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Candidate Bios
President-Elect [duties]
Secretary [duties]
Treasurer [duties]
Board of Advisors (three positions open) [duties]
Candidate for President-Elect
- John Giroir (LA 1989, Staph 1990-1995)
Many of you may know me as Johnny G. I have served the NYSC as a staph member from 1990 through 1995 and the NYSF for ten years from 1990 through 2000. I was a 1989 delegate from Louisiana and fell in love with West Virginia and the Science Camp, as many of you have done. I moved to West Virginia to work with the NYSC and NYSF. Now, for over 13 years, I have lived in Charleston, WV — home of the NYSF and just three hours from Camp Pocahontas. I recently completed a Master of Science degree from West Virginia University and serve as Associate Executive Director of the Charleston YMCA. As President-Elect, my main focus will be to help connect more alumni to the NYSCAA and continue to strengthen the collaboration between the NYSCAA and the NYSF. Given my prior experience with the NYSC, NYSF, and understanding of many of the challenges that the NYSCAA faces in developing the alumni networks and improving services to alumni, I feel I am well-suited to serve you and the NYSCAA. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you through the NYSCAA.
Candidate for Secretary
- Terran Lane (KY 1990)
It has been a little over a year now since I was elected to the NYSCAA secretary position. It has been a fun and hectic year, in many ways. I have enjoyed working with everybody in the NYSCAA on projects from reunions to the newsletter to alumni relations. The year has flown by and, while we've gotten some of what we wanted accomplished, there is so much left to do that I don't want to give up yet! In the upcoming year, we're aiming to add some new features to the NYSCAA Web site, including an interactive calendar that will let individual alumni schedule and announce events, and support for dynamic, local-area mailing lists. We want to make it easier for NYSC alumni to get in touch with others in their areas and to schedule local reunions. We're also working on bringing a mentoring program up to speed. And, of course, there are all of the current responsibilities as well — making sure that everybody has a fantastic reunion, trying to keep everybody in touch, and coordinating with the Science Camp itself and the National Youth Science Foundation. Overall, it has been a great year and I hope to have another one working with all of you!
Candidates for Treasurer
- Grant Bromhal (WV 1990)
I was a camper from WV in 1990, and I love Science Camp! After leaving Science Camp, I got my bachelors' degrees in Civil Engineering and Mathematics at West Virginia University and moved up to Pittsburgh to get a MS and PhD from Carnegie Mellon in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since then, I've moved back to Morgantown, WV, to work for the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, where I do research related to fossil energy and environmental topics, mostly carbon sequestration (email me if you want to know more). In my spare time, I enjoy reading, hiking, biking, caving, playing the clarinet, juggling, and lots of other fun stuff we did at Science Camp.
I've had the opportunity to go back to NYSC for the past couple of years to do lectures and directed studies related to my research, and I've been able to attend a couple of the reunions in the past 5 years. That time with campers, staph, and alumni has really helped remind me just how special NYSC is and made me want to be more active in the Alumni Association. So, I'm running for Treasurer and planning to be an active participant in NYSCAA activities for this next year and beyond. I don't have experience as a financial officer; however, I do have control of our research group's budget at my current job, and I have had some experience of being Treasurer in academic societies that I belonged to when in college and grad school, so I believe that I would do a good job. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you at a reunion in the near future.
- Liwen "Lee" Mah (CA 1989)
Before starting school at Boalt Hall in Berkeley, I had the fortunate opportunity to be a Unit Leader in 2002, ten years after I had last been on Staph. Despite my high expectations, the summer surpassed those expectations. The delegates of course were as unique and inspiring as we have come to expect every year. What continues to impress me most, though, is how Staph, alumni, and the West Virginia community are perennially able to produce magic. I was gratified to discover that this group effort was as strong in 2002 as I ever remember it being.
For any group effort to succeed, trust, a shared understanding, and leadership are critical. NYSC alumni know and respect each other both as scientists and as human beings. NYSC alumni also have a shared understanding, not only of four bizarrely wonderful weeks in the woods of the Monongahela, but also of a passion for science. I hope to see the alumni association strengthen its sense of community. By building on the foundation of trust and shared understanding, we should support each others' endeavors, honor each others' achievements, stimulate each others' curiosity, and encourage the latest generation of bright minds. We should celebrate each others' lives. By continuing to provide ways for alumni to connect with each other and with camp (such as reunions), and by creating new ways too (such as blogs or conferences), the alumni association can provide an invaluable and relevant service to its members.
Candidates for Board of Advisors (BOA)
- Melanie K. Kitzan Haindfield (ND 1991)
When I applied to NYSC as a delegate from North Dakota back in 1991, I really had no idea what to expect. I didn't know I would be inspired by the lectures. I didn't know I would be challenged by the outdoor adventures. I didn't know I would make friends that would last for more than a decade. I didn't know that every time I saw a Rhododendron bush, I would hear that funny elfin Rhododendron song in my head, and shudder to remember the sprint to the showers for warm water. Yet all of these things were part of my camp experience, and all of these things have contributed to the person I am today.
There are many events of camp that still stand out in my mind — rock climbing for the first time, spending the night at the NRAO waiting for the infamous Cassiopia blip on the graph, drinking iodine cocktails before venturing out to tent camp. But more than all of these, the one thing that stands out the most is the people I met and continue to meet that are a part of the NYSC organization. It is because of these people that I would like to become more involved again.
Following my days of being a camper, I earned a B.S. and Ph.D. in biology. Then, after cleaning one too many Xenopus frog tanks, I decided to divert my career out of research and use my science-base to pursue a peripheral path. I went to law school and became a patent attorney. I now practice in the biotechnology group of a small law firm in Seattle. I still attend science meetings and continue to enjoy working with scientists from this new perspective.
I welcome the opportunity to give back to an organization that left a great impact on me. I have three young daughters of my own, so I also have a personal interest in continuing the vision of NYSC for future campers. I look forward to the chance to serve the organization that gave me such a memorable experience, as well as assist to lead it forward to continue to give other campers the same opportunity I had.
- Marzy Moertl (NE 2005)
My name is Mary Moertl, but I prefer to be called Marzy because I believe it makes me uniquely me. I attended high school at Harry A. Burke in Omaha , Nebraska and participated in numerous activities. I was privileged enough to be cofounder, co president, and coach of my fellow members of the Science Team. In 2005, I was named Nebraska's female delegate for NYSC. While I was there, I learned a lot about myself, my life, and the way I wanted to go from then on. I have spent the last year of my life in Emporia State College in Kansas . My major intent was to pursue secondary education. I learned a lot from this college, and thus decided to join the Air National Guard. This winter I will be attending Basic and Technical School to become the first female member of the Nebraska Airplane Structural Maintenance crew.
- Josh Peters (LA 1999)
As with many of us, NYSC has had a profound effect on me over a number of years. After attending camp as a delegate from Louisiana in 1999, I was fortunate enough to spend the next six summers recreating the "magic" of science camp on Staph. I have also been involved with the program outside of the summer months, helping with pre-camp preparations as an Assistant Director of the NYSC in 2004 and 2005, as well as producing multimedia reports for the NYSF. For a number of years, I also tried to remain in touch with many alumni (and close friends) from NYSC by organizing Boston-area events. Now that it is no longer possible for me to wake up "where the rhododendrons grow" every summer or to spearhead Boston mini-reunions, I would like to contribute through the Alumni Association's Board of Advisors.
Vote now! All votes must be received by 5 PM EDT on Friday, September 22, 2006.
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