Waubonsee Community College student Rudolf Vierecki’s research project was selected to be presented at the Louis Stokes Midwest Center of Excellence STEM Conference in Indianapolis last month. The selection marked a major recognition of a community college science project.
The title of the project is “Analysis of Anions in Water Sources Using Ion Chromatography,” and the purpose of the experiment was to detect levels of contaminants in two lakes and two drinking water sources using anion chromatography and microwave plasma atomic emission spectroscopy.
Dr. Sheela Vemu, Instructor of Biology, was the mentoring instructor working with Vierecki on the project.
“His poster was selected for the presentation, while most of the other presentations were from four-year undergraduate institutions,” she said. “It is a great honor for a Waubonsee student to be exposed to real world science through a hands-on research experience. Those interventions in a community college setting allows students to engage in STEM fields while improving retention and overall success.”
