Our Students
YSU students continue to excel across the state, nation and world, helping in the fight against COVID-19, advancing women in the military and digging up the history of the region. Here’s a few of their stories:
COVID-19 research brings student national honors
Senior Biochemistry major Kira Bowman’s received national recognition for her research on extracting COVID-19 from human excrement. The project, titled “Extracting COVID-19 Virus (SARS-CoV-2) from Excrement,” placed second in the Environmental Sciences category at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Dallas. Bowman’s research was selected from among 178 academic posters presented at the conference, which attracts students, faculty and administrators from around the world.
Students earn exclusive Focus Forward Fellowships
Two YSU graduate students were among only 18 women nationwide selected to participate in the 2022 Focus Forward Fellowship, a mentoring program that helps military-connected women hone academic and career skills. Lovii Hicks, a Navy veteran, (pictured right) and Latieya Richard, a member of the Army National Guard, attended the fellowship at Purdue University, which houses the Military Family Research Institute. Richard holds a bachelor’s degree from YSU in Information Technology and is enrolled in the master’s in Computer Information Systems program at YSU. She is also currently a technology trainer at YSU. Hicks holds an associate of Arts degree from Lakeland Community College and a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from YSU. She is enrolled in the master’s in Social Work program at YSU.
Anthropology students document history of region
A group of YSU Anthropology students reached a milestone in a curation project with the Mahoning Valley Historical Society. Students in the YSU Anthropology Colloquium have volunteered 1,000 hours in an initiative to identify and catalog thousands of arrowheads and other Native American artifacts at the Society. The project is a rare opportunity for students to work in an actual curatorial environment gaining actual museum experience with an authentic artifact collection, said Tom Delvaux, instructor of Anthropology.
YSU students spend the Fall in Europe, Japan
YSU junior Carly Calderone studied at the Brussels School of Governance in Belgium in the Fall as the first recipient of the Ron Shaklee Honors Study Abroad Scholarship. Calderone was among six YSU students studying abroad during Fall semester under various scholarships. The $1,600 Shaklee scholarship was established by Ron Shaklee, professor and chair of Geography, and is given annually to a student in the YSU Honors College. Calderone is also the recipient of the Glen C. El-Hayek Scholarship, named after a 1996 Boardman High School graduate who died in Shanghai in 2011 while working for Microsoft. Other recipients of the $800 El-Hayek award are Bo Gyeong Son (France) and Samantha Sloan (Finland). YSU student Celina Mattessich will study in Japan in Spring 2023 under the El-Hayek award. Three students studied abroad in the Fall via the $4,000 Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship: Sloan (Finland), Alex Smyczynski (Japan) and Rocco Shasho (Italy).
Penguins sweep nine conference titles
The 2022 calendar-year performance by Youngstown State Athletics teams may go down as one the most successful in school history. YSU won nine conference championships – Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s Indoor Track and Field, Women’s Indoor Track and Field, Women’s Tennis, Men’s Tennis, Men’s Outdoor Track and Field, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field, Women’s Basketball and Men’s Cross Country - while having Athletes of the Year for Football, Volleyball, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Cross Country, Women’s Outdoor Track and Field and Men’s Indoor Track and Field. Additionally, Women’s Bowling, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis and Men’s Outdoor Track and Field all advanced to the NCAA Championships. More at www.ysusports.com.