FALL 2017 WHERE DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION MEET VOLUME 3, NUMBER 2

THE RESEARCH CHRONICLE OF THE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS insights

Jellyfish Invasion Researchers study the toxins, tentacles and DNA of New Jersey’s newest annoyance INSIGHTS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

FROM THE DEAN contents VOLUME 3, NUMBER 2 I FALL 2017 The Creative Scientist

Stereotypes of scientists abound – but rarely does the description of “a creative type” conjure up the image of a scientist. A creative person has originality of thought and expression, and is open to transcending traditional ideas, rules and patterns to create meaningful new ideas or interpretations. Of Jellyfish course, scientists are creative! We work to put the pieces together, to ask the right questions and perform experiments that lead to more questions. Astronomer Carl Sagan once noted that, “It is the tension 6 between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected findings of science.” Invasion It is indeed these unexpected findings that nudge science forward, sometimes in small increments and Researchers study the toxins, sometimes in major “eureka” leaps. In fact, modern science has become so large and so complex that tentacles and DNA of New many of the biggest challenges require scientific teams that extend their creativity by combining fields of Jersey’s newest annoyance expertise and approaches in new ways.

College of Science and Mathematics (CSAM) scholars embrace the call to be creative and keep their minds open to the unexpected, unusual or unpredicted result. In this issue of Insights, scientists, Microbes to the Rescue mathematicians and educators explore important questions and answers, adding to the body of scientific Researchers harness healthy soil for the “greening” of 2 brownfields. knowledge that continues to evolve and change over time. Questions like: How did those tiny-but-painful insights jellyfish native to the Pacific Ocean wind up in New Jersey and just what are they packing in those little The Research Chronicle of stinging cells? How does the complex microbiological community of microscopic organisms found in The College of Science and Mathematics Connecting the Dots soil actually perform a controlling role within the entire ecosystem? How can hyperspectral imaging and 4 …from the economy to the environment super-computers keep us safer? How do we know gravitational waves exist and why should we care if we Insights is collaboratively produced by the College can’t physically feel them here on Earth? And how can we harness creativity in STEM to produce better of Science and Mathematics’ research faculty and scientists and citizens? members of the dean’s staff in an effort to broaden More Than Meets the Eye awareness and understanding of the scope and Supercomputing gives researchers a chance to “see 5 the unseen” CSAM is drawing upon its depth of creativity to address these challenges and many others. For the last relevance of the College’s research initiatives as well 16 years, CSAM was led by Robert Prezant, a creative scientific thinker in his own right, who grew the as the critical role research plays in preparing the college into one fitting of a designated national research doctoral university. Now the Provost at Southern next generation of scientists. Getting Creative in Science and Math Professors work to open students’ minds to the power Connecticut State University, Prezant leaves behind a thriving scientific community. I am proud of all our Acting Dean: 8 of creativity CSAM scholars and excited that together, we will build on our strong foundation of research, community Lora Billings involvement and academic achievement. Science Advisor: Lynn Schneemeyer Taking Geology to New Heights Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Field camp gives student researchers hands-on experience 10 in the Rocky Mountains Editor: Laura Griffin Lora Billings Listening to the Universe University Communications, Advancement Division Acting Dean Scientists proving Einstein’s theories usher in new field of College of Science and Mathematics Designer: 12 gravitational-wave astronomy Samantha Spitaletta University Communications, Advancement Division Expanding for Science Copy Editor: A renovated Mallory Hall is scheduled for opening in Robert Gano 14 fall 2018 University Communications, Advancement Division

