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An $800,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will support Wesleyan’s College of the Environment (COE) for the next four years. Wesleyan’s faculty and administration approved the COE in 2009 to graduate students who have engaged with critical environmental issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives; who are sensitive to how those issues are connected to social and political concerns; who can interpret scientific information correctly; and who can communicate conclusions effectively and honestly. The Mellon Foundation grant will support funding for post-doctoral teaching fellows, visiting COE fellows, (more…)
"Keeping Our Feet to the Fire: Joining Art and Science to Engage Environmental Issues" is the topic of Wesleyan's 2010 Earth Day celebration on April 22. The event will feature a world premier screening of Paul Horton's film Connections within a Fragile World. A panel of environmental experts will discuss the question "are art and science as natural allies in communicating environmental issues to the public?" It will be moderated by Jeremy Isard '11, with panelists: Godfrey Bourne, University Missouri St. Louis; Marda Kirn, EcoArts Connections, Colorado; Cassie Meador, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Washington, D.C.; and Barry Chernoff, the Robert…
David PesciThis semester, Wesleyan has begun offering a linked major program for Environmental Studies. Barry Chernoff, the Robert Schumann Professor of Environmental Studies, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences, professor of biology and director of the Environmental Studies Certificate Program, explained the new major to interested students during a recent campus event. The linked major program is the second major to a primary major. Students must complete all the requirements for graduation from their primary major in addition to those of ENVS as their second major. The basic information about the program can be found here.
From his home in Hawaii, Evan Weber '13 can walk a couple hundred yards and be standing in the Pacific Ocean. Or, he can walk a couple hundred yards and be on the Ka'iwa Ridge, climbing through forests. As a result of his fortunate placement, Weber grew up with a deep connection to the natural world and developed a sense of personal duty to preserve and uphold the "multifaceted wonder that is our home, Earth," he says. At Wesleyan, Weber plans to expand his appreciation and knowledge for the planet by double majoring in the new Environmental Studies (ENVS) Linked…
Biology Ph.D candidate Kate Miller treks through a wildflower-lined trail alongside Middletown's Coginchaug River. She approaches a plastic garbage bin and a PCV pipe protruding from the ground. "That's my bat echolocation recorder," she says. “It’s old but I’m not complaining. It was free and it works.” Miller credits Scott Reynolds, Ph.D, of North East Ecological Services in Concord, N.H. for the loan of the equipment. Inside the crude setup is a 12-volt battery, an echolocation call recorder and lap-top computer. Every 1.5 seconds, the equipment translates the information into a graph and stores it as a data file on the…
Time is running out to register for Musical Madness, a musical competition between classes sponsored by the Dean's Office. The deadline for is Feb. 12. All musical genres are welcome and prizes will be awarded for "Best in Class" and Best in Show." Participants will face a distinguished panel of judges that include Rob Rosenthal, professor of sociology, Sarah Lazare, associate dean of student academic resources, and Barry Chernoff, professor of biology and the Robert Schumann Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Performances will take place on Thursday, February 19 in Crowell Concert Hall at 7 p.m. An opening number…
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy will present Meeting the Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century" at 8 p.m. April 22 as part of Wesleyan's Earth Day observance. Posted 04/04/08 Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy will present the 2008 Earth Day Keynote Address at Wesleyan titled Meeting the Environmental Challenges of the 21st Century. This free event will be held at 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 22 in the Memorial Chapel. A reception will immediately follow in the Zelnick Pavilion. Appointed by Governor M. Jodi Rell on Dec. 10, 2004, Commissioner McCarthy came to the Connecticut…
Neuroscience and Behavior major Jeff Walker 08 speaks about his research titled Does inhibition lead to greater spike timing precision? during the Hughes Program in the Life Sciences Poster Session Aug. 3. Walkers faculty mentor is Gloster Aaron, assistant professor biology, neuroscience and behavior. Posted 08/07/07 In the United States, approximately 80,000 adolescents try cigarettes for the first time each day. Psychology major Michael Raymond 08 was curious to know why. As a fellow in the Hughes Program in the Life Sciences, Raymond had the opportunity to identify predictors of nicotine dependence onset in adolescents. He spent his summer working…
BIO BLITZING: Scientific specialists teamed up with area students and teachers for BioBlitz 2007, held in Middletown June 8-9. The idea was get a snapshot of the biodiversity of a specific area in a 24-hour period. Wesleyan was a major sponsor of the event. BioBlitz participant Brian Stewart, associate professor of physics, collects beetles during the BioBlitz. He and Michael Oliver, co-author of The Ground Beetles of Connecticut, found several beetles in the bark of a downed tree. Wilbert Snow School in Middletown served as the BioBlitz laboratory, where species were identified and recorded. Crabs, snakes, toads and turtles were…