December 2022 – CT State, Three Rivers

Full Scholarships Available for Nuclear Engineering Technology Program

Three Rivers Community College, the College Foundation, and Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut/Millstone Power Station are again offering 16 full scholarships for the Three Rivers Community College Nuclear Engineering Technology Degree program. The only program of its kind in New England, it is considered the best in the nation. Through classroom, laboratory, and simulator instruction, this program educates students in the theories underlying the safe operation of nuclear power generating stations. Scholarships are limited – apply NOW for students interested in beginning the program in the Fall of 2023.

The scholarships cover the full cost of tuition, books, and fees for a two-year associate degree program, starting with the Fall 2023 semester. Additionally, students receive a guaranteed $150 per month stipend during the nine-month academic year and have a twelve-week paid internship experience at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station during the summer between their first and second academic year. This gives the students the opportunity to see nuclear utility operations first hand and develop significant practical work experience.

Those opting to enter the workplace as technicians have found their education and experience in strong demand by Connecticut business and industry. Other scholarship recipients, upon completion of the program, have successfully transferred to nuclear engineering and health physics baccalaureate degree programs in the Northeast and nationally.

To learn more about the scholarship and the Nuclear Engineering Technology program curriculum, call Professor James Sherrard, Nuclear Program Chairman, at 860-215-9472. Or, visit www.threerivers.edu/nuclear to read more and complete the online application.

60th Pinning Ceremony Celebrates 45 Nursing Student Graduates

nursing class gathers for picture

On Friday, December 16, Three Rivers Community College held its sixtieth Nursing Pinning Ceremony. Hundreds of friends and family gathered to watch their loved ones take the final step in becoming nurses, a select few in the same room and others in nearby classrooms where the ceremony was broadcast live. During the ceremony, 45 nursing students of the Class of Fall 2022 received their nursing pin, marking the completion of their nursing degree and serving as a symbol of their readiness to be compassionate professional caregivers.

The students have earned an Associate of Science in Nursing. Upon completion of a licensing examination, the graduates will have earned the credential of Registered Nurse (RN).

Three Rivers graduates’ scores on the National Council Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) are consistently above the national average, with a three-year average of over 95%. Graduates also report a 98% job placement on the last three graduate surveys.

List of Nursing Graduates with their towns

Kelsey Allen-McQuade, Baltic

Jullye Amero, Waterford

Abbygayle Anderson, Chaplin

Bobbi-Jo Andrews, Storrs Mansfield

Stacey Annis, Niantic

Gregory Aurelien, New London

Soumaya Bahi, Old Lyme

Jordan Bennett, Brooklyn

Opumbir Bhinder, Waterford

Mikaela Boone, Norwich

Hannah Brewer, Dayville

Anna Cavalieri, Waterford

Patience Danso-Dapaah, Ellington

Kaylee DeFelice, Norwich

Danielle DeLay, North Grosvenordale

Devin Echle, Pawcatuck

Oneida Ewers, Old Lyme

Lauren Fiasconaro, Chaplin

Brianna Hogan, Griswold

Madison Holdmeyer, Oakdale

Benjamin Jackson, Old Lyme

Anjeza Kami, East Lyme

Lauren Kane, Westbrook

Michelle Keane-Taylor, Stafford Springs

Monique Lorenzo, Oakdale

Michaela Marshall, Danielson

Pinky Mazibuko, New London

Leah McNeir, Mystic

Lenka Minar, Pawcatuck

Korrin Minter, Preston

Vanessa Moffitt, Windham

Victoria Mott, Willington

Natalie Muller, Colchester

Vanessa Nunez, New London

Bethany Oliver, Danielson

Taylor O’Neill, Pawcatuck

Kathryn Pierre, Jewett City

Bianca Rodriguez, Willimantic

Yulia Ryder, New London

Karyn Stamper, Central Village

Rhiannon Suarez, Oakdale

Kristina Torrente, Danielson

Brittany Turner, Groton

Morgan Vanflatern, Pomfret Center

Robert Vose, Waterford

CT Community College Artists Explore Diversity in Three Rivers “Exhibition 2”

The community is invited to “Exhibition 2,” a selection of works by artists from Connecticut’s community colleges exploring themes of diversity, equity and inclusion in Three Rivers Community College’s new Diversity 365 Gallery through Dec. 12. A closing reception will be held Dec. 13 from 6-8 p.m. to meet the artists.

A visual depiction of a song.

The exhibition features two-dimensional works in a variety of media by staff and a student from Gateway, Housatonic, Manchester, Naugatuck Valley, Three Rivers and Tunxis Community Colleges.

Included in “Exhibition 2” are reduction relief prints by Naugatuck Valley Community College’s Madeeha Sheikh, created through a complex process in which sections of printing block are carved away before each new color is layered over the others. Sheikh used this process to create a five-color nonrepresentational self-portrait, “In My Room,” and her wedding image, “Shaad.” Her artist statement explains that her work explores LGBTQ+ South Asian Muslim personhood and how her self-portrait “relates to the way each person can be perceived by others as many different people, and the boundaries that exist between these identities.”

Patrick Keller, a staff member at both Three Rivers and Quinebaug Valley Community Colleges, digitally created “Colors” by visually

Sheikh’s nonrepresentational self-portrait reduction print “In My Room.”

interpreting a section from the Black Pumas’ song by the same name. Each colored rectangle represents a single musical note on the scale. The vertical length of a colored rectangle corresponds to the note’s frequency, while wider rectangles correspond to longer notes in the passage. Added to this visual interpretation, Keller repeats the pattern four times, filtering the assigned colors to represent four differences in color vision as defined by the ophthalmologic terms: trichromacy, or normal color vision; deuteranopia, a reduced sensitivity to greens; tritanopia, an inability to distinguish blues from greens; and achromatopsia, a condition which causes the color spectrum to be perceived in tones of white, gray and black. “Thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, it’s important to remember that we don’t all see the same way,” Keller wrote. “There is beauty in exploring these differences, and in recognizing that we are all much more than meets the eye. The song ‘Colors’ itself is an ode to how the diversity in the world around us is a source of joy.”.

In addition to the work of Sheikh and Keller, “Exhibition 2” includes pieces from the following artists: Elisa Eaton, Manchester Community College; Elizabeth Efenecy, Gateway Community College; David C. Jackson, Tunxis Community College; Kristin Lund, Housatonic Community College; and Ashley Thompson, Three Rivers Community College.

The Diversity 365 Gallery is located in the Three Rivers Donald R. Welter Library and is open Monday – Thursdays, 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m., and Fridays, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. when the college is open. Pieces can also be viewed in a virtual gallery available at www.threerivers.edu/diversity365.

Exhibition #3” is scheduled for the spring 2023 semester and will be an open call to artists from the CSCU community as well as to residents of Connecticut. Announcements on submission deadlines and procedures will be posted to the Diversity 365 Gallery’s webpage in December 2022.

The college is in the process of creating a permanent collection for the Diversity 365 Gallery. The selection committee will choose art for the permanent collection from exhibits one through three in spring 2023 semester. The college’s purchase of the permanent collection will be funded by Three Rivers College Foundation.

Environmental Issues Seminars – Spring 2023

Join us for fifteen free seminars on some of the biggest environmental issues challenging us today. Topics range from Water Quality in Long Island Sound, Global Climate Change in Connecticut, Natural History of Connecticut Owls, Molecular Analysis of Cannabis (Marijuana) and so many more and are taught by a range of experts in their fields. Seminars are held in room C101 at Three Rivers Community College on Wednesdays, from 6:00-8:30 p.m. Guests are encouraged to arrive promptly by 6:00 p.m.

(Note: Environmental Issues Seminar (ENV K295 and BIO 289 are the same class) can also be taken as a 3-credit college course. Call 860-215-9016 for more information.)

A full list of seminars and lecturers is included below:

25^th – Dr. John Lane, United States Geological Survey (USGS) – Water resources in the developing world: volunteering to help supply water for those without.
Feb. 1^st – Dr. Gary Robbins, Professor of Hydrogeology UConn – What we can learn from the water systems of ancient Rome.
8^th – Dr. Jordan Bishop, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) – Water quality in Long Island Sound.
15^th – Corrie Folsom-O’Keefe, Audubon Connecticut – Coastal bird conservation across Connecticut.
22^nd – Dr. Gerry Berkowitz, Professor of Plant Sciences UConn – Molecular Analysis of Trichome Development and the Cannabinoid Flowers: How to increase THC production?
1^st – Dr. James O’Donnell, Professor of Marine Science UConn, Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation(CIRCA). Global climate change abroad and in Connecticut, and what can we do about it.
8^th – Dr. Tom Meyer, Professor of Geomatics, UConn – Using GPS to reveal the secret lives of mountain lions.
22^nd – Dr. Morty Ortega, Professor Natural Recourses & Environment, UConn – Social behavior and evolution of South American Camelids.
29th – Kim Hargrave, Director of Education Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center – Natural history of owls of Connecticut.
April 5^th – Greg Bugbee and Summer Stebbins, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station – Invasive aquatic plants in Connecticut’s lakes, rivers, and ponds.
April 12^th – Hank Gruner, Author, Herpetologist, Retired VP of Programs, Connecticut Science Center, Hartford – Conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Connecticut.
April 19^th – Christian Bruckner, Professor & Head of Chemistry, UConn – A whirlwind tour through the Periodic Table of elements from an environmental chemistry Perspective.
April 26^th – Bob Russo CLA Engineers, Soil Scientist, – Sedimentation and erosion control on solar energy sites: creative solutions.
May 3^rd – William Ouimet, Associate Professor of Geography, UConn Sediment Coring Facility– Geological and environmental analysis of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands & estuaries in Connecticut.
May 10^th – Kevin Franklin, TRCC Environmental Engineering Technology Adjunct Professor, Licensed Land Surveyor – Surveying the Earth! Using GIS and drones for surveying.

Click here to see a poster of these seminars