Science News - 2022

SCIENCENEWS P E N N S TAT E B E H R E N D S C H O O L O F S C I E N C E

SP RI NG/S U MMER 2022

11 Paid to Learn

Students get hands-on research experience

and a paycheck 3 Safer Spring for Amphibians 4 Tarantulas as Teaching Tools 6 Real Talk about Science in Action 8 Beer Series Raises Aquatic Invader Awareness 10 $70K Chemistry Grant Puts Students to Work

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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE Impact. That word has been used more than a few times over the past two years, primarily to describe the negative effects of the pandemic.

DR. MARTY KOCIOLEK As I look across the School of Science, I see “impact” of a decidedly more positive nature— in the work of our faculty, staff, and students.

Whether they are being recognized for contributing to the health of the Great Lakes or making our campus safer for some of our smallest inhabitants, many in our School of Science community are having a positive impact on the environment—on the world—around us.

Never has the need to create a scientifically aware community been more evident. From faculty educating the public about invasive species to award-winning education alumni instilling an appreciation for math in the next generation, we take seriously our role of helping to develop a scientifically literate society.

In Brief

ALUMNA ONE OF CNN’S TOP 10 HEROES Dr. Ala Stanford, a Philadelphia-based surgeon and founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, was selected by CNN as one of its 2021 Top Ten Heroes.

Stanford, who began her Penn State studies at Behrend, was honored during the fifteenth annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which aired live in December on CNN from New York City.

Stanford was introduced and praised for her work by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The leading causes of death for all in the United States are heart disease, cancer, COVID-19 casualties, and trauma,” Stanford said in a news release, “all of which are preventable, but the neighborhoods where people live, work, play, and raise their children lack the care they need. Preventing illness and suffering is the greatest care and love we can offer our families/brothers/sisters/communities.

“Our mission is providing preventive care,” she said. “Many Black residents and the poor have not been served, but now they are. Every person should be able to walk into a doctor’s office regardless of the color of their skin or insurance status and be seen with empathetic care, without bias and judgment.”

Stanford, who recently opened the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity in North Philadelphia, was awarded $10,000 to advance the work of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium.

Students are the reason we’re here, and that’s where the impact becomes most meaningful—from scholarships that support future educators to research experiences with faculty that support future scientists to emotional and moral support that peers provide through sticky-notes on a window, helping students succeed is the goal.

As you read this issue of Science News, I encourage you to do more than just read the stories. Think about the impact of each of them. This is what truly epitomizes who we are in the School of Science.

DR. ALA STANFORD '92 (BEHREND 1988-1990)

ON THE COVER: Olivia Hodgson, a junior Environmental Science major, works in a research lab in the Science Complex.

Learn more about Hodgson on page 11.

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WHY DID THE AMPHIBIAN CROSS THE ROAD? TO LAY EGGS ON THE OTHER SIDE

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he area around Penn State Behrend’s Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center (AMIC) in Knowledge Park is an amphibian’s paradise. Woods give way to marshy areas and small ponds, some tucked safely behind trees and shrubs, providing the perfect habitat for frogs, salamanders, and newts that live in woods but breed in water.

Each spring, a parade of amphibians crosses Technology Drive and the AMIC parking lot to reach the ponds where they can lay their eggs. Many don’t make it, falling victim to vehicle traffic or plunging through the grates that cover road drainage tubes. Motorists passing by may not notice, but the faculty members and students in Behrend’s Biology program who study spotted salamanders do.

“Frankly, we’ve seen too many road-killed amphibians and egg-laden females stuck in the drains to not try to do something about it,” said Dr. Lynne Beaty, assistant professor of biology. “They’re not alone, though, as many wood frogs, red-spotted newts, and spring peepers also face those same hazards to reach breeding ponds in the spring.”

Beaty reached out to the college’s Maintenance and Operations (M&O) department with two solutions to mitigate the problem. One was to install “amphibian migration route” signs to encourage drivers to pay attention to amphibians on the asphalt. The second solution involves placing a mesh covering over the drains in the area to prevent small amphibians from falling through on their way to their breeding sites.

The signs, which were designed by senior Biology student Phoebe Will, are ready for installation, and a team of engineering students is working with M&O to create the mesh coverings for the drains.

“Our Maintenance and Operations group is always willing to help the college achieve its academic and research missions, especially when that involves protecting wildlife,” said Randy Geering, senior director of operations.

Each spring, a parade of amphibians crosses Technology Drive and the AMIC parking lot to reach the ponds where they can lay their eggs. Many don’t make it.

FACULTY & STAFF NEWS NEW STAFF AND FACULTY

Megan Ferri has been hired as assistant teaching professor of biology; Dr. Dustin Hemphill has been hired as assistant teaching professor of physics; and Marisa Carpenter has been hired as a staff assistant.

PROMOTIONS

Luciana Aronne was promoted to associate teaching professor of chemistry; J. Andrew George was promoted to associate teaching professor of mathematics; and Jennifer Ulrich was promoted to assistant teaching professor of mathematics.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Dr. Mike Naber, associate teaching professor of geosciences, won Penn State Behrend's Guy W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Academic Advising.

RETIREMENTS

Dr. Antonella Cupillari, associate professor emerita of mathematics, retired in May 2021. Dr. Bruce Wittmershaus, associate professor of physics, will retire in May.

OTHER NEWS

Dr. Michael Rutter, associate professor of statistics and associate director of the School of Science, was appointed co-chair of the Interdisciplinary Science and Business major.

The Penn State Behrend Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference, scheduled for April, will be held in an in-person format, as will the Science Olympiad, a science competition for students in grades 6-12, which is scheduled for March.

IN MEMORIAM

Dr. Donald “Don” McKinstry, associate professor emeritus of biology, died January 30. He was a biology professor at Behrend from 1970 to 2004, teaching organismal biology and microbiology courses.

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In Brief

TARANTULAS AS TEACHING TOOLS Two of the most frightening things known to humans­—advanced math and tarantulas­—are some of Dr. D.J. Galiffa’s favorite things. The associate professor of mathematics owns thirteen tarantulas and says the highly venomous spiders make great pets.

“They are one of the cleanest and most fascinating animals,” Galiffa said, as his Honduran curlyhair “Curly”, a thirteen-year-old tarantula about the size of his palm, slowly walked over and around his hand. “Each spider has a unique personality.”

Rosalinda, a Chilean rose, was his first tarantula. Galiffa acquired her eight years ago and liked her so much that he has since gathered twelve more tarantulas, for a total of thirteen spiders of twelve different species, including cobalt blue, greenbottle blue, Venezuelan sun tiger, Costa Rican zebra, Chilean copper, Mexican red knee, Arizona blonde, Brazilian salmon pink, Columbian giant red leg, and Mexican red rump.

We talked with Galiffa to learn more about tarantulas and how they can sometimes serve as teaching aids.

WHAT IS APPEALING TO YOU ABOUT TARANTULAS?

They make great pets. They are clean, quiet, easy to care for, and they all have their own personalities. It is an exciting challenge to try and understand a species that is so far removed from humans. They communicate with their actions and behaviors.

WHAT DO THEY EAT?

Worms, crickets, roaches. Basically, they eat anything alive that is smaller than they are. They only eat a few times a month.

WHAT DO YOU TEACH WITH YOUR TARANTULAS?

There are many things we can teach with spiders—web strength and construction, genetics, population dynamics, gait analysis, and blood flow, which is quite fascinating in tarantulas 4

since their blood flows through their entire body. They don’t have veins like humans do.

HOW CAN YOU USE THEM TO TEACH MATH MODELING?

We can model them as predators and as prey. We can also study the genetic probability of obtaining certain variations of a given species using probabilistic models. For example, there are three forms of Chilean rose tarantulas­—the gray, red, and pink color forms. My spider, Rosalinda, is gray form and Charlotte is a red form. The students in my workshops do a basic version of this very type of modeling and then get to see the differences in the color forms in my actual tarantulas.

TARANTULA TIDBITS • They have eight eyes, but scientists are not sure how well they see.

• They have bristles, not hair, that give them a lot of information about what is happening around them.

• At the end of each of a tarantula’s eight legs are two retractable claws, similar to those in a cat, that they use for mobility.

• Since tarantulas are arthropods, they must molt in order to grow.

When they molt, they often change color and grow exceedingly large.

Learn more about Dr. Galiffa’s tarantulas at behrendblog.com.

RESEARCHERS WIN GREAT LAKES LEADERSHIP AWARDS

ALUMNI WIN TEACHING AWARDS

ALLEGRA CANGELOSI

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DR. SHERRI “SAM” MASON

wo Behrend researchers were chosen to receive 2021 Great Lakes Leadership Awards for work that raises awareness of critical issues in the Great Lakes ecosystem. Each will receive $10,000 in funding to advance their research.

Allegra Cangelosi, a senior researcher, was selected for advancing ballast-water treatment on transoceanic ships, an environmental protection measure that has reduced the transfer of invasive species into the Great Lakes.

Dr. Sherri “Sam” Mason, Behrend’s director of sustainability, was selected for her study of microplastics pollution in the Great Lakes, which has contributed to a decision by the Food and Drug Administration to ban plastic microbeads in face creams and shampoos.

Two Secondary Education in Mathematics graduates were recognized in 2021 with Golden Apple Awards from WJET-TV in Erie. The awards honor outstanding teachers who are nominated by their students.

Daniel Scutella '16 is a middle school math teacher in Corry, Pennsylvania, and Leslie Durante '12 teaches fifth-grade math and science at Iroquois Elementary School in Erie.

See video of the award presentations at yourerie.com/ golden-apple-award.

FUTURE TEACHERS RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS This year’s Robert Noyce Teaching Scholarships have been awarded to Secondary Math Education majors Jacob Deitz and Dani Kosslow. Each will be eligible for up to $45,000 in financial aid.

Noyce scholarships are available to students pursuing dual majors in Mathematics and Secondary Education in Mathematics; students are eligible for up to two years of funding in exchange for a commitment to teach in a highneeds school district.

JACOB DEITZ

DANI KOSSLOW

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SCIENCE IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC BEHREND FACULTY MEMBERS DISCUSS

Dr. Pam Silver, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

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Dr. Jay Amicangelo, Professor of Chemistry

Dr. Beth Potter, Associate Professor of Biology

Dr. Michael Campbell, Distinguished Professor of Biology

From White House briefings to school board meetings, disagreements over how best to manage the COVID pandemic increasingly side-step the science: More Americans now doubt or deny scientific findings that do not align with their worldview, according to the Pew Research Center.

That complicates even basic research, said Dr. Pam Silver, professor of biology and associate dean for academic affairs at Penn State Behrend.

“One of the things I always tell my students is that, in science, we don’t 'believe' anything,” she said. “We think.

We have opinions, which are based on facts. And opinions can be right or wrong.

Beliefs can’t be wrong. They also do not require any kind of factual underpinning.”

To better understand the current environment for scientists, we asked Silver and other School of Science faculty members about the pressure to end the global health crisis, the new public scrutiny of the scientific process, and the importance of adjusting course as more data becomes available.

Silver: The scientific community is under tremendous pressure right now.

This is high-stakes research—high stakes in terms of human life, in terms of money, and in terms of basic fundamental knowledge—and it already has led us to cutting-edge, unique technologies. There are going to be some course corrections along the way. That’s the nature of science, which is highly adaptive: You take what you know at that moment, and you interpret it the best you can, recognizing that as more information comes in, you are going to change your understanding of the issue.

Dr. Jay Amicangelo, professor of chemistry: Science is self-correcting. If I do an experiment, and you do the same experiment but get a different result, over time, people are going to work on that problem until we come to the proper conclusion. That tends to be a slow, methodical process. With COVID, because people’s lives are at stake, we

want quick and concrete answers. But the process doesn’t work that way.

Dr. Michael Campbell, distinguished professor of biology: People are desperate for answers. They want to get back to their normal lives. I do, too. But right now, we are all living through a big experiment. It’s a science experiment.

It’s a public-health experiment. It’s a sociological experiment. And all of it is complicated by the fact that politics and misinformation are a really big play now. That, and the Internet has given everyone a megaphone.

Dr. Beth Potter, associate professor of biology: The scientists are doing their job. They are following the evidence, and they are trying to determine the most meaningful response. But science is never a straight line. It might look that way, after the fact, but that’s never the reality. Researchers try this route, and that route, and they move forward with the option that works best.

Campbell: Let’s use the vaccines as an example. They work, but not the way some people want them to. They aren’t a magic bullet. Part of the problem is that the virus keeps changing. It morphs, and there are different strains, so it’s a moving target.

