Florida Tech Student Receives Dr. Kerry Bruce Clark Scholarship in Marine Biology

MELBOURNE, FLA.—Florida Institute of Technology student and marine biology major Ann Wassick received the Dr. Kerry Bruce Clark Endowed Scholarship in Marine Biology. Wassick was publicly recognized on April 12 during the Honors Convocation in the Gleason Performing Arts Center on campus. The award is based on merit.

A senior, Wassick earned the award for her strong academic record, involvement in the laboratory of Florida Tech professor Richard Tankersley, performance in Tankersley’s class in invertebrate zoology, research presentations at professional meetings, involvement in departmental and campus organizations and vision for her career.

A distinguished student scholar, Wassick is a coordinator’s assistant in the INSTEP program. The program enables university graduate students and faculty to work with science teachers in Brevard Public Schools to develop inquiry-based lesson plans. In the Department of Chemistry, she assisted Florida Tech researcher Boris Akhremitchev by observing DNA with an atomic force microscope and helped to manage his laboratory. Wassick is also vice president and a founding member of the Florida Tech Marine Biological Society.

Wassick is a 2009 graduate of Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, Ill.

Clark, for whom the award is named, was a member of the Florida Tech biological sciences faculty from 1971 until his death in 1999. A full professor, he was named a 1996 Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in honor of his work documenting rare species of sea slugs. His research on mollusks, marine, ecology, psychological ecology and biodiversity was widely published in scientific journals.