SCRiM Summer Scholars 2016
The SCRiM Summer Scholars Program enables selected undergraduates and early career graduate students to work on independent research projects under the mentorship and support of SCRiM researchers. Students in the SCRiM 2016 Summer Scholars program worked on their projects full-time for nine weeks in the summer, from 25 May - 29 July . In order to allow the Summer Scholars to fully focus on their research, SCRiM provides each Scholar with a stipend of $4,500. The students live in university apartments and receive access to Penn State facilities.
In addition to conducting independent research, the Summer Scholars attend professional development events, “Research Focus Lunches”, twice a week. Through these events, the Summer Scholars share their ideas, discuss individual projects, and interact with SCRiM investigators and researchers. This year’s Research Focus Lunch speakers were Dr. Klaus Keller, Dr. Andra Reed, Dr. Murali Haran, Dr. Gregory Garner, Dr. Jared Oyler, Dr. Alexander Bakker, Dr. Anthony Wong, Dr. James Kasting, Dr. Alexander Klippel, Dr. Kenneth Davis, Perry Oddo, Dr. David Hadka, Dr. Gregory Jenkins, and Dr. Martin Vezér. The program also featured “Computing Training” sessions taught by Dr. Patrick Applegate, “Poster Design” sessions taught by Dr. Andra Reed, and a seminar on “Effective Science Communication” taught by Dr. Lara Fowler.
At the completion of the program, the Summer Scholars presented their work at a Research Poster Symposium, a joint event with Penn State’s REU in Climate Science, on Friday 29 July.
Valan graduated in May 2016 from Allegheny College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Philosophy. This summer, Valan worked under the supervision of Dr. Martin Vezér on a project investigating how to incorporate considerations of social vulnerability into theories of fair distribution of risk, focusing on a case study of climate risk management in Newtok, Alaska. In September 2016, Valan will attend the University of Montana in pursuit of a Masters in Environmental Philosophy.
Rachana is expecting to graduate in May 2017 from Washington and Lee University with degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies. This summer, Rachana worked under the supervision of Dr. Martin Vezér on a project investigating how to incorporate on analyzing flood maps released by FEMA and social https://ca.linkedin.com/in/martinvezervulnerability measures in New Orleans using GIS.
Zabrenna is expecting to gradate in May 2018 from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a degree in Environmental Science. This summer, Zabrenna worked under the supervision Dr. Kenneth Davis on exploring the dependence of forest-atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange on environmental conditions including solar radiation and soil moisture.
Jacky is expecting to graduate in May 2017 from Dickinson Collage with degrees in Physics and Computer Science. This summer, Jacky worked under the supervision of Dr. James Kasting on a computer model of how a person's internal body temperature depends on the external dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, amount of sunlight received, and the person's activity level. The objective is to calculate how human heat stress may increase as the global climate warms.
Megan graduated in May 2016 from Ursinus College with a degree in Environmental Studies and minors in English, Art, and Gender and Women's Studies. This summer Megan worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Duschl on researching how girls succeed as science learners and the influence teachers, parents, and others have on shaping learning environments and experiences. Emphasis is on the designs of learning environments that promote gender neutral and gender-smart teaching.
Elaine graduated in May 2016 from Oberlin College with a degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Physics. This summer, Elaine worked under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth Davis on conducting an exploration of methane emissions from the natural gas distribution system in Indianapolis, Indiana using atmospheric budget methods.
Chris is expecting to graduate from The University of Pennsylvania in May 2018 with a degree in Mathematical Economics and minor in Statistics. This summer, Chris worked under the supervision of Dr. Mort Webster on decisionmaking for capacity expansion of power systems under uncertainty.
James is expecting to graduate in May 2018 from Pomona Collage with a degree in Mathematics. This summer, James worked under the supervision of Dr. Jared Oyler on investigating spatiotemporal statistical methods for improving local representations of climate and weather variables.
Emily graduated in May 2016 from Denison University with a degree in Biology. This summer, Emily worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Duschl on researching teacher professional development in the context of intersectionality - overlap of race, class, and gender - and interdisciplinary learning grounded in NGSS and SCRiM frameworks. The broad goal is to ensure diverse student populations are served, achievement gaps are minimized and the transdisciplinary ways of SCRiM modeling are developed.
Eli is expecting to graduate in June 2017 from Dickinson College with a degree in Physics. This summer, Eli worked under the supervision of Dr. Andra Reed on principal component analysis of tropical cyclone and storm surge data.
Gillern is expecting to graduate in May 2018 from Morehouse College with a degree in Applied Physics and a minor in Mathematics. This summer, Gillern worked under the supervision of Dr. Mort Webster on electric power system planning for water and C02 Constraints.
Claudia graduated in May 2016 from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Geology and minor in Coastal and Marine Sciences. This summer, Claudia worked under the supervision of Dr. Andra Reed on performing a statistical analysis of North Atlantic SST data and observational snowfall amounts in a large metropolitan area in the northeastern United States.
Kayla is expecting to graduate in May 2017 from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics and minors in Economics and Psychology. This summer, Kayla worked under the supervision of Dr. Murali Haran on modeling and interference for precipitation time series.
Yanrong is expecting to graduate in May 2017 from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Mathematics and minor in Statistics. This summer, Yanrong worked with Dr. Murali Haran on modeling and interference for precipitation time series.
Nina graduated in May 2016 from Washington and Lee University with degrees in Environmental Studies and Spanish. This summer, Nina worked under the supervision of Dr. Martin Vezér on analyzing the deep uncertainty associated with global sea level rise due to the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and ethical decision making in the face of climate change. She is examining these issues in relation to the precautionary principle to justify preemptive mitigation and adaptation policies for low-probability yet high-risk events in order to reduce both environmental and social harm.
Alex is expecting to graduate in May 2018 from Pomona College with a degree in Economics. This summer, Alex worked under the supervision of Dr. Gregory Garner on reformulating a classic integrated assessment model in order to assess tradeoffs in levels of inequality aversion with respect to intergenerational social welfare.
Giselle is expecting to graduate in May 2018 from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Information Sciences and Technology. This summer, Giselle worked under the supervision of Dr. Alexander Klippel on an immersive visual analytics system to support climate change decisionmaking.
Jeffery graduated in May 2016 from Jackson State University with a degree in Computer Science and minor in Mathematics. This summer, Jeffery worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Duschl on determining ways to apply software engineering models to teach SCRiM science with a focus on agile software development method. The goal is to understand what principles and structures have meaningful use to help SCRiM scientists remain current with engineering techniques. In Fall 2016, Jeffery will attend Vanderbilt University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in Computer Science.
Nick graduated in May 2016 from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Mathematics and minors in Statistics and Economics. This summer, Nick worked under the supervision of Dr. Murali Haran on modeling and interference for precipitation time series.
Ayesha is expecting to graduate in May 2017 from Florida State University with a degree in Meteorology and a minor in Mathematics and Communications. This summer, Ayesha worked under the supervision of Dr. Gregory Jenkins on hurricane hazard awareness, preparation and education modules for the Cape Verde Islands.
Xuanhao is expecting to gradute in May 2017 from The Pennsylvania State University with a degrees in Mathematics and Statistics & Economics. This summer, Xuahnhao worked under the supervision of Dr. Murali Haran on modeling and interference for precipitation time series