The Eberly College of Science community
honors these extraordinary people

Kimberly Johnson

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

Kimberly successfully coordinated Prehealth Advising's second-annual Health Professions Expo, ensuring seamless communication with 83 vendors in a professional and welcoming manner. She effectively addressed challenges as they arose, contributing to a well-organized event, even with 18% more students and 30% more vendors in attendance than last year. The expo attracted 301 students from five Penn State campuses and all Colleges at University Park, with both vendors and students expressing satisfaction with the event’s management and the quality of their interactions. Thank you, Kimberly, for your hard work and tireless dedication to making this event such a success!

Nominator: Melissa Krajcovic

Steve Van Hook

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

I would like to nominate Steve for reinstating a physics teaching group journal club after many years of quiescence. This brings together our teaching team (faculty and staff) outside of normal work obligations to discuss innovation and insights - allowing an opportunity for everyone to share expertise and feel a valued member of the teaching team.

Nominator: Kirstin Purdy Drew

Sarah Pope

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

I have worked closely with Sarah for the past two years. She is my mentor in lab, and has been the most wonderful mentor I could have asked for, she goes above and beyond when it comes to teaching me new techniques and concepts, is flexible around my schedule, and makes me feel included, supported, and free to make mistakes and learn. During this time, I have also been able to observe Sarah’s conduct with others in the lab. For a while, there was another undergraduate student in lab under Sarah’s mentorship, and I saw that her willingness to help and teach was not exclusive to myself, but extended to others as well. She also made it a point to make sure that both of us knew how to work together as a team, and fostered a cohesive unit, rather than separate relationships with each of us. Furthermore, I frequently observe her conduct with others graduate students in the lab. It is not unusual for her to be approached by her colleagues with questions about protocols, equipment, etc.. I have never once seen her treat them with disregard or disrespect, she always makes the time to work with them and help them with their particular needs, even if this is outside of her scope of work/ outside of the scope of her own projects. I find this particularly admirable about Sarah. Additionally, I have observed her interactions with our collaborators in other laboratories. She is extremely communicative and takes projects above and beyond, finding new, unexplored directions to add to the group’s final goals. While some people are content in simply doing the bare minimum of what is asked of them, she is passionate and committed to making projects the best they can be, and puts in extra work to benefit the whole of the team. Lastly, Sarah is committed to a team’s success even after the individual members leave. For example, she has written past undergraduate student mentee’s letters of recommendation. Sarah deserves to be recognized for her tireless efforts to her many teams (mentor/mentee, greater lab, collaborators, etc.).

Nominator: Gabriella Zuccon Sindicic

Danielle Bayletts

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

Danielle has recently taken on additional responsibilities to address staffing gaps in the Dean’s Office. When asked about the extra work, she gracefully sees it as an exciting opportunity to learn and grow.

Beyond her office role, Danielle is actively involved in several college committees, including the Science Staff Advisory Council, United Way, and Eberly’s Sustainability Council, among others. She is the quiet force that ensures these committees and their events run smoothly. Danielle consistently advocates for others in everything she does. I have great respect for her and truly admire her as a colleague.

Nominator: Allyson Borger

Gabriella Zuccon Sindicic

All the above!! Goes above and beyond, Fosters an inclusive work environment, Advocates on behalf of others, Effectively communicates to support the team and manage change, and Demonstrates commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 1-12).

Gabriella is a one of a kind when it comes to being a Penn State Eberly Student. Not only is she extremely passionate about everything she does, but she goes above and beyond when doing it! Gabriella was a former Chem 112B LA and will be again next semester. She is currently a TA for Chem 110B and an Undergraduate Researcher for Dr. Amie K. Boal’s lab (which she has been doing research for since her freshman year). It would also be unfair to mention everything Gabriella does outside of Eberly College of Science as she is the current RA for the Women in Science and Engineering LLC on campus (which she was a member of 2 years ago, and a Program Assistant last year, before working her way up to RA). Within WISE, she continuously creates an inclusive and safe space for all young women in STEM.

Gabriella is involved with a lot on campus, maintains immaculate grades, and is currently preparing for the MCAT Exam. Somehow, with all this going on, she still is able to put 100% into every position she has. Within all her leadership roles, Gabi is very passionate about educating others and getting them excited about learning STEM. She does this outside of her leadership roles on a regular basis.

I have worked with Gabriella for 3 years now. As her friend and coworker, I can say she deserves much recognition for all the hard and successful work she puts into each one of her roles. Even when she is exhausted from a full day of classes and labs, she always jumps at the chance to teach others and help their learning. From personal experience, she is also an amazing mentor and teacher. When I struggled with Chemistry my freshman year, she was the best teacher I ever had and always willing to help. I have seen her do this same thing for so many other young women in STEM inside and outside classroom."

Nominator: Madison Reid

Gabriella Zuccon Sindicc

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

She constant supports her friends and those around her to do their best. She excitedly tells people like me, who are not in the major, new topics she learns and explains it to us in a way we understand. Gabriella is apart of an amazing research lab. She helps immensely in the research lab she’s in, doing her responsibilities to the best of her ability to help the team overall. Not only this, she has been an LA for Chem 112b and is currently an TA for Chem 110b, and plans to continue next semester. Over the previous summer, she volunteered at a psychiatric department and the federal university of São Paulo. Not only this, she is also a RA for a LLC here on campus, creating engaging events with impressive turnouts. She cares for all the people she interacts with, from the students in the classrooms to the residents in her halls, to her friends. She is always on top of her work and not only does it correct, but also understand why and the bigger picture. She does not lack in any area, she always does her best work, even on the smallest of tasks, both efficiently and effectively. She is an outstanding student and should definitely be recognized for all the hard work she does.

