A personalized approach to education 

When Dr. Han-Wei Shih joined the School of STEM’s Division of Biological Sciences at 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell as an assistant professor in autumn 2024, he brought a student-focused approach to his Molecular Biology course. A pre-course survey revealed to him that his students, mostly seniors planning to graduate in a few months, were unaware of the diverse career paths available to them. Instead of merely delivering lectures, he engaged students in discussions about what they already knew and what they hoped to learn. This adaptive teaching method ensured that students were not just checking boxes for graduation but were actively preparing for their future careers. 

“He wanted to go above and beyond and help us prepare not just for our academic lives, but also for our lives onward from that,â€� Biology Senior Adelle Nolan said. “Whether it’s our career or continuing in academia, whatever it was.â€�  

Eye-opening field experiences 

To expand his students’ understanding of career possibilities in biology, Shih arranged field trips to and the at the end of autumn quarter. The field trips gave students an inside look at the facilities through guided tours and interactive Q&A panels with professionals working in cross-disciplinary roles. Shih hoped that these tours would provide his students with awareness of the research community in the region and the career opportunities in the fields. Shih also wanted his students to hear from speakers with diverse STEM backgrounds, learning about their personal journeys through academia and industry and how they arrived at their current roles.  

“I strongly believe that academia and industry share a close and mutually beneficial relationship,â€� Shih said. “This connection is essential not only for advancing academic research but also for fostering industry growth.â€� 

At Just – Biologics, students explored the intersection of biology and technology, where professionals worked in multidisciplinary teams to develop innovative solutions. Speaker panels highlighted unique backgrounds and specialties and how they come together collaboratively in biotech research. The Allen Institute further reinforced this concept, with researchers from a wide range of backgrounds collaborating on cutting-edge projects across disciplines. 

“It was very interesting to see the types of people that go into this facility and what their roles were, what they did, and how they all interconnected,� said Hannah Heilman, a senior majoring in Biology.  

For Heilman, who’s been involved in genetics research at 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell, the experience was eye-opening to the opportunities available in biology in Seattle and the value that vast research experience brings to the field. 

“Going on the field trip to the Allen Institute and Just – Biologics tied into my research because it made me appreciate the science more,â€� Heilman said. “It just inspired me to keep going, working at what I love, and to get as much research experience as possible.” 

A well-rounded approach to science and learning 

For many students, these experiences were more than just academic exercises — they were pivotal moments that shifted their outlook on their futures. Nolan, initially uncertain about job opportunities within their niche specialty of human sex diversity, found reassurance in seeing recent graduates working in interdisciplinary roles. 

“I came into this field trip being worried about my future and feeling like I wanted to cling on to my bachelor’s degree — find a way to stay in college forever,â€� they shared. “But then when I came out of that first field trip, I felt confident. I felt inspired.â€� 

The field trips reiterated to students that a successful career in biology isn’t confined to a single specialty. The educational journey in the School of STEM is about more than just meeting graduation requirements — it’s about helping students discover their passions, build meaningful connections and step into their future with excitement and purpose. 

“The experience showed us how science thrives on collaboration and innovation,â€� Shih said. “As we returned to our studies, we carried with us a deeper appreciation for the endless possibilities in scientific discovery.â€� 

The post Expanding horizons: how research and field opportunities inspire 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell biology students  appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

His work, however, didn’t go unnoticed.

Ghadamsi was nominated by his professors for the 2023 President’s Medal, which he was presented in this year’s Commencement Ceremony on June 11.

Each year, the President’s Medal is awarded to a graduating senior with the most distinguished academic record. Students are nominated and selected from the top 2% of the graduating class in their program. In addition to their academic success, students are selected based on other honors and awards, research and publications, as well as future plans.

Ghadamsi graduated with a major in Biology and a minor in Neuroscience. He is currently taking a gap year while he applies to medical school with the goal of becoming a doctor specializing in neuroscience.

A discovery of limitless potential

Ghadamsi always knew he would go to college. Higher education was a priority for his family going three generations back.

