The College of Staten Island (CSI) Discovery Institute’s Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), participated in the Statewide Science and Technology research competition at the Sagamore resort located in Lake George, NY on April 6, 2002.

Four CSTEP students participated from CSI: Adebime Baruwa and Alexandra Krawics, both freshman, Oluwaseun Cole, a sophomore, and Ruth Duchatellier, a senior.

Competition was tough, with the CSI students competing against students from NYU, Cornell University, SUNY Downstate, Binghamton University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Fordham University, to name a few. This year’s event was the tenth annual hosted by Syracuse University, and brought together over 300 students from 41 colleges and universities across New York State.

The first place winner in the physical science category was CSI senior Ruth Duchatellier for her research on “Expression of Aminophospholipid Translocase in Brain-derived Cell Lines.” High School students benefit from Duchatellier’s achievements also, since she is a tutor with the Discovery Institute’s STEP program.

Duchatellier, a native of Haiti, transferred to CSI from York college. Her primary goal in life is to become an oral surgeon by working with the National Institute of Health (NIH) and their research and training programs for dental students.

The Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program is a New York state-funded program designed to increase the number of historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged undergraduate and graduate students who complete programs of study that lead to careers in scientific, technical, health-related or licensure programs.

Leonard Ciaccio, Ph.D., Co-Director of the CSI Discovery Institute and Director of CSTEP at CSI commented, “CSTEP is an especially valuable resource to the young adults of New York City, and is an investment in our future. CSTEP provides select opportunities for students, allowing them to collaborate and build upon their interdisciplinary coursework and research with CSI faculty. Ultimately, CSTEP enables the students to become leaders among the next generation of scientifically and technologically trained professionals.”

The weekend CSTEP conference consisted of student presentations of research projects and a series of workshops on such topics as “Preparing for Medical School” and “Diverse Leadership in the Next Millennium.”

During a conference address, Johanna Duncan-Portier, deputy commissioner, NYS Education Department, expressed pride in the “magnificent achievement” that she saw in the CSTEP students’ research presentations.

This year, awards for research, evaluated by teams of independent judges, were given to undergraduate students from City College of New York, Clarkson University, College of Staten Island, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Manhattanville College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY Brockport, and SUNY Stonybrook.

The CSTEP conference is part of a year-round program that provides CSTEP students with research opportunities, career-related internships, counseling, career advisement, and academic and cultural enrichment activities. The CSTEP program is funded by the New York State Education Department.

For more information visit: discovery.csi.cuny.edu

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