INQUIRY | SCHOLARSHIP, RESEARCH, AND CREATIVE WORK | REVIEW 2025 7 textile industry. Her work explores light-driven degradation mechanisms with the goal of informing future environmental remediation strategies. In addition to her research, Fertal has mentored 10 undergraduate students, helping them navigate the academic research environment. “Mentoring undergraduates has been a rewarding experience that reminds me every day where we all started from,” Fertal said. “I am proud of the work that I have done thus far to get to where I am currently, and I am endlessly thankful for the support I receive from my advisor and lab mates, as well as my friends and family!” Originally from Georgia, Fertal earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Columbus State University before joining Lehigh University in 2021 to pursue her doctorate. Looking ahead, she aspires to continue her research in the renewable energy sector. As part of the award, Fertal will receive a $1,500 stipend to support her participation in the Fall ACS National Meeting, where she will present her findings at the WCC/Merck symposium. She will also be recognized at the Awards Symposium Luncheon and the WCC Luncheon. Political Science Designing for Connection At the base of Bethlehem’s Fahy Bridge, nestled just behind a curtain of urban obscurity, lies a small triangle of green space that most passersby barely notice. But for Karen Beck Pooley and her environmental studies students, this unassuming patch of land— currently a little-known bus stop—has become a site for envisioning more equitable, accessible, and sustainable urban infrastructure. Pooley, professor of practice in political science and the co-director of Lehigh’s Small Cities Lab, directed a community and economic development project in Fall 2024 that offered students a rare opportunity—reimagine public transit access at the intersection of policy, design, and lived experience. Collaborating with the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA), the City of Bethlehem, and South Side community organizations, students were asked to investigate a deceptively complex question—how do we make a bus stop visible, functional, and meaningful? This site is tucked literally behind everything, Pooley notes. It sits in a park, at the edge of a dense urban area, and most Lehigh students don’t even know it exists. So, they started to brainstorm, “Well, how do we design these bus stations?” Since the Fahy Bridge stop is closest to Lehigh, LANTA gave the students free rein to think about what kind of amenities would make sense here. At the heart of the initiative was a realworld design challenge. Students were not only asked to propose infrastructure improvements, but also to understand the human barriers that shape transit use —especially among those most in need of affordable transportation options. Using fieldwork and interviews, students identified key deterrents to ridership, such as confusing pedestrian pathways and unsafe intersections. The class presented their ideas to representatives (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8) Christine Kreschollek, Science Source, Courtesy of LANTA Domenica Fertal researches photodegradation of synthetic organic dyes (above). Brightly colored fabric is dyed in a factory (left).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0OTQ5OA==