“My grandpa was the first person to go to college in his city where he grew up in Libya,� he said. “From then on, my dad and all his siblings went to college, and my dad got the opportunity to go to the United States and study. It was ingrained into the family that college education is very important.�

From an early age, Ghadamsi had an interest in science and engineering. He enjoyed tearing stuff apart and discovering how things worked. Together with his dad, he worked on fixing cars. His interest in science deepened in high school with his biology and chemistry classes.

While college felt not only possible — even essential — to Ghadamsi as a young boy, he still believed what he could accomplish would be limited because of his heritage. “I didn’t think I could be a doctor until I was told I could,� he said. “I didn’t see anybody like me who was a doctor.�

Ghadamsi’s father challenged this perception and helped him imagine all that could be possible for him. Now, as a college graduate, what he once thought was unimaginable has become his life’s ambition. And he hopes that, as a doctor, he will also be an inspirational figure for other young people like him to see what they can achieve.

Specializing in neuroscience

Ghadamsi’s interest in neuroscience in particular started at the age of 16 when he had a seizure while having dinner with his family. Once at 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell, he laid the groundwork for this specialization through his minor and by completing two summer internships: the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø  and the .

“Being able to participate in a neurosurgery internship where I gained lab experience and made clinical observations really reassured me in my goal to become a doctor who studies neuroscience,� he said.

Pre-med adviser Kristen Labrecque helped him apply for the program. Then, after completing the internship, Ghadamsi in turn worked to encourage other students to apply.

“He was getting help and passing it on,â€� said Dr. Alaron Lewis, associate teaching professor and chair of biological sciences in the School of STEM. “This is totally in-line with what I know of Hithem — not just accepting help but passing that help on to others.â€�

The internship also opened Ghadamsi up to the idea of doing his own research, he said. As a senior at the 2023 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Undergraduate Research Symposium, he presented “.â€�

An accomplished student and leader

Even beyond his two internships, Ghadamsi was an accomplished student who made the Dean’s List each quarter. Lewis recalls having to remind Ghadamsi of that very fact when she asked her Cell Biology class to practice writing cover letters.

“I pointed out to him that making the Dean’s List and being eligible for the President’s Medal were impressive accomplishments that he should tell people about, and he just shrugged about it self-consciously,� she said. “Hithem is an excellent student but not in a flashy way. He is extremely modest about his own activities and accomplishments. He did not set out to get the best score, he just set out to do his best — and it turns out that his best is pretty darn good.�

Lewis added that even in remote classroom settings, Ghadamsi’s engagement with his peers stood out and his desire to learn was evident in the insightful questions he asked. As classes returned in person, his “quiet and unassuming� presence as a leader grew, she said.

“Hithem is a wonderful, caring human being. He is absolutely a leader in class. Not a loud out-in-front leader, but a ‘talk to everyone in your group’ leader and a ‘make sure everyone has a voice’ leader and ‘stop by the professor’s office to advocate for others’ leader,� Lewis said.

A desire to help others

Ghadamsi’s role as a leader and a resource for his peers extended outside the classroom to his work across several student clubs and activities, as well. One club stands out as a passion project for him: the Student Association for Refugees and Immigrants.

SAFIR was founded in 2019 to support refugees and immigrants in the campus community to succeed academically and professionally. The club works with the International Rescue Committee to develop connections with 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell and refugees. It became inactive after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted campus activities. In the hopes of reviving the club when in-person activities resumed, Dr. Salwa Al-Noori reached out to Ghadamsi.

“Hithem’s role in SAFIR has been significant,� said Al-Noori, associate teaching professor in the School of STEM. “With the other club officers, he has worked tirelessly to facilitate events and awareness that support students from immigrant and refugee communities and which promote understanding, inclusion and practical benefits for students from diverse communities.�

As president of SAFIR, Ghadamsi helped organize events such as clothing drives, youth mentorship programs and career networking nights.

“I want to help people because it’s the right thing to do,� Ghadamsi said. “Being a first-generation American, I’ve witnessed what it was like for other people. Reflecting on my parents’ experience coming to the U.S. and having to struggle, I feel that I’ve been fortunate to have a different experience, and I want to pay that forward to others who haven’t had the same opportunities.�

Ghadamsi’s passion for SAFIR’s mission is part of his overall ambition to help others. He aims to someday practice medicine both in the U.S. and in his family’s home country of Libya. In Libya, he hopes to develop a program or a clinic to help provide health care services to the communities that need it most.

Graduating on a high note

When Ghadamsi heard he was receiving the President’s Medal, he was excited to see his dedication to his course work and his extracurricular activities recognized.

“I knew how much hard work I put in throughout college,� he said. “At times school was very challenging, so being recognized for that is very gratifying.�

His professors were thrilled to hear he had been awarded the medal.

“Hithem has consistently over the period of his undergraduate studies demonstrated the characteristics that make him truly deserving of this award; he is an excellent student not only as reflected in his impressive performance in his coursework and through his engagement in research but for the dedication and passion he brings to learning,� Al-Noori said. “He also has a strong commitment to community as can be seen by his extracurricular engagement, especially in his contributions through SAFIR and the local Greater Seattle community.

“I truly believe Hithem is deserving of the recognition conferred by this medal, and I am confident that he will continue forward with the same commitment and dedication in his future.�

The post A humble and accomplished student leader appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

This year’s symposium hosted presentations by undergraduates from across the three 56³Ô¹ÏÍø campuses. The 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell students presented 20 different research projects and topics, ranging from “Nostalgic Analysis of Tweets During Crisis Eventsâ€� to “Motivation in Non-Profit Organization Workers.â€�

The symposium featured research across a wide array of academic disciplines — from business to STEM — with the projects covering data and information from as far away as black holes in other galaxies to as close as the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell’s campus wetland.

In opening remarks for the symposium, Ed Taylor, 56³Ô¹ÏÍø’s vice provost and dean of undergraduate affairs, also recognized the faculty support that makes this depth and breadth of student research possible. He then announced and congratulated seven recipients of the  — including Dr. Paola Rodríguez Hidalgo, an assistant professor in 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell’s School of STEM.

Supporting their students

Students presenting in the symposium each year can nominate mentors who have had a profound impact on their education and research. A small committee of faculty and staff then reviews the nominations to select the award recipients.

“It was one of the most beautiful awards,� Rodríguez Hidalgo said. “It’s nice being recognized by the University, but it’s also thanks to my students — and that’s just so beautiful.�

She was nominated by two students from her quasar research group, Easton Robert Pierce and Alex Vong.

“Paola has been an amazing mentor. She has consistently pushed me to go beyond and motivated me to continue even when I’ve hit a wall,� said Pierce in his nomination for Rodríguez Hidalgo.

“Between her meetings, giving talks and writing papers, I’m not sure where she finds the time for it all,� he said. “She truly deserves to be recognized for all the hard work she puts into not only teaching classes but also mentoring students and leading the quasar research group.�

Understanding stars in the universe

Pierce is a senior majoring in physics at 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell. He first developed a love of astronomy when his parents bought him a starter telescope when he was nine years old. He is now a NASA Space Grant scholar.

“What drew me to astronomy is the pure absurdity of the scale and energies of the objects in which we study,� he said.

At this year’s symposium, Pierce presented “� Quasars are a phenomenon where gas and dust from extremely luminous galactic cores fall into a supermassive black hole. This can sometimes produce winds known as outflows. Whether these outflows affect the evolution of their host galaxies remains unknown and continues to be a point of interest in ongoing research.

“Because of the large energies found in extremely high velocity outflows, we believe they may play a large role in the evolution of galaxies, specifically on their ability to form stars,� Pierce said.

Looking at ancient fires and fuels

In her presentation, “â€� Haley Brooks (Conservation & Restoration Science ’23) sampled 34 modern plant species from 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Herbarium collections to study charcoal morphometry — the measurement of sedimentary charcoal particle shape attributes — after burning the samples at 500 degrees Celsius.

Brooks investigated if charcoal aspect ratio is a valid method for determining fuel type. If this method can be used when looking at modern-day plants, she noted, it may provide important insights into ancient fire regimes. Her mentors for this research were both in the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Department of Biology on the Seattle campus: Dr. Caroline Strömberg, professor; and Dr. Christopher Schiller, postdoctoral scholar.