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Biology and biochemistry professors and students have been working at the brownfield Microbes to site at Liberty State Park, transferring microbes to the soil to aid in ecosystem restoration. Restoring soil function in degraded, often soil health,” says Goodey. “High-functioning describe the ecological system in the area urban or post-industrial sites, will also restore and healthy soils will be the foundation by collaborating with Montclair State ecosystem health and plant growth, bringing upon which phytoremediation can succeed Mathematics Professor Eric Forgoston. back green areas to the state, and enabling the and healthy ecosystems can build.” the Rescue use of phytoremediation techniques to remove “The implications of this work are far contaminants from these soils. Building on Goodey and Krumins, together with Earth reaching,” says Montclair State’s Krumins. Researchers harness healthy soil for the their earlier findings, biology Professor Jennifer and Environmental Studies Professor “Not only will the work inform restoration Krumins and Biochemistry Professor Nina Mike Kruge and students Diane Hagmann practices, but also it will increase “greening” of brownfields Goodey, along with students and other faculty, and Mathew Chung, are characterizing our understanding of the health and are collaborating to develop new practices of organic contamination in the fenced area functionality of urban ecosystems.” soil microbial community “transplants” that of Liberty State Park. In the Krumins lab, may increase soil functioning and ultimately aid students Jay Singh, Fathima Idris and Since urban land cover is growing rapidly in ecosystem restoration. Jennifer Balacco are cultivating test plants globally, the often unique ecosystems ontaminated soils Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, a fence and is still heavily contaminated and characterizing microbes on the roots and communities of urban areas will be that are a legacy of is a brownfield that was once a railyard with heavy metals and unknown organic With a three-year grant of $330,000 from the of plants. Microbial characterization is also important to the health of human habitats. industrial use are often built on landfill of debris and soils from pollution. Nonetheless, in most areas the National Science Foundation, the group has being examined through a collaboration Thus, says Goodey, “this project that Ca characteristic of urban development in New York City. A portion soils behind the fence have supported a shown that microbial communities in the park’s with Valdis Krumins of Rutgers University. informs basic ecology within the context of environments. The New York metropolitan of what is now the park along the Hudson diverse successional forest. In some areas, soil can be surprisingly healthy and functional In addition, Jennifer Krumins’ students urban environments also answers questions area is such a case, but contaminated River was remediated by removing the however, the contaminated soil functions despite the presence of contaminants. collaborate heavily with Bhagashree Vaiyda, about the microbiome of these habitats and sites within it can surprisingly support a contaminated soil and replacing it with clean poorly as demonstrated by limited “The microbes in the highly functional soils a student of Goodey’s who is carrying out their stability in the face of climactic and seemingly healthy ecosystem. soil. A large portion of the park lies behind enzymatic activities and low plant cover. will be transplanted or seeded into lower- enzyme assays. In the future, the project other environmental change.” l functioning sites with the aim of increasing will develop mathematical models to Professors Jennifer Krumins and Nina Goodey contributed to this article. 2 | | 3 INSIGHTS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Connecting the Dots More Than …from the economy to the environment Meets understanding of these complex issues and the ways through which agricultural and forest- based biofuel and the bio-product industry the EyeWaiting for photo approval before starting layout can develop in a sustainable manner,” Lal says. His work presents an excellent opportunity for Supercomputing gives researchers complementary, cutting- edge research between a chance to “see the unseen” academic universities, government think tanks, and private and nonprofit simple child’s decoder toy of past sense, the use of hyperspectral imaging allows as Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) or organizations. decades was a picture that, us to “see the unseen.” higher resolution imagery collected with when covered by a sheet visible or infrared cameras. Simple computing His research portfolio A of transparent red plastic, Since joining Montclair State University in techniques are no longer suitable to support or Pankaj Lal, an Earth – especially against the includes nearly $10 revealed a hidden message – like magic. Today, 2003, Robila, with the help of his students, processing of such big data collections. and Environmental Studies backdrop of volatile oil million in grants and through hyperspectral imaging, otherwise has developed and tested a variety of new Meeting these challenges, Robila’s research professor and the associate prices, a need for energy contracts for research as hidden information can be revealed in images algorithms for hyperspectral data processing. is currently examining the use of high- director of the PSEG