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A student works on training a dog.

Marsden Fisher, SIU Carbondale’s 2025 Student Lincoln Laureate and an aspiring veterinarian, rewards her dog, Echo, a German shepherd mix, to train her on proprioception, or the body’s ability to sense its own position and movements in space. This technique teaches the dog to engage the hind legs separately, which improves core strength and balance. Erin Perry¸ an SIU animal science professor and Fisher’s mentor, looks on. (Photos by Russell Bailey)

SIU’s 2025 Lincoln Laureate seeks to help people by helping animals

If you try to keep pace with Marsden Fisher, bring good boots and an even better planner. In the past year alone, the Southern Illinois University Carbondale senior has co-captained an Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team, revived a sustainability organization that now stewards a campus butterfly garden, and maintained a 4.0 GPA in a demanding zoology major with a pre-veterinary specialization. Add to that her contributions to SIU’s canine sciences research program.

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3D printing lab

SIU researcher aims to make 3D-printed metal parts more robust — and strengthen trust in the tech

To many, 3D printing evokes images of desktop gadgets spitting out plastic trinkets. In reality, additive manufacturing (AM) now builds metal components for aircraft engines, medical devices and other intricate parts not easily made with traditional methods. The catch? Tiny, hard-to-avoid defects in printed metals can weaken parts and erode manufacturer confidence. Southern Illinois University Carbondale professor Sangjin Jung is tackling that reliability problem head-on.

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