and networking with people. Dr. Mock and the leadership programs have given me so many opportunities.”

“I enjoyed listening to their experiences, and how they've overcome challenges they’ve faced. It's helpful to have somebody to learn from and emulate,” she said. “I'm ready to use everything I've learned at Georgia College in my studies and career. I’m especially excited about continuing my research. All of my involvement was well worth it.”

FINDING THROUGH LINES IN FAULT LINES

Geography professor links physical and cultural worlds—and sports

BY GCSU SENIOR CALE STRICKLAND

When Doug Oetter came to Georgia College & State University to work as a physical geographer and teach geographic methods, the university did not have a dedicated geography department.

That all changed in 2010, when–with just three professors—Georgia College started its geography bachelor’s program.

Oetter’s childhood fascination with maps led him to the discipline.

“When we were on family vacation, even though I was the youngest of four children, they would give me the maps and ask me which way to go ‘cause I could just do it,” Oetter said. “Later on, I discovered that there was an academic field called geography, and it had to do with maps, and I was like, ‘Well, this looks like fun,’ and I fell in love with geography in the first class I took.”

But, he says maps themselves are just the tip of the iceberg.

▲ Dan Oetter

“Geography is the study of the physical and cultural processes that influence spatial patterns on our planet,” Oetter said. “Every day, human societies are influenced by environmental, economic and historical patterns. The patterns direct our decisions and activities, from what crops we grow for food to how we select a restaurant for dinner. Geography asks where something is and why it is there.”

That “compendium of knowledge” is valuable to a plethora of disciplines and fields, which is why Georgia College began offering two geographyadjacent certificates in addition to its four-year degree: one in geographic information science, or GISc, and one in sustainability.

Geographic information systems combine maps and multiple layers of information, on both regions themselves and the people who inhabit them.

“They’re really more than maps,” Oetter said. “They’re actually spatial databases.”

Sustainability is the process of balancing a company’s economic and environmental responsibilities to create a business that prioritizes the interests of all affected: shareholders, consumers and the earth.

Oetter says the term sustainability–and companies’ interest in it–is relatively new.

“It’s only been around for about 30 years now, and it says that people who practice sustainability will be invested in social ethics, they’ll be knowledgeable of the environment and ecological principles, but at the same time, they will remain true to economic profitability,” Oetter said.

When Oetter was asked to map West Campus’s cross country course, his teaching merged with one of his biggest hobbies and passions: disc golf.

“When I was out there walking around, mapping the course, I realized, ‘This is where we need to put a disc golf course,’” Oetter said.

Four years later, Oetter and his students finished Myrtle Ridge, Georgia College’s own 18-hole course.

Dr. Max Harleman, an assistant professor of public administration at Georgia College, is the faculty advisor for the university’s disc golf club and works with Oetter to maintain Myrtle Ridge.

“There’s a lot of momentum to build a disc golf community here,” Harleman said. “And what Doug and I are trying to do is leverage the momentum we have, given that we have a course here at Georgia College, on West Campus, and also the momentum we have with the disc golf club and league, in order to support that growth of the disc golf community.”

On first thought, the connection between geography, sustainability and disc golf may not be obvious, but Oetter says all three involve the same process: analyzing information to create continual efficiency.

“That’s what geography really is: how we come up with consistent, predictable and desirable choices about management of our surface area,” Oetter said.

ASTRONOMY PROFESSOR

AND RECENT GRADUATE MEASURE NEUTRON STAR

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

 You might think a neutron star or black hole is nothing but empty darkness and, thus, immeasurable.

But they’re not vacant.

Matter is squeezed tightly into a small space creating a gravitational pull so strong even light can’t escape. They come in different sizes and move about in space, consuming their twin star and anything else in their path as fuel.

Now, Georgia College & State University Physics Professor Dr. Arash Bodaghee and Cody Cox of Milledgeville—a recent physics graduate experienced in C++ computer language and MATLAB— have calculated a dark star never previously measured.

“It's a neutron star “several times more massive than the sun,” Bodaghee said. “This is the first time the magnetic field of this particular neutron star has been measured. Neutron stars are hard to find. In terms of measuring the magnetic field—that’s another step beyond finding them, and you need a very good telescope to get data for long-term observation. It’s a lot of work.”

Bodaghee and Cox previously worked together at Georgia College to create a first-of-its-kind map showing exactly where these roaming, dark masses were born and how far they’ve traveled.

“What Arash is doing is showcasing our program and the institution on the international stage. It puts our name on the global stage. That’s prestigious,” said Dr. Sayo Fakayode, chair of Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy.

 Cody Cox (left) and Dr. Bodaghee, creators of the stellar map and the team that recently measured a neutron star.

JAIN STUDIES STUDENTS SEE THE GREAT AND ANCIENT TEMPLES OF INDIA

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND LIBERAL STUDIES

 After traveling 24 hours by plane and a motorized rickshaw ride through the twisting streets of Udaipur, India, to their ‘haveli’ (hotel)—a mansion several centuries old—two Georgia College & State University students were exhausted and barely able to keep their eyes open.

Trudging to their rooms, the students looked out at the stunning city—the “Venice of India”—emerging from the serenity of a lake. All of a sudden their eyes popped wide open, the surreal beauty reigniting their adrenaline.

The group didn’t waste one minute on the journey, which took them on breathtaking excursions to see temples, art, caves and architecture in seven Indian cities.

“Oh my goodness, they’re probably thinking this was a huge mistake,” said Dr. Sunita Manian, chair of Georgia College’s Department of Philosophy, Religion and Liberal Studies. “Seeing the difference by how tired they looked and then how excited they were—it was very rewarding.”

After that, the students—Liam Landry of Athens, Georgia, and Basil Cooper of Suwanee, Georgia—couldn’t wait to soak everything in.

They went on a 15-day study trip in December with Manian and Dr. James Winchester, who incorporates Jainism into the philosophy and religion courses he teaches at Georgia College. The trip was paid through generous donations from the Jain community and university grants.

It was all part of a new position at Georgia College, the “S & R Palvia Endowed Veetraag Vigyaan Professorship in Jain Studies.” The endowment was established in fall 2023, funded by a $250,000 gift from Dr. Shailendra and Rajkumari Palvia, who live in Atlanta.

It’s the only Jain professorship in Georgia and one of about a dozen across the nation.

Liam Landry and Basil Cooper in India.

▼ The temple in Ranakpur, India.

▲ From left to right: Dr. Manian, Liam, Basil and Dr. Winchester

NEWELL SCHOLAR’S RESEARCH SYNTHESIZES MUSIC AND HISTORY

BY SENIOR CALE STRICKLAND

 Dr. Evren Kutlay, this semester’s Martha Daniel Newell Visiting Scholar, has always been fascinated by the intersection of music and history.

As a child, she would listen to her neighbor, a professor and piano teacher, play for hours. Inspired and encouraged, Kutlay auditioned at a local conservatory but was told she was “too old” to learn piano. She proved otherwise, as, under the guidance of her neighbor, she finished three years’ worth of lessons in one year.

She went on to pursue her other academic interests, including mathematics, and eventually left Turkey to start her MBA at the University of West Georgia on a full scholarship. Kutlay’s Ph.D. combined her love of music and knowledge of business, analyzing the relationship between the art form and consumer behavior.

Today, she’s performed across Europe and the United States and contributed to various Turkish media outlets, including a plethora of music journals, the national newspaper “Star” and the public broadcast channel TRT.

A professor and lifelong learner, she uses an interdisciplinary approach to fill in the gaps between Eastern and Western music she found in academic literature years ago.

“You may ask, ‘How is it related to math?’ My systematic approach to things, which I think I inherited from my problem-solving

abilities, is something that I learned from studying math,” Kutlay said. “So, those are the things that I’m combining and working on and bringing as a new output, a niche that didn’t exist in academic literature, let’s say, at Georgia College.”

She encourages Georgia College students to follow their passions and dreams, ask questions and take opportunities as they come.

“Nothing was planned,” Kutlay said. “So, that’s what I would say to Georgia College students. You should pursue your passions, dreams, and you should expand your horizons. Explore things and ask questions about them and see that nothing is separate.”

She performed a series of pieces, focused on music’s effects on diplomacy, and featured Georgia College students, in Max Noah Recital Hall April 4.

