Fairfield Soprano’s Faith Guides Midlife Metamorphosis

Fairfield Soprano’s Faith 
Guides Midlife Metamorphosis:

Lia Carter overcomes 

challenges, releases CD

By Mike Lauterborn

(Posted to Fairfield.Patch.com 5/25)

© 2011. All Rights Reserved.

5/23/11

Fairfield, CT – They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Fairfield soprano Lia Carter, 49, a working singer since the age of 10, has embraced that idea, enduring health challenges that have affected both her and her family, to recently release an inspiring CD that’s a testament to the power of faith.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Carter credits her parents as her earliest musical influences. “They were both music lovers,” she said. “My dad played recordings of a wide range of music from opera to mariachi bands, while mom and I would do duets on violin as a way to get me to practice.”

In fifth grade, for playdate fun, Carter and a parochial school pal would write musicals and plays. Their teacher got a letter from a professional theater company asking if she had any particularly gifted students she could recommend for an intern program. “That was my first professional theater job, a paid spot, in a production of ‘Huckleberry Finn’”, she said. “That sparked a lifelong love of musical theater.”

All through high school, Carter performed in school musicals, always singing, in such productions as “Camelot” and “Guys and Dolls.” While an experienced performer at that point, upon graduating, she decided to go to school for communications, at the University of Dayton. “I wasn’t sure I had it in me to be an actor,” she said. “I wasn’t very happy there, but got the lead role in ‘West Side Story.’ My advisor saw the performance and basically suggested I pursue a career in the arts.”

Carter returned to Cleveland, worked with her voice teacher and landed at New York University, enrolling in musical theater, with a voice concentration. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she auditioned for major theater roles. “Peter Millrose, a fellow NYU music major who saw me in a recital, connected me with a talent manager,” she said. “It led to a lot of work, both on and off Broadway, voicework for movie soundtracks and children’s books-on-tape recordings.”

In an off-Broadway show called “Etiquette”, Carter met her husband Carroll, they married and subsequently had three children. “I stopped auditioning at that point and, while still in New York, started taking solo singing work at churches.”

In Spring 1998, the family moved to the University area in Fairfield, and while adding two more children to their brood, Carter started looking for church singing work again. “The first singing job I landed – which I continue to do today as a soloist and section leader – was at Greenfield Hill Congregational Church, under the direction of Sandra Murphy,” she said. “I sang Mozart’s ‘Alleluia’, which was appropriate for the church season of Easter.” It spurred Murphy to hire her for post-Easter services and soloist work going forward on a regular basis. At the same time, she started a studio in her home, to teach voice to children and adults.

In Summer 2005, her son Luke, 13 at the time, had come back from playing soccer in Europe and was suffering from a lot of pain in his back. “It turned out he had a spinal condition in which parts of his spine were missing – the opinion was that it was congenital,” she said. “We tried many different rehab strategies with him, to no relief. Then a cousin offered to sponsor Luke and me to go to Lourdes, France, to participate in the annual pilgrimage of the Knights and Dames of Malta, which is an international organization committed to works of charity for the sick and poor.”

Carter said, “The hope was that through faith and medical approaches, he might receive healing. I’m a very religious practicing Catholic and I was familiar with the story of Saint Bernadette uncovering a spring of healing waters in the Pyrenees, in Lourdes. When you have a child that’s suffering, you’re willing to consider any route and over we went in Spring 2006.”

The sponsoring group knew that Carter was a professional singer and, during the course of the pilgrimage, she was asked to sing at a cathedral mass. “As it was post-Easter, I once again sang ‘Alleluia’, to great reception. The pilgrimage culminated, Luke and I returned home and, miraculously, three weeks later, Luke was pain-free and went back to a normal teenager’s way of life.”

The Order of Malta asked Carter back the following year for the pilgrimmage, to serve as a soloist and member of their international choir, which she has continued to do every year since. At the same time, people in Lourdes began asking if she had a CD. “I would waive it off, not really thinking of myself as a recording artist, yet it planted a provocative seed.”

In Spring 2009, she returned to the idea of the CD, feeling it would be a necessary element of her professional development. “I called Peter Millrose, who by that time had established his own recording studio in New York, and we set a schedule to create a disk timed for release during the Spring 2010 pilgrimmage,” she said.

