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Chemistry Student Stories

Diary of a Ph.D. Student – Stephen Budy

August 21, 2017…

As the first day of school starts at Southern Methodist University (SMU) for the Fall 2017, I am still excited about another school year and all the new things to come. I started as a PhD graduate student in the chemistry department two years ago and remember coming a few weeks earlier into Dallas, TX for the first time to find a place to live and then to start graduate orientation before the semester officially began. Since the incoming chemistry graduate students were all tasked with being Teaching Assistants (TA’s), at least our first year, we went through training to make sure we still remembered our general chemistry and could adequately help undergraduates in the classes we would be TA’ing for. We even had to do the problems at the back of each chapter and then get up in front of the class and teach it to the rest of our incoming group. I think everyone was terrified of that part because it is well known that whenever you are in front of the class your IQ drops dramatically! At least it felt like it.

Then we had to take three American Chemical Society (ACS) three-hour exams that week to determine which graduate classes we would register for. One day we met other graduate students from other departments for a more general teaching orientation put on by SMU. That was nice to see and talk to other new graduate students to realize we all had the same overwhelming feeling and it was nice to bond together, and SMU even provided some free ice cream sandwiches from Pokey O’s. It was an exciting week getting used to a new city, school, department, and group of friends which we bonded together very quickly already going through the same things together.

At the end of the week before school started we had a department lunch introducing the seven of us to the rest of the chemistry department. Since we all had already chosen our individual research groups before we came to SMU, we had already met at least our research advisor, our group, and the two professors in charge of the orientation. The SMU chemistry department has about thirty graduate students and about fifteen research professors so it has a nice small family feel where we all know each other. I am always surprised and enjoy when I stop in the halls and chat with the other graduate students, the undergraduates doing research, and even the professors. I’m looking forward to another exciting semester and year taking classes and learning, doing research and expanding my knowledge and experience, and teaching and tutoring undergraduates and graduates.

Stephen M. Budy grew up in Bakersfield, CA and attended Bakersfield Community College where he received an A.S. degree in Physics and Mathematics. Then he transferred to Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA where he received his B.S. in Chemistry and Computer Science. After some industry and research experience he received his M.S. degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ in Materials Science & Engineering. He then moved to Colorado to work as a researcher in the chemistry department of the University of Colorado, Denver and also in the Chemistry Research Center at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, CO. After meeting a former Dr. Son PhD graduate from SMU’s chemistry department at the Academy and meeting Dr. Son at a conference, they both convinced him to apply and attend SMU. He is now starting his third year and glad he took their advice and now happily working alongside Dr. Son, his group, and the SMU chemistry department.
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Anthropology Student Stories

Digging Through the Past in Dallas

Meet Anthropology Ph.D. student Rachel Burger an learn about her archaeology work right here on SMU’s campus.

As part of the Ph.D. program in Archaeology here at SMU, I have had the opportunity to work as the Collections Management Research Assistant in the Archaeology Repository of Collections (ARC) for several semesters. For decades, SMU Archaeology faculty and graduate students conducted research in Texas and neighboring regions, resulting in over 3,100 cubic feet of artifacts and associated archival documents now curated within the Anthropology Department. I supervise a group of undergraduate students and guide our day-to-day activities in the repository.

Most of our activities focus on the proper care and rehabilitation of the collections. This entails upgrading the storage of some of our older collections, conducting detailed inventories, and combing through the archives for information on past archaeological projects and the history of the repository itself. I have also participated in consultations with affiliated Native American tribes, facilitated the use of the collections for education and research by SMU faculty, students, and visiting researchers, and am currently helping to plan for the future of the ARC and the collections under its care. Through these projects, I have also had the opportunity to mentor and work one-on-one with undergraduate students that are just beginning their careers in archaeology.

Working in the ARC not only provides me with practical experience in the field of archaeology as I progress through the Ph.D. program here at SMU, but it is also an incredibly fulfilling experience. As archaeologists, we have an ethical responsibility to properly care for the artifacts resulting from our research, to ensure that they are accessible to other scholars, and to promote collections-based research within the field. The work I am doing now will help to secure these collections for the future so that others may benefit from them as I have.

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Alumni Stories Mathematics

The Mathematics of Outer Space

Thanks to the hit movie Hidden Figures, the women of NASA have been in the news lately, receiving some well-deserved accolades for their amazing work. One SMU alumna, Alyssa Manis, is continuing the tradition now in her work as an Orbital Debris Scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “There are thousands of active satellites in Earth’s orbit, and there are estimated to be millions of debris including spent rocket bodies, debris from normal mission operations, and small pieces generated by accidental explosions and collisions,” Manis explains. “Some of these pieces are large enough to be tracked, but many are not, so we really don’t know how much is out there. These debris can pose a threat to operational satellites and human spaceflight missions, including the International Space Station.”

Dr. Manis, who received her Ph.D. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from SMU in 2013, uses her mathematics skills to analyze this debris. “I do computer modeling and data analysis to better characterize the space environment by understanding how much debris is out there, where it is, and how many new pieces may be created by collision or explosion events.” Her graduate work prepared her for this project in a roundabout way. “My graduate work at SMU involved mathematical models of the Atlantic Ocean circulation in response to climate change. It involved looking at uncertainties in the model and how random changes to parameters affected model behavior. After I finished my Ph.D., I became a postdoc at Texas A&M University at Galveston where I worked on tsunami models. While this was a very different application, [] my background in fluid dynamics and uncertainty analysis was actually a very good foundation for that. The work I continued to do there with randomness and uncertainties in models turned out to also be very good background for moving to NASA and orbital debris research, where the uncertainties are great. Again, it was a completely different field and application, but the general skills I had developed along the way were completely transferable.”

One thing that drew Dr. Manis to SMU in the first place was the ability to focus on real-world applications of mathematics. “When I was first looking for graduate schools, I focused on schools that offered an Applied Mathematics degree program, because I knew I wanted to be able to use my math for real-world applications and problems,” she recounts. “As I looked into SMU more, the culture of the Computational and Applied Mathematics program just seemed like a good fit. It was a relatively small program so I would get to know the professors well, and I would have the opportunity to be a teaching assistant and maintain that aspect of teaching and helping others learn. After visiting campus and meeting with some of the faculty and graduate students, it just felt right.”

SMU having a smaller program is one of the things that made it a great place to study mathematics, too. “The relatively small size…means that you get to know the professors well and they get to know you, leading to a more personal and personalized experience. The faculty research areas are actually quite varied for such a small department, so there is great opportunity to find a research topic of personal interest. That was very important to me when I decided to stay past my Masters degree and pursue a Ph.D. I wanted to research something that was interesting and meaningful to me personally, not just something that was assigned to me. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with [department chair] Alejandro Aceves, who was willing to work with me on a research topic that was not directly in his area of expertise. His flexibility and encouragement allowed me to broaden my experiences and learn how to more independently develop a research topic. I think that’s a great asset for a graduate program.”

How should someone interested in being the next Katherine Johnson (or Alyssa Manis!) prepare for that goal? “Take the time to think about what you’re interested in,” Dr. Manis counsels. “Especially when it comes to applied mathematics, think about how you want to use your math skills once you graduate. I have been fortunate to be able to work in fields where I can see the human and societal impact of what I’m doing, and that’s very rewarding. Whatever is important to you, look for ways to tie that into your graduate studies and your working life will feel much more meaningful.”

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Biology Student Stories

Searching for Answers: Virus-induced Cancers

SMU graduate student Tetiana Hutchinson is currently in the Biological Sciences Ph.D. program, researching the development of virus-induced cancers.  Learn more about her work and how her research is at the forefront of such cancer experiments worldwide.  

Seven years ago, I came from Ukraine to the United States to pursue my dream of becoming a research scientist.  I joined the Ph.D. graduate program in Molecular & Cellular Biology at SMU in 2014 and am doing my dissertation studies in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Harrod.  My project involves research on the human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 (HTLV-1) –an oncogenic retrovirus which causes an aggressive white blood cell cancer, known as adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL).  My work focuses on characterizing the molecular interactions between viral and host cellular factors to better understand the underlying mechanisms involved in the development of virus-induced cancers and ATLL disease progression.

Recently, we are using an in vivo model of HTLV-1-induced lymphoma to determine if inhibiting certain candidate targets, identified through our cell-culture studies, can prevent tumor formation in experimentally-engrafted animals.  For this work, an immunocompromised NOD/scid mouse strain is injected with human HTLV-1-infected cancer cells, and then the animals are monitored for any changes to their health or appearance over a period of 8-12 weeks.  Thanks to Dr. Harrod and the SMU Laboratory Animal Research Core, I’ve had the opportunity to learn how to perform sophisticated tumor cell engraftment experiments in immunocompromised animals.  There are currently few laboratories worldwide using the in vivo NOD/scid model of HTLV-1-induced cancers, and I will present my research findings at the 18th International HTLV Conference in Tokyo, Japan in March 2017.  I am proud to be an SMU graduate student and a member of our research team.

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Alumni Stories History

Spotlight on: Ph.D. Alumnus Alicia Dewey

Alicia Dewey is an alumnus of several SMU programs, having been a bankruptcy lawyer in Dallas (graduating from SMU’s Dedman School of Law) before deciding to become a historian and college professor.  Returning to SMU, Prof. Dewey graduated with her Ph.D. in History in 2007 and is currently an Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department at Bioloa University in California.  Her general focus is on the history of the American West and the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.  “I am researching the history of water rights and irrigation in the lower Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border,” Prof. Dewey explains.  “I am also continuing my research about the business history of the area.  My first book, Pesos and Dollars: Entrepreneurs in the Texas-Mexico Borderlands, 1880-1940 (Texas A & M University Press, 2014) focused on the experiences of business people in the region.”

SMU’s central location in Dallas is one of the reasons that Prof. Dewey first explored the idea of studying history at the university.  “I was living and working in Dallas and had previously graduated from SMU’s Dedman School of Law.  I took a class on Texas history back in the fall of 2001, which introduced me to what was then a relatively new, innovative Ph.D. program in the William P. Clements Department of History.  I discovered I could pursue my interests in Texas history in the broader contest of Mexican and U.S. western history.”  When asked why SMU was a good fit for her, she shares that “[t]he professors, the collegiality of the department, the resources, and the program itself” make it a great place to pursue the study of history.

“SMU taught me how to become an excellent scholar and enabled me to develop the foundation for my later work.  That foundation has enabled to me to publish a book, among other things, even while working at a teaching-focused institution.  My research and writing has also formed the basis of my teaching career as I have endeavored to design my courses around the development of historical thinking and skills as well as historical knowledge.  The strong research background has also helped as I have recently become chair and have had to guide my department through the revision of the learning outcomes for our major.  I was also very blessed to have had so many professors at SMU who combined great scholarship with great teaching and mentoring, and they continue to serve as models for my own career.”

How should aspiring historians approach their academic goals?  “I would advise them to work on developing their skills of writing, research, and teaching, but to also think broadly and creatively about how the knowledge of history and historical skills can apply to a variety of fields and arenas.”