Nominator: Bronte Chitu

Lauren Dueñas

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

Lauren is extremely involved in our department's DEI efforts and recently helped organize the annual diversity luncheon, uniting the whole chemistry department in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month with good food, music, and spotlights on underrepresented scientists both at Penn State and elsewhere. Within the lab, she is always someone who advocates for others and strives to make everyone feel included. Despite her heavy research load, she has always been excited to donate her time to DEI efforts and inspires me to be more involved and advocate for what I believe in.

Nominator: Kueyoung Kim

Xiaoyi Hou

Goes above and beyond, Fosters an inclusive work environment, Advocates on behalf of others, Effectively communicates to support the team and manage change, and Demonstrates commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 1-12).

She went above and beyond her job as a Biology Lab TA, making videos for students, and volunteering her personal and research time to help other TAs (especially first-semester TAs). I am convinced the Biology lab coordinators could not have done their jobs as successfully without her. She is definitely the best TA/instructor the Biology Department has ever had and deserves to be recognized for her efforts.

Nominator: Mei-Ling Liber

Chris Nebgen

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

Sending a big kudos and thank you to Chris Nebgen, applications developer and Drupal expert in the college, for months of tedious work on the college website. He has edited and refined more than 210,000 lines of code and updated well over 120 files. While this work is unseen by most in the college, it is creating consistency as well as more security to set us all up for future, more visual success down the road.

Nominator: Heather Robbins

Cathy Lutz and Grace Donahey

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

Both Cathy and Grace continually strive for excellence. The effectively support the college and our team to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our customers. There isn't one-day that goes by that they aren't asking how they can do more to support the unit. We are a small, but mighty office! I appreciate all that they do for the me, our team and the college!

Nominator: Adrian Weaver

Kelsea Smith

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

After attending our recent University Brand Review workshop, Kelsea reached out to the communications office with a request to review a set of flyers for upcoming, fall-semester talks in the biology department. She quickly picked up the branding guidelines, and once we'd revised and approved one of the flyers, Kelsea used it to make a template that she applied to all the others, making the reviews quick and easy. Already, she's thinking ahead and applying what she's learned to improve products and processes for the long term. Kudos, Kelsea!

Nominator: Seth Palmer

Megan Holmes

Demonstrated commitment to supporting the team’s success (principles: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11)

I was referred to Megan when key donors asked for a tour of Eberly College of Science for their daughter. I thought she would just help with scheduling a tour, but instead, she went much further - arranging for time with a faculty member/advisor and providing a detailed schedule that included their other scheduled activities with the university Admissions office. Not only has she helped arrange that initial tour, but several since. She has become my 'go-to' to arrange tours for our alumni/donor's children and grandchildren, and I am grateful for her expertise and flexibility.

Nominator: Jenny Miska

Evan Yarnell

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

Evan Yarnell assisted with the logistics for the 2024 Eberly College of Science Ethics Workshop held the week of May 13-17, 2024. He helped deliver snacks and food in a timely manner to the workshop and he broke down the setup after the workshop was over.

Nominator: Stephen Schaeffer

Kelsea Smith

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

Kelsea Smith was instrumental in handling the logistics for the 2024 Eberly College of Science Ethics Workshop held May 13-17, 2024. She handled ordering snacks and food for the workshop and made sure that it was delivered to workshop, which was in separate building on campus. She also broke down the room after each day's activities were done. For this, the instructors and participants were grateful because it contributed to the success of the workshop.

Nominator: Stephen Schaeffer

Carly Sjogren

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

In her first year at Penn State and as FRI Coordinator, Carly Sjogren has gone above and beyond to make the FRI program an inclusive environment for faculty and undergraduates alike. The first thing you notice when you walk into the FRI lab teaching space is a colorful rainbow of bins, signage, and lab coats, set up during her own summer time before the fall semester began. During the first couple weeks of the semester, Carly encouraged all faculty working in FRI to consider joining the Rainbow Science Network with her and/or to set an intention to increase inclusivity in some way in each of our lab sections. Teaching assistants (TAs), who are former FRI students, were also encouraged to consider how to make the FRI teaching lab space feel more inclusive after reading some articles on evidence-based teaching. For the undergraduates in the program, Carly was regularly booked for meetings as they seemed to feel comfortable and supported by her as challenges arose during their first year of college. The list could go on. Most recently, the FRI program, which is a two-semester sequence for first-year students, culminated in a well-attended research symposium featuring undergraduate research. Carly put even more time than she already does in the weeks leading up to this event to help students and their partner faculty have success. At the research poster symposium, the vibe in the room was one of accomplishment and pride in the work accomplished together by first-year undergraduates and their partnering faculty and TA teams.

Nominator: Glenna Malcolm

Claire Harlow

Effectively communicates to support the team and manage change (principles: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7)

Claire has helped support our faculty and students through helping me interview and write letters of support for awards for them. She has also supported our Department through planning multiple awards ceremonies. Claire is always organized, proactive, and in the know!

Nominator: Philip Bevilacqua

Ed Hilvano

Goes above and beyond (principles: 4, 7, 8, 12)

Ed is the most impactful, inspiring TA I have ever had. As part of his TA responsibilities, Ed creates well-designed, challenging questions that require students to think deeply and richly about the course content. (Ed is much better at question design than I am!) Students are allowed to work on these questions during student hour sessions, where students become teachers to one another! It is truly the ultimate collaborative activity I have ever witnessed in my lecture courses. Ed has inspired me to challenge my students to the next level and beyond. Thank you, Ed, for your dedication and care for student learning. I am blessed to have you as my colleague. Kudos!

Nominator: Kate Masters