Re-enter the lemons. “That summer, I started developing what I knew to be Lyme Disease symptoms including fatigue, headaches and muscle weakness,” she said. “I didn’t test clearly positive for Lyme though and endured visits to many specialists. My symptoms worsened to the extent that, at a major rehearsal, I found myself unable to perform. I was literally unable to read the notes or understand the rhythms. I knew something was seriously wrong. I went back to the original doctor and insisted on being re-tested. Upon receiving a borderline positive result, I followed a course of oral antibiotics.”

Carter put the CD on hold and did the best she could to continue working. Ultimately, her condition was isolated as a case of Neurologic Lyme, which required an intravenous treatment with antibiotics for six weeks, a treatment she began the day she returned from the Lourdes pilgrimage in Spring 2010.

“I regained my strength and all my faculties and rehabilitated my body and voice,” she said. “In Fall 2010, my friend Peter attended a concert I performed at Norwalk Hospital and, afterwards, said it was time to get back on track with the CD. This past January, I started rehearsing with my accompanist and arranger, Fairfielder Barbara Mayer, and we recorded and released the CD, titled ‘Song of Devotion’, this past April. It’s a collection of sacred and secular songs for a journey of the spirit – inspirational music of all different styles from Broadway to classical.”

In reflection, Carter said, “My CD has been the fulfillment of a dream and perhaps the next step in my journey as a musician and recording artist. Music has so much power to heal and transform people. It has helped me overcome my challenges and hopefully my music will inspire others.”

For more information about Lia Carter and to order a copy of her CD, visit www.liacarter.com

Fit Kids Field Day Caps SHU Service Learning Experience

Fit Kids Field Day Caps SHU 
Service Learning Experience

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Sacred Heart University)

5/18/11

Norwalk, CT – Health lessons and exercise wrapped up in grin-driving fun.

That was the scene at Fox Run Elementary School late Wednesday afternoon May 18 as Fit Kids Field Day capped the fourth year of the highly interactive Fit Kids afterschool program delivered by Norwalk Health Department, Sacred Heart University and Norwalk Community College.

Designed to teach elementary school students about nutrition, physical activity and healthy choices, the program runs each year from January to May, with an hour-long session held twice a week. The culminating Field Day integrated some of the programming taught during the year while adding carnival-style elements that included face painting, an obstacle course, freeze dancing, arts and crafts and a food group relay. Eighty students in all, grades K-5 from Fox Run, Columbus and Cranbury elementary schools, participated in the Field Day.

Wendy Bjerke, Clinical Asst. Professor of SHU’s Exercise Science program as well as director of the university’s Wellness program, said Fit Kids has been an excellent opportunity for SHU Exercise Science undergraduates, who have served as program guides, to gain service knowledge. “They have learned about exercise programming for children, health promotion and health education, which is all within the context of my Exercise Physiology course,” she said.

Bjerke added that the collaboration with the Dept. of Health included data collection and assessment of health indicators such as Body Mass Index (BMI), performance measures and health behaviors. Program participants, for example, take a quiz pre- and post-program to determine if there has been a positive change in health attitudes and behavior. Collected data is disseminated at regional conferences that promote health and fitness.

Tim Callahan, Norwalk’s Health Director, spoke highly of the collaboration between the city and SHU. “We’ve had a partnership with SHU for several years now,” he said. “It’s been a great opportunity for their students to get involved with younger people and teach them about the impact of nutrition and physical activity,” he said. “They also serve as great role models.”

Callahan added that Bjerke, a Norwalk resident, brought SHU to the Fit Kids table, stressing its importance as a lifestyle influencer. “Kids are cooped up in school six to seven hours a day and need to have some vigorous physical activity,” he said. “By incorporating these valuable lessons at this early age, kids are more likely to become healthier, physically active adults.”

As participating SHU students had just graduated or left for summer break, students from Norwalk High School’s B.R.O.W.N. (Bears Reaching Out Within Norwalk) team, as well as volunteers from Pepperidge Farm, were on hand to help guide Field Day activities.

Pepperidge Farm’s Manjita Kulkarni said the company was glad to assist. “We’re headquartered in Norwalk and do a lot of community outreach,” she said. “We’re also all about good health.”

Of course, Bjerke was front and center amid the game stations, guiding in particular the Food Group Relay Race, one of the best integrations of health education and physical activity onsite. “This is based on the new food pyramid developed by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and Centers for Disease Control,” she said. “Children organize into teams, with names like the Kool Kiwis and Bodacious Blueberries, pick ‘foods’ at random from a container and then race across the gym to place the food in the correct food group bag. It’s a great way to reinforce their learning while they have fun and exercise at the same time.”   

YMCA: A Family Destination for Nearly 50 Years

Man About Town

YMCA: A Family Destination for Nearly 50 Years

(column for May 27 Fairfield Citizen news)

By Mike Lauterborn

5/19/11

Among the primary and longest-standing organizational anchors in Fairfield is the YMCA. Its current facility at 841 Old Post Road has served the local community for nearly 50 years. Executive Director Nick Willett met with me on a recent weekday afternoon to share some history, provide an inventory of spaces and programming, and talk about its mission.

“Initially, we were an extension of the Greater Bridgeport YMCA,” said Willett. “There was a private Victorian-style home on the current site that the Y took over, where it conducted meetings in the years 1953 to 1963 to plan the establishment of a new facility. The chairman at that time was Frederick Pope, Jr.”

In 1963, the house was razed and the new brick structure went up under the guidance of Fairfield architect William Henry Jackson and Bridgeport general contractor J. Zandonella. Completed and furnished at a cost of $615,400, the Fairfield Branch YMCA “Family Center” officially opened May 1, 1964, with a membership of 225 families.

In introductory promotional literature, the new Y was billed as a center to “meet the leisure time needs of the whole family. Mom and Dad, Sister and Brother will find programs devised to help them develop new skills, better health and keener minds… molded by Christian influences.” Membership fees were $74/yr. for an individual and $84/yr. for a family.

The initial footprint included a weight room, 25-yard four-lane pool, locker rooms and classrooms. In the 1980s, the building was expanded to include a full basketball court/gymnasium. Today, the 22,000-square-foot complex also incorporates two fitness studios, a childcare program, meeting room and outdoor playground area.

“I joined this location in Feb. 2008, essentially coming from the Westport Y and a Sr. Director position at Westport’s Camp Mahackeno,” said Willett. “I’ve always been with the Y and really grew up with the Y, as a member in a rural Illinois town. It was the only formal form of recreation in the area. I went through pretty much every program they had and my dad was a huge Y guy. I learned how to swim there, participated in Indian Guides, went to summer sleep-away camp. It formed my being, instilling in me Y principals like honesty, caring, respect and responsibility.”

Today, the Fairfield Y has over 3,000 full facility members and 7,000 community members who take advantage of specific programs. “Our goal is to listen to the community’s needs,” said Willett. “What we’ve heard is that parents want their children to learn how to swim, be healthy and to have a positive social outlet. We adapt to the changing needs of the community.”

Willett said obesity is a huge current issue, which the Y is addressing with programs like Activate America to get people fit and working out. The Y also offers youth and teen fitness classes and a swim program that attracts over 900 children to each quarterly session. To help families in need afford some of these programs, it gives out over $65,000 in financial aid.

“As well as being a health and wellness destination, the Y is a social hub offering such activities as the very popular Neon Nights which attracts kids ages 9-12 for a fun dance mixer; and free Family Fun Nights wherein families can swim and play games,” said Willett. “Our Adventure Guides program draws over 150 families for everything from pine car derbies to campouts.”

Willett said the Y serves local citizenry on so many levels. “Our new tagline is ‘For Youth Development, For Healthy Living, For Social Responsibility’, which sums up what the Y has always been about,” said Willett.

Another Man About Town excursion completed, I tumbled from the Y and sprang back into the local area to capture other key Fairfield community hubs.

Second Annual RLMS Plant Sale a Sassy Affair

Second Annual RLMS Plant Sale 
a Sassy Affair:

Plants, all natural products 

and live music featured

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Fairfield Citizen News)

5/21/11

Fairfield, CT – The sun, after a rain-soaked week, was a welcome sight for organizers of the parking lot event Saturday morning, particularly as the effort was being hosted for a good cause.

Held at Roger Ludlowe Middle School, the 2nd Annual Garden Sass Plant Sale offered not only a wide variety of plants but complementary all natural products, raffle items and live music.

“’Sass’ is a Yankee term for a home garden,” explained event co-chair Kate Carroll about the event’s origins. “With so many plant sales going on, the name stands out. We also wanted to tie into the area’s Colonial agricultural roots. I have a book called ‘Yankee Talk’ and found the term there, then went to the Fairfield Historical Society to confirm it. It stuck.”

Carroll noted that the event benefits the school’s Parent-Teacher-Student Association, helping to offset expenses related to teachers’ grants, afterschool clubs and related activities.

“We wanted to make this have some meaning,” added Carroll. “The gardening focus creates that and gets families out working in the yard together. In the farm category, we have Moorefield Herb Farm of Trumbull and Daffodil Hill Growers of Southbury.”

At the Daffodil Hill stand, Jackie and Mickey Herbert of Fairfield were buying a tray of zinnias, verbena and dahlias. “We came down to support the school’s effort by buying some needed flowers, garden vegetables and herbs. We’ve made a trip to the car already.”

Michael Coppola, 11, a Boy Scout with Troop 88 out of Fairfield Grace Methodist Church, was set up down the row and talking to Fairfielder Nicole Cassidy about square foot gardens. “It’s great for a gardener with limited space and you can put in clean soil, compost and whatever kind of vegetable or herb you’d plant in a regular garden,” he said. “We will construct them to order and sales help us fund events and outings.”

At the Moorefield stand, Fairfielder Linda Hogue was purchasing a Rainbow variety tomato plant. “I heard about the great heirloom tomatoes here and wanted to make sure to get a plant that will bear fruit in August, timed with summer barbecues.”

Onsite promoting an upcoming garden tour in Westport was Beth Davis, former chair of Bridgeport’s Mercy Learning Center, a literacy center for women. “The tour will be on Sunday, May 29 and highlights include Martha Stewart’s former garden, which is really extensive and rarely seen, and TV personality Mar Jennings’ garden. All proceeds benefit Mercy.”

In the all-natural products category, Ryan Agee was on hand with his Goatboy Soaps. “We found a market niche for this type of moisturizing soap, which works well for people with dry skin and eszema,” he said.

Beside him, Steve Dunn of Boxed Goodes, a Litchfield business, was offering spices and dried beans. “We spend a lot of time at farmers markets in the summertime as a companion to locally grown plants and produce,” he said. “Our products are all-natural and locally packaged, and are tasty enhancements to meal occasions.”

In a category by himself, Nick Toledo, 13, a Roger Ludlowe student, was seeking donations to support his Relay for Life team, The Teddy Bears. “This is in honor of Teddy Gerber, an Osborne Hill student who passed away from cancer last year,” he said. “I thought we could get support from families visiting the plant sale today.”

SHU College of Business Team to Run Ragnar Relay Race May 20-21

SHU College of Business Team to Run Ragnar Relay Race May 20-21

(for Sacred Heart University)

By Mike Lauterborn

5/9/11

Fairfield, CT – They’ll be shedding their business attire for shorts, tees and running shoes come the morning of May 20 when the celebrated New England-based race sends them into battle against other regional teams.

Calling themselves “It’s Business Time”, a group of 12, plus one alternate, from Sacred Heart University’s John F. Welch College of Business will participate in the Ragnar Relay Race Series’ 198-mile New Haven to Boston run. The Ragnar is the world’s largest relay series, with the New England event being one of 15 associated events held annually around the United States. This local series will occur over a 24-hour period, kicking off at 10 a.m. on Friday the 20th at Yale University and finishing the following morning at Harvard College.

Sean Heffron, Director of the Student Experience in SHU’s College of Business, is the team captain and recently provided some background about how the team was organized, its mission and preparation.

“Back in February, I put a call out to faculty and students that are runners in the College of Business, looking to get our members to join and expand their experiences,” he said. “I had 10 people sign up almost immediately and a full team organized within a week, along with one alternate. The latter is a student that was originally a starter, but who was on a recent Habitat for Humanity project and injured by a falling hammer. We didn’t want him subjected to rigorous training given that he had suffered a concussion.”

Heffron said that, from the start, he has been coordinating training sessions, securing vehicles, calculating race day logistics and assigning team members to specific legs according to ability. Each team member will run three legs with a leg ranging in length from 3 to 8 miles varying in difficulty. Only one runner participates at a time and two vehicles are used to transport team members, which go ahead to exchange points as a runner starts a leg. Overall, each runner will be responsible for between 12 and 20 miles.

“With all of our varied schedules, it has not been possible to train together, so we have all been doing that independently,” said Heffron. “We have met as a group on three occasions, essentially once a month, but that was to talk about progress, work out logistics, see how training is going, figure out what to pack and bring, make sure no one has any injuries and discuss vehicle plans.”

College of Business team members include alumni, a Masters student, undergraduates and even the dean of the department, Rupendra Paliwal, who is also providing the use of his minivan as one of the vehicles. The other vehicle will be a rental van. “We’re going to decorate these and give them names,” said Heffron. “We’ll be meeting next week to discuss that. We’ll also be discussing some course changes, which were a result of some major recent flooding along the race route. We need to be sure everyone is comfortable with their leg assignments.”

Heffron said his past experiences coordinating various school groups has been helpful with application to this event. “When I was at NYU, another coordinator and I organized a road trip that originated in Las Vegas, traveled to the Grand Canyon and Utah, and finished in Boulder, Colorado. It’s all about logistics,” he said.

The event serves a good cause, with all race registration fees being donated to Back On My Feet, an outreach program for homeless individuals that helps them regain their confidence and skills. The organization incorporates running into its rehabilitation program.

Besides the College of Business, three members of SHU’s Rotaract Club, the local chapter of the Rotary Club, will participate in the race, helping to direct traffic, announce runners and running times, and keep runners energized.

Heffron said the team is “definitely pumped”, though frantically trying to get through their end-of-semester responsibilities at the same time. “They are really burned out by the end of the school year,” he said. “This will be about the potential of the body, as well as the mind, highlighting the endurance and spirit of our College of Business members. It’s a great tribute to the caliber of individual we have here. They’re always willing to go above and beyond.”

Zoo Partnership Creates Unique Opportunities for SHU Pre-Vet Students

Zoo Partnership Creates Unique Opportunities for SHU Pre-Vet Students

(for Sacred Heart University)

By Mike Lauterborn

5/4/11

Fairfield, CT – You might call them Dr. Dolittle disciples as they are literally getting the opportunity to talk to the animals, walk with the animals and to even try to learn their languages.

Through a special collaboration between Sacred Heart University’s biology department and the Lionshare Zoo in Greenwich, CT, SHU students considering careers in veterinary medicine are gaining hands-on experience with exotic animals. The zoo is a private facility focused on conservation and education, owned by Marcella Leone. Set up on one part of a horse farm, the zoo houses such rare and endangered species as orangutans, cheetahs, gibbons, a Bactrian camel, giraffes and lemurs. Some of the animals were obtained by private citizens through an amnesty program, while others were zoo surplus. The zoo’s prime focus is breeding and conservation education.

“We try to get students that aren’t doing a research project to do an internship at one of many organizations with which our department has contact,” said Dr. Jennifer Mattei, associate professor of biology at the school. “We’ve had students working at Lionshare for the past five years. Their role is typically to shadow a vet who makes a weekly visit to check on animal health, and to learn about the day-to-day care of animals and operation of the facility. Some of the work also involves cleaning and painting cages.”

Mattei said that one current student, senior Jacqueline Escobar, started there as an intern a year ago and, as a step-up in her experience, was asked to pick a particular animal and design and implement an enrichment device for it, to improve its quality of life in captivity. She created a device for a giraffe – a feeding box wherein the giraffe has to undo a latch with its tongue, open a lid and reach in with its tongue to gather up an apple reward.

“There are three giraffes and each had to figure out the system on their own,” said Mattei. “The object is to create stimulation, which this did.”

Zoo director Leone was very pleased with Escobar’s success and the student has since been hired as a part-time keeper while she finishes her degree. To allow other students to have a like experience, Mattei and colleague Tom Terleph, an assistant biology professor, created and co-taught this past semester a “Zoos, Museums and Aquariums” class that incorporated the building of an enrichment device as a final project.

Two devices emerged from the class and, at the conclusion of the semester late April, they were brought down to the zoo, installed and tested to see if the animals would interact with them. One device was a rope tied across the lemur cage that was fitted with a series of plastic cups that had to be separated to gain access to a food treat. The second device was geared to the orangutans and was essentially a board through which holes had been made, with cups behind them containing honey or fruit slices. The orangutans’ challenge was to take a stick, poke it through the holes and fish out the food. Both devices achieved desirable results.

