JSC Senior Presents Climate-Change Research at Professional Science Conferences

May 5, 2016

Nasser Abdel-Fatah of Randolph, VT, a senior at Johnson State College majoring in Environmental Science Analysis & Assessment, presented his research on Vermont climate change at two professional science conferences in March.

On March 5, he presented a poster on his research at the 41st Annual Northeastern Storm Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., followed by a similar presentation at a meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America in Albany on March 21.

Abdel-Fatah conducts his research under the guidance of JSC Professor Tania Bacchus, Ph.D., as part of an initiative called Research on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Lake Champlain Basin. The project, funded by Vermont EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research), examines how the interaction of climate change and land use will alter hydrological processes and nutrient transport from the landscape, the resulting impact on the health of the lake, and the implications for adaptive management strategies in response.

A 2011 graduate of Randolph High School, Abdel-Fatah is president of the Student Government Association at JSC, a member of the Vermont State College Student Association, and a founder of JSC’s “Serious About Science” Club. He is a recipient of a major science scholarship from Johnson State College for promising students majoring in biology or environmental science, which is made possible by the National Science Foundation.

Faculty-mentored student research such as Abdel-Fatah’s takes place across the curriculum at Johnson State College, located in north-central Vermont near Stowe. It is one of many high-impact practices at JSC that take students into the laboratory, the field and the community through internships, research, study away, civic engagement and other career-building opportunities.

Pictured: Johnson State College senior Nasser Abdel-Fatah displays the poster he created detailing his research at JSC on climate change in northern Vermont.