Superfund Research Program

Research Experience and Training Coordination Core

Project Leader: Tammy R. Dugas
Grant Number: P42ES013648
Funding Period: 2011-2025

Project-Specific Links

Final Progress Reports

Year:   2017 

The Louisiana State University (LSU) Training Core trainees continued to thrive in 2017, publishing 11 journal articles and receiving eight awards, including 1st place in a poster competition at the South-Central Chapter of the Society of Toxicology (SCCSOT) meeting, a travel award for the Fellowship Track Symposium at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) conference, and the ATS Minority Trainee Development Award. In addition, graduate student Ansonia Badgett was selected to participate in both the Building Engineering & Science Talent Symposium hosted by The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan and the Procter & Gamble "Focusing on Industrial Recruitment of Scientific Talent" Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Again, this year, the Core's trainees were active in community outreach programs. Trainees led hands-on science demonstrations for "STEM Girls Rock" at the LSU Chapter of National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists & Chemical Engineers and for the Louisiana 4-H University Clover College – Shining Light on Pollution Events. The Training Core continues to offer opportunities for cultivating communication and career development skills. As examples, the trainees delivered oral or poster presentations at national conferences and at two local conferences organized by the LSU Superfund Research Program (SRP). Training Core Director Tammy Dugas, PH.D., served as Organizing Committee Chair for the 2017 SCCSOT annual meeting, hosted by LSU and the LSU SRP. At SCCSOT, trainees also participated in a K-12 Outreach Program, providing information about their research field to high school students and teachers.

Finally, the Training Core provided career development workshops through their bi-weekly webinar program. As examples, Jim Kleinedler, Ph.D., (Boston Scientific) presented a webinar entitled, "The curriculum vitae for industry versus government positions," Arthur Penn, Ph.D., (LSU) presented a two-part webinar on "Key Elements of an Effective Oral Presentation" and Erin Pias Hines, Ph.D., (US EPA) informed trainees on pathways for obtaining positions at the EPA. In the Spring of 2018, trainees will be submitting proposals for externship programs funded by the Training Core, where successful candidates will be given the opportunity to complete short training experiences in collaborating laboratories from across the country.

The Core's trainees continue to thrive after completion of their LSU SRP training, as well. Students completing their training in 2017 went on to positions like postdoctoral fellow in Chemistry at Rutgers University, Pediatric Intensivist in the Department of Pediatrics at Sanford Health, and Licensing Associate in Physical Sciences at Rice University. One recent trainee, Sridhar Jaligama, Ph.D., is employed as a Research Scientist at Battelle, Life Sciences Research and became a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology.