Twelve Rowan Cabarrus Community College students have applied and been accepted as the first cohort of Noyce Summer Interns. Funds from a $1.45 million National Science Foundation grant provide monies to pay the tuition for these students to take a three credit hour online Education course through Catawba College and to allow each of them a paid summer internship in a STEM occupation.

The Catawba College's Tau Eta Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, the national biological honor society, inducted nine members at its annual induction ceremony on April 25. Graduating seniors who are members of the society were also recognized at the ceremony.

There was celebration and remembrance at Catawba College's Commencement Exercises on May 11. Three graduates and one alumnus received awards during the two ceremonies, while one student who died just five credit hours away from completing the coursework for his bachelor's degree was honored with a special tribute.

Students at Catawba College enhance their education outside the classroom and are involved in many multidisciplinary research projects. Catawba students are engaged in challenging and unique research experiences that emphasize current developments in biochemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, environmental chemistry and forensic science using state-of-the-art instrumentation. At Catawba, you'll learn science content in the context of work-world applications.

Members of the Catawba College community gathered in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on April 23 to celebrate achievement. The occasion was the annual Awards Convocation.Scheduled the day after Earth Day, the awards distributed were eco-friendly, made of Catawba blue, 100% recycled glass. They symbolized the college's commitment to environmental responsibility and are a reminder to the recipients to promote a greener, more sustainable lifestyle.

As the 2012-2013 academic year comes to a close, Catawba College students are thinking about their futures. For some graduating in May, a next step — graduate school — is on their minds. For those with a year or so to go before they earn their undergraduate degree, thoughts are on how to enhance their future opportunities and make themselves ready for the next steps after Catawba.

Two Catawba College students were awarded 1st place Derieux Research Awards, in their respective divisions, for excellence in undergraduate research at the 110th Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS) Meeting. Marlon Ryan Barber of Mocksville and Mary Podgorak-Lagro of Salisbury were recognized at the annual meeting held April 5 and 6 at UNC Pembroke.

Catawba College Environmental Science and Sustainable Business students greeted the cold and clear first day of February by assisting the N.C. Zoological Park in management of a significant tract of longleaf pine in the Uwharrie region of northern Montgomery County. The Nichols Tract, a 116-acre property containing one of the finest examples of a piedmont longleaf pine community in North Carolina, was recently purchased by the N.C. Zoological Park and Salisbury's Land Trust...

junior, Kedtrin Gallagher of Little River, S.C., is one of 23 college students to receive a $500 scholarship from Dr. Pepper's 2012 N.C. Scholarship Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes ran from August 1 through December 31, 2012. Kedtrin learned she was one of the tuition money winners after she returned to campus from the college's Christmas holiday break.

Senior Justin Smith of Greensboro says he wants to keep maximizing his options in the future if possible, and when he made a decision late during fall semester to attend medical school, he felt it was "the right one – the one that will be of the most benefit to me." The pre-med student, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry, had plenty of options open to him as he entered his final spring semester at Catawba. That was thanks in large part to opportunities he created for himself.

Catawba College students attended or will attend the Stanford Biochemistry Departmental Symposium in Santa Cruz, Calif., the 2012 National Leadership Conference in Charlotte, the Southeastern Psychological Association Conference in Atlanta, Ga., and the Southeastern Theatre Conference in Louisville, Ky., all thanks to new SGA-funded scholarships.

Fourteen Catawba College students employed their unique gifts and talents in service to others as interns with tax-exempt nonprofit organizations during the summer of 2012. Funding and coordination for the program were provided through the college's Lilly Center for Vocation and Values. While these students clearly benefitted from the experiential learning opportunities offered through such internships, they also filled vital roles within the programs they served.

Catawba College students are now registering for "J Term" courses that will allow them to take a one to three-hour online class or travel abroad during Catawba's winter term, the December-January time that coincides with Christmas break. Courses offered and enrollment in the "J term" has doubled since it was initially offered in the 2009-2010 academic year. Courses offered during Catawba's J term are only available to Catawba College students...

Catawba College has received a $1.45 million grant from the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program of the National Science Foundation that will provide five years of support for scholarships and internships that help prepare Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors for teaching careers. This is the largest grant of this type that Catawba has ever received.

Dr. Steve Coggin, Dean of the Hurley School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology at Catawba College, traveled to Costa Rica this summer with a group of high school students from First Presbyterian Church in Salisbury. The group worked together to build a house for a Costa Rican family.

Beginning with this fall's incoming first-year class, Catawba College students will need to complete community service hours to officially graduate with honors. That proposal was approved unanimously last year by both the Student Council and the Honors Faculty Board at Catawba.

Two long-serving faculty members at Catawba College were recognized during the college's commencement exercises on Saturday, May 12. Dr. Michael Baranski, a professor of biology with 38 years of service, and Dr. Laurel Eason, a professor of English with 21 years of service, will retire at the end of this academic year.

Catawba College students from various disciplines shared their diverse research projects during the 2012 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium held Thursday, April 26 in the Leonard Lounge of the Cannon Student Center. Faculty, staff and students on campus dropped by during the two-hour event to listen and learn from these students.

A Catawba College alumna, a faculty member and a student were each recognized at the College's annual Church/College Dinner held Feb. 20 on campus in Peeler Crystal Lounge. Those attending included trustees, college administrators, students and supporters of Catawba's Campus Ministry and its Lilly Center for Vocation and Values.

By Sarah Robinson, Writer/Communications Intern for the Center for the Enviornment - A collaborative effort called "Sustainable Catawba" will soon unveil a new approach to sustainability on the Catawba College campus. Representatives from several campus organizations gathered February 9 to discuss their vision for the effort as well as to report on what their groups currently do to promote sustainability.

On-campus collaboration between Catawba College student groups, organizations, and academic and operational departments is key to creating a new vision for Sustainable Catawba. An effort to seal this collaboration launches February 21 with a pledge.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Bobby Lomax '56 graduated from Catawba College, majoring in biology and chemistry as part of his premed studies) by Mark Wineka, SalisburyPost.com - As he marks his 50th year as a Salisbury dentist, Dr. Bobby Lomax still has a way with patients. "I've just always had a good feeling, being in his hands," says Ronald Moose, who went to Lomax for more than four decades. "He just made you feel comfortable, which is not easy."

Michael Baranski, professor of biology at Catawba College, recently spoke to the Winston-Salem Journal about "Flat Rock" in Stokes County. The rock formation is made up of a mass of granite that is 300 feet long and is one of only two found in the northern part of the Piedmont. "Soils are hard to form on it, and it is very, very dry," says Baranski."

Catawba College first-year students enrolled in the "Living Globally" first year seminar learned about globalization in an unexpected way — from their t-shirts. The students in this honors class, taught by Dr. Steve Coggin, Dean of Catawba's School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology, went through their closets and noted the country of origin for their t-shirts. They then used this information to produce a world map showing where the items in their wardrobes were manufactured.

by Peggy Wilson (Married to Biology Alumnus, Dr. Robert Wilson '62) - Wilson tells of the loyalty her husband and Catawba alumnus has to his alma mater. His dedication to Catawba is such that he has been at every homecoming, except one...

An article published online by the Smithsonian Institution's www.Smithsonianscience.org site highlights the results of collaborative research conducted in part by Dr. Jay F. Bolin, assistant professor of biology at Catawba College. The online article, entitled "Super tough seed coat keeps Michaux's sumac on critically endangered list," presents highlights from a scholarly research paper authored by Bolin and fellow researchers...

One is a Toastmaster and has authored four books, including one entitled, "Cows Are People Too: Lessons from Someone Out Standing in the Field." One signed his employment contract in Borneo and left his job at the Smithsonian Institution to come to Catawba College. Another is a nationally certified athletic trainer with a keen personal interest in motorsports. Then, there is one who can solve a Rubik's Cube in just two minutes and is interested in studying the sociology of religion.

Jessica Bound, a junior student at Catawba College, was selected to receive a UPS Scholarship for the 2010-2011 academic year. Bound is majoring in biology and is from Waxhaw, NC. North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU), a Counsel of Independent Colleges (CIC) State Fund member association, distributed $2,700 in UPS Scholarship funds to Catawba College.

When Dr. George Drum, a 1962 alumnus of Catawba, returned to his alma mater as a faculty member in 1987, he brought his academic journey and his family ties to the institution full circle. Drum followed his grandfather’s footsteps as a faculty member; Harvy Kopenhaver was on the faculty at Old Catawba in Newton.

Students traveled to Jamaica over Spring Break to get first-hand field experiences as part of their course, "Biogeography and Literature of Islands." View photos and read about their experiences..

Again this year, Catawba College students from various disciplines shared their diverse research projects during the 2011 Interdisciplinary Research Symposium held Thursday, April 21 in the Leonard Lounge of the Cannon Student Center. Faculty, staff and students on campus dropped by during the two-hour event to listen and learn from these students.

The second summer of the Catawba Conservation Camp (C3) came to a close in late March with a final follow-up science academy held at the Mary L Farm in Mt. Ulla, NC. Dr. Joe Poston, Associate Professor of Biology, shares video of the follow-up activities the campers participated in.

by Jessica Everett, '09 West Teaching Scholar - C-3 Campers began their journey with us in July 2010 with a weeklong, residential science camp experience on the Catawba campus. There could not have been a better way to conclude the 2010-2011 chapter of this second group of conservation campers than to take the young group of middle school girls to the Mary L. Farm in Mt. Ulla. This organic dairy farm gave the campers the ultimate field-trip experience.

