Olivia DrakeChris Rasmussen, assistant professor of mathematics, recently finished teaching a summer professional development course for K-8 teachers in the Danbury, Conn. school district. The program, called Intel Math, increases the mathematical content knowledge of elementary and middle-school teachers, with the long-term goal of strengthening STEM training. The Intel Math course ran eight hours a day for two weeks. Rasmussen co-taught the course with Sharon Heyman, a mathematics education specialist from the University of Connecticut. In 2012, Rasmussen taught the course with a cohort of 15 teachers from around central Connecticut. This summer, he taught 23 teachers in the Danbury school…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, presented a keynote address at the 11th International Conference on Paleoceanography, Sept. 1-6 in Barcelona-Sitges, Spain. The theme of this conference was "Long-term perspectives on ocean and climate dynamics" and Thomas spoke on "Dynamics of the ancient non-analogue oceans." See her CV 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.
Lauren RubensteinLisa Dierker, professor of psychology, and David Beveridge, professor of chemistry and the Joshua Boger Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics, have received a four-year grant for $599,995 from the National Science Foundation’s Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (TUES) program. This Phase II grant, awarded in August 2013, will support their work on “Passion-Driven Statistics: A multidisciplinary project-based supportive model for statistical reasoning and application,” which began with the development of the QAC 201 “Applied Data Analysis” course and will soon be implemented at other institutions.
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.
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.
Jelle Zelinga de Boer, the Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, emeritus, is the author of New Haven's Sentinels: The Art and Science of East Rock and West Rock, published by The Driftless Connecticut Series and Garnet Books in July 2013. John Wareham, video production coordinator for Information Technology Services, provided photographs for the book. East Rock and West Rock are volcanic entities that were emplaced in voluminous sandstone formations some 201 million years ago. Their presence facilitated the introduction of modern (European) geologic concepts in America by Yale University Professor Benjamin Silliman and his disciples. Furthermore, more than…
Gina Athena Ulysse, associate professor of anthropology, associate professor of African America studies, wrote an article, "Presumed Innocent: On Bill Traylor's Verve," which appeared on the website Anthropology Now. Ulysse reflects on an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum by Bill Traylor, a former slave who began drawing at the age of 85, and produced his entire body of work in three years.
Wesleyan welcomes 13 new faculty to Wesleyan this fall. They include: Rachel Ellis Nyera, assistant professor of English. Megan Glick, assistant professor of American studies. Cameron Hill, assistant professor of mathematics. Daniel Licata, assistant professor of computer science. Psyche Loui, assistant professor of psychology. Nadezda "Nadya" Potemkina, adjunct assistant professor of music. Lily Saint, assistant professor of English. Olga Sendra Ferrer, assistant professor of romance languages and literatures. Joslyn Trager, assistant professor of government. Laura Ann Twagira, assistant professor of history. James Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences. Marcela Otéiza, assistant professor of theater. David Nelson, adjunct assistant…
Ellen Thomas, research professor of earth and environmental sciences, is the co-author of "Surviving rapid climate change in the deep-sea during the Paleogene hyperthemals," published in the June 4 issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, No. 23. Read the paper's abstract online here. Thomas also is the co-author of "Paleoenvironmental changes during the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) and its aftermath: the benthic foraminiferal record from the Alano section (NE Italy)," published in the May 15 issue of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 378, 22-35. Read the paper's abstract online here. She also co-authored a book titled, The…
A geology book featuring a chapter co-authored by Ellen Thomas received a PROSE Award from The American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in 2013. Thomas is a research professor of earth and environmental sciences. She co-authored a chapter titled, "Carbon Isotope Stratigraphy," in the book, The Geologic Time Scale 2012, published by Elsevier in July 2012. The PROSE Awards annually recognize the very best in professional and scholarly publishing by bringing attention to distinguished books, journals, and electronic content in over 40 categories. Judged by peer publishers, librarians, and medical professionals since 1976, the PROSE Awards are extraordinary for…