Sarasota Livin'

Sarasota Herald Tribune article highlights Nina Caculitan

"SARASOTA -- For New College student Niña Caculitan, the easy part of her senior thesis might have been building unique molecular structures.

The Berkeley-bound student spent so many hours in the chemistry lab, some classmates wondered if she kept a cot in there. The only people she seems to know are fellow researchers.

But on Tuesday, Caculitan goes to Washington, D.C., to present her thesis to a very different crowd: Congress.

Caculitan is one of only 75 students in the nation to present her project on Capitol Hill as part of a conference sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research, a Washington-based group that promotes scientific research.

She studied how to make organic molecules that can be deposited on materials such as glass or quartz and could ultimately lead to more efficient ways of transmitting information. Organic materials are better at transmitting information because more information can be stored within them."

Yes Sarasota is more than drinking beer on the beach... we have several scientific research institutions in addition to New College, USF and Ringling School of Art.

Mote Marine has major labs devoted to Shark Research, Eco-Toxicology, Fisheries Enhancement, Coastal Ecology and Aquaculture Research and Development.

Selby Gardens

"The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens (MSBG) Research and Conservation Department is dedicated to the inventory and classification of tropical plants, with emphasis on epiphytes and the conservation of their habitats. Epiphytes are plants that live upon other plants and do not have their roots in the ground. The Gardens extensive living and preserved plant collections, and photographic and bibliographic collections provide a rich environment for conducting botanical research."