School of STEAM

“Appreciative, humble, intelligent, and persistent—that’s Desmend Phillips,” stated Kristin Weixel, assistant director of the Upward Bound Program at Saint Francis University. Desmend is an incoming freshman in the petroleum and natural gas engineering program, but he is no stranger to Saint Francis University. He participated in the University’s Upward Bound Program where he learned about himself and his dreams, and began making them come true. The Upward Bound Program, celebrating 50 years at Saint Francis University, is a program designed to motivate and prepare students for a four-year

With a passion for politics and a love of writing, Amanda majored in communications and minored in pre-law. Her future plans include attending law school, earning her law degree, and practicing law with efforts of becoming either a judge or a political analyst. Amanda Schiavo Communications major, Pre-Law minor Class of 2016 Interning at the RNC Presenting at a National Conference Communications at SFU Pre-Law at SFU Meet Amanda Schiavo, a passionate writer with a flair for politics “Politics has been a huge part of my family life,” stated Amanda Schiavo. “Looking back to the Bush/Kerry

Ms. Dallas Mosier Chemistry and Criminal Justice Major, Class of 2016 Towanda, PA Dallas’ Story Eight-year-old Dallas Mosier wants to be a forensic scientist when she grows up. Fast forward 14 years, and you will find her still in full pursuit of her dreams. As senior at Saint Francis University, Dallas double majored in chemistry and criminal justice. While the two seem like very different fields of study, Dallas says there are more similarities than you might think. “They both focus on following the data, and I think that is what I enjoy so much,” Dallas said. “Whether it is chemistry or

For the second year in a row, students at Saint Francis University trained and conditioned dogs from the Central PA Humane Society and found them loving families and forever homes. Three different dogs, one goal This year, Saint Francis University welcomed three dogs—Neeko, Jango and Akira—to campus through the help of Central PA Humane Society member and trainer Megan Sanchez. Akira was the youngest, shyest of the three. A puppy with a lot of love to give, Akira was a six-month-old female dog. Neeko was a fun-loving, full-of-energy, three-year-old female dog, and Jango was a very relaxed and

The Environmental Engineering Department at Saint Francis University is pleased to thank Gwin Dobson & Foreman Consulting Engineers of Altoona, Pennsylvania for their generous donation of an Armfield hydraulic flume. The flume is 2.5 meters long (center) and comes with a large hydraulic workbench with pump (right). This flume will be of great teaching and research value in the department. It will provide a tool for courses such as Hydraulics & Hydrology and Fluid Mechanics in addition to student research and real class projects. Standing with the flume are nine of our thirteen Environmental

Graduating with the class of 2015 were two unordinary “students:” Maizie and JoJo. These “students” came to Saint Francis University from the Central PA Humane Society where they had been given up by previous owners. As part of a psychology course on animal behavior, a group of students guided by Dr. Stephen Gilmour, now professor emeritus of psychology, applied classroom theory in training these “hard-to-adopt” dogs. The end goal was simple: prepare both dogs to find a loving, forever home. Work hard, train hard. Four students—Ann Beliles ‘15, Anna Fielding, Nathan Herdman and Meghan Studds

Originally published in the Saint Francis University Magazine, Fall/Winter 2015. Have you ever had bread, cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut, chocolate, pickles, beer or wine? If the answer is yes, then you have tasted fermented foods and beverages. But how much do you know about the person and the process behind the flavor and texture of these types of foods and beverages? Since the beginning of time, humans have harnessed the power of fermentation to produce alcohol as well as preserve and enhance the flavor of food. Nearly one-third of all foods consumed world-wide have been fermented. As a result

Ms. Leah (Christ) Trout Biology Major , Class of 2010 Johnstown, PA Leah's Story Taking care of animals was something that always appealed to Leah (Christ) Trout. Growing up on her parents’ farm the menagerie that surrounded her included goats, cats, cows, pigs, and sheep. She enjoyed caring for all of them. Trout particularly remembers a set of kittens on the farm. They had an eye infection, so Trout would diligently medicate and wipe their infected eyes. She knew her attentiveness was helping the kittens get better. Watching the kittens get well solidified that she wanted to make her life’s

The “Real Housewives of the American Civil War” Meet Harry Olafsen, a history major at Saint Francis University. Harry first developed an interest in the Civil War through childhood trips to the Gettysburg battlefield. Combining his passions for studying war and gender studies, Harry investigated individual women’s lives during the American Civil War in order to make arguments about the “domestic war” within homes. In the antebellum period, the cult of domesticity emerged as an ideology encouraging women to be spiritually pious, domestic, submissive to male authority, and morally pure

Teaching the Second World War Meet Garrett Lucas ’15, a recent Saint Francis University history program alumnus. Garrett knew he wanted to design some kind of senior capstone project that would help him be the best high school history teacher he could be. Having a life-long interest in World War II, he realized that teaching about local community members’ involvement in that war would be a good way to help students connect to the past. For his project, Garrett visited the Cambria County Historical Society in Ebensburg (near Saint Francis University) to learn about and take pictures of guns