This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Trustee Scholarship recipient Regina Lamendella ’04 (Staten Island, N.Y.) presented her scientific research on two tributaries of a local creek this month at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science in Grantville, Pa. An abstract of her research has been published in PAS Journal.
She was among 22 Lafayette students who presented their research with faculty mentors at the conference.
A biology major, Lamendella set up water sampling stations as part of EXCEL Scholars research with Lorraine C. Mineo, lecturer in biology and laboratory coordinator. In EXCEL, students collaborate with faculty while earning a stipend.
“We measured water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and light intensity at each station and tested samples for nitrate, phosphate, aluminum, and sulfate,” Lamendella says, explaining that she visited each of the ten stations — five per tributary — at least twice each season. She discovered higher nitrate levels in the samples taken in the winter and spring, when frequent snowfall and rainfall alleviated drought conditions.
Lamendella says her presentation at the PAS meeting went very well, drawing much positive feedback from professors and students.
An environmental studies minor, Lamendella based her research on earlier studies, including one last year by Megan Rothenberger ’02, which showed that the spring waters feeding the Bushkill Creek carry twice the load of nitrate and phosphate as the main stream.
Her interest in environmental research began last spring when she took a botany course taught by Mineo. She became even more interested during the fall semester when she started her research and also took an environmental biology class taught by Nancy McCreary Waters, associate professor of biology.
“There are so many things polluting our environment,” says Lamendella. “Something needs to be done.”
Lamendella hopes to continue the work for her senior honors thesis next year, pointing out that she has already picked up a number of skills that will serve her well after graduation, when she plans on continuing her studies in environmental biology.
“I have learned so much about computer programming, how to make things look professional, how to compile data, and how to write scientifically,” she says.
Mineo says Lamendella worked hard to build those skills, as she does in nearly everything.
“Regina is a very strong student,” says Mineo, who chose Lamendella as a teaching assistant for her Biology 221 laboratory this semester because of her good record. “She’s just wonderful to work with.”
Lamendella says she has learned a great deal from Mineo, both academically and personally.
“I don’t really think I’d get an opportunity like this at a larger school,” she says. “It’s why I came to Lafayette.”
Secretary and membership chair of Delta Delta Delta sorority, Lamendella is a volunteer at the Safe Harbor homeless shelter in Eason. She served as a chemistry teaching assistant last semester and was program coordinator of the Safe Harbor program for Lafayette’s Landis Community Outreach Center last year.