Silver: It’s like a jigsaw puzzle. You’re trying to fit one piece, and you just can’t figure out where it goes. Then someone hands you a different piece, and you start to rearrange the other pieces. You ask a slightly different question, and all of a sudden, everything fits, and you see the whole picture.

Amicangelo: It’s rarely a “Eureka!” moment. Most of the time, science is a slow, steady slog. You do lots of experiments, and you look at the data, and eventually

you get to the point when you say, "OK, I am pretty confident that this is what is happening."

Potter: Usually, the public comes to it at the end, when everything has been worked out. With COVID, everyone is paying attention. We’re obsessing over every step, and that means we’re seeing the science when it is still messy. A lot of people outside of the process are connecting dots that just aren’t there.

Campbell: Think of all the nutrition studies you see. How many times have you read, "Don’t drink coffee, it’s bad for you." Then it’s, "No, coffee is good for you." The science is fuzzy sometimes, and people take that fuzziness and draw whatever they want from it. For me, it’s the body of knowledge that matters, the accumulation of it.

Potter: One of the opportunities I see, as a teacher, is the need to get students thinking more about how they present their work and engage with the broader community. It isn’t enough for scientists to be talking only with other scientists.

We need to be communicating with a much broader audience.

"There are going to be course corrections along the way. That’s the nature of science. You take what you know at that moment, and you interpret it the best you can, recognizing that as more information comes in, you are going to change your understanding of the issue."

DR. PAM SILVER, PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AND ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

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Raise a Toast TO LAKE ERIE

Faculty members partner with Erie Brewing Company and Pennsylvania Sea Grant to raise awareness of aquatic invasive species

Four beers are planned in the aquatic invasive species series. Each brew is released with a public launch party at Erie Brewing Company in Knowledge Park, where visitors over 21 can try the new beer and all ages can learn about the aquatic invader it is named for.

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n a sunny summer day at Erie Brewing in Penn State Behrend’s Knowledge Park, a half-dozen fans are lined up in front of the Mysterysnail Speedway, a four-foot plastic box with plexiglass dividers creating race lanes for a field of ten large snails. They place their “bets” and cheer for their chosen snail, each marked with a race number on its shell.

As the oversized gastropod invaders make their way to the finish line, Dr. Lynne Beaty, assistant professor of biology at Penn State Behrend, explains why we don’t want them in our waterways.

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“Mysterysnails are so named because females produce young, fully developed snails that ’mysteriously‘ appear. They’re a group of invasive species that originate in Asia but have found their way to Lake Erie,” Beaty said. “They compete with native species, alter nutrient ratios, and transmit parasites to wildlife.”

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are non-native plants, animals, or pathogens that harm the environment, the economy, and human and animal health. They are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, and they can spread easily through unwitting human assistance and connected waterways.

Beaty and two other Biology faculty members, assistant teaching professor Dr. Adam Simpson and assistant professor Dr. Sam Nutile, have been working with Kristen McAuley, lecturer in marketing, and Sara Stahlman, extension leader for Pennsylvania Sea Grant, to raise awareness about invasive snails (and other species) in the waters around the Erie region.

Last summer, the team came up with a novel idea to reach adults: craft beer.

“Good beer needs high-quality, clean water, and invasive species threaten our freshwater supply,” Beaty said. “So, we thought a collaboration with Erie Brewing was a great way to promote AIS awareness because

The Mysterysnail Ale and Round Goby Rye launch parties were held in the summer and fall of 2021 at Erie Brewing Company.

controlling invasive species can help improve water quality. We were thinking too that this might be an excellent way to reach adult audiences who may accidentally transfer AIS when they move boats to different water bodies.”

The group met with Erie Brewing’s brewmaster, Tate Warren, who was on board with creating a draft series of special AIS-themed brews for invasive species awareness.

The first, Mysterysnail Ale, “an amber ale loaded with flavors of bread, biscuit, and caramel malt,” debuted at a launch party, complete with the mysterysnail racing, at Erie Brewing. Visitors had the opportunity to try a new brew and learn about many AIS at tables staffed

by Behrend School of Science faculty members and staff members from Sea Grant, a research, education, and outreach program administered by the college.

