Matthew Porter

Nnominated by his supervisor Marcia Wendeln, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics.

Exemplifying reliability, quality of work, initiative, professionalism, and uniqueness of contribution.

Matthew Porter began attending Wright State University in January 2007 and is completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences this fall. He was hired in the Freshman Biology Lab in the Spring 2007 and in 2 years became the most senior lab assistant. Matt continually looks for ways to improve the educational quality of the labs. He has been instrumental in creating new lab experiments and adapting them for the needs of students with disabilities. Additionally, he has taken on an informal leadership role by training new student employees, serving as a mentor for other assistants, and supervising the growing number of outreach programs for the lab. Some of these programs include the STEMM Exploring Science program for middle school students, Tech-Fest at Sinclair Community College, Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day at WSU, STEMM Summer Camp for students with disabilities, and several workshops for home-school groups. His dedication, resourcefulness, and leadership have resulted in extremely successful programs.

Matt takes initiative in several aspects of his job by improving lab equipment, fixing microscopes, designing methods to make experiments more effective, and searching on his own time to find materials that will help students' performance in the lab. A specific example of Matt's initiative is organizing a small team of student employees to re-build the Biology Department's dilapidated bird blind. He also got the group to commit to providing the labor and materials. Marcia Wendeln wrote in her nomination letter: "With some funding from the Dept. of Biological Sciences, Matt took the lead and they completely rebuilt the bird blind from only a frame, replacing the roof, walls, benches, and feeders. He brought in his own tools, picked up supplies with his car, and worked on Saturdays and evenings without pay to make sure the job was done. He also was instrumental in obtaining some donated supplies from Home Depot and Lowes. Although other students have helped with this project, we would not have a new bird blind in the WSU woods if it was not for Matt's extensive effort and long hours of dedication."

A special thanks to this year's selection committee:

• Chris Murphy Assistant Dean for Student Services College of Education and Human Services;
• Charles Long Assistant Dean for Academic Services, College of Liberal Arts;
• Evelyn Lauterbach Academic Advisor, Lake Campus.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Thank you to those supervisors who participated in this year's program and nominated their excellent student employees: