On our last day of the 2016 CWNC STEM Careers Tour, we went to the Falk School of Sustainability. The Falk School of Sustainability was founded in 2010 at Chatham University’s Eden Hall Campus. It was inspired by the work of Rachel Carson, famed author and environmentalist (and 1929 Chatham University alumni), who advocated sustainability and the importance of environmental protection.
Our tour was led by Dr. Peter Walker, the Dean at the Falk School. Our first stop was the experimental garden, where students plant different flora and add/adjust variables related to the growth to test their hypotheses. For example, some students developed a “high-rise apartment” for wild bees made out of cardboard and supplemented with other necessities to attract bees to stay and pollinate the garden consistently. Another student was testing the effectiveness of solar energy on a black tarp as a weedkiller.
After the garden, we went across the street to the eco amphitheatre and dairy barn turned cafe. The cafe, we learned, is heated by a geothermal loop, which stores the hot and cold air from the different seasons and uses them to heat or chill the cafe based on the temperature.
We learned that the school uses natural bacteria and other filters to treat all water on campus, succeeding in places water back into the earth cleaner than before use on campus.
Some of this water goes to their Aquaculture Center, where they use more natural filters to create ideal environments for their fish. They also filter the water that is tainted with ammonia through the nitrogen cycle on site.
We finished of the tour at the dining hall, where we got to learn about their various STEM inspired degrees, including the: Master of Arts in Food Studies (MAFS), Master of Sustainability (MSUS), Bachelor of Sustainability (BSUS), and the dual-degree Master of Sustainability-Master of Business Administration (MSUS-MBA).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiHUQfC8Fxc
Biology students from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School embarked on a STEM Careers Tour!
Students then toured the organic chemistry lab at Knopp Biosciences, where their chemists are working to develop organic molecules designed to hit specific biological targets. Once the compounds are developed, they are tested by the biologists to determine if they are causing the desired response in the cell line. The biologist communicates her findings back to the chemist, so she can alter the molecule in an effort to get the desired response in the cells. Once a compound shows the desired result in the lab, it is shipped out for further testing on lab animals to see not only if the desired result is still achieved but also, what other responses the drug may cause in the animal. Biologists at Knopp Biosciences are also studying how a small molecule they developed reduces a variety of white blood cells and assists in the treatment of asthma.
The next stop on the tour was the Department of Biological Sciences at Duquesne University. The department has 16 faculty members focused on teaching and research. We ate our brown bag lunches while listening to a student panel of graduate and undergraduate biology students talk about their experience transitioning to college, why they chose to major in biology, and why they decided to continue with a graduate degree. They advised students to master time management, join extra-curricular activities on campus, and develop a rapport with your professors. After the student panel, several professors spoke to us about their research. Unique to the Department of Biological Sciences at Duquesne University, we learned about the SuperLab course, where students get hands-on laboratory experience by identifying a mystery micro-organism one semester and confirming their result via DNA testing a second semester.
For our last stop of the STEM Careers Tour, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic students visited The Hillman Cancer Center where they toured the labs of Dr. Lisa Butterfield. The labs study the interaction between the immune system and cancer. Dr. Butterfield recommended that students who have an interest in research to get experience in different labs and with different areas of research to understand what they like to do. She said that she is constantly reviewed and critiqued, but that it makes her better at what she does. The next tour at the Hillman Cancer Center was the labs of Dr. Timothy Burns that study the development of targeted therapies for treating lung cancer. Dr. Burns has both his PhD. And MD., which he says enables him to treat the patients that are in his clinical studies. Students were encouraged to apply to the 
He started by explaining how Platypus used a combination of marine, electrical, and software engineering to make their autonomous robotic boats. Marine engineering shaped the hull and kept the boat buoyant. We had an opportunity to examine some of their recent designs created in house with vacuumed formed ABS plastic to form a four foot by two foot floating machine that has a fan on the top. The boat is only 8 inches deep deliberately built to make little environmental impact. The fan can be turned by the motor and controls the direction and propulsion. The design can be made larger or smaller and replicated to allow many robotic boats to work together collecting data.
Cybergenetics