independence and support a principal investigator or that are important in a variety of fields, Their studies have led them to collect a performance computing for processing Institute for Sustainability for agricultural systems.” Pankaj Lal and researchers co-principal investigator including defense, agriculture, geosciences, number of image databases and identify hyperspectral data. Studies, moving toward a not only from the U.S. medicine, nanotechnology and microscopy, new applications of this technology. Robila’s F renewable energy economy Yet much remains to be learned about Department of Agriculture, but also from archaeology, conservation, food science and Computational Sensing Laboratory maintains Supported by funding from the National is the key to achieving the universal goal the economic, environmental and social the U.S. Department of Energy, New Jersey quality control, with practical applications a hyperspectral camera and a variety of light Science Foundation, Robila is currently of a sustainable and prosperous future for consequences of large-scale biofuel Department of Environmental Protection, the ranging from face recognition to monitoring sources unique to the campus and the region. developing a framework for spectral data humans and the planet. development. Lal is currently directing three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the health of crops. Through the years, students from Montclair processing on a distributed environment. This separate studies funded by the National the NSF. State and other colleges as well as local area innovative framework will start by designing As an environmental economist, Lal works Science Foundation, U.S. Department of “Hyperspectral imaging technology was high schools have collected images of faces specifications for data input formats as well to understand the economic value of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Energy, President Obama awarded Lal the prestigious developed only a few decades ago and continues (thus spearheading new research in face as integrate with current renewable spectral various aspects of environmental science respectively. His research analyzes energy Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists to grow in impact and importance,” says recognition), fruits and vegetables (as a study data sets. Next, a subset of representative problems. While conducting environmental efficiency and emissions of biofuels vis-à- and Engineers in 2017, and in 2016 Lal Computer Science Professor Stefan Robila. for ripeness and blemishes) and common processing algorithms will be designed and economics research in areas spanning vis nonrenewables and assesses the impacts received a $450,000 National Science vegetation (in studies of camouflage detection). implemented followed by the development of a bioenergy, conservation, resilience, ecosystem of grass- or wood-based biofuel industry Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Hyperspectral images (HSI) are formed web-based interface that will allow researchers management and policy, Lal and his students development. grant. A dedicated teacher, he guides and as collections of hundreds of images, each Today, HSI data sets are growing in both size to access the framework. The framework will are also tackling interdisciplinary research mentors several graduate and undergraduate corresponding to a narrow interval of energy and diversity. Satellites equipped with HSI be developed using the computer clusters questions that straddle environmental, energy Lal also investigates the potential students to help them develop into high- wavelengths. The data collected are not simply cameras regularly add time-dependent series acquired with the NSF support and housed in and economic systems. consequences on a wide range of issues, quality researchers. a detailed representation of the color intensity of images to large databases maintained by Montclair State’s data center. including impacts on poor- and minority- in the scene observed but often expands to both private and government agencies – for “Bioenergy has supported our energy needs for dominated counties in the Southern United “Receiving presidential validation of the other areas of the spectrum such as ultraviolet such things as mining and agriculture in the “By working with data produced by HSI several centuries, beginning with rudimentary States; economic consequences for forestland research we’re doing gives me added and infrared. Collected by using specialized private sector and defense and intelligence for sensors and using high-performance forms such as fuel wood to today’s more owners and farmers in the nation’s Southern confidence to continue on with my sustainable cameras, such images allow researchers and government. computing equipment able to perform large sophisticated fuels such as cellulosic ethanol,” and Midwestern states; and the broader energy and resources research, which is one of practitioners to extract minute details not amounts of computations in a short time,” explains Lal. “Cellulosic bioenergy, in implications on environmental systems. the grand challenges facing modern society,” noticeable with the naked eye or through Moreover, HSI data are also frequently says Robila, “we hope to enhance our ability to particular, presents a significant potential “My research contributes to a better says Lal. l traditional video or photo recordings. In a combined with other observations such sense and understand the world around us.” l

