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West Virginia University

McNair Scholars Newsletter

Summer 2017 Volume 18 Issue I

McNair Scholars Storm Graduate Schools

Graduates Degree Program Graduate School

Adam Cruz Master’s in School Counseling West Virginia University

April Highlander Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology University of North Carolina

Cecily Flight Master’s in Ethics, Peace & Global Affairs American University

David Mersing Ph.D. in Chemistry West Virginia University

Donnique Sherman Master’s in Energy Systems Engineering West Virginia University

Evan Dorsey Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis University of Pittsburgh

Elizabeth Janeiro Master’s in Rehabilitation Counseling West Virginia University

Hailey Taylor Master’s in Clinical Psychological Sciences University of Maryland, College Park

Hanah Conlan Master’s in Applied Behavior Analysis Simmons College

Lynnora Grant Ph.D. in Materials Science & Nano-Engineering Rice University

Omobola Oluwafemi Master’s in Public Health University of Texas at Houston

Samantha Shimer Master’s in Public Policy University of Maryland, College Park

Shelby Boggs Ph.D. in Psychology The Ohio State University

Shelby Bradford Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences West Virginia University

May 2017 graduates. Back Row (L to R): Adam Cruz, Omobola Oluwafemi, David Mersing, Evan Dorsey, Samantha Shimer, Hailey Taylor, Rachael Taylor

Front Row (L to R): Donnique Sherman, Shelby Bradford, Apr il Highlander , Lynnora Grant Not pictured: Shelby Boggs, Hanah Conlan and Chelsi Sayti

Congratulations to our scholars who graduated in December, 2016 and May, 2017! Beginning fall 2017, our scholars will be enrolled in various graduate programs and schools.

December 2016 & May 2017 Graduation The WVU McNair Scholars Program held graduation dinners for the De-

cember 2016 and May 2017 graduates. Speakers at the respective events

were McNair alumni—Dr. Victoria Sanchez from the University of Mary-

land McNair program, and Dr. Heather Washington, 2005 WVU McNair

Scholar—who shared their McNair and graduate school experiences, and

offered words of advice for the departing graduates. The graduating

Scholars expressed their gratitude for the McNair program and staff, as

well as faculty mentors for their academic, research and professional de-

velopment. The May 2017 ceremony ended with a special presentation to

Dr. Natalie Shook, Associate Professor of Psychology, for her dedication

in mentoring McNair Scholars. In five years since 2012, Dr. Shook has

mentored eight McNair Scholars.

December graduates (L to R): Elizabeth Janeiro, Courtney McDon-

ald, and Cecily Flight.

University of Maryland McNair Conference

Dr. Betty Mei (L) presenting the Outstand-ing Service Award to Dr. Natalie Shook

Dr. Heather Washington speaking at the May 2017 graduation dinner

Dr. Victoria Sanchez speaking to December 2016 graduates and

dinner guests

2016 Scholar Omobola Oluwafemi

giving an oral presentation at the

conference

Scholars at the University of

Maryland McNair Conference

2016 Scholar David Mersing (R), a chemistry major, presenting at the poster session

WVU McNair alumni continue to press a step closer to the doctorate. The following students have attained master’s

degrees in the spring and summer of 2017:

JC Abdallah (2014) - Master’s in Communication from The Ohio State University; will attend the University of Ala-

bama Ph.D. program in Communication & Information Sciences in the fall semester

Jordan Drew (2014) - Completed internship at the National Institute of Health; will be enrolled in Ph.D. program in

Electrical Engineering at University of Washington in fall, 2017

Tahrea Flemming (2010) - Master’s of Social Work from University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Jacqueline Fowler (2014) - Master’s in Sociology from West Virginia University

James Hartnett II (2014) - Master’s in Counseling from West Virginia University

Brandy Ledesma (2014) - Master’s of Social Work from University of Denver

Jordan Lovejoy (2013) - Master’s in English from The Ohio State University; will continue in the program for Ph.D.

Allie Nwosu (2014) - Master’s in Couples and Family Therapy from Oregon State University

Shakira Smith (2012) - Master’s in Educational Psychology from Indiana University; will continue to pursue a Ph.D.

In Health Behavior and a second Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology

Leigh-Ann Wilkins (2014) - Master’s in Economics from Drexel University

April Highlander

(Left) and Omobola

Oluwafemi (Right),

have been selected

to be 2017 WV

TRIO and ME-

AEOPP Scholar-

ship recipients re-

spectively. April

also received the

Gilman Scholarship

to study in New

Zealand this summer. She was also awarded Out-

standing Senior in psychology.

Awards and Honors

2016 Scholar Edinam Ku-

mazah was awarded the

2017 WVU Martin Luther

King Jr. Scholarship. A

WVU undergraduate stu-

dent is selected annually

for this award for partici-

pating actively in human

rights, civil rights, social

justice, world peace or oth-

er activities exemplary or reflective of King’s life

and ideals, in addition to exceling academically.

2016 Scholar Mariah Felty, a

political science major, was

selected as a Judith Herndon

Fellow who interned at the

state capitol in the spring 2017

semester to assist state senators

and delegates with research and

various staff functions. Mariah

described the experience as in-

credible, and that she “learned

how the WV Legislature operates and made lasting

connections with the great leaders of our state.”

Lynnora Grant, a re-

cent graduate from the

WVU McNair Scholars

Program, whose research

focused on titanium di-

oxide based inks for use

in direct writing of flexi-

ble optoelectronics, was

awarded the National

Science Foundation

Graduate Research Fel-

lowship (GRFP) for biomedical engineer ing. She

will attend Rice University in the fall to pursue re-

search on Materials Science and Nano-engineering.

WVU McNair Scholars Program 600013100006

305 Student Services Center

PO Box 6212

Morgantown, WV 26506-6212

National TRIO Day

Program Staff: Dr. Betty Mei, Program Director (Betty.Mei@mail.wvu.edu), Hellen Nditsi, Program Coordi-

nator (hnditsi@mail.wvu.edu), Charles Mawusi, Graduate Assistant (ckmawusi@mail.wvu.edu).

Office Address: WVU McNair Scholars Program, 305 Student Services Center , PO Box 6212, Morgantown,

WV 26506-6212 Phone: (304) 293-4316 Fax: (304) 293-4365 Website: http://mcnair .wvu.edu

To celebrate National TRIO Day on February 25th, the WVU McNair Scholars collaborated with students from the WVU TRIO Student Support Services and Upward Bound (UB) programs to participate in a host of community service projects. One group of students visited the WVU Children's Hospital where they presented gifts and participated in playful activities such as coloring pages with patients. Students also had the opportunity to interact with parents of admitted chil-dren, and nurses to learn more about the health condition of some of the children.

The second group visited the Ronald McDonald House, where they cleaned and organized different parts of the house, and made desserts for the residents. The third group served in the Empty Bowls event, which raised money to promote food security in the local community. Besides benefitting the community by serving in these projects, TRIO students also got to interact with each other where the college partici-pants served as role models for the UB students, and provided college and career aspirations.

“Going into the field of public health, I would like to work as a health policy advisor or analyst, focusing on wom-en’s and children’s issues. This volun-teer experience reminded me that pub-lic health still makes a difference.”

- Lola Oluwafemi, 2016 McNair Scholar

McNair Scholars and Upward Bound students pictured at Ronald McDonald House

Scholars David Mersing and Lynnora Grant mak-ing desserts at the Ronald McDonald House