An Ounce of Prevention

Crystina Baetz (RN), a Nursing major in Verrazano Honors' Class of 2018, Helps Train Nursing Students on Cervical Cancer Prevention

As a Verrazano student at the College of Staten Island, and in order to graduate with Verrazano Honors, I was required to complete a Capstone Project that would build my knowledge and interest in my field. I am a nurse and nursing student, so I chose to complete a project in this field. By working closely with my mentor, Dr. Arlene Farren, Chair of the Nursing Department at the College of Staten Island, I identified a prevalent issue in current healthcare. With Dr. Farren’s guidance, I developed an educational program titled, “Preparing Nursing Students to Contribute to Cervical Cancer Prevention: An Educational Program,” and used the feedback from this program to complete the report, Preparing Nursing Students to Contribute to Cervical Cancer Prevention: An Educational Program Review.

            I had never had a passion for cervical cancer prevention, and I have never known anyone who had it. I began thinking about the issue of cancer prevention in the spring of 2017, when working with Dr. Farren on the Staten Island Performing Provider System’s (PPS) Cancer Prevention in Communities Initiative. On this project, we researched things such as cancer prevention measures and the availability of health services in the 10305 and 10306 zip codes in Staten Island. When reviewing the literature for this project, I found cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention to be a major current topic that was left out of PPS’s project. I saw this as an opportunity to shine a light on this relatively unknown disease, and to contribute what I could to its prevention.

            Although I had written literature reviews and other long, scholarly papers before, this project was very unique to me. I spent several weeks with Dr. Farren reviewing and critiquing the PowerPoint for the educational program. I would have never guessed the amount of work that went into a 30-slide presentation! I also was glad to have Dr. Farren’s guidance in setting up my presentation’s date, time, and how to advertise.  I found it interesting to then write my Capstone Project paper and include the results from my own work! I must admit that I greatly enjoyed grading the pre and post information surveys, and creating tables from this information.

Crystina presents at the Undergraduate Research Conference

            I do not plan on stopping my work on cervical cancer prevention once I turn in my Capstone Project. I presented my program again in early December to a medical/surgical nursing class at the College of Staten Island. I hope to use the results of this presentation and others in the future to continue developing my program review paper. Dr. Farren and I plan to present our results on a board at the College of Staten Island’s Undergraduate Research Conference in the spring of 2018. It is also our hope, after continuing our efforts on the paper, to submit it for publishing. Long term, I would like to continue developing and giving this presentation to nursing students at the College of Staten Island and elsewhere.

            Overall, I believe it was beneficial for me to complete this Capstone Project. I not only will graduate Verrazano Honors and departmental honors, but have also fostered a personal relationship with an academic mentor. Most importantly, I was able to increase my knowledge of an important issue in healthcare, and use the skills I’ve gained throughout my college career to formulate a contribution to this issue. Completing this Capstone Project made me proud to be a Verrazano and nursing student, and excited for what is to come!

Allie Davis takes her "tern" with research

Allie Davis, a Biology Secondary Education major in Verrazano Class of 2018, decides research isn't for the birds. . .

Ahem, a tern

My name is Allie Davis, I am a biology-education major, and it is finally my tern to reflect on the work I have been doing alongside Dr. Lisa Manne. If you noticed my misspelling of ‘turn,’ back there, it was completely intentional, I assure you. My research project focused on the specimen to the left: The Common Tern. The Common tern is a species of shorebird and if you did not know that, you are in the same boat I was in over a year ago. Back then, this reflection seemed to exist in a galaxy somewhere far, far away. Now, on the other side of the undergraduate research conference (which is nowhere near as scary as it sounds), the waves look a whole lot smoother.

            I was beyond anxious when I really had to start thinking about a Capstone project. How do I ask a professor? Who do Ichoose? How do I find one working on something I am interested in? What if I can only find professors who are doing boring work and I have no choice but to do it anyway? Should I just drop out of Verrazano? Who needs a special graduation or priority registration anyway? 

            “If you’re thinking you’d rather drop out of Verrazano than do this, don’t fret. Come and see me!”

            Okay, so I know two things: dropping out is not going to be an option and Cheryl in the Verrazano office might be a mind reader. As it terns out, the biology office has a whole list of professors doing active research complete with a description and an email address for your information. Fortunately for me, Dr. Lisa Manne saved me from a “meh, it’s a topic, I guess” option and I knew her from a brief research stint involving Asian Shore Crabs. Apparently, a scientist in Massachusetts, Dr. Ian Nisbet, had contacted Dr. Veit and Dr. Manne here at CSI about a forty-eight-year time series he had compiled of a bunch of Terns who settled on Bird Island near his home. He documented their nesting dates, laying dates, number of eggs laid, number of pairs of Terns that settled, and calculated how productive the birds’ reproduction was. For forty-eight years! To think I can’t even keep a journal for longer than a day. 

            At the time of our initial meeting, I had roughly 1% knowledge on birds, but we were talking about animals being impacted by climate change, so I was beyond intrigued. In the beginning, my project only revolved around the Common Tern, though I would find out later that there are numerous species of terns. The first step in data analysis, however, was a crash course in statistics using a program, R. After I was reasonably adequate in using it, it was time to put theory into practice. Our objective: to determine the effects of climate change on the abundance of Common Terns found on Bird Island. 

            Months later, I can confidently say that I have increased my knowledge to about 12%. An argument can be made for 15%. Okay, the percentages are not exactly accurate, but I wanted to slip a movie quote in here when I saw the opportunity. Avengers aside, we performed a LOT of statistical tests on the data. We wanted to leave no aspect of phenology unconsidered. I ran tests from simple t-tests between two variables (to see whether climate had a significant effect on any variables of phenology) to more complicated tests like path analysis (to determine the cause-and-effect relationships of different variables). And once we ran through all these tests with Common terns, we got MORE data. This time, we would do the same procedure as with Commons, but with their sister species, Roseate Terns (on the left). You’re probably thinking it looks identical to the Common up above, but go back and look; they ARE different. 

 

Allie presents her work at the Undergraduate Research Conference

            For the results, you can read my abstract (or for the brave, my entire paper), but I’ll give you the short answer. The DIRECT effects of climate change on Common Terns? Not much apparently. On Roseate Terns? Significantly more, but not enough to alert the media…YET. Because even though my Capstone research ended the day of the undergraduate conference, there’s another aspect to consider. I put emphasis on the word ‘direct’ for this reason: what about the INDIRECT effects? Maybe climate does not impact the lives of these birds as much as it impacts something like the availability of the Terns’ food source. It is measurable, attainable, and could shed some light on a different piece of Tern phenology. Lisa was able to obtain data for several fisheries in Massachusetts, so seeing whether any of that data connects with climate change will be our next step.  

            Over a year ago when I first started to think about the Capstone project, I was not excited about it. But honestly, it quickly became something that was fun, relevant, and something I cared about more than just a grade. Before, I had no idea in which field of biology I should study, but now, I’m heavily considering ecology. I’m not going to lie; it helps significantly that through working under Lisa, I received the opportunity to study abroad in the US Virgin Islands. That, my friend, was entirely worth it. Before I close out this blog post, I want to thank Dr. Lisa Manne for leading me through using R, teaching me how to write an official research paper, and for being an awesome ecology professor. I also want to thank Dr. Richard Veit for working with us on this research and connecting us with Dr. Nisbet. To those who are reading this on the Verrazano blog: if you’re nervous or completely terrified and would rather stow away on a plane to Greenland than get to work on your Capstone research, reconsider. You might just end up finding your niche in science and besides, it’s way too cold in Greenland.

The Bun Goes International

Annalise Puntorno, a Science, Letters, and Society major in the Verrazano Class of 2019, visited Florence in the summer of 2017.

The Bun Goes International

My famous bun has been my signature look from high school days to across the pond in Ireland and Scotland to finally Florence, Italy this summer. From the minute my friends and I touched down in Florence the magic of the beautiful city captured my heart.  There were kind faces and stunning architecture everywhere I looked. Music filled the air. I was fortunate enough to live close to the Duomo in the center of Florence, there was always liveliness around my street.

The food in Florence was amazing, so fresh and there was constantly a new combination to try. My favorite dish is hard to choose so my top three are: pear raviolis, spinach raviolis with avocado and pomegranate seeds and lastly tomato and basil pasta with fresh mozzarella. Each dish was better than the last. The real winner in Florence though is the gelato. It is to die for, every flavor was delicious and refreshing. My whole gelato fund was used wisely and happily spent. my daily gelato was frequently a highlight of the day, a great relief from the Tuscan sun.

Every day was a new adventure. Florence is filled with magnificent views of the city. The Piazza Michelangelo had the whole landscape of Florence filled with the famous buildings in perfect view.

The Duomo, the Bell Tower and the country side all in sight. Another spectacular view was climbing to the top of the Duomo. We climbed 465 steps to the top and I felt like I was on top on the world. So close to the tops of buildings, it was surreal. The views had to be one of my favorite adventures.

Another great gift of Florence was friendship and knowledge.  I travelled with my best friend and a new friend I met to be our roommate. But through this trip I gained a new friend that will be life long, and I rekindled old friendships with girls I haven’t spoken to in a long time. It was such a life changing experience to further our friendship and to grow closer to one another amongst a city we were dazzled by but lost in all at once. We overcame difficulties and we went on endless adventures. I learned how to be independent and free. I was able to find myself and experience that I would not be able to do at home. I also studied Italian which it greatly improved due to this trip. I learned so much about the language and culture. However, practice makes perfect and practice I must.

 

I experienced other areas of Italy like the Amalfi Coast and Capri which was one of my favorite trips. The beach was gorgeous but Capri was magical. The views, the food, and the hike up the mountain was definitely my favorite. Tuscany was a close second. The country side is stunning and makes you feel like you’re a part of nature. The wineries were intricate and the workers held so much pride in their work. It was nice to see such a united community. 

Overall my study abroad experience was a trip of a life time. It was filled with adventure, friendship and knowledge. I was able to get in touch with my culture and see how other parts of the world live. Which really isn’t that different from us. It was a beautiful experience that I would recommend to all and would definitely do again if given the opportunity.