With the rapidly changing climate, Brooks said it’s become a priority to gain a better understanding of how the changes will affect plant life to strategize conservation practices for the near future. “We’re in a climate crisis right now where we’ve never been in this climate zone, but the world has previously.

“So if we’re able to look at the climate zones of ancient fires and look at what burned at that time,� she said, “we can put that into our conservation practices and have retroactive success in protecting those plant species that are used for fuel — before it happens.�

Brooks noted in her presentation that continued research into the verification of charcoal morphometry as a means to verify fuel type could also help increase confidence in paleo reconstructions of ancient fuel types.

Examining learning during the pandemic

In his project, “â€� Eric Yoon Jae Shin analyzed student learning in a statistics course in both a pre-pandemic and pandemic setting. Dr. Caleb Trujillo, assistant professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, oversaw this research as Shin’s mentor.

“The main thing we wanted to find out was whether or not the COVID-19 disruptions affected students learning,� Shin said, a senior majoring Mathematical Thinking & Visualization.

Searching for answers, he looked to concept models — hand drawn models students use to write statistics concepts — to measure student learning. He analyzed 180 models from two different experiences and quarters: an in-person learning environment in a pre-pandemic quarter and an online learning environment during the pandemic.

“The key finding that we made was that students in the online quarter were adding concepts to their models at a lower rate than students in the previous quarter, which was before the coronavirus pandemic,� Shin said. “We came to the conclusion that the COVID-19 disruption had a major impact on a student’s learning in the statistics course.�

What makes this kind of research so important, Shin noted, is that it can be used by professors to better understand and assist college students as they learn in different spaces.

Discovering the possibilities

The presentations in this year’s symposium represent the broad range of research, scholarship and creative practice projects that students can undertake during their undergraduate studies.

Here is a small sampling of additional oral, poster and visual arts presentations 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell students gave at this year’s symposium:

• “Fairness and Biases in Mobility Modelsâ€�
  • presented by Daniel Wang, a senior in Computer Science & Software Engineering; mentored by Dr. Afra Mashhadi, assistant professor, School of STEM
• “Missing Maps: Identifying Remote Communities Using Satellite Imagery and Machine Learningâ€�
  • presented by Inkar Kapen, a senior in Computer Science & Software Engineering and a Mary Gates Scholar; mentored by Dr. Afra Mashhadi, assistant professor, School of STEM
• “The Effect of Advanced Age and Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropathology on Levels of the Tight Junction Protein, Occludin, in the Brain Microvasculatureâ€�
  • presented by Ali Mirzazadeh, a senior in Biology; mentored by Dr. May Reed, associate professor in the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine

A complete list of the research projects presented by 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell students this year can be found on the .

The post Symposium showcases undergraduate research, recognizes outstanding mentors appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

The post The buzz on Camilo Acosta appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

The post Undergraduates invited to research stem cells appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

The post A showcase of research & creativity appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

Djelli Berisha is the first-ever 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell student to serve on the University of Washington board of regents. A senior in STEM majoring in biology, he writes about his Albanian heritage, moving from fear to determination and the transformative power of higher education. Read the 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell news story.

The post My story: Shining like the sun appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

Virtual Epidemics is a Discovery Core course that prepares students for university-level learning and provides context for the state of the world during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the story in 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell news.

The post Viral Epidemics prepares students for college life appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

Health Studies student Ayomikun Akinrinade worked at a 56³Ô¹ÏÍø research facility studying sea urchins. His research has the potential to change the design of medical instruments. Read the story in 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell news.

The post Surprised by science appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell and Cascadia College will increase the number of STEM students when a new building opens on campus. A ceremonial groundbreaking last month brought together representatives from both institutions along with elected officials, industry leaders, project team members and community advocates who have long championed the shared building. Read the story in 56³Ô¹ÏÍø Bothell news.

The post STEM4 one step closer to meeting region’s needs appeared first on School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.