There will be no increase in Catawba College's tuition, room and board for day students in the 2011-2012 academic year. College Trustees made that decision at their Feb. 15 meeting. Tuition will remain $25,160 per year for students in the day program enrolled in between 12 and 18 semester credit hours, while annual room and board for these students will stay at $8,700.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Erin Witalison can tell you anything you'd like to know about biochemistry and the biomedical sciences, but there's one term about which she hesitates. "Free time." Witalison, 21, a Catawba College senior from Gold Hill and the daughter of John and Linda Witalison, doesn't have a lot of it. She's a double major in biology and Spanish, minoring in chemistry.

Bill "Scotch" Shaw '75 is making his way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Iquitos, Peru on his freighter canoe, the Lucky Suz. He began his journey on August 30, heading down the east coast of North America. He'll travel through Central America, Eastern South America, to mouths of the Amazon, then, up the Amazon River, to Iquitos.

By Shelley Smith, SalisburyPost.com - Dr. Jay Buxton went on his 38th mission trip to Georgia in February when he was 90 years old. Three years ago he climbed scaffolding, mixed concrete and helped build a health clinic in Guatemala. After retiring from Catawba College in 1987 when he was 68, he hiked most of the Appalachian Trail with his friends.

Dr. David Peden, professor of Pediatrics, Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology and Toxicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will speak to area leaders and health professionals Aug. 12 on "The Health Effects of Ozone and Asthma." The noon luncheon will take place at the Center for the Environment on the Catawba College campus.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. There was excitement in the air the week of July 11-16 as 54 rising sixth- and seventh-grade girls descended on Catawba College for the second-annual Catawba Conservation Camp.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Visiting Catawba College's ecological preserve at night is as different as — well, you know. Dr. Joe Poston led a group of 14 girls on a night walk at the preserve Monday night as part of the Catawba Conservation Camp (C3). Other groups went to the preserve on successive nights. Each girl wore a headlamp and several carried large nets as they prepared to leave from the Center for the Environment.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. An experiment for you to consider: What do you get when you synthesize 5 professors, 10 counselors, 2 staff members, 2 co-directors and 54 rising sixth- and seventh-grade girls? The second-annual Catawba Conservation Camp (C3), slated for July 11-16 on the campus of Catawba College.

Catawba College senior Nathaniel Griffin of Boomer, N.C., has been selected to receive the American Chemical Society's (ACS) 2010 Student Leadership Award. The award will be presented to Griffin at the 2010 ACS Leadership Institute to be held in Fort Worth, Texas, January 22-24.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. What do mathematics, alternative rock, bats and the N.C. Transportation Museum all have in common? Students at Catawba College had summer internships related to these topics. Four students shared their experiences in a colloquium Oct. 29 in Ketner Hall.

Thanks to a $48,804 grant that Catawba College received from the N.C. Biotechnology Research, science students now have access to a new Epifluorescence Microscope. The new microscope was installed in the Shuford Science Building on campus in late August, replacing one that was almost 20 years old.

A Catawba College student has received a $1,000 research stipend from the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) to perform research. Only five research stipends were awarded throughout the state by the NCICU.

Bird Banding at Catawba Conservation Camp (C3) - C3 is a residential science camp designed for rising 6th and 7th grade girls from rowan and contiguous counties all in an effort to enhance interest in the environmental sciences. Participants stay in a college dorm, band birds, explore lakes & woods, and make new friends who love science. The girls are challenged to identify and tally plant life, explore amphibian & aquatic life, and examine insects.

When retired plastic surgeon and Catawba College alumnus Verne Lanier '62 of Durham visited campus last spring, he came to talk ethics. The students who listened to his presentation came away with some valuable advice and with a little more insight into how complicated making ethical decisions can be.

The academic structure at Catawba College is changing. In addition to different academic departments headed by chairs, academic departments will now be affiliated with five different schools, each headed by a dean. Overseeing the five schools and serving as the institution's chief academic officer is Provost Dr. Rick Stephens who joined the College in January.

Source: www.ncbiotech.org - Undergraduates at 15 North Carolina schools have won competitive grants for life-science research. The Undergraduate Research Fellowship Award program was unveiled this year by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. It brings to 19 the number of grant and loan programs administered by the Center to support education, research, commercialization and company development.

The Catawba College Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, the national biology honor society, inducted 13 new members at its annual induction ceremony of April 22, 2009. The ceremony was conducted by president Rachel Roberts of Knoxville, Tenn.; vice-president Kyle Ganow of State College, Pa.; secretary Katrina Pergerson of Spring Lake, N.C.; and faculty advisor Dr. Steve Coggin.

Catawba College student Nathan Griffin of Boomer, N.C., has applied and been awarded an Undergraduate Biotechnology Research Fellowship by the N.C. Biotechnology Center. The fellowship will allow Griffin to work during the 2009-2010 academic year with a research associate in the laboratory of Steven Zeisel at the UNC Chapel Hill unit on the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.