This summer, Terleph, who is also an animal behavior researcher, will work with gibbons at the zoo, recording their sounds and calls. He will be assisted by sophomore Caitlin Neary, who is just beginning her internship. Mattei says the experience will help Neary decide on the type of practice she may want to pursue in the future.”

In summary, Mattei said, “Our program provides a great way to fill the facility’s needs while our students gain onsite education. It’s a unique relationship that we have with this particular zoo and adds to the value of Sacred Heart offerings to students pursuing veterinary careers.”

Talents Displayed at SHU Research Poster Showcase

Talents Displayed at SHU Research Poster Showcase

By Mike Lauterborn

(for Sacred Heart University)

4/29/11

Fairfield, CT – Behind some very long titles tagging tabletop-placed research exhibits was a lot of hard work and a number of proud students happy to provide more information.

Hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, the 12th Annual Undergraduate Research Poster and Showcase Session was conducted early Friday afternoon April 29 in the Commons Room at Sacred Heart University’s 5151 Park Avenue campus. Twenty-five posters were exhibited, spanning nine disciplines, with 52 students participating.

“The event is an opportunity for Arts and Sciences students to present their undergraduate research, showcase or project to the greater University community,” said Marlina Slamet, chairperson of the event and a physics professor at the school. “The Arts and Sciences college includes majors in arts, science and humanities, though, in the last four years, we’ve also had participants from our neighbor college of Education and Health Professions, with entries related to athletic training and exercise science.”

Slamet said projects are judged by 12 faculty members from among the disciplines represented, who asses the quality of the poster content and a student’s ability to answer questions related to their research and findings.

“In addition to the poster awards, recognition was given to the top three of the more than a dozen entries in a Writing Across the Curriculum competition,” Slamet added.

One of the more cumbersome project titles was “Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation on the Major Cortex of a 17-year-old Male High School Football Player,” presented by Brittany Holcomb, 21, of Ansonia, CT.

The senior and double major in Athletic Training and Exercise Science boiled her project down, explaining, “The condition is a rare congenital disorder wherein the arteries attach to veins which don’t allow blood to pass through the capillary system. In this case that I’ve profiled, the football player had a helmet-to-helmet collision resulting in a concussion. He was taken to the hospital for diagnostic imaging, which revealed the cerebral disorder, then had gamma-knife radio-surgery treatment. Later, he exhibited signs of radiation necrosis, leading to left side weakness. The malformation was very large – it was surprising it wasn’t detected before.”

James Roberts, 22, a senior from North Haven, CT, said his project was about how habitat destruction affects the community structure of songbirds. “I found that juvenile songbirds are using Veteran’s Memorial Park in Bridgeport more than adult birds, as the adults recognize the park as a poor migration stopover site.”

Roberts’ project partner, Brittany Hartman, 21, added, “As ecology conservation majors, identifications of these kinds of sites will be part of our career work.”

An exhibit garnering a lot of interest was Nick Kapoor’s project, titled “Do Great Presidents Appoint Great Supreme Court Justices?”  The 20-year-old double major in Government & Politics and Mathematics, said, “I looked at different unbiased national presidential polls along with unbiased data on justices, from the past six decades, to find a correlation between the perception of the president and his justice appointees.”

Kapoor said his research was unique. “This question has never been asked at this level, so it’s a very original study,” he said. “I’m hoping to get it published in an undergraduate journal, as a jumping off point.”

Faculty member Christopher Mojcik, a biology instructor and poster judge, commented on the event in general. “This is always fun,” he said. “The students work very hard on their projects. It’s nice to see the end results and to see them professionally mannered giving their presentations.”

Mojcik said he was impressed by the breadth of topics covered given that Sacred Heart is not a huge college. “In the biology discipline, everything from molecular topics to field studies in the wild is covered,” he said. “Some of the topics are quite complex but the students do a good job of walking people through them.”

Offering another faculty perspective was Jonas Zdanys, Associate VP for Academic Affairs. “This is my third poster session,” he said. “Each year the level of quality is surpassed and the projects become increasingly relevant. Some of these areas have never been studied before and our students are leading the research. That’s important for the university’s commitment to developing research agendas with all of our students. The University aims to ensure deeper research opportunities for students. The posters are a wonderful illustration of that effort.”