The second beer in the series was released in December. Round Goby Rye was inspired by the invasive round goby, a small but aggressive bottom-dwelling fish that affects Great Lakes food webs by outcompeting native species and feeding on their eggs and young.

Two more brews are planned in the AIS series: a Zebra Mussel Malt, and a Hazy Hydrilla.

Each of the beers will be debuted at a public launch party to raise awareness of the AIS that the brew is meant to thwart.

For each of the beers, a promotional poster not only advertises the beer and its distinct flavor, but also gives facts about the highlighted species. QR codes on the posters lead users to more information about the featured AIS. Round Goby Rye is currently on tap at Erie Brewing and other participating Ale Trail breweries, including Lavery Brewing, Arundel Cellars and Brewing, Twisted Elk Brewing, Brewerie at Union Station, Nostrovia, and Erie Ale Works.

For more information about aquatic invasive species, visit seagrant.psu.edu.

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$70K Grant Puts Student Researchers on the Payroll

Dr. Mary Grace Galinato and Olivia Steinbeck, a Chemistry major and student researcher

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hen Aaron Trail, who graduated from Penn State Behrend in May of 2021 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, went to job interviews after graduation, there was one thing that every potential employer wanted to talk about: his research experience with Dr. Mary Grace Galinato, associate professor of chemistry.

“They seemed extremely excited about my research and lab work, because it isn’t common for undergraduate students to have that experience and even more rare for a biology major to have worked in a chemistry research lab,” said Trail, who won first place in the Chemistry division at Behrend’s 2021 Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference for his work with Galinato.

Galinato received a three-year, $70,000 grant from the American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund to develop an artificial manganese protein catalyst that can remove sulfur from

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petroleum-based substances. At least 40 percent of those funds are to be used to pay students—a win-win since they not only gain valuable lab experience, but get a paycheck, too. Seven students have benefited so far.

Crude oil naturally contains sulfur, which has several adverse effects: It corrodes parts of internal combustion engines, generates pollution, and promotes the formation of acid rain.

“We would like to develop an artificial manganese protein catalyst that can effectively remove sulfur from petroleumbased substances,” Galinato said. “The catalyst would be eco-friendly, more stable than a traditional water-based protein, and potentially reusable. This can be achieved by encasing the catalyst in a gel material made of silica.”

The student researchers help Galinato by preparing and purifying the artificial proteins and creating experimental conditions to optimize their encapsulation.

“It’s a great learning experience that is completely different from coursework labs,” Trail said. “Sometimes, problems aren’t easily fixed, and nobody has an answer. That’s when you must use the skills and knowledge you learned in class to figure them out. Research work really pushes you, and it’s probably the most rewarding and enlightening experience I had at Behrend.”

Olivia Steinbeck, a junior Chemistry major, worked full time on the project last summer.

“It helped me build my lab skills and learn how to use the different instruments that are available to chemistry students,” Steinbeck said. “It also gave me the opportunity to learn about biomolecules and how they affect chemical processes.”

Most of the student researchers have been Chemistry majors, but Galinato said the project is interdisciplinary, not limited to chemistry alone. It encompasses biochemistry, supramolecular chemistry, and spectroscopy, and even extends to engineering as well as materials and polymer science.

“I want students to realize that collaborative efforts across disciplines are sometimes necessary for success,” Galinato said. “Research work also helps students apply what they have learned in the classroom and forces them to think critically and discover new concepts.”

Galinato is happy to put so many students to work, and she’s excited about the potential outcome and how it might lead to positive change.

“I hope to raise awareness of utilizing environmentally-friendly catalysts and provide the scientific community with an alternative means for studying desulfurization reactions,” Galinato said. “This research paves the way for generating structurally tunable catalysts that may be employed under different reaction conditions.”

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT:

Meet Olivia Hodgson, Environmental Science Major

From left, Olivia Hodgson, a junior Environmental Science major, Dr. Sam Nutile, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Adam Simpson, assistant teaching professor of biology.

When you see her long list of activities and accomplishments, you may think junior Environmental Science major Olivia Hodgson is one of those rare, gifted students cruising right along on a combination of endless energy, superb organizational skills, picture-perfect memory, and charisma.

Hodgson is vice president of Greener Behrend, a Schreyer Honors scholar, director of communications for the Alternative Spring Break program, vice president of the Behrend Honors Student Association, and a peer tutor in the Learning Resource Center.

