(Ashland, Ore.) — Sarah Emsley, a Southern Oregon University junior majoring in life sciences, is one of 410 recipients nationwide of the 2021 Goldwater Scholarship – a prestigious U.S. award that recognizes the research work of undergraduates in math, science and engineering.

Goldwater Scholars each receive as much as $7,500 annually for tuition, fees and room-and-board, along with national recognition for their undergraduate research. Emsley has been involved in multiple research projects at SOU, including a recent capstone in microbiology that examined the effects of dietary curcumin on the gut microbiome of fruit flies.

Biology faculty member Patrick Videau suggested last fall that Emsley should apply for the Goldwater Scholarship and – despite misgivings – she eventually agreed to undertake the rigorous, months-long process.

“Up until that point I had not thought myself a competitive enough candidate to attempt to apply for a scholarship at that level,” Emsley said. “The only other scholarship I had ever received or competed for was from my previous employer, and was designed to help me return to school.

“Throughout the application process for the Goldwater, I remained reserved in my expectations of receiving such a prestigious award. I screamed when I got the congratulatory email.”

She has since been awarded two more scholarships for next year – the Cora Styles Memorial Scholarship for $1,300 and the Osher Reentry Scholarship for $5,000.

Emsley, 29, was born in Connecticut, grew up in Sacramento as part of a career-oriented family and was working as an emergency medical technician in Medford – where she owns a townhome – when she restarted her academic career in 2019 as a part-time SOU student seeking to finish her bachelor’s degree. She now expects to graduate in June 2022 with her degree in biology and a minor in chemistry, then will move on to a doctoral program in immunology.

Her previous career as an EMT pointed her toward the study of life sciences, and her coursework and research at SOU have uncovered a career path in translational medical research – working to improve treatment and vaccine options in the fight against infectious diseases.

“The most remarkable thing about my experience at SOU is the overwhelming support by the (faculty members) in both the biology and chemistry departments,” she said. “They have gone above and beyond the call of duty to nourish my scientific explorations and invest in my personal success.

“The hands-on lab experience, opportunities to engage in academic research and one-on-one interactions are the most valuable experiences I have had, and I suspect they’re unique to SOU.”

Emsley is the first Goldwater Scholarship recipient at SOU since 2007, and one of seven this year from the state of Oregon – joining one each from Reed College and the University of Oregon, and four from Oregon State University. A total of 1,256 students from 438 colleges and universities were nominated for this year’s scholarships – no school may nominate more than four students.

“This is great recognition for SOU’s natural science programs, and their commitment to undergraduate research,” said Susan Walsh, SOU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Sarah has worked closely with our faculty on several notable research projects, and we are very proud of her achievements.”

Videau, who has mentored Emsley along with fellow biology faculty member Brie Paddock and chemistry faculty member Mark Koyack, said he is confident that she will achieve her lofty career goals.

“Sarah is an absolute joy to have in the classroom and research lab,” he said. “She approaches her work with a measured precision and thorough attention to detail that allow her to connect the dots between concepts, classes and hands-on scientific endeavors.”

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which typically awards 260 scholarships per year, partnered with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs and expanded the program by 150 scholarships this year to maintain America’s “global competitiveness and security,” according to the foundation’s website.

The application process for the Goldwater Scholarships prompts students to demonstrate their commitment to research and tighten their focus on career goals – skills they will need when applying to graduate schools and for subsequent research scholarships.

“Sarah is a great student who worked closely with Dr. Videau on research projects this past summer and fall,” said Sherry Ettlich, director of SOU’s STEM Division. “We look forward to all she has yet to accomplish in the coming year before graduating and moving on to graduate school.”

Emsley said she hopes the Goldwater Scholarship will help separate her from the competition as she heads into the application cycle this fall for graduate school programs the following year at various research universities.

“I expect that being awarded the Goldwater Scholarship will not only ensure greater financial stability during my final year at SOU, but also open doors of opportunity for my future,” she said.

The Goldwater foundation is a federally endowed agency that was created in 1986. Its scholarship program “was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics,” according to its website. “The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.”

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Southern Oregon University’s Computer Science Department received a big boost this year with the hiring of two new professors – including a new department chair who will bring an international perspective to the program.

Daniel DeFreez and Fabrizzio Alphonsus Alves de Melo Nunes Soares joined the SOU Computer Science Department for fall term, with Soares transitioning from work and life in Brazil to a new experience as head of the SOU department.

“I am very excited about (computer science) in almost everything,” Soares said. “But I am very passionate about programming courses. I love to see a student smile when they realize that they can solve a problem. That makes my day.”

Soares worked as a professor of computer science, information systems and software engineering at Universidade Federal de Goiás in Goiânia, Brazil.

His research interests include computer vision, human-computer interaction, machine learning and programming topics. He is the leader of the Pixellab group, which develops solutions for accessibility, precision agriculture and interactive systems.

“Federal universities are free (in Brazil),” Soares said. “Therefore, to enroll in a major program at the university, students are submitted to a vast selection process, which only the students with the best grades under the cap get a seat.

“This looks good in some ways because we generally have outstanding students,” he said. “However, it is terrible, because in a country with such large social differences, students from lower classes have less access to good schools, and less chance to get good enough grades to access public universities.”

Being mindful of social models, and the ways in which people are disadvantaged by them, is one of Soares’ focuses. He worked on Project Braille Écran, a system to help blind and low-vision people use touch-screen smart phones. It proposed a number of solutions, including a screen protector with braille indents.

“(Braille Écran) is one of the most motivating research projects in which I worked,” Soares said. “Because if I can help a few blind people, even a single one, I think my work will be worth it.”

That kind of mindfulness is what drew Soares to SOU.

“In the past, I used to look at advertisements for professor positions to see what universities abroad required to hire a new faculty member,” he said. “I confess that many times I was very disappointed that the universities used to advertise positions based on numbers – the number of papers published, the number of projects, the number of grants, etc. It looks like they were not hiring a human being.

“When I saw the SOU position advertised, I read it slowly, and surprisingly, the advertising said that SOU was looking for a professor who teaches, cares about students, is concerned about diversity, and so forth – so here I am!”

Soares succeeded Peter Nordquist as the department head in computer science following Nordquist’s retirement.

“I think my plan (for the department) for the short-term is to understand the U.S. culture and educational system, SOU, the (computer science) department and the community, and to start to build a participative strategic plan,” Soares said. “In the medium-term, construct changes that can reflect our new team and local community and regional industry needs.”

Joining Soares on the computer science team this academic year is DeFreez – an SOU alumnus who received his master’s degree in mathematics and computer science in 2012. He received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Oregon and his doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Davis.

“Being an SOU student was a life-changing experience for me – that’s why I came back,” DeFreez said. “SOU is a special place with a real sense of community. Some of my longest-lasting professional and personal relationships were formed while I was a student here.”

His thesis, “Android Privacy Through Encryption,” proposed a way to modify a Linux/Android disk encryption software called eCryptfs to better protect a phone’s disk memory from hackers and investigators.

“There are a wide range of scenarios, from the dissident hiding from a dictatorial regime to the prying eyes of a stalker, where the successful use of forensic techniques may inflict grave injustice upon the owner of the object of analysis,” DeFreez said in his thesis. “In the face of untoward forensic inquiry, a person has little recourse other than to prevent forensic techniques from succeeding in the first place.”

DeFreez taught in the past as an adjunct at SOU, but this is his first year as an assistant professor and full-time faculty member. He is especially excited about teaching Programming Languages, which focuses on the interplay between the languages we use to speak to computers. He’s also looking forward to a spring term elective on software security.

Story by Blair Selph, SOU Marketing and Communications student writer

Planetwalker, environmentalist, author, motivational speaker and Southern Oregon University alumnus John Francis will return to SOU on Thursday, Feb. 20, to share what he learned during several years without motorized transportation or verbal communication.

Francis’ lecture will be at 6 p.m. in the Stevenson Union’s Rogue River Room. The event is free, with a suggested donation of two non-perishable food items. Food donations and a silent auction will support the SOU Student Food Pantry and SOU’s efforts in the Governor’s State Employee Food Drive.

Francis had an epiphany when he witnessed a 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay. He felt partially responsible for the spill even as he helped scrub the beaches, birds and sea life, and he made a deeper commitment. He decided to stop using motorized vehicles and walk everywhere he needed to go.

Several months later, frustrated at the outrage that his decision to walk triggered among others, he took a vow of silence.

His non-motorized lifestyle lasted 22 years, and his silence lasted 17. During that time, Francis walked across the United States and South America, and throughout the Caribbean. He earned a bachelor’s degree at SOU (then Southern Oregon State College), a master’s degree in environmental studies at the University of Montana and a doctorate in land resources at the University of Wisconsin.

After Francis began using motorized vehicles again, he started speaking and consulting with a variety of audiences around the world. He helped the travel and tourism industry with environmental issues, served as an ethical advisor to civilian and military humanitarian operations, and encouraged diversity in traditional conservation and environmental organizations.

He spoke at the 2008 TED Conference in Monterey, California, and returned to SOU in 2012 to speak about his experiences and receive the university’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for the year.

Francis is currently an education fellow with the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., which has published his two books, “Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence,” and “The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World.”

He is also a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin, where he is a member of the board at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

His lecture this month is sponsored by SOU’s Multicultural Resource Center, Sustainability Council, Black Student Union, Environmental Science and Policy Program, and the School of Business.

Story by Blair Selph, SOU Marketing and Communications student writer