Olivia DrakeErika Taylor, assistant professor of chemistry, assistant professor of environmental studies, and chemistry graduate student Kevin Barry, are the co-authors of an article titled "Characterizing the Promiscuity of LigAB, a Lignin Catabolite Degrading Extradiol Dioxygenase from Sphingomonas paucimobilis SYK-6," published in Biochemistry. This article is part of their effort to enable the utilization of lignin, the world’s second most abundant natural polymer, as a carbon source for the production of bioenergy and chemical feedstocks. An abstract will soon be available online here.
Hilary Barth, associate professor of psychology, associate professor of neuroscience and behavior; Mariah Schug, visiting assistant professor of psychology; and Kyle MacDonald '10 are the co-authors of "My people, right or wrong? Minimal group membership disrupts preschoolers’ selective trust," published in Cognitive Development, Issue 28, pages 247-259 in 2013. This publication is based on MacDonald's undergraduate thesis, which he conducted in Barth's lab. MacDonald is currently a graduate student in psychology at Stanford University. Elizabeth Chase, Barth's former lab coordinator, also co-authored the paper. Read the paper online here.
Brian Northrop, assistant professor of chemistry, is the author of "Experimental and theoretical studies of selective thiol-ene and thiol-yne click reactions involving N-substituted maleimides," published in The Journal of Organic Chemistry in August 2013. Read an abstract of the paper online here. He's also the author of a paper titled "Discrete, soluble covalent organic boronate ester rectangles" published in Chemical Communications, the journal of the Chemical Society, in July 2013. Read an abstract of the paper online here. Northrop's former students, Rob Stolz BA/MA '13 and Natalia Powers-Riggs '13 co-authored both papers.
Seth Redfield, assistant professor of astronomy, won a three-year grant for $341,039 from the National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants program to fund his research on "Accessing Atmospheric Properties of Terrestrial Exoplanets: Ground-Based Observations of Rayleigh Scattering and Extended Atmospheres.” The grant was awarded in August 2013.
The Green Street Arts Center received a $5,000 grant from Liberty Bank in August. Green Street will use the award to support its Art and Science AfterSchool Program that serve students in grades 1 – 8. Green Street's integrative classes in art, math, and science foster creativity and build problem-solving skills in a safe space where students can express themselves.
Amy MacQueen, assistant professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, has received a three-year grant for $372,445 from the National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award program to support her research on “Structure and Dynamics of the Synaptonemal Complex.” The grant was awarded in August 2013.
Ariel Selya, a visiting faculty in the Psychology Department, received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health. The award came with a $54,890 grant, which will support her research on "System Dynamics and Dynamic Systems Modeling of Adolescent Smoking Development.”
THE MASH, inspired by Fete de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, highlights the student music scene at Wesleyan. The event, which took place on Sept. 6 on multiple stages around campus, provided students with the both the opportunity to listen to some of Wesleyan's most popular faculty and student bands, and to sign up and play for the audiences themselves. The event was sponsored by the Center for the Arts. (more…)
Wesleyan's Student Activities and Leadership Development office and the Usdan Center Activities Board sponsored a Cardinal Fun Night Sept. 5. Wesleyan students captured their first week back on campus with a photo booth and box of various props. (Photos by Hannah Norman) (more…)
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