Oregon State students joined other college students to help provide aid in Honduras this summer. from left to right: Karlei Forrester, Ryan Oneil, Michael from UC Riverside, Alex Braun, Brendan Brucker. (contributed photo)

A team of Oregon State students traveled to Honduras in June to help residents with medical aid and water projects. During the first week, 40 OSU students, along with a doctor and two pharmacists from OHSU, worked to provide medical relief to nearly 1,600 Hondurans as part of Oregon State Medical Brigade.

During the second week, 13 OSU students traveled to the small mountain village of Joyas de Carballo, three hours outside the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, as members of the Water Brigade Team. The village has spent the last 20 years without a working, clean water system. As a result, many villagers were getting sick.

The team worked with the local water council and helped build a new water system, including digging trenches and laying pipe for the system.

“Many blisters and sore muscles later I began to appreciate the clean running water that is so accessible in the states,” said Casey Kernan, a bioresource research major. “I had never thought about the amount of work and labor it takes to get water flowing to people who need it.”

Oregon State student Casey Kernan digs a trench for a water system in Honduras. (contributed photo)

Global Water Brigades is a movement of and professional volunteers from around the world dedicated to improving access to clean water and sanitation. Students collaborate with water experts and community leaders to create and implement new and innovative solutions to water problems. The organization currently focuses its work in 40 rural Honduran communities where it has 5-year commitments to long-term sustainable development.

~ Theresa Hogue

Vanahn Nguyen needed an outlet for her research interest, and Wanda Cranell knew where to send her, and how to support her work. (photo: Jim Folts)

Nguyen had developed an interest in research, and Crannell helped Nguyen match that interest to a new major — bioresource research — that offered hands-on learning opportunities. Crannell continued to guide Nguyen on her career path by helping her to find an undergraduate research project, working with Arup Indra in the College of Pharmacy to study skin cancer protection using antioxidants. It was an unusual research opportunity for an undergraduate.

Through this research project, Nguyen was specifically hoping to better understand the AhR receptor for melanin production to further the medical understanding of how ultraviolet light damages DNA.

“We are looking at things like why some people respond differently, how the DNA responds to UV rays, as well as searching for more methods of prevention,” Nguyen says.

Beyond helping Nguyen find a research outlet for her interests, Crannell also encouraged
Nguyen to get involved in Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), where she was recently elected regional vice president.

“Vananh is absolutely fearless,” Crannell says. “She is willing to try new things, and she is always willing to jump in with both feet in order to get involved.”

“Helping Vananh find her leadership ability has been my pleasure,” Crannell continues. “She has great leadership skills, maintains a stellar GPA and balances that with her research — to do all that is not an easy task for anyone. She got involved on campus and found herself.”

~ Tara Pistorese