Olivia Drake(more…)
Kate CarlisleSixty-six million years ago, a meteorite struck the Earth with enough force that the ensuing environmental changes, including floods, earthquakes, variable temperatures and light-obscuring dust clouds, possibly wiped out dinosaurs and other pre-historic life. Scientists believe this opened a path for mammals, and ultimately humans, to evolve. A new study by Dana Royer, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, and colleagues from the University of Arizona and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science suggests that the chaos in the wake of the space rock's impact changed the Earth's plant life as well. Deciduous plants survived and flourished to a…
Ishita Mukerji, dean of natural sciences and mathematics and director of technology initiatives, represented Wesleyan at a White House-sponsored conference of STEM educators Sept. 16. Mukerji said she was intrigued by other universities' approaches to increase access to science, technology, engineering and math - and happy to share Wesleyan's STEM initiatives with her counterparts. "It was a great opportunity to learn about what works and compare with what we are doing," said Mukerji, who also is professor of molecular biology and biochemistry."I was happy to see that in many instances, we were on the right track and have some of the…
During Family Weekend, held Sept. 26-28, Wesleyan families are invited to attend classes and WESeminars, take in concerts and sporting events, enjoy meals, tour campus and learn about student programs and services. Breaking from tradition, this year Family Weekend is be separate from Homecoming Weekend, because Homecoming occurs during Fall break. Diane LaPointe '79, P'17, celebrated her 35th Wesleyan Reunion in May, and is elated to return to campus four months later to visit with her daughter, Megan Dolan '17. Megan took her mother to a French class and Modern Dance III class, and the two plan on spending time mingling with Megan's…
Dana Royer, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of “Plant Ecological Strategies Shift Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary,” published in PLOS Biology on Sept. 15. The study reveals that a meteorite that hit Earth 60 million years ago – and may have led to the mass extinction of the world’s dinosaur population – also led to a shift in the landscape of plants, particularly deciduous plants. Royer and his colleagues showed how they applied bio-mechanical formulas to fossilized leaves of flowering plants dating from the last 1.4 million years of the Cretaceous period and the first 800,000 of the Paleogene. Read more about…
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Lauren RubensteinQ: Welcome to Wesleyan, Professor Burge! Please fill us in on your life up to now. A: I’m originally from Michigan, and attended undergrad at Michigan Tech. I moved out to Massachusetts and worked on radar systems for quite a few years. I did a lot of off-site work traveling all around the country; it’s exciting to see the products you build in action. I always planned to go back to graduate school, and I decided to pursue a master’s in computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I started out there part time, but then an opportunity arose and I…
On Sept. 23, Wesleyan celebrated the 15th anniversary of Bon Appétit's Farm to Fork program during the annual Eat Local Challenge. Bon Appétit, Wesleyan's campus dining provider, served a menu with all local ingredients. All food — including produce and meat — came from farms or suppliers within a 150 radius of campus. The menu included New England clam chowder, fried haddock and chips, clam bake, roasted pork, BBQ seitan with rosemary potatoes and mushrooms, wood-fired pizza, steamed potatoes and corn, farmhouse salad and strawberry and blueberry crisp for dessert. Students also voted for their favorite farm. The winner, announced next week, will…
Maho Ishiguro, an ethnomusicology doctoral student, received a Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship to study the female Saman dance in Indonesia. The award came with a $29,508 stipend. Ishiguro's proposed research title is “Saman Dance in Diaspora Presence of Female Saman Dance as Expressions of Piety Cultural Identity and Popular Culture.” Her DDRA project will examine the contemporary life of female Saman dance in Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Banda Aceh. Saman dance, or the dance of a “thousand hands” is typically performed in Gayo Lues, a mountainous region of Aceh, by eight to 20 male performers who kneel in…
Faculty and student researchers from Wesleyan's Cognitive Development Lab recently received a $3,000 stipend from the National Living Laboratory® Initiative, which receives support from the National Science Foundation. The award will support an ongoing collaboration between Wesleyan and the the Connecticut Science Center. Hilary Barth, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior, oversees a Living Laboratory® site at the science center's museum. For the past year and a half, Wesleyan researchers have visited the museum on Saturdays to collect data for current studies, talk with children and their families about child developmental research, and guide visitors in hands-on activities that demonstrate important findings in developmental psychology. The…
Wesleyan's Molecular Biophysics Program Hosted its 15th Annual Retreat Sept. 18 at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown. Wesleyan faculty and alumni delivered talks at the day-long event. (Photos by Jennifer Langdon) (more…)
The father of psychoanalysis is still relevant 75 years after his death, writes Roth