Olivia DrakeThis summer, Wesleyan's Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS) will offer professional development workshops on alternative energy technologies for Connecticut science teachers. On March 25, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF) awarded PIMMS a contract to design and administer the workshops under CCEF’s Learning for Clean Energy Innovation (LCEI) program. Two workshops will be held at Wesleyan, and others will be held at other locations around the state. In addition to administering the workshops, PIMMS will update the program’s solar energy lessons, incorporating operating data from solar panels on schools and other buildings and explaining the important links between energy…
David PesciJim Greenwood, research assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, holds a slide with a moon rock sample that contains water. The water was found in the mineral apatite, which he and his team were able to identify in the sample. (Photo by Olivia Bartlett Drake)Soon after the Apollo spaceflights to the moon, experts examined the rocks brought back by the astronauts and declared with certainty that the moon was a dry, waterless place. Forty years later, James Greenwood begs to differ. Not only does he have proof, his findings strongly suggest that some of the lunar water he found…
Bill HolderDuring the academic year, the Wesleyan Board of Trustees maintains an ongoing process of tenure case consideration. During its most recent review, the Board awarded tenure to two faculty effective July 1, 2010. Matthew Kurtz, associate professor of psychology, was appointed assistant professor of psychology at Wesleyan in 2007. Previously, he has held appointments at the Institute for Living in Hartford, Trinity College, Hartford Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He has been awarded numerous grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, Hartford Hospital and NARSAD. His research focuses on schizophrenia,…
Corrina KerrThis issue, we ask 5 Questions to...Lisa Dierker, chair and professor of psychology. Dierker provided us with some information on her research findings. Q. How did you become interested in researching adolescents who smoke? A: Early in my career, I was selected as a faculty scholar by the Tobacco Etiology Research Network. This network was a multidisciplinary initiative sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and was aimed at attracting junior scholars into the field in hopes of accelerating research into the causes and mechanisms by which experimentation with tobacco leads to chronic and dependent use. At that time, as…
A presentation titled, “After Climategate: Rethinking Climate Science and Climate Policy” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 25 in PAC 001. Admission is free and open to the public. The panel discussion will feature Gary Yohe, Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics and senior member of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); Joe Rouse, chair of the Science in Society Program, Hedding Professor of Moral Science, professor of philosophy; Suzanne O’Connell, associate professor of earth and environmental science, director of the Service Learning Center; and Paul Erickson, assistant professor of history, member of the Science…
For the next three years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will support gene expression research led by Scott Holmes, associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry. On March 2, the NSF awarded Holmes a $599,832, three-year grant for his studies on "Epigenetic Silencing of Gene Expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Gene expression refers to the observable characteristics generated on a molecular level by a particular sequence of DNA or gene; epigenetic controls are essential in maintaining the specific patterns of gene expression that distinguish hundreds of distinct cell types in skin, muscles and other types of tissue. "I’m thrilled to get…
Ethics leader and law professor Lawrence Lessig will speak on "Speech and Independence: The Wrongs of Corporate Speech," during the 19th Annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression. The event is at 8 p.m. April 7 in Memorial Chapel. Lessig is professor of law at Harvard Law School and the director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics. As director, Lessig is leading a five-year project studying “institutional corruption” relationships which are legal, even ethical, but which weaken public trust in an institution. Prior to Harvard, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he…
Wesleyan has reached the gold standard in sustainable structures. On March 15, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded Wesleyan's newly-renovated Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life building a Gold Certification based on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED is an internationally-recognized green building certification system that verifies that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. "The Gold Certification demonstrates Wesleyan’s…
The Usdan Common Connections Committee will host "Critical Condition," a panel discussion focusing on the current efforts to reform the health care system in the United States, at 7 p.m. March 24 in the Daniel Family Commons, Usdan University Center. Much of President Obama’s first year in office and the first year of the Democrat-controlled Congress has been focused on changes to the health care system aimed at expanding care to the uninsured and lowering costs. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed their own bills and on Sunday, March 21, the House of Representatives approved the Senate…
Brian KattenWesleyan women’s tennis posted a 4-0 mark during its fall dual-match schedule, then added four victories in Orlando, Fla. during its spring training trip in March to head into the meat of its schedule with an 8-0 record. The rest of the season features matches against nine consecutive NESCAC rivals. The outcomes of this part of the schedule will dictate qualification for the NESCAC tournament. Women’s tennis is one of three Cardinal squads to inaugurate the season with an 8-0 start. Both the baseball and softball teams also have started 8-0. The 8-0 record is the best ever season opening records…
Wesleyan announced $22M in gifts by two of its Board of Trustees' families, including a $12M gift by the family of Board Chairman Joshua Boger '73, P'06, P'09. The gifts will benefit financial aid and Wesleyan’s endowment. The $12M gift from Boger, and his wife Amy Boger, M.D., P'06, P'09, will establish the Boger Scholarship Program and the Joshua Boger University Professorship of The Sciences and Mathematics. The first recipient of the chair appointment will be David L. Beveridge, professor of chemistry. "This gift shows tremendous leadership and generosity on the part of the Boger family,” says Wesleyan President Michael…
Denver Mayor and Colorado gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper '74 will deliver the commencement address at the university’s 178th Commencement in May. Wesleyan will award honorary degrees to Mayor Hickenlooper; Stanley Cavell, distinguished philosopher and professor emeritus at Harvard; Ruth J. Simmons, president of Brown University; and Richard K. Winslow, Wesleyan class of 1940 and professor of music emeritus. John Hickenlooper ’74 A geologist turned brewpub pioneer who had never run for political office (not even student council), John Hickenlooper was elected mayor of Denver in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. In April 2005—less than two years into his first term—Time…