Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC) is committed to providing a quality education for all students. Graduating senior Jessica Caldwell is a perfect example of an IUPUC student who embraced exciting, ground-breaking opportunities throughout her undergraduate career.

Jessica has been a long-term resident of Columbus, graduating high school from Columbus Signature Academy-New Tech Campus. Recently, she moved to rural Jennings County with her family.

Jessica credits her mentors, Dr. Barbara Hass Jacobus and Dr. JD Mendez, for her successes as a student at IUPUC.  She shares, “Dr. Mendez and Dr. Barbara Hass Jacobus approached me about working for them after I completed their classes. They recognized my drive and desire to learn, and they decided they could help cultivate and guide these qualities.”

Dr. Barbara Hass Jacobus is biology program coordinator and lecturer in biology at IUPUC. Dr. Jacobus shares, “Jessica has been involved in so many things at IUPUC; I have no idea how she manages to fit so much into one day and still remain at the top of her classes!  Her undergraduate research has resulted in papers and poster sessions at conferences that will no doubt be an advantage for her in her field of study. Her impact on other IUPUC students she has mentored, the Biology Club that she founded, and the research she has pioneered, will leave a lasting legacy.”

Jessica adds, “My experiences have provided me with several incredible opportunities ranging from presenting my work at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in San Francisco to my recent acceptance into a Master of Science in the Chemistry and Physics of Soft Materials program at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.”

Jessica is a member of the first cohort of students to fulfill all of their requirements for a bachelor’s degree in biology on the IUPUC campus. Jessica notes, “I have helped to advocate for the Biology program on campus, and it still amazes me that I will be one of the first students to graduate from IUPUC this May with a Biology degree.” 

Jessica has received several awards in recent weeks:

Outstanding Student Organization Leader Award
This award recognizes a student leader who provided exemplary service, commitment, and strong leadership to a student organization at IUPUC. Jessica is the founding member and President of the IUPUC Biology Club which was recognized as IUPUC’s Outstanding New Student Organization. Under Jessica’s leadership, the club has engaged students with film showings, career talks, the popular Puppy and Kitty Pageants, and conducted educational workshops at the Columbus Foundation for Youth/Boys and Girls Club.

Columbus Regional Health Outstanding Student in Science Award
Jessica is a Biology major with a 3.9+ GPA and is among the first cohort of Biology graduates to have completed their biology coursework entirely at IUPUC. She has an extensive list of accomplishments including extracurricular work in both Biology and Chemistry. She has been a student worker in the biology lab and an undergraduate teaching assistant for multiple biology courses. Jessica also conducted research in Chemistry on the properties of chitin producing a student research project, a poster presentation, a conference presentation, and even co-authored a journal article.

Office of Student Research Grant Award winner
Jessica’s research project focused on utilizing differing ratios of chitin and chitosan to attempt to lower a number of heavy metals, such as nickel and lead, in locally collected water samples. The end goal of this project is to create a water filter that purifies water in a more environmentally friendly manner. Jessica presented this research at the Indiana Academy of Science in Indianapolis in March and at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, California in April. Jessica is also the recipient of the Robert Baird and Albert Kagel Science Education Travel Fund. Jessica co-authored a paper with her mentor, Dr. JD Mendez, which will be published in the Proceeding of Indiana Academy of Science later this year.

Undergraduate Service Leadership Award
Jessica Caldwell earned this award, which recognizes students who make substantial contributions to the growth and well-being of other students and/or the larger community. Jessica has been an active campus leader at IUPUC. She has served as a Student Ambassador for three years, a role which involves promoting IUPUC and academic programs to prospective students and their families through campus tours and visits to local high schools. Her service leadership is evident through her work this year as the founding member and President of IUPUC’s first Biology Club. She spearheaded the Puppy Pageant, the club’s first fundraiser resulting in over $300. Jessica has formed community partnerships for the Biology Club, like conducting a workshop at the Columbus Foundation for Youth (FFY) designed to make science fun and accessible for youth of all ages. The club is collaborating with psychology students at IUPUC and Ivy Tech Community College on a community garden project that will tie into future FFY workshops – like teaching kids about plant life cycles by growing a pizza garden using fresh produce to make pizzas. The Biology Club, the IUPUC Business Society, and IUPUC administrators are discussing ways to renovate the stairway area, affectionately known as “The Pit,” into a garden space designed to educate people about the impact of environments on plant species. Jessica list of service accomplishments also include:

• Undergraduate teaching assistant and tutor for numerous biology courses
• Founding member and President of IUPUC’s first Biology Club including events like:

o Kitty Pageant

o Shoe drive

o Litterbox Kitty Rescue

• Field trip to Wolf Park
• Careers in Science seminar series
   

As Jessica nears graduation, she shares these reflections,

“As a Student Ambassador, I am often asked why I enjoy being a student at IUPUC. I have had a long time to think about my answer, but I still struggle to pick just one thing. At the end of the day, I usually say that my favorite thing is the people and the relationships that I have had the privilege to build. I can walk outside, struggling to carry all my stuff for a class or presentation, and can count on someone stopping to offer help. There have even been times when Vice Chancellor Hill has offered his help. If you had told me my freshman year I would work in the IUPUC biology and the chemistry labs; travel to multiple places in the country to present my research; have my request to graduate at IUPUC both acknowledged and granted; and that I would have the opportunity to travel to another country for my graduate studies I would have laughed. Yet here I am, thanks to the relationships built at IUPUC.”

Jessica goes on to say,

“I have professors and mentors who loan me books, tag me on Facebook, and help me look for unique opportunities to advance my career. I have had incredible experiences including the opportunity to create IUPUC’s first Biology Club. With the help of Dr. Hass Jacobus and my fellow students, the club holds events both on and off campus. On the back of the club t-shirt, we have a quote from Robert A. Heinlein: “Everything is theoretically impossible until it is done.” I feel that this has really encompassed my entire experience here.”

Beginning in the fall of 2017, Jessica will attend the master’s program at the Adolphe Merkle Institute, a center at the University of Fribourg in Fribourg, Switzerland, that focuses on research in soft nanomaterials.