Chaminade University of Honolulu

Faculty

Dr. Kate Perrault Named 40 Under 40

Katelynn Perrault

Dr. Kate Perrault made this year’s Power List published by The Analytical Scientist. The annual Power List recognizes the great work of analytical scientists all over the world. This year’s theme, 40 under 40, celebrates rising scientists making waves in analytical science.

“I follow the Power List every year,” says Dr. Perrault. “It’s such a big honor now to be on it. To be nominated for something like this so early in my career is really meaningful.”

As a forensic scientist and an odor scientist, Dr. Perrault analyzes the chemicals released by odors, specifically the odors that law enforcement canines use to find dead bodies. Canines are our best tool to find bodies following a natural disaster, homicide or missing person alert–they latch on to the smell of a certain chemical that is released when a body decomposes.

“We wanted to understand exactly what dogs smell when they find a body,” says Dr. Perrault. “But that became a major challenge because the traditional techniques used to characterize odors weren’t good enough. My work identified better methods with newer technologies, and now I want to use those methods to study how different microbes on a body can change the odor it releases.”

Nursing Assistant Professor Awarded Scholarship

Eurina ChaCongratulations to Eurina Cha, assistant professor in the Chaminade School of Nursing, for receiving one of seven 2018 National League for Nursing (NLN) National Foundation for Nursing Education Scholarship Awards. This award is given each year to nurses who are pursuing advanced degrees to advance their careers as full-time nurse educators. Award recipients receive $8,000 to use toward a master or doctoral degree.

Eurina ChaEurina is currently in a Ph.D. program and writing her dissertation on cervical cancer perceptions, behaviors and challenges among Korean American immigrant women in Hawaii. Eurina is an Advanced Public Health nurse and has a strong passion for helping underserved populations and bringing diversity to nursing education.

She was presented with the award at the 2018 NLN Education Summit in Chicago on September 13. This year’s summit was the premiere gathering for nurse educators and celebrated 125 years of NLN leadership.

Dr. Scott Schroeder Elected to Board of Commissioners of the IACBE

Lenexa, Kansas, USA (April 2018) – At its Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on April 17-20, 2018, the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) elected new members to its Board of Commissioners.

Scott Schroeder
Dr. Scott Shroeder

The IACBE is pleased to announce that Dr. Scott Schroeder, Dean, School of Business and Communication at Chaminade University in Hawaii, was elected as a member of the Board of Commissioners of the IACBE.

The Board of Commissioners of the IACBE is the independent accreditation decision-making body of the Council and is responsible for advancing the accreditation mission of the Council.

About the IACBE – The International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE) was founded in 1997 and is nationally-recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The IACBE is the leader in mission-driven and outcomes-based programmatic accreditation in business and management education for student-centered colleges, universities, and other higher education institutions throughout the world.

The IACBE’s mission is to promote and recognize excellence in business education in institutions of higher education worldwide, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, through specialized accreditation of business programs. The IACBE has hundreds of member institutions and campuses worldwide and has accredited over 1,500 business and business-related programs in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Central America, and South America.

The IACBE’s World Headquarters are located at 11374 Strang Line Road in Lenexa, Kansas, 66215, USA.

For more information, please visit the IACBE’s website at iacbe.org.

HUMAN OR ANIMAL BONES? LECTURER CARLOS GUTIERREZ SHARES HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE WITHOUT DNA TEST

When crime scene investigators discover small bone fragments, it’s often difficult to initially determine if the remains are animal or human. Conducting a costly and time-consuming DNA analysis in a laboratory is one way to resolve the question. Or, as Chaminade University lecturer Carlos A. Gutierrez points out, a much simpler and far less expensive examination could reveal the answer on site that same day. Gutierrez specializes in forensic microanthropology, a new field of study with broad implications for crime scene investigators around the world – especially those working in economically disadvantaged countries and in small towns with limited resources. As part of his research, Gutierrez developed a bone identification technique involving polarized microscopy analysis. Carlos A. Gutierrez (NSM, Forensic Sciences)“You can get very good information and quick answers for families,” according to Gutierrez, who earned a master’s degree in Forensic Sciences from Chaminade in 2016. “If the bone fragments are from a human, you go to the next step – DNA analysis.” But if the remains are from an animal, he said, the probe can stop there. “Lots of police departments could use forensic microanthropology for crime scene investigations,” Gutierrez added. “That’s my goal – to spread the word.” Along with spreading the word among Chaminade students, Gutierrez recently presented his research and conducted workshops at the third UCENM International Forensic Sciences Conference in Honduras, and at the fifth Forensic Sciences, Law and Public Safety International Conference in Acapulco, Mexico. Before coming to Chaminade, Gutierrez served as director of a criminalistics laboratory in his native Chile, where he notably led efforts to identify victims of two massive disasters. One tragedy involved a deadly fire in 2007 at a hostel in Punta Arenas, and the other was a 2010 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the city of Constitution. Two years ago, Gutierrez and his wife Ana Acuna founded Honolulu-based True Forensic Science, LLC with guidance from the Hogan Entrepreneurs Program at Chaminade. Their company provides training, consulting and products in the forensic sciences, especially for clients in Latin American countries. Chaminade University’s Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics offers a bachelor of science degree and a minor in Forensic Sciences. Students enrolled in these programs can prepare for careers in biology, medicine, pharmacy, anthropology, criminal justice, psychology, law and other fields.

Dean Schroeder, Minister Fineisaloi, Biology Student Ignacio Receive Founders’ Week Heritage Awards

As a highlight of Founders’ Week activities at Chaminade University, Vice President for Mission and Rector Bro. Edward Brink, S.M. presented the annual Heritage Awards to faculty and staff members and a student for their continuous commitment to Marianist values.