And on April 12, at Allied Arts of Milledgeville, she discussed the influence of Western musicians who visited and spent time in Turkey, particularly Istanbul, on the region and its music.

She credits her success to her lifelong passion for, and curiosity about, music.

“I was curious,” Kutlay said. “I loved listening and just watching and listening and so on, and I had that passion in me, somehow.”

GCSU ECOLOGISTS AND STUDENTS SPOTLIGHT THE UNKNOWN UNDERWORLD OF MILLIPEDES

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

 Thought to be earth’s first creature to leave water and breathe on land—certain creeping, burrowing arthropods are essential for healthy soil and forests.

Millipedes are the ultimate composters—nature’s No. 1 soldier in waste management. They’re responsible for breaking leafy material into nutritious soil for trees and plants. They speed up forest decomposition, filtering our air and water. They help reduce erosion and keep soil moist.

Yet, little is known about their lives: where millipedes go, what they do or how they interact.

In fact, only two universities in the United States have millipede labs. Georgia College & State University is one of them—making its ecologist, Dr. Bruce Snyder, a rare expert.

“Understanding the biodiversity of millipedes is really important to understanding how the whole system functions and how those pieces go together in an ecosystem,” Snyder said. “We have lots of different tree species, lots of different understory plant species, tons of insects and earthworms and

other things, and millipedes are a big component of that.”

Only about 110 millipede species have been described in Georgia—what Snyder calls a “black hole” of information, something he and his students are working to change.

Currently, three graduate students and several undergrads do research with Snyder. Last summer, the two graduate biology students—Lance Andrew of Atlanta and Elena Cruz of Douglasville—accompanied Snyder to the 19th International Congress of Myriapodology in Bogota, Colombia. In 2027, Snyder will host this global millipede convention at Georgia College.

“I’ve got this thing that science has never encountered before, right here under my microscope,” Andrew said. “And then the second one happened and the third and the fourth, fifth, sixth. At this point it’s like, ‘OK, fine, I guess someone’s gotta do it, might as well be me.’”

‘THIS MIGHT BE

MY GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT’

GCSU ASTROPHYSICIST’S IDEA AMONG

TOP FOR NEXT NASA TELESCOPE

Some professors at Georgia College & State University go national with their research.

A few get global attention.

Others? They reach for the stars.

Like Georgia College’s astrophysicist Dr. Arash Bodaghee. He first suggested what eventually became— after improvements from his science team—one of the winning proposals for using NASA’s next-generation space telescope.

“From a little astrophysics group here at Georgia College, you know, competing against Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley—and who knows where else around the world— our little telescope, or at least our approach on how to program the project, has become one of the key scientific drivers of this mission,” Bodaghee said.

“not fair,” he added, because they operate on different wavelengths of light.

AXIS will be a breakthrough for X-ray optics that are lightweight and able to produce even-higher resolution pictures from space. Its large optic mirrors and detectors will allow astronomists to see further with better clarity.

It's the latest stellar achievement of Bodaghee's 10-year career at Georgia College—a body of work you might call out of this world:

• Bodaghee helped educate hundreds of local families on open-house nights at Herty Hall’s Pohl Observatory.

• One of his students discovered a previously unknown luminous object, a quasar “a billion times the size of our sun”—with the short name “IGR-12-346.”

• In 2021, Bodaghee and this student created an interactive map—the first-of-its-kind—showing where neutron stars and black holes were born and how far they’ve moved.

• More recently, that same team measured the strength of a neutron star’s magnetic field for the first time. It joins a list of only 50 neutron stars with magnetic fields that have been measured. Bodaghee has now measured two of those, the other in 2016. DEPARTMENT

The newly-proposed AXIS will be 46 feet long with solar panels that extend 52 feet. Unlike the James Webb, which cost $10 billion, AXIS will “only” cost $500 million to $1 billion, Bodaghee said. But comparing the two telescopes is

it’s gonna be something wonderful. it’s something gigantic. it’ll be a dramatic improvement in performance— a leap ahead in science.

— DR. ARASH BODAGHEE

SCAN TO  READ  THE FULL STORY ⊲

PESTICIDES ON YOUR PLATE:

Studying the toxins that affect our food

BY CINDY O’DONNELL

In his study of chemicals used to kill insects, weeds, rodents and other pests—Dr. Sayo Fakayode has come to call it: Pesticide on Your Plate. The slogan creates a terrifying mental picture, clearly outlining what’s become a worldwide problem.