Dr. Michael J. Baranski, a professor of biology at Catawba College, was presented the Association of Southeastern Biologists Meritorious Teaching Award at that organization's 70th Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 3rd.

Fifty-three rising sixth or seventh grade girls have been selected to participate in the Catawba Conservation Camp (C3), a weeklong residential science camp to be held July 5-10 on the Catawba College campus.The 53 students were selected from 280 applications received from girls enrolled in 40 different schools in Rowan, Stanly and Iredell counties.

Rising sixth or seventh grade girls interested in the environmental sciences are invited to make application to attend the Catawba Conservation Camp (C3). The camp is open to girls who are enrolled in public or private school or who are home schooled in Rowan, Cabarrus, Iredell, Davie, Davidson and Stanly counties

Two Catawba College seniors have been recognized with double awards. Katrina Pergerson of Spring Lake, N.C., and Rachel Roberts of Knoxville, Tenn., both received a Yarbrough Research Grant from the N.C. Academy of Science and a stipend from North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities for use on their student projects.

Dr. Michael Baranski, a Catawba College professor of biology, was recently honored with the 2008 Elizabeth Ann Bartholomew Award by the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society (SABS). The award was presented during the society's annual awards banquet held in Spartanburg, S.C. on April 18.

Two Catawba College students recently attended the 105th annual meeting of the N.C. Academy of Science held March 28-30. Biology major, John Gurski of Norristown, Pa., was elected student president of the Collegiate Academy of the N.C. Academy of Science for the 2009-2009 year. David J. Idol of Kernersville...

Catawba College senior Hayley Stafford of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who is majoring in Environmental Science, received a Grant-in-Aid of Research award from the national honors society, Sigma-Xi, for her proposal, "Effects of increased levels of carbon dioxide on calcification in cnidarians."

Catawba College biology student, David J. Idol of Kernersville, recently received a Yarborough Grant from the North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS) in the amount of $300 for his proposal "Resistance to glochidia larvae of freshwater mussels spread without physical contact in bluegill sunfish." In addition, Idol was also awarded an honorary membership to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) by the NCAS (an honor that they give to one male and one female each year).

The Fourth Annual Brenna Lee Lawrence Spreading Wings Scholarship Benefit was held July 14, 2007 in Jamestown, N.C. Over 100 people were in attendance at the dinner and silent auction which raised funds to be added to the Brenna Lee Lawrence Endowed Scholarship which was established in 2006 by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Brent Lawrence, as a means of memorializing Brenna and assisting deserving Catawba students.

Betsy Rich of Salisbury is paying tribute to the kind, loving and resilient spirits of her late husband and son through a new scholarship she has established at Catawba College. The Maynard L. and Paul L. Rich First Family Scholarship will be awarded to a student who demonstrates financial need, who feels called to the helping professions (education, psychology, religion/philosophy and pre-med), and who demonstrates a caring spirit and a sense of high moral values.

Dr. Michael Baranski, a Catawba College professor of biology, was recently honored with the 2007 Conservation Communicator Award by North Carolina's Hugh Hammond Bennett Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS). The award was presented January 13 at the society's annual awards banquet held in Raleigh.

A new scholarship has been established at Catawba College in honor of Dr. Michael Baranski and in recognition of his many contributions to the institution. Baranski, a professor of biology, joined the Catawba faculty in 1974 and has spent his career promoting environmental preservation and awareness among his students and the public at large. The Michael J. Baranski Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to a student majoring in environmental science until that student graduates.

The recipients of several endowed professorships were announced Thursday, August 31 during Catawba College's Opening Convocation for the 2006-2007 academic year. Dr. Michael J. Baranski, a professor of biology, received the Bashore Distinguished Professorship in Environmental Science. This professorship must be awarded to a faculty member in environmental science who is a high achiever as a scholar and teacher with outstanding qualifications and enthusiasm for his work and the students who are e

Dr. Michael Baranski, a Catawba College biology professor, served as editor for "The Proceedings of the Andre Michaux International Symposium," which was published and distributed in late May. The 237-page "Proceedings" appear in "Occasional Papers in Eastern Botany," a supplement to "CASTANEA, The Journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society."

Jhetovi Gease of Warrenton is the curious type. In the electron microscopy course he is taking this spring at Catawba College with Biology Professor Dr. Steve Coggin, Jhetovi has gathered all kinds of biological specimens to examine very closely. And, the digital portfolio he’s created of his work with the microscope would make even the most discerning modern artist quite envious.

Four Catawba College students have received grants from the Beta Beta Beta Research Foundation to support their senior research.

Catawba College has received a $2,000 gift from National Starch and Chemical Foundation. The funds will be used for scholarship support.