Professor Pankaj Lal contributed to this article. Professor Stefan Robila contributed to this article. 4 | | 5 INSIGHTS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Jellyfish Invasion Researchers study the toxins, tentacles and DNA of New Jersey’s newest annoyance

Biology Professor Paul Bologna and his students deliver tiny clinging jellyfish to Jenkinson’s Aquarium in Point Pleasant. phemeral, mostly water, and Coastal Sciences program at Montclair the clinging jellyfish. Scientifically known drifting mindlessly State. “This suggests that annual blooms may as Gonionemus vertens, this diminutive sting from this species can be so severe suggests this visitor came from the South through our seas, become a common feature in New Jersey.” hydrozoan can really pack a punch. the one New Jersey resident stung in 2016 China Sea, probably hitchhiking a ride in jellyfish are ancient and was hospitalized for three days and needed the ballast water of a container ship. treacherous creatures Gaynor says the polyps appear to be hearty According to the New Jersey Department morphine to control the pain – even though E his exposure to the tiny creature was brief. With continued funding from the New that in recent years have become a problem individuals. “It’s the polyp phase of the life of Environmental Protection, victims of in New Jersey’s bays and rivers and along cycle that persists from season to season and clinging jellyfish can suffer excruciating Jersey Department of Environmental its shores. may be the reason for the return of the jellyfish pain, muscle weakness and serious medical So called because of its proclivity for Protection, Bologna, Gaynor and their to the Shrewsbury River,” Gaynor says. problems, including kidney failure. The clinging to blades of sea grass, this quarter- research students monitored the coastal Frequent visitors to Barnegat Bay are sized jellyfish was first spotted in the waters of New Jersey throughout the familiar with the ubiquitous sea nettle, New Experts on numerous jellyfish, Gaynor and Manasquan River, in Point Pleasant, near the summer, keeping a watchful eye for both Jersey’s unofficial jellyfish. Its annoying (and Bologna have been studying jellyfish in New inlet to the canal that connects to Barnegat larval and adult forms of this unwelcome somewhat painful) stings have put a damper Jersey for years. Bay. Shortly thereafter, hundreds of clinging newcomer as they also conducted studies on recreational fun and frustrated fishermen jellyfish appeared in the Shrewsbury River in of both the clinging jellyfish and its more for decades. There have been occasional Gaynor focuses on DNA studies as well as Monmouth County. familiar, but also annoying, jellyfish Portuguese man-of-war sightings. And a investigations of jellyfish toxins aimed at cousins. tiny, clinging jellyfish, discovered last year to possible new biopharmaceutical agents. “I’ve been working in eelgrass beds in New reappeared in the 1990s. At that time, be in New Jersey by Montclair State biology Bologna looks at the ecology of jellyfish Jersey for over a decade and have never seen scientists in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, The team has set up a clinging jellyfish professors Jack Gaynor and Paul Bologna, habitats and the impact jellyfish have on other these jellyfish until last year,” says Bologna. said the clinging jellyfish seemed to be habitat in their lab. “We’ve installed a large also seems to now be calling the state home. species that inhabit New Jersey’s waters. moving south. tank with both males and females that Native to the Pacific Ocean, the clinging will breed, and produce polyps,” explains “This year’s individuals appeared to bloom In June of 2016, Gaynor, Bologna and their jellyfish first appeared in the Cape Cod So, how did this mysterious creature get Gaynor. “This is a self-propagating colony l at the same time as last year’s,” says Bologna, research students first noticed a new and area in 1894, all but vanished in the 1930s here? That’s still a mystery, but DNA that we could keep going for years.” who is also director of the Marine Biology unexpected visitor to New Jersey waters: when the eel grass died out, and then barcoding analysis in Gaynor’s laboratory Professors Paul Bologna and Jack Gaynor contributed to this article. 6 | | 7 INSIGHTS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Getting Creative in Science and Math

Professors work to open students’ minds to the power of creativity

ame a creative person. students’ preconceptions about the nature to all undergraduate students. This of science and mathematics.” scholarship program will have students It’s a good bet that the work in interdisciplinary teams pursuing a first person to come Munakata and Physics Professor Ashuwin nontraditional research project designed to to mind is a painter, a Vaidya are developing and assessing promote creativity in STEM. dancer, a musician or instructional units under a National Science perhaps a poet (unless Foundation – funded project titled Engaged “We want to put creativity at the center of the Nthe title of this article Learning through Creativity in Science education process from early on,” explains influenced you somehow). Are scientists and and Mathematics. Through these exercises, Vaidya. “Our hope is to create a network of mathematicians creative at all? or modules, students ask questions, test science and math educators who are open to assumptions, take on nonroutine approaches new ideas and different approaches – from In reality, creativity plays a huge role in the and find ways of personalizing their middle school through college.” advancement of science and mathematics. experiences. Innovation, flexibility, inquisitiveness, CMS Scholars, who will receive a modest open-mindedness – these are all traits that For example, in a module on probability, stipend, will benefit from working with students exemplify both creativity and mathematical finger paint and an inflatable globe that from other disciplines and from personalized or scientific thinking. students can toss around are used to think mentorship from faculty members and industry about how to estimate a percentage of partners. Most importantly, the CMS students “A misconception is rampant out there landmass on Earth. In this first year of will gain research experience working through

