SALISBURY – Catawba College has awarded Impact Funding Awards to six students for summer study. The awards were established to support student engagement in internships, research and creativity, and study-abroad opportunities. Awards range from $100 to $3,000.

The college’s current Mind Body Soul Campaign is raising money for specific college needs. It began last fall to ensure that the college is prepared to grow and retain students by providing 21st-century opportunities. To date, more than $300,000 has been raised for Student Impact Funding Awards.

Recipients of the 2019 awards are:

• Matthew Arnold, exercise science, for discovery-based research. 

Arnold received funding to study cardiovascular function with the Catawba soccer team. He will use a field test that is growing in popularity called the Manchester United Fitness Test.

The test combines short intensive runs with brief active recovery periods. Arnold’s version of the test will be conducted on 36 Division II women’s soccer athletes at Catawba. Using a combination of blood samples, oxygen consumption and more, he hopes to have a better understanding of the Manchester United Fitness Test and a way to analyze a soccer player’s fitness at any point during the season.

• Alberto Borges, environment and sustainability, for discovery-based research. 

Borges received funding to transport 7,000 native tree seedlings and 90,000 seeds from Nairobi to Mount Marasbit, a shield volcano that rises more than 5,500 feet above sea level with a forest cover of 16,000 hectares and an array of biodiversity.

This area is surrounded by dry, shadeless deserts in every direction for hundreds of miles in northern Kenya. As such, it is an important water source, provides subsistence livelihoods for communities, and is a wildlife refuge.

Human encroachment and clearance of natural vegetation for farming is threatening the area. Borges hopes his project will ensure sustainable water security for all people, flora and fauna of Marasbit County. Also, he hopes to educate and empower youths in the area to start their own tree nursery businesses to provide a personal livelihood and long-term sustainability of the forest.

• Amber Hand, sports management, for an internship and practicum. 

Hand earned an unpaid summer internship with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, a Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. Hand will be exposed to every aspect of managing a minor league team from selling tickets, pumping up the crowd, caring for the field, and event planning.

Hand said she feels this experience will clarify her future career goals.

• Jaida Henderson, psychology, for an internship and practicum. 

Henderson received a prestigious internship at Florida International University’s Center for Children and Families Summer Treatment Program. The program provides services to children with learning and behavioral conditions.

Henderson will undergo training to implement treatment strategies through daily activities, group problem-solving discussions, and social skills training. Henderson hopes the opportunity will advance her career interests, secure a letter of recommendation for graduate school, and provide a number of experiential clinical hours.

• Eleanor King, environment and sustainability, for study abroad.  

King will travel to Ankarafantsika National Park in Madagascar. Through surveys and interviews, King will work to understand viewpoints on conservation from some of the 30,000 people who live in the park.

King said her hope is to better understand and find the best way to manage the park while accommodating those who rely on the land for subsistence. The trip will be the first time she has ever traveled outside the United States and her first time running a survey-based research project.

• Jennifer Thore, therapeutic recreation, for an internship and practicum. 

Thore will complete a 14-week internship at Trinity Oaks, a retirement center and nursing home in Salisbury. The home recently implemented a recreational therapy program, and Thore will be the first student to complete an internship at the facility.

Thore will assist facilitating programs, interventions and technology implementation. The experience will give her an inside look at recreational therapy and the type of experience that will help her find a job in her field after graduation.