2015 – Page 44

#THISISWHY In this Q&A, we speak with Hannah Steinberg from the Class of 2016. Q: Hannah, you studied abroad through the School for Field Studies’ (SFS) Costa Rica program in Spring 2014. Why did you choose this program and why did you decide to conduct research during your study abroad experience? A: I chose SFS Costa Rica because I wanted to go to Latin America to improve my Spanish skills and get practical hands-on experience in biological science. Another cool part of the program was that it was situated on a sustainable orange and mango farm in central Costa Rica,…

Wesleyan men's tennis will have ample opportunity this spring to test its mettle. Head coach Mike Fried, who set up a challenging schedule for his young Cardinals, is hoping it will achieve the desired effect. "When trying to bring the program up to the top national mix, we needed to do something more competitive with our spring training trip," he said. In past years, the Cardinals traveled to Orlando, Fla. during March break, playing 4-6 matches against high-level Divisions I, II, III and NAIA opponents, but not the top teams in Division III. Breaking from tradition, (more…)

Wesleyan's "Music at the Russell House" series concludes with a free concert by the Connecticut-based jazz quartet Stanley Maxwell at 3 p.m. March 1 in the Russell House. The group plays music that blends tight arrangements with intricate group improvisations. The concert at Wesleyan will feature acoustic arrangements of original tunes from the past decade, including several world premieres. Stanley Maxwell features the CFA's Press and Marketing Director Andy Chatfield on drums, Mark Crino on bass, Eric DellaVecchia on alto saxophone, and Evan Green on piano. The group has built a grassroots name for themselves at colleges and festivals throughout…

Members of the Wesleyan Film Project's Screenwriters Lounge gathered at the Shapiro Creative Writing Center's library Feb. 16 to discuss current projects. The Wesleyan Film Project is a student-run group that formed during the fall semester 2014 and supports filmmaking on campus. During Screenwriter's Lounge sessions the students meet with each other, writers, directors and producers to review student-submitted scripts in order to prepare them for production. For more information on the group, visit the Wesleyan Film Project on Facebook. Photos of the Screenwriters Lounge gathering are below: (Photos by John Van Vlack) (more…)

Novelist Amy Bloom '75, the Distinguished University Writer-in-Residence, director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing, is co-hosting a new weekly podcast titled "Ethicists." The podcast, a re-imagination of the New York Times Magazine’s longtime “The Ethicist” column, features Bloom and two other ethicists answering questions for a half-hour. NYT Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Wesleyan alumnus Jake Silverstein '98 invited Bloom to participate in the show. The other panelists are Politico media columnist Jack Shafer and New York School of Law constitutional law professor Kenji Yoshino. The first episode, titled "Close Quarters: Can I ask my neighbors to quiet their baby?" debuted Feb. 18 and is produced…

In this Q&A we speak with Katie McLaughlin from the Class of 2015. (Story and photos by Hannah Norman '16) Q: Katie, what are you majoring in? A: I'm majoring in French and environmental studies with the certificate in international relations. For my capstone project in the environmental studies major, I am researching the academic justifications of contemplative pedagogy and developing a curriculum which integrates it and movement-based learning into elementary school, high school and adult education. The goals of the curriculum are to explore the environment through physical inquiry and embodiment, reevaluate the ways we perceive ourselves as a part of, or…

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Mike Singer, associate professor of biology, associate professor of environmental studies, is the co-author of several recently-published papers. They include: “Thee struggle for safety: effectiveness of caterpillar defenses against bird predation,” is in press and will appear in the April 2015 issue of Oikos. This article shows how the camouflaged or bold appearance of a caterpillar can protect it from predatory birds in Connecticut forests. Former BA/MA student, Isaac Lichter-Marck '11, '12, is the first author of this article. “Defensive mixology: Combining acquired chemicals toward defense,” is published in Functional Ecology, 2015. This article proposes a conceptual framework to study the use of natural drug cocktails by animals…

Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, is the co-author of several new papers including: “Preparation and Analysis of Cyclodextrin-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks: Laboratory Experiments Adaptable for High School through Advanced Undergraduate Students,” published in Journal of Chemical Education 92, pages 368-372, 2015. Samantha Angle, a Middletown High School student working in Northrop’s lab, co-authored the paper. (See cover at left.) "Rational Synthesis of Bis(hexyloxy)-Tetra(hydroxy)-Triphenylenes and their Derivatives," published in RSC Advances 4, pages 38,281-392 in 2014; "Vibrational Properties of Boroxine Anhydride and Boronate Ester Materials: Model Systems for the Diagnostic Characterization of Covalent Organic Frameworks,” published in Chemistry of Materials 26, pages 3,781-95 in 2014; And “Allyl-Functionalized Dioxynaphthalene[38]Crown-10 Macrocycles: Synthesis, Self-Assembly,…

This semester, 21 senior earth and environmental science majors in the Senior Field Research Project (EES 398) course traveled to Puerto Rico to develop their research, data collection, analytical and presentation skills. As part of the EES Department's capstone course sequence, students are required to participate in a series of student-designed research projects. From Jan. 12-19, students performed independent research in the field. "The overarching spirit is to have students participate in the full arc of a research project: from the design all the way to the presentation of the results," said Dana Royer, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, associate professor…

#THISISWHY On Feb. 3, President Michael Roth gave a talk on “How to Destroy Liberal Education” in Memorial Chapel. Since the publication of his book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters (Yale University Press, 2014), Roth has been speaking about liberal education to Wesleyan alumni and many others at various venues around the country. At this event, he spoke to students, staff and faculty about the relevance of the kind of education offered so compellingly at Wesleyan. A video and more photos of the event are below: (more…)

In this Q&A we speak with Emmakristina Sveen from the Class of 2017. Q: How and when did you form the Wesleyan Republican Committee (WRC)? A: Meghan Kelly ’17 and I founded the Wesleyan Republican Committee this fall. The previous Republican student group on campus, which was started in 2009, gradually deteriorated after the 2012 elections and after their senior leadership graduated. We wanted to establish a club that served as a vehicle in which students with any level of affiliation with the Republican Party could discuss their political views in a safe environment. With the help of Meghan’s brother,…

Steinberg ’16 Studies Effects of Artificial Feeders on Hummingbird Diversity, Interactions in Costa Rica

Men’s Tennis to Participate in Challenging Stag-Hen Invitational in California

Jazz Quartet Stanley Maxwell to Perform World Premieres March 1 at Russell House

Screenwriters Lounge Supports Student Filmmaking on Campus

Bloom Co-Hosts NYT Magazine‘s “Ethicists” Podcast

McLaughlin ’15 Helps Students Discover Body-Mind Awareness through WesBAM! Classes

Information Technology Services Hosts Information Session

Singer’s Caterpillar Defense Studies Published in Ecology, Entomology Journals

Northrop Co-Authors Paper with Middletown Student

Students Travel to Puerto Rico to Develop Research Skills

President Roth Speaks about Liberal Education (with video)

Government Major Sveen Promotes Political Diversity on Campus through the Wesleyan Republican Committee