Thank You Faculty & Staff

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FACULTY DEDICATION

Without the help of our dedicated faculty and staff, we wouldn't be able to research the way we do. The amount of knowledge between the professors who are volunteering their time to the research project is astounding. There are four professors actively helping with the research project with over sixty years of experience collectively in fields including biology, chemistry and microbiology. This page is for them!

ERIN SHUFRO

Professor Shufro is the Division Chair of Physical Sciences at GHC. She earned her associate degree in 2007 at Monroe Community College in Monroe County, New York. She continued her college career to earn her bachelor's degree in chemistry in 2008 at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Before joining GHC in 2016, Professor Shufro was an academic coordinator at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Thank you, Professor Shufro for all the hours you dedicate to our cause. You can reach her at eshufro@highlands.edu.

STAFF DEDICATION

SAMANTHA LEWIS

Samantha Lewis is currently a student at GHC working on her bachelor's in Health Science. She hopes to continue onto a graduate program where she will major in food science, namely food biology and food chemistry. Samantha completed her internship at GHC within the Lake Allatoona Research project. She works as a student lab assistant and manager of the undergraduate research program. She is currently a part of the GHC honor's program and is working on her fourth and fifth honors projects. She is an excellent resource, so ask her ALL the questions!!!!! You can reach her at slewis@highlands.edu.

Cleaning Lab Equipment

Here, at GHC, we are so fortunate to have the amazing science labs we have and the state-of-the-art equipment we have within our facility. It is so important we take care of our equipment. Just a couple of notes of how to clean the lab equipment we'll be using for the research project. The only person who should be disposing of samples are those putting data into the spreadsheet. Please let SAMANTHA or LAUREN know if you are interested in entering data. Equipment should be cleaned with water. At most if you need to wipe out a cylinder after using it due to residue, a paper towel should do the trick. Should you need something more to clean equipment, you will use acetone. Acetone will be available in our lab sometime through the semester, but again, you really shouldn't need more than water. We really want to avoid cleaning our equipment with soap. It is very hard to clean soap off glass. Make sure to leave glassware to dry. The person who comes in the morn...

Processing Chemical Analysis Samples

Don't let the words "processing chemical analysis" overwhelm you! It is so easy once you do it a couple of times! You'll be working from memory before you know it! We will be collecting from FOUR different sites for SUMMER SEMESTER 2021 . You can find the addresses and some photos of the sites under the "SITES" tab. We are currently running SIX chemical tests on the samples. For SUMMER 2021 , we will be testing for the following: Sulfate HR (High Range) Ammonia Nitrogen HR Nitrate-Nitrogen LR (Low Range) Chlorine (FREE/TOTAL/COMBINED) pH Phosphates Each test has it's own set of very to follow instructions. You can find these instructions in the binder in the lab. They are also listed here on the website for your convenience. Check under CHEMICAL ANALYSIS INSTRUCTIONS in the drop down menu on our site to find them digitally! EXAMPLE #1 ~ SULFATE Turn on calorimeter ENTER into testing menu (it should already be highlighted) Use arrow keys to toggle (an...

Collecting Microbiology Samples

Sample Collection/Field Kit E. coli are naturally present in our guts, therefore, we have to avoid any contamination of the samples. Put on gloves (make sure the glove bag stays closed as much as possible to avoid contaminants). Wipe gloved hands with alcohol. Collect water from 1" below the surface in large bottle and pour into small bottle (SHAKE VIGOROUSLY) Label bottles with a sharpie (Please make sure the labels are readable for the data pe rson) . Once collected, samples are put on ice until the are ready to be processed at the lab. The ice ensures that any bacteria in the sample doesn't grow in the meantime. **Samples are processed within SIX hours of collection** Rinse large collecting bottle with deionized water for the next site collection (Prevent cross-contamination). Place all dirty gloves and trash in provided paper bag. Keeping the samples cold with icepacks and processing in a timely manner ensures that bacteria don't have time to gr...