Powerhouses in Stem

Three La Salle faculty members keep students engaged and prepared through work inside the classroom and out in the field.

From left to right: Florence "Flo" Ling, Ph.D., Janet Fierson, Ph.D., and Denise Femia, Ph.D.

Degrees at La Salle University within the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas of study may have students analyzing the performance of field hockey players, problem-solving in escape rooms, and studying microbes that treat contaminated sites.

These gamified and real-world immersions are the products of three women who love seeing their students excited to learn.

La Salle Magazine talked to each professor about their current research and how they keep their students engaged and prepared for a future in STEM.

Janet Fierson, Ph.D., Mathematics: Applying math to real-world problems

Janet Fierson, Ph.D., has loved math for as long as she can remember.

A La Salle professor since 2011, Fierson was part of a team that received a grant to initiate the Philadelphia Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. Held since 2015, the annual event brings together students from local universities who can present their math research and attend sessions about careers, graduate school opportunities, and other educational topics. Her dedication was recognized in April 2024 with La Salle's Faculty Distinguished Service Award.

Fierson also initiated two areas of research within her department: Graph theory and sports analytics.

Fierson and her students partner with the Athletics Department to optimize the performance and economics of La Salle's sports teams through data.

This year, they're working with the field hockey team to understand how math can positively influence players' strength and conditioning training, injury prevention and more.

They analyze factors such as the differences in performance based on surface types (artificial turf versus grass) and the intensity of practice based on proximity to the next game.

Through a summer 2024 grant, Fierson and one of her students are continuing the next leg of research and data analysis.

"The students truly are partners in the research here," Fierson said. "They ask perceptive questions and propose creative ideas that significantly impact the direction and outcomes of the projects. Sometimes their discoveries even appear in future courses."

Denise Femia, Ph.D., Chemistry: Gamifying STEM to engage students

When Denise Femia, Ph.D., was a student, some of her chemistry professors would start the lecture stating, "Most of you won't make it through this class. Only a few have what it takes to succeed."

While Femia used their words as motivation to prove them wrong, she never wanted her students to feel that terror.

"Fear takes a toll on a person," she said.

Instead, Femia uses fun and games to teach students. She's the kind of professor who will replace worksheets with trivia games, scavenger hunts, and even an escape room. One time, she got "kidnapped", and her students had to solve chemistry problems to help her escape.

"When we're engaged in silly activities in the class, or if the students are talking about their research with me as fellow peers, I can see their confidence and comfort level," Femia, who was presented with La Salle's Presidential Teaching Award (full-time) in April 2024, said. "They feel comfortable and confident to become members of the STEM community."

Femia recently received a grant from Course Hero to design a digital-based project for students to focus on diversity, not only chemistry topics but also the researchers themselves.

"A lot of students might have an idea of chemists looking a certain way," Femia said. "I wanted them to see a variety of individuals in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, like different ways of seeing themselves in the scientists who are practicing in the field."

Florence "Flo" Ling, Ph.D., Biology, Environmental Science: 'Anyone can be a scientist'

Every summer and throughout the academic year, Flo Ling, Ph.D., invites her students-undergraduate and graduate-to collaborate on research projects.

"It's about diversifying and supporting our students," Ling said. "If our students don't feel like scientists, they might not be retained in STEM fields."

It's not just about projects: Ling prioritizes undergraduate student use of scientific instrumentation to carry out research.

This year, she proposed a grant to the National Science Foundation for instrumentation to support research projects in geology and environmental science. In March 2024, she was selected by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Program as a 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the United Kingdom.

Ling aims to make La Salle a larger interdisciplinary research center, where instrumentation is available to La Salle undergraduates, and to students from nearby schools at a discounted rate.

This could help with a current project where Ling and her students are studying how certain microbes can treat acid mine drainage sites.

Through this instrumentation, Ling, her students and other faculty members can study environmental hazards like lead contamination around Philadelphia, including effects on the surrounding plants and soil-more real-world problems that students can apply both to their course credits and resumes.

"I want people to feel like pretty much anyone can be a scientist," Ling said. "It does require a lot of work and experience, but it shouldn't feel impossible. It's an attainable accomplishment."

-Taylor Goebel