Alaina Mallette went above and beyond after taking a science class at Syracuse University last semester.

Mallette, a junior geography major, took HNR 250: ‘World Waters,’ an earth sciences course taught by Donald Siegel. Mallette combined the class with volunteer work, which earned her an invitation to the 2011 Geological Society of America meeting, held Oct. 9-12.

In summer 2010, Mallette volunteered as a camp counselor through the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring Project, or the DREAM Project, she said. Mallette planned to return in summer 2011 as a counselor to the Guzmán Ariza Summer School and Camp, and she was interested in getting more involved with the organization.

‘I wanted to do a little bit more my second year with DREAM,’ Mallette said. ‘I was a counselor my first year, but I kind of wanted to bring a little more of an academic side into it and get more out of it.’

‘World Waters’ presented Mallette with the opportunity she was looking for. The class, which focuses on water quality issues and the availability of the resource, was applicable to the studies of the Dominican students at Guzmán Ariza.

‘I went to see professor Siegel about this idea to test the water quality on the river,’ Mallette said. ‘He loved the idea and told me he would kind of donate and sponsor me and get the tests kits for me and teach me how to use them and kind of develop this little environmental education module with my kids.’

With help from Siegel and support from DREAM, Mallette, along with two volunteer teachers, was able to create a curriculum on water that allowed her to perform research on the water quality, not just be a counselor. Mallette and her students went on a boat trip on the river where they collected samples, which she then analyzed.

Rachel Ottaviano, one of the volunteer science teachers and professional development coach for DREAM, said in an email that the group also planned class activities related to the sampling it did with the project.

‘For all the science classes last summer, our theme was water, so every class was connected to the water project in some way,’ said Ottaviano, who is also a K-3 English as a Second Language teacher at Prospect Hill Academy in Somerville, Mass.

Ottaviano said Mallette’s project gave students at the Guzmán Ariza Camp an opportunity to provide resources that they would not normally have access to.

Sarah Riggen, the other volunteer science teacher and professional development coach with DREAM who works in the Washington, D.C. public school system, said Mallette’s project led those planning the curriculum for the science courses to focus on water, as it is an especially relevant issue for Dominicans.

Emily MacDowell, the U.S. office manager of the DREAM Project, said though they have collaborated with a few other universities, their collaboration with Mallette has been their most significant.

‘She’s the one that’s been the most successful and has really spearheaded it without much, or any really, of our help. Her project is one of the first of its kind,’ MacDowell said.

Mallette said her favorite part of the camp was creating a demonstration with the students to show their parents what they learned.’I had them kind of re-enact their trip down the river in the boat and show their parents how to use the kits,’ Mallette said. ‘I was just so proud of them because they knew all of it. They knew everything they were saying; they knew each parameter, what each thing meant and the significance of it.’

Mallette’s project didn’t stop there. With Siegel, Mallette submitted her project to the Geological Society of America and was selected to present a poster at the annual conference in Minneapolis. She will use the project as her Honors Capstone, too.

Mallette said the support that she received from Siegel was unexpected, as she had never worked so closely with a professor.

Mallette said: ‘A lot of the stuff I learned about water quality I learned from him before I went.’

cffabris@syr.edu

Published on October 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Casey: cffabris@syr.edu | @caseyfabris