“We want to see what’s in consumable products, especially food items, that can be problematic for public health. Pesticides are a debilitating challenge for humanity,” said Fakayode, chair of Georgia College & State University’s Department of Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy.

He’s been researching this issue for more than two decades, recruiting undergraduate students and working with scholars worldwide to find quicker, cheaper and more accurate ways for detecting and analyzing pesticides in the human body.

His ultimate goal is to pave the way for a medicine that will help.

“I’ve said it repeatedly. Chemistry is chemistry anywhere in the world,” Fakayode said. “If you have the right skill set, and you are trained in analytical instrumentation—then what they do at Harvard or Yale or MIT or Georgia Tech—you can do right here on this campus.”

“At Georgia College,” he said, “we are making that little contribution to science.”

More than 1,000 different pesticides are used around the globe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). They’re important for destroying vermin that eat or damage crops. But

these toxins also make their way onto people’s plates. Nearly 75% of non-organic produce sold in the United States contains some amount of potentially harmful pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group and reported by CNBC.

It’s not enough to wash pollutants off before cooking.

They’ve already been absorbed into the foods we eat.

“Pesticides can leach into underground water,” Fakayode said. “When it rains, they can be washed from topsoil to the river, and it’s the same river water that we will process and drink. Even plants can absorb pesticides. That magnifies toxins from the root to the leaves to the fruit. It concentrates as it goes along.”

These contaminants can cause health problems like birth defects, miscarriages and developmental disabilities in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In addition, three chemicals used in making pesticides are considered “Group 1 carcinogens”— arsenic, ethylene oxide and lindane, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Tackling global problems like these is a bit mindboggling for Fakayode’s two research students.

Junior Brinkley Bolton of Bremen, Georgia, and sophomore Bailey Dassow of Dacula, Georgia, are both majoring in chemistry with minors in criminal justice and concentrations in forensic science.

we want to see what’s in consumable products, especially food items, that can be problematic for public health. pesticides are a dibilitating challenge for humanity.

- DR. FAKAYODE

They were the youngest presenters recently at a research conference for the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, California. In January, they were also named as co-authors on a study with Fakayode and other university scholars in the Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics.

Finding a solution to the worldwide problem of pesticides is a “top priority,” the group concluded.

Seeing their names on an issue of global importance—alongside scientists like Fakayode and collaborating partners from Kennesaw State University in Georgia; Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana; and Red-Green Research in Bangladesh, India—was surprising.

“It’s a bit daunting to me, knowing we could have such an impact,” said Dassow, who began working with Fakayode freshman year.

“That our small efforts could lead to medications and help hundreds of thousands of lives, and all we did was spend a few weekends in the lab doing our little part is kind of scary. When you look at the big picture and realize it could help so many people,” she said, “it’s pretty exciting.”

Bolton agreed it’s “kind of crazy.”

“Not gonna lie,” she said. “I didn’t think I was going to be published at the age of 19 or 20. It’s weird. I’ve only been here two and a half years, and I’ve already accomplished so much.”

“I didn’t think I could do this,” Bolton said. “I didn’t think I could do it until I was actually presenting research in California. Because it’s a small school, I’ve gotten so many more opportunities at Georgia College with research and being mentored by faculty like Dr. Fakay, than I could ever have gotten anywhere else.”

“Being here,” she said, “is worth much more than I ever could’ve imagined.”

Dr. Eric Tenbus, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said he’s “extremely proud to have faculty and students of such high caliber contributing to the science of discovery here at GCSU.”

Fakayode also expressed pride in his “hardworking” students, who are part of the “creative thinkers and next generation of STEM researchers” produced in his department.

Dassow and Bolton helped Fakayode detect and analyze pesticides in the protein serum albumin. This protein is produced in the liver and enters the bloodstream, helping transport things like fatty acids, nutrients, vitamins and medicine to organs.

It can also transport bad things.

Toxins get into the bloodstream once a person is exposed to enough pesticides. As a delivery system, serum albumin is “the most abundant plasma protein capable of binding with herbicide and pesticide residues,” according to the group’s study.