that learning science and mathematics the three-year project, Vaidya, Munakata the lens of creativity – a highly sought-after trait Mathematical Education Professor Mika Munakata (top left) and is only about memorizing, calculating, and Ceire Monahan, a doctoral student these days. Physics Professor Ashuwin Vaidya (bottom right) lead a class in practicing and arriving at a predetermined in mathematics education, are testing and creativity in science and mathematics, teaching students how correct answer,” says Mika Munakata, evaluating various modules. For more information or to apply to be a creativity shapes thinking and leads to better understanding a mathematics education professor. CMS Scholar, please visit montclair.edu/ and innovation. “So why do we encourage students to Next year, Montclair State will roll out its csam/mathematics-science-creativity. l embrace creativity as they learn science Creativity in Math and Science (CMS) and mathematics? We want to challenge Scholars program, which will be open Professors Mika Munakata and Ashuwin Vaidya contributed to this article.

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“The environment out West is perfect for in the Tetons and a whitewater raft trip “It’s definitely as much a life experience as an field geology in the summer. The scenery is down the Gallatin River near Bozeman, educational one,” Gorring says. “The physical spectacular, the weather is perfect and we Montana. The last 10 days are spent at the and mental aspects to this course can be Taking Geology to can lead students through field projects that University of Montana-Western in Dillon, difficult but the students do an excellent job start out simple and become more complex Montana, where students conduct more of handling both.” l as we go along,” says Matthew Gorring, an complex mapping projects in order to apply Professors Matthew Gorring, Joshua Galster and Gregory New Heights associate EAES professor. all their newly learned field skills. Pope contributed to this article. For a fourth consecutive year, students in EAES404 Field Geology and in EAES303 Field Geography applied their skills and knowledge for six weeks during the summer Field camp gives student researchers hands-on working in the field in an EAES summer field course. Each year, the field camp begins experience in the Rocky Mountains at the New Jersey School of Conservation, where, for the first two weeks, students focus on soil, geophysical and geomorphic skills to assess a hypothetical project of building cabins next to the local river. This summer, 12 students investigated the surface and subsurface characteristics using a variety of hydrologic and geophysical techniques including total station, flow meters, electrical resistivity and ground- penetrating radar. They submitted results of the project in the form of high-quality maps and profiles, a written summary report and an oral presentation.

For the last four weeks of the program, the students lived and worked in the Yellowstone region of and Montana, where they conducted geologic mapping projects. Working in small teams, students identified and measured the orientation of different rock units and took detailed field notes. The view of (elevation 12,805 feet) as seen from the in National Park

Final products included geologic maps, n the study of the Earth, few places compare of Earth and Environmental Studies (EAES) stratigraphic and structural cross sections, to geology field camp in the Rocky Mountains. includes visits to the Beartooth Plateau in and written summary reports. Each year, A tradition in the education of geologists Montana and Yellowstone and Grand Teton students also take a four-day tour of the and geoscientists, geology field camp gives National parks in Wyoming, as well as Stokes Beartooth Plateau and Yellowstone and undergraduate students hands-on experience State Forest in New Jersey, exposing students Grand Teton National parks. Highlights Top left: EAES majors Dominick Marrone, Victor Williams and Malek Ismail survey the in the application of their classroom and to some of the best landscapes available to include Old Faithful Geyser and the Grand research site at the New Jersey School of Conservation. Top right: 2017 Field Geology class laboratory education. The field camp course geologists when developing skills they need for Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone, a 10-mile at the Gypsum Creek site in Montana’s Pryor Mountains. Bottom: Students mapping the Ioffered by the Montclair State Department future careers or graduate studies. hike to the base of the Middle Teton Glacier complex geology at Block Mountain near Dillon, Montana. 10 | | 11 INSIGHTS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