The reality, though, is more complex.

She has Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease.

“It’s a chronic condition that is challenging to live with at times,” Hodgson said. “It affects my sleep, energy, and memory.”

And, yet, in November, Hodgson won first place in the undergraduate student poster presentation at the Regional Science Consortium’s 17th Annual Research Symposium in Erie for her work with Dr. Sam Nutile, assistant professor of biology, evaluating polychlorinated biphenyls (non-biodegradable industrial compounds) in the tissues of Lake Erie fish to estimate possible dietary exposure to humans who consume them.

“It was a long semester, and I was very tired the day that I presented, so winning first place really made me feel that my hard work was acknowledged,” she said.

“I work hard and I’m proud of what I have accomplished.”

It’s a labor of love for Hodgson, who is also minoring in Chemistry and Biology. “I chose my major because I have always loved the outdoors, and I picked my minors because they were my favorite subjects in high school,” she said.

“Environmental Science is a way to bring it all together.”

Between her classes, studying, and club activities, she is also working on her Schreyer Honors project extracting organic pesticides from the soil and sediment from locations around campus. “I hope to be able to find a relationship between chemicals and the teratogenesis (malformed limbs) we have been seeing in some salamanders in the area,” Hodgson said.

Despite her full slate of commitments, Hodgson makes time to help others.

“I’m passionate about kindness, and it’s important to me to serve a cause greater than myself,” she said.

To that end, she offers this advice to fellow students, but especially to firstyear students: Take your mental health seriously.

“College is hard and you’re going to be faced with a lot of stress and new challenges, so it’s important to manage that stress and anxiety,” Hodgson said.

“Get enough sleep, eat healthy food as much as possible, make time for some exercise every day, pick up an easy hobby that relaxes you, and take advantage of the college’s Personal Counseling office!

It’s free and they want to help you be successful. If you take care of your mental health, your physical health and grades will improve, too.”

Hodgson offers this advice to fellow students: Get enough sleep, eat healthy food, make time for exercise, pick up an easy hobby that relaxes you, and take advantage of the college’s Personal Counseling office.

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Penn State Erie, The Behrend College School of Science 1 Prischak Building 4205 College Drive Erie, PA 16563-0203

Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID State College, PA Permit No. 1

TAKE (A) NOTE

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assing notes in school used to mean folding a sheet of paper into a triangle and flicking it to a friend in the next row.

Students in the School of Science at Penn State Behrend have developed a more engaging method: When they want to share a joke or, for finals week, some words of encouragement, they leave a personalized Post-It note in the breezeway at the east end of Otto Behrend Science Building. The glass walls have become an “attaboy” and “attagirl” bulletin board, crowded with colorful, science-joke notes.

“At our first Science Ambassadors meeting of the year, we discussed doing something fun to brighten up the science buildings,” said Lauren Barmore, a senior majoring in Biology, who helped spearhead the project.

The students who wrote the initial notes—Barmore, Taylor Romania, Briona Bargerstock, and Jacob Kessler—penned notes that reflected on the material taught in the School of Science.

“A lot of our professors put jokes and memes into their learning materials,” Barmore said. “We were sort of influenced by them.”

A similar display of sticky notes can be found in a stairwell at Behrend’s Reed Union Building. That project, which began several years ago, is maintained by students in the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) club. A box with blank notes and pens is an invitation for others to add sentiments, jokes, and quotes to the wall.

“I love taking notes from the RAK stairwell and giving them to my friends before exams, if they were having a rough day, or needed a laugh,” Barmore said. “I’ve found that the smallest acts of empathy or service can have a big effect on people. We wanted to bring some of that color and joy to our side of campus.”

3M, the original creator of the Post-It note, saw a story about the science note wall online and sent the Science Ambassadors a care package of Post-It notes so they have plenty more to continue spreading kindness.

Science News is published annually and provided free to alumni and friends of the Penn State Behrend School of Science by the Office of Strategic Communications, William V. Gonda, wvg2@psu.edu, senior director. Editor: Heather Cass, hjc13@psu.edu. Designer: Martha Ansley Campbell, mac30@psu.edu. This publication is available in alternative media on request.

Penn State is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer, and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. U.Ed. EBO 22-228

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