Receiving the Chaminade Award at the Founders’ Eucharist for exhibiting “traits of openness, hospitality, graciousness and faith in a loving God” was School of Business and Communication Dean Scott Schroeder.

“Colleagues describe Scott as gracious and welcoming,” Bro. Ed said. “His openness to new ideas and suggestions points to his collaborative style of leadership.” Students who worked with Dr. Schroeder describe him as “thoughtful, caring and approachable” and able to motivate and inspire them, Bro. Ed added.

A Marianist Educational Associate since 2014, Dr. Schroeder was a postdoctoral fellow in the Management and Leadership in Education Institute at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. from UCLA, an M.B.A. from Arizona State University and a B.A. from Santa Clara University.

Dr. Schroeder donated the $250 cash award he received to the Accounting Student Scholarship Fund. This in memory of founding accounting faculty member and longtime Chaminade trustee James Wong, who attributed his success in life to the influence and hospitality of the Marianists dating back to his high school days.

Receiving the Marianist Award was Maimoa Fineisaloi, Minister for Peace and Justice with the Campus Ministry team. Bro. Ed praised her for “drawing others into the challenge of building a collaborative community, and commitment to the vision and mission of Chaminade University.”

“A nominator of Maimoa pointed to her work with the Feeding the Hungry program at Next Step Shelter as an example of her advocacy for justice,” Bro. Ed noted. “She is quiet and yet consistent in her efforts. She hopes to lead others to take action in support of those who are in need within our local community and beyond.”

Fineisaloi, who became a Marianist Educational Associate in 2014, earned a M.S. in Counseling Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology from Chaminade. She donated her cash award to the campus Micronesian Club and the Tales and Treats program, in which students read to children at community centers and provide them with nutritious snacks.

Presented with the Founders’ Award was student Vanessa Ignacio, who maintains a 3.4 Grade Point Average while majoring in Biology major and minoring in Chemistry. After graduating from Chaminade, Ignacio will attend A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri. She eventually intends to practice family medicine on the Big Island.

“One of Vanessa’s nominators referred to her as the ‘epitome of a servant leader’ and indicated that Vanessa was able to see the presence of God in the people who are part of her journey here at Chaminade,” Bro. Ed said.

“Vanessa knows that it is a privilege to journey with others towards God,” and friends describe her as “devoted, faithful, loving, caring, down-to earth, strong, independent and reliable.”

A member of the Eia Kou Makuahine Student Marianist Lay community, Ignacio serves as the Filipino Club social chair. She also served as a Vice President for Student Government and as Rectoress on the university’s Awakening Retreat.

Ignacio designated her cash award to support Campus Ministry, which has “given me priceless memories, unending joy and a lifetime family,” she said.

Religious Studies Professor Examines Ancient, Recovered Writings to Explore Life’s Big Questions

If God forgives all humans who repent their sins, would God forgive a repentant Satan?

And since Christians are commanded to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” should people in some way love the Devil and other spiritual opponents?

These profound questions are explored by Dr. Peter Steiger, a Chaminade University Associate Professor of Religious Studies, as he researches the ancient manuscripts of Didymus the Blind, an early Christian teacher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 4th Century.

This controversial theologian is the subject of Dr. Steiger’s academic paper – “(No) Sympathy for the Devil? Love of Spiritual Adversaries in the Writings of Didymus the Blind” – which he recently presented at the annual conference of the Asia-Pacific Early Christian Studies Society in Melbourne, Australia.

“Didymus was an expert on the Bible and wrote many commentaries on Old Testament books, as well as very important theological treatises on debated issues of his time,” Dr. Steiger said. “Unfortunately, 150 years after his death, his writings were judged to be too controversial, and so they were removed from monastic libraries and no longer copied.”

Fortunately, however, an unknown monk probably took several documents written by Didymus, placed them in leather-bound folios, walked down a precarious pathway into a cave near the Nile River “and just threw them on the floor,” Dr. Steiger said.

Some 1,500 years later, the dust-covered manuscripts were discovered by British soldiers as they searched for a safe place to store munitions during World War II.

“They’re kind of stumbling around in there, I’m sure, and they find this pile of books,” Dr. Steiger said. “It was pretty clear almost immediately that they were of extreme value. It’s one of the largest collections of writings from a single author from this time period that’s ever been discovered.

“It does have this sort of  ‘Indiana Jones’ scenario to it,” he added.

Given the active antiquities market in Egypt, some pages may have been torn out and sold by local people, Dr. Steiger said, while other pages were damaged by bookworms.

Much of the collection remained intact due to the arid climate, however, and British authorities eventually disseminated the long-lost manuscripts among scholars in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany for critical evaluation and preservation.

Dr. Steiger wrote his dissertation on Didymus’ commentary about the Book of Genesis, including his interpretation of the seven days of creation and banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

More recently, Dr. Steiger researched what Didymus wrote about Abraham and Job as friends of God. He also researched certain biblical figures “who were not friends of God,” notably Judas Iscariot and Satan.

When asked to name God’s enemy, people typically reply: “The Devil,” according to Dr. Steiger. But Didymus said something different.

“His claim and my paper suggest that the Devil is opposed to God, but God has no enmity toward the Devil but rather loves Satan,” Dr. Steiger pointed out. “The Devil’s real enemy is every human being.”

Does that mean humans should have at least some sympathy for the Devil?

“This is one of the ideas that originally got Didymus’ writings condemned,” Dr. Steiger noted.

“So, if I can shed some light on what he said, we may be able to have a better understanding of what it means that Christians are to love their enemies – and who those enemies really are.”