ravitational waves – ripples in the geometry a different gravity theory). Another project of space and time – were first predicted by explores a slowly varying component of the Albert Einstein in 1916. A century later – on gravitational-wave signal called the “memory September 14, 2015 – the first detection of effect.” This provides information about a a gravitational-wave signal, produced by the nonlinear interaction in which gravitational Gmerger of two black holes, was made by a new waves themselves produce more waves. LIGO Listening to instrument called LIGO. A second black hole or future instruments should eventually observe binary merger was detected on Christmas of this phenomenon. that year and a third was observed in January of 2017. These events mark the birth of a new the Universe field, gravitational-wave astronomy. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational- wave Observatory (LIGO) is a $500 million, National Science Foundation-funded project consisting of 2.5-mile-long L-shaped interferometers separated by roughly 2,400 miles (one is located in Louisiana, the other in the state of Washington). Gravitational waves jiggle the mirrors at the ends of each “arm” of the interferometer by about 1/1000th of a proton diameter; when light from each

arm is recombined, the resulting fluctuations Lab Image Credit: Caltech/MIT/LIGO in the interference pattern allow us to infer Signal observed by each LIGO detector properties of what produced the waves. Our work at Montclair State is supported by a As more black hole mergers are detected (we National Science Foundation CAREER grant expect at least a few per year), we’ll be able to and has involved students Kevin Chen, Lita de Scientists proving answer some key questions: Did these black la Cruz, Matthew Karlson and recent graduates holes form in regions where the density of stars Goran Dojcinoski, Nicholas Drywa and Blake Einstein’s theories is low or high? How did those stars interact Moore. New faculty member Rodica Martin and evolve before they became black holes? has also recently joined our group, bringing usher in new field of Is Einstein right? Or does another theory of expertise in experimental optics. Along with gravity provide a better fit to observations. The the above projects, all students are involved in gravitational-wave LIGO group at Montclair State is helping to public outreach – including the development of make progress on these questions. soundsofspacetime.org, a website that explores astronomy the physics of gravitational waves via an analogy One important area of gravitational-wave with sound (both easily penetrate dense regions research is producing better models of merging and are produced by macroscopic motions as compact stars when their orbits are elliptical. opposed to microscopic ones). Using these models, we can understand how well LIGO can constrain the ellipticity of a What is this all good for? Simply the “pleasure binary’s orbit (which tells us about how the of finding things out” – understanding how binary formed). We are also exploring how nature works the way it does. LIGO provides Artist’s depiction of the merger of two black holes and the gravitational ellipticity can bias our measurements of the the ears that let us perceive our universe in an waves that ripple outward as the black holes spiral toward each other. binary’s masses and spins or contaminate entirely new way. l Inset: Marc Favata our tests of Einstein’s theory (by mimicking This article was written by Professor Marc Favata. 12 | | 13 Image credit: LIGO/T. Pyle Image credit: LIGO/T. College of Science and Mathematics NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID NEWARK, NJ COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS PERMIT NO. 6846 1 NORMAL AVENUE | MONTCLAIR, NJ | 07043

Expanding for Science

When the 52-year-old building expands to 43,800 square feet with the addition of a fourth floor, it will include classrooms and laboratories, faculty offices, meeting rooms and student study spaces, as well as many specialized spaces for research in areas such as image processing and systems, parallel computing and computational sensing and optics.

The building will also be life-cycle renovated to include a new heating and cooling system; plumbing and electrical A renovated Mallory Hall is scheduled to open in fall 2018. upgrades; life-safety systems replacement; environmental systems remediation; new Students returned to campus this fall to services, including several specialized flooring, ceilings and walls; and a new find the renovation of Mallory Hall in full biology research laboratories. exterior façade to match the mission style swing. With completion anticipated by of Schmitt Hall, which was its original sister summer 2018 and occupancy set for that “This facility will allow the state’s second- building. fall, the $22.2 million project will provide largest university to sustain and grow ideal new spaces for the rapidly growing high-quality, high-demand science “Our programs focus on critical and core instructional and research programs programs that are directly aligned with areas of STEM education,” notes Billings. in computer science and information the state’s needs,” says Lora Billings, “To teach these areas in the 21st century, technology as well as other College of acting dean of the College of Science and you need a 21st-century facility.” l Science and Mathematics programs and Mathematics.