The Newman University Investigative Summer Science Program (ISSP) is in full scientific swing. The ISSP program is now in its 26th year and continues to give young scientific minds a feel for college-level research and classes.
This year 23 students are enrolled and participating. The students come from all over the globe, including some from Kansas, one from Washington, and one from Myanmar.
The most traveled students are Dan Tha Thangi and Ross Brooker. Thangi hails from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Thangi worked out her student visa to stay in the United States longer for ISSP after attending Sunrise Christian Academy for the school semester. Brooker came to Kansas all the way from Lacey, Wash.
The program is available to sophomore, junior and senior high school students with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and at least one completed high school science course. Students are selected through an application process, which considers their high school transcript, a letter of recommendation, and a 200-word essay explaining their career goals and why they should be admitted to the ISSP.
The students get two hours of college credit, as well as experience in living on campus. Participants are immersed in a fast-paced, highly educational atmosphere. They spend their days studying, researching, listening to guest lectures, and going on scientific field trips.
The environment is fun too, with evening activities. One evening the students will play a game of “Glow-in-the-Dark Dodgeball” and another evening the entire ISSP group will attend a Wichita Wingnuts baseball game.
ISSP is now under the direction of Associate Professor of Biology Stacy Jones, Ph.D., with the aid of Associate Professor of Biology Michael Bradley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry Ryan Huschka, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Lab Coordinator Alan Oberley, M.S., and Associate Professor of Mathematics Lori Steiner, Ph.D. These Newman faculty members are leading and facilitating teams of students in a research project. The research projects include a study of bacteria, caffeine, and other topics. The students will present their research and projects at the end of the two-week program. The program will end next Friday, June 26, with a luncheon to celebrate the student’s successes.
Faculty members of the ISSP program hope students will realize the benefits and possibilities of a career in science, but also get a taste of what it’s like to be a college student at Newman University. The ISSP also exists to give students interested in science a summer venue for a serious and intense program to help prepare them for their future.
Below is a list of 2015 ISSP participants by high school:
Blue Valley North High School (Overland Park, Kan.)
Vinamratha Rao
Cheney High School (Cheney, Kan.)
Logan Maxwell Nuessen
Derby High School (Derby, Kan.)
Ashley Breann Blobner
Taylor Nickel
East High School (Wichita, Kan.)
Marisa Zavat
ELL-Saline High School (Brookville, Kan.)
Emily Wagner
Hayden Catholic High School (Topeka, Kan.)
Andrea Wickstrum
Girard High School (Girard, Kan.)
Madison Hey
Moundridge High School (Moundridge, Kan.)
Shantel Marie Schmidt
North High School (Wichita, Kan.)
Kylie Dominick
Adan A. Navejas Gallegos
Cherrianna Meneses
Northwest High School (Wichita, Kan.)
Megan Mae Holder
Cheyanne Alicia Sanders
Pope John Paul II High School (Lacey, Wash.)
Ross Brooker
St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.)
Bridgette Kathleen Dwyer
Issabelle Ellington
Justin Nguyan
Grace Schippers
Shawnee Mission West High School (Overland Park, Kan.)
Alexis Allen
South High School (Wichita, Kan.)
Brenda Duran-Brambila
Brenda Duran-Jimenez
Hunter Owsley
Sunrise Christian Academy (Wichita, Kan.)
Dan Tha Thangi
Trinity Academy (Wichita, Kan.)
Lexi G. Ryan
