December 19, 2019
From left: Chapter secretary Jose V. Lopez, Nova Southeastern University Vice President of Research and Technology Transfer Gary Margules, chapter founding member Emily Schmitt Lavin, chapter vice president Avidor Gerstenfeld, chapter president Veronica Fortino, and chapter student representative Allan Barraza celebrate at the installation ceremony of the Nova Southeastern University Sigma Xi Chapter. Not pictured is chapter treasurer Joshua Feingold.
On September 19, Sigma Xi installed its newest chapter at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ceremony celebrated the new chapter’s officers and members and showed appreciation for the support they have received from university leaders and nearby Sigma Xi chapters.
NSU osteopathic medical student Avidor Gerstenfeld, the chapter’s vice president, helped to create the new chapter. While working on a research project early in his undergraduate term with Emily Schmitt Lavin, a professor and chair of the biology department who later became a founding member of the new NSU Sigma Xi chapter, Gerstenfeld noticed that his classmates wanted more opportunities for research projects like his. Gerstenfeld and fellow osteopathic medical student, Allan Barraza, sought to bring a Sigma Xi chapter to NSU. Schmitt Lavin led these students and professor Veronica Fortino, in collaboration with NSU's vice president of Research and Technology Transfer Gary Margules, in the development of their petition.
The Sigma Xi chapter will connect and develop young researchers. It will also bring together other chapters and research communities on and off campus at NSU, which is a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution.
The chapter’s three-year plan calls for connecting students with renowned faculty, developing skills that students can use to obtain research opportunities and funding, and facilitating opportunities for professional development.
“The excitement of the local Sigma Xi chapters and the NSU research community has been amazing,” Gerstenfeld said
Updated on 12/19/2019