The Faculty
and Student Team (FaST) program is part of a memorandum of
understanding between the National Science Foundation and the
Department of Energy (DOE) that provides support for faculty and
students to perform research at DOE laboratories during the summer.
With support from the Historically Black Colleges and
Universities-Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP), University of the
Virgin Islands (UVI) faculty and student teams have worked at the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the past five years. The
scientific work being conducted is a subset of a larger effort to
develop automated radiochemical methods. Current methods for
separating and concentrating analytes for detection often involve
complex wet chemical methods. The complexity of these separation
schemes leads to relatively long sample preparation time, and
automating such methods can be intricate. This is especially true for
the separation of trivalent actinides. Sample preparation time and
ease of automation can be greatly improved by using separation media
that are highly specific for the analyte of interest. The FaST
researchers have synthesized new, modified Kläui ligands as part
of past work and will continue to work toward attaching the ligands
to a solid-based polymer support to study the efficacy of these new
materials in the binding of lanthanide and actinide ions.
One
team has published results in a peer-reviewed journal (G. J. Lumetta,
D. W. Wester, B. K. McNamara, T. L. Hubler, S. L. Latesky, C. C.
Martyr, and K. N. Richards, “A New Extraction Chromatography Resin
Containing Kläui Ligands for Application in Actinide
Separations,” Solvent Extr. Ion Exch., 2004, 22(6),
947-960). In addition, the collaborations have led to a chapter
published in the ACS Symposium Series (G.J. Lumetta, B.K. McNamara,
T.L. Hubler, D.W. Wester, J Li, S.L. Latesky; “Potential
Applications of Kläui Ligands in Actinide Separations” in
Separations for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle in the 21st Century,
Ed. by G.L. Lumetta, K. L. Nash, S. B. Clark and J.I. Friese, ACS
Symposium Series, 933, 2006). Each of the teams
have abstracts published in the DOE Journal of Undergraduate
Research. The rewards for UVI students and faculty participating
in these programs are enormous. Two past students, Cuthbert Martyr
and Jennifer Greaux, have subsequently been awarded an ORAU Office of
Civilian and Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) Fellowship and
Cuthbert Martyr, was named a UNCF-Merck Fellow his last two years at
UVI. A number of the past participants have gone on to graduate or
professional school: Cuthbert Martyr (Purdue University), Jennifer
Greaux (FIU University), Yakini Brandy (Howard University), and
Gavin-Ajani Navarro (Columbia University 3/2 Engineering Program).
Without the opportunities provided by the FaST program, these awards
would not have been possible. Most importantly, the collaborations
built as a result of the program have fostered ongoing research
collaborations throughout the academic year at UVI.
