Laura Cattell Noll ’09 of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and pediatrician Dr. Kelly Smucker ’09 will give a Suter Science Seminar at Eastern Mennonite University Wednesday, March 24, at 4:15 p.m. Their talk, titled “Wadi Rum, watersheds, and well child checks” will take the audience through their professional journeys and the impact of their friendship, which began their freshman year at EMU.
The sessions are free to the public, and made possible by the sponsorship of the Daniel B. Suter Endowment in Biology and the co-sponsorship of supporting programs. They will be live streamed on the EMU Facebook Page.
Noll and Smucker joke that they became fast friends as “fellow science nerds” in college, solidifying their bond over late-night chemistry write-ups in the Northlawn dorm.
Noll studied environmental science and justice, peace, and conflict studies at EMU before earning a master’s in environmental science from the University of Virginia. She coordinates the Local Leadership Workgroup of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, and has more than a decade of experience in community-based watershed restoration and stewardship.
Smucker majored in biology and minored in chemistry and history at EMU. She worked as a research assistant in microbiology at the University of Virginia, and did translational research in leukemia at Ohio State University, where she went on to earn her medical degree. Smucker completed her pediatric residency at the University of Minnesota and is now a pediatrician in Oregon.
The next seminar will be given by Eric Wengert, a doctoral candidate in the neuroscience program at the University of Virginia, on April 7.
Named in honor of long-time EMU biology professor, Daniel B. Suter (1920-2006), the Endowment in Biology was established in 1986 through the generous donations of alumni and friends and currently consists of over $1 million of invested funds. EMU hopes to double the Suter Endowment in order to more adequately support distinguished faculty and to increase scholarship aid to deserving students.