Clara Welhouse is spending her summer interning with Dr. Marina Cetkovic-Cvrjle in the Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF). Welhouse is an ACCESS STEM scholar studying biomedical science and Spanish.
Cetkovic-Cvrlje is studying the effects of yerba mate tea on glucose levels in mice in her larger research into type 1 diabetes. Yerba mate tea is known to have health benefits, and the research is looking at whether it has any effect on glucose levels.
The biomedical science and Spanish double major prepares the tea, measures glucose levels in the mouse subjects and keeps their cages clean. The internship pares well with Welhouse’s campus job working in the Experimental Animals Lab, where she cares for the animals and does odd jobs, like taking apart, oiling and re-assembling microscopes, throughout the lab.
“I’ve never even seen a mouse before this summer,” she said. “I’ve learned so much.”
In addition to animal care, Welhouse is learning about the equipment throughout the lab as she assists with cleaning and maintenance.
Welhouse is returning for her junior year at St. Cloud State this fall. As a freshman she made connections through the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Academic Collaboration and Coordination to Ensure Student Success in STEM (ACCESS STEM) scholarship program, which, in addition to helping fund their education, connects students through cohort-building activities including a first-year seminar, retreats, scholar meetings and social networking through pizza parties throughout the year.
Welhouse applied for the ACCESS STEM scholarship for financial reasons, but being in the program has made her appreciate the mentors and relationships with her fellow students she’s found in the program.
Professors Dr. Mark Petzold and Dr. Chris Kvaal have mentored her on her future career goals, and ACCESS STEM Grant Coordinator Lois Schindler coordinates group events to keep the scholarship recipients engaged and connected.
Clara Welhouse cleans a microscope as part of her student worker position in the Experimental Animals Lab at St. Cloud State.
“It’s nice having all the other students,” Welhouse said. “They make it feel like a club. … I like having all those familiar faces on campus.”
Welhouse said she is enjoying being an ACCESS STEM scholar because it forced her to access tutoring and interact with classmates in ways she otherwise may not have.
In the first year ACCESS STEM scholars are required to do tutoring hours in ISELF. Welhouse found that using the Tutoring Center as a place to stay and do her homework opened up new opportunities to get to know her professors and seek help as needed with her homework.
“Tutoring in ISELF helped me transition,” she said of moving from high school to college learning. “The course load in college is a lot heavier than in high school. It helped me transition to have all those people around and taught me how to set time aside for homework.”
Being required to dedicate a certain number of hours each week to homework helped too.
“It opened my eyes to how much workload I have and how much time it takes and needs to be set aside for it,” she said.
ACCESS STEM scholars participate in bonding activities and take classes together throughout their freshman year to connect them with others they can rely on throughout their college career.
During the tenure of the grant, the NSF-funded ACCESS STEM program will provide scholarships and support to 100 students with demonstrated financial need including Pell-grant eligible students pursing STEM majors at St. Cloud State and three Minnesota State community colleges.
A second NSF-funded program the Husky STEM Teacher Scholars will begin recruiting students this fall who are current students who are seeking a STEM teaching major. The scholarship is awarded in the last two years of a students’ program. Interested students will be asked to participate in volunteer experiences with K-12 and STEM in the fall and spring. Students participating in transfer pathways for mathematics, chemistry and physics teaching majors through St. Cloud Technical & Community College and Anoka-Ramsey Community College will also be eligible to participate in the program when they transfer to St. Cloud State. The STEM teaching program is designed to help students from diverse cultures enter the STEM teaching field. Students in the program will earn a degree in mathematics, chemistry or physics in addition to gaining their K-12 teaching credentials.
What is ACCESS STEM?
ACCESS STEM is a scholarship program funded by the National Science Foundation that provides scholarships and support to students with demonstrated financial need including Pell-grant eligible students pursuing STEM majors at St. Cloud State and three Minnesota State community colleges.
The grant is supporting academically high-achieving students with demonstrated financial need. About 75 of whom are receiving a four-year scholarship of up to $10,000 per year while attending St. Cloud State and about 60 who are receiving a two-year scholarship of up to $7,500 while attending an ACCESS community college — Anoka-Ramsey Community College, St. Cloud Technical & Community College (SCTCC) and Ridgewater College and an additional two-year scholarship if they attend St. Cloud State to pursue a four-year degree in STEM.
Learn more at https://www.stcloudstate.edu/cose/resources/scholarships/access-stem.aspx