“This protein is not selective,” Fakayode said. “It will distribute toxins to various organs over time, accumulating pesticides and damaging tissues. If you look at deposits—you’ll see lipid fats. Pesticides are comfortable living inside fatty organs.”

Fakayode and his students wondered if they could develop better methods to evaluate how four widely-used pesticides interact with the serum albumin protein. To do this, they ran samples through Raman spectroscopy, a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) instrument, mass spectrometer and molecular dynamic simulation.

These instruments compute data that allowed Fakayode and his team to detect changes as they occurred. The group accurately identified locations where the four pesticides bind with the protein.

The next step will be collaborating with other universities for animal tests. The endgame is developing a medicine to target and remove pesticides from proteins.

At Georgia College, Dassow will continue her work with Fakayode and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop a rapid, low-cost and accurate protocol for pesticide analysis in fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Bolton is currently researching polymers and plastics.

“This kind of work takes determination and dedication,” Fakayode said. “I tell my students our slogan is ‘NFAA—No Failure At All.’ I look for students who are ‘people oriented.’

They have to work as a team. Any student can learn, and every student can be

successful. The question is, ‘Are you willing? Are you trainable? And do you want the job?’ I tell them, ‘It’s not easy.’”

Bolton and Dassow are used to working weekends with Fakayode. One Friday night, they spent 11 hours finishing a samples analysis.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Dassow said. “I’m a sophomore, but I’ve already been published twice. It’s so much craziness. But I strive on craziness and hard work. I learn so much more that way.”

Fakayode can be demanding, students said. But his high expectations helped mold and ready them for the future. Research experience looks good on a resume and will put them a step ahead when applying for jobs.

Bolton and Dassow both plan to become forensic scientists and work in crime labs at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Division of Forensic Sciences.

“When I started Georgia College, older students would tell us, ‘You have to defend

I’M A SOPHOMORE, BUT I’VE ALREADY BEEN PUBLISHED TWICE. IT’S SO MUCH CRAZINESS. BUT I STRIVE ON CRAZINESS AND HARD WORK. I LEARN SO MUCH MORE THAT WAY.

- BAILEY DASSOW

your research senior year,’” Bolton said. “And I was like, ‘OK, you’re kind of scaring me.’ But then I went to California and presented to people from all over the world. I was scared. You can ask anyone. I was very scared. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this.’”

“But you know what?” she asked. “I did it. That’s what Dr. Fakay has given me—the confidence to show ‘I can do this’.

ALUMNI ACCOLADES

ALUMNA IS THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO OPEN TATTOO STUDIO IN MILLEDGEVILLE

Antionette Reames, ’12, discovered her zeal for art when she was seven, after an Orlando city bus encounter with a young rider who held a sketch book.

“My mother and I noticed he kept looking at me,” Reames said. “She eventually walked over to ask, ‘Why do you keep staring at my daughter?’ He said that he was drawing a picture of me. I was sitting in a chair with my little teddy bear. When he showed us, I just knew that's what I wanted to do.”

Years later, she did just that. Taking advantage of her natural drawing and painting skills, Reames opened her own private tattoo studio, Black Barby Ink, in 2021. She’s the first African American woman to do this in Milledgeville.

When Reames was young, she enjoyed playing with Barbies™. Her mother wanted to get Barbies™ that looked like her.

“She would bring me Black Barbies™,” Reames said. “Every time we went somewhere my mother would always call my sister and I her ‘Black Barbies™.’”

“This stuck with me,” she said. “Right before I decided to open my business, I took my daughter to the store to pick out a Barbie™. Before I cut my hair, I had curly hair with a ‘fro’ on top. She came to me and said, ‘Mommy, this is you.’ I kid you not. The Barbie™ doll looked just like me.”

Reames started tattooing as a student at the University of North Florida. The first tattoo she did was on the owner of Black Ink Orlando. Since then, Reames built on that experience by applying her refined drawing and painting

skills that she learned from Georgia College & State University.

“I thought, Okay, I can do this—I can get certified,” she said. “I studied everything including the latest equipment and different tattoo styles, and I passed my exams. So, I was able to open a private tattoo studio.”

Not only does Reames tattoo her artistic works at her studio, but she also takes her talent on the road, touring places like Atlanta, Barbados, Chicago, Jacksonville and Trinidad.

Reames came to Georgia College from UNF, where she majored in art and played basketball for three years. The coaches at Georgia College noticed her skill and contacted Reames to see if she would visit campus. She hopped on a Greyhound Bus bound for Milledgeville.

She played basketball for two years as a front/center at Georgia College. At UNF, she had torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during her sophomore year—just seven games into the season. So, the university gave her the year back for an extra year of eligibility to play.

Now, Reames is thrilled she became a tattoo artist, opened her own studio and can be a role model for her children and others.

The best thing about being a tattoo artist is the freedom to know i can travel anywhere in the world and be in a trade where the demographic is huge and i can do what i love—painting.

MARINE SCIENTIST PLAYS

VITAL ROLE IN OCEANIC FISH POPULATION

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Scientist Annsli Hilton, ’22, has been fascinated by the ocean and its wildlife for as long as she can remember. Her earliest memory of exploring ocean wildlife is a project she made in kindergarten on great white sharks.

In her current role as a research associate with the University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, she’s contracted with The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southeast Science Center.

Hilton was a first-generation college student who began her journey learning about marine biology and oceanography at Georgia College & State University.

“The most valuable things I learned from Georgia College were how to ask important thought-provoking questions, but also how to take a scientific paper and be able to read it,” she said. “It can have a lot of information that can overwhelm you. So, just learning how to read through a paper, understand it and take away meaning from it helps me in my job every day.”

Now, Hilton works with the fishery assessment, technology and engineering support (FATES) branch of NOAA Fisheries. She works with grey triggerfish and red snapper there.

In September, she spent two weeks on a large ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico conducting the shark and red snapper bottom long-line survey. The survey provides information for various research projects, as well as regional stock assessments. The elongated fishing line that’s used has 100 attached hooks, and it sits on the ocean floor for an hour, collecting sea life.

It takes over two months to conduct the survey. Different NOAA Fisheries scientists go out on the project for two weeks at a time.

“I went to a bunch of different stations,” Hilton said. “We started in Galveston, Texas, and ended up outside of Tampa, Florida, and then returned to port in Mississippi.”

“If it weren't for our research and policymakers putting different restrictions in place these species would be overfished, and we wouldn't see them anymore,” she said. “So, it's really important to make sure that the fisheries stay healthy.”

Annsli Hilton holds a bull shark in the Florida Everglades.

Annsli Hilton at port in Galveston, Texas.

GCSU ALUMNA ANSWERS CALL TO SATISFY GREAT COMMUNITY NEED

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

 Many young parents struggle financially. Being able to access free diapers allows them to purchase food or pay a bill that they weren't sure they'd be able to get to that month. According to the National Diaper Bank Network, one in two U.S. families are in need of diapers. This means a family cannot afford enough diapers on hand to change their babies at healthy intervals, leading to skin irritation, infections or allergies.

When growing up, Michelle Waters McMullan, ’12, remembers going to Junior League of Savannah meetings with her mom. So, volunteering for the Junior League has always been a big part of her life.

Today, McMullan is president of the volunteer-run organization.

“We were not looking to change from a diaper bank, because we recognize there’s still a need for diapers, she said. “We had to reframe what we do and partner with different community organizations to provide diapers to

at-risk families because we work with so many different populations.”

In 2016, McMullan began her role as director of Care Services with ALS New Mexico—the only non-profit in the state, providing programs and services to people living with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). After a year into her career, she felt something was missing in her life.

“I knew the layout of the city. I had great work friends. And I was making a difference through my profession. But I felt like it was time for me to be a part of something else,” McMullan said. “Then, it was just like the lightbulb went off. I immediately signed up for the Junior League of Albuquerque in fall 2016, and it's worked out perfectly.”

When she joined the Junior League, it had just formed its Community Impact Committee. It was tasked with pinpointing the local community’s greatest need. The committee concluded that local youth, phasing out of Albuquerque’s foster program and having children of their own, needed additional support. Namely, diapers— and a lot of them.

“We can't get better if we don't know what's wrong, or what we are doing is good,” McMullan said. “Our clients have relayed positive comments to us through our partners. So, we know we’re making a difference now.”

COLLEGE OF