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Press Releases | |
May 12, 1999
Jayme Mancini of Blasdell, NY, Wins Fulbright To Study Toxins in Seals in IcelandGraduating Senior is Southampton College's 34th Fulbright Scholar in 24 Years
Contact:
Jane Finalborgo
Joe Dionisio
(516) 287 8313
Fax: (516) 283 4081Southampton, NY -- Jayme Mancini of Blasdell, NY, whose innate fascination with science began as a child in her rural upstate town, has won a 1999 Fulbright Scholarship to study toxins in grey and harbor seals at a noted research facility in Iceland.
After earning a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in English and Writing from Southampton College on May 23, she will travel to Reykjavik this August to work with Dr. Kristin Olafsdottir at the University of Iceland. For Mancini, who subscribed to Discover magazine in the sixth grade and " knew I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up," her Fulbright honor is a natural culmination of her interests.
In the past 24 years, 34 students from Southampton College of Long Island University have won Fulbright Scholarships, a remarkable number for a small institution.
Mancini's 10-month Fulbright project is of international concern, because PCBs (toxic industrial agents produced from 1929-72) have seeped into oceans and waterways since being banned in 1979. The toxins accumulate in the nervous tissue and blubber of marine organisms such as seals, then easily infiltrate food chains in areas like Iceland, where people rely on the ocean for food.
"Jayme's studies will be of importance to scientists all over the world," said Dr. Paul Forestell, Director of Southampton College's Psychobiology program. "She recognizes the truly international scope of the impacts of human-generated toxins on marine organisms."
Iceland also has cultural appeal for Mancini-- who is of Native American and Italian descent-- because she embraces her ancestry and enjoys exploring other cultures. In 1998, she spent one semester in the Friends World Program, an experiential Long Island University program of global education for social change.
"While at Friends World's Latin American Center, I learned from the native cultures," said Mancini, who studied preventive healthcare and holistic medicine with the indigenous Costa Ricans. "I realized that the philosophy of the earth as a dynamic system of energy deserving of respect has been passed down to me from my own Native American heritage."
During a 1997 internship arranged by Southampton College's Cooperative Education and Career Development Center, Mancini served as a liaison between U.S. researchers and a delegation of Russian scientists studying bioaerosols at Argonne (IL) National Laboratory.
"I had seen several U.S. students work in this research setting without success," said Dr. Maryka Bhattacharyya of Argonne National Laboratory. "The cultural differences were too great... In contrast, Jayme found a way."
Mancini's first of two co-operative education experiences was at Brookhaven National Laboratory, where she studied Environmental Chemistry as a freshman. After her sophomore year, she was at Montefiore Medical Center, where she researched molecular neurobiology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y.
"I am proud to have her representing the best among American youths in an international scientific exchange," said Dr. Fung-Chow Alex Chiu of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. "Ms. Mancini is energetic, bright, inquisitive and... fearless."
Mancini spent much of her childhood walking pensively in the rain, making huts, climbing trees, and hiking with her hand-held microscope through the 10 acres of woods around her house in Western New York. The 1995 graduate of Orchard Park (N.Y.) High School is one of five children, each of whom studies a different field of science.
"I grew up with the understanding that there were particles smaller than the ones (under) my microscope," said Mancini. "To me, everything in and on Earth is connected through continuous transfers of energy."
Among her many honors at Southampton College, Mancini has won a Writing Scholarship, an Excellence Award, an Honors Scholarship, an Extracurricular Activities Participation Scholarship, Faculty Honors, and has been a Dean's List member. She also has been a member of the College's Martial Arts Club.
After her Fulbright study, Mancini will pursue a dual degree program in Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Michigan State University.
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