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Olivia DrakeFebruary 15, 20171min
On Feb. 8, John Hossain, a MA candidate from the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, presented a talk on "The Role of Reverse Fault Geometry on Slip Rate Estimates" during the Graduate Speaker Series. Estimates of fault slip rates are an integral part of assessing seismic hazard because they affect estimates of earthquake renewal and moment release rates. For some faults, however, slip rate estimates vary among geodetic studies or between geodetic and geologic investigations. In his talk, Hossain explained why by using a series of numerical models. Graduate Speaker Series events are open to the entire Wesleyan community. (Photos…

Randi Alexandra PlakeNovember 28, 20162min
On Nov. 18, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (E&ES) hosted the 8th Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of Connecticut (GSC). The event featured a student scholarship wine-tasting fundraiser and a public science lecture called “The Real Jurassic Park in the Connecticut Valley,” by paleontologist Robbert Baker. During the meeting, Phillip Resor, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences, Martha “Marty” Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology, were awarded the Joe Webb Peoples Award for their efforts in hosting the 2015 New England Intercollegiate Geologic Conference. The award recognizes those who have contributed to the understanding…

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Randi Alexandra PlakeNovember 23, 20162min
Ethnomusicology PhD candidate Maho Ishiguro MA ’12 was honored at the 2016 Society of Ethnomusicology Annual Meeting with the Nadia and Nicholas Nahumck Fellowship for her research titled "Seudati and the Social Contestation of Female Dance in Aceh, Indonesia.” The award is given to help support research on a dance-related subject and its subsequent publication, and consists of a $4,000 research fellowship and $1,000 award for publication. “This fellowship will allow me to continue doing my research on the topics of Acehnese dance and music forms, women's practice of performing arts, and changing socioreligious climate in the post-tsunami Aceh, from 2004…

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Randi Alexandra PlakeNovember 7, 20162min
Graduate student Suhail Yusuf Khan recently gave a lecture and demonstration at the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Khan’s lecture focused on the sarangi and its use in popular music contexts. Khan was invited to UCLA to lecture to a global pop music class. "The idea was to show students some of my experimental and pop music," Khan said. During his demonstration, Khan spoke about the the sarangi’s role in Hindustani music and the relationship to the voice. He also showed different playing techniques, and shared his own musical story, including the challenges he faces as a classically…

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Olivia DrakeAugust 30, 20161min
This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 32 new PhD and MA students, 22 new BA/MA students, nine foreign language teaching assistants and two new writing fellows to campus. Wesleyan offers Graduate Studies programs leading to the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Anne Burke, professor of biology, is the 2016-17 director of Graduate Studies, and Cheryl-Ann Hagner is director of Graduate Student Services. On Aug. 30, the new graduate students mingled with former graduate students and Wesleyan faculty at a welcome picnic held at Exley Science Center. Graduate Student Orientation was held Aug. 29-30. (Photos by Olivia Drake) (more…)

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Lauren RubensteinAugust 17, 20161min
University Professor of Music Sumarsam and several PhD students and alumni recently presented papers at the 4th Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music Study Group on the Performing Arts of Southeast Asia (ICTM PASEA). The symposium was hosted by Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia, from July 31 to Aug. 6. Sumarsam presented a paper titled, "Religiosity in Javanese Wayang Puppet Play," and demonstrated puppet movements. (more…)

Olivia DrakeMarch 28, 20163min
Three Wesleyan students, faculty and several alumni recently attended the 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. This conference brings together international specialists in petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, geology and astronomy to present the latest results of research in planetary science. The five-day conference was organized by topical symposia and problem-oriented sessions. Earth and environmental sciences graduate students Ben McKeeby and Shaun Mahmood, and earth and environmental science major Melissa Lowe ’17 presented their ongoing planetary science research at the conference. Lowe received a NASA CT Space Grant travel award to attend the conference. McKeeby shared his research titled, "An investigation…

Lauren RubensteinMarch 23, 20161min
Two faculty members and three students have been awarded grants in the latest call for proposals from NASA's Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. Jim Greenwood, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, and Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy, professor of integrative sciences, were awarded $8,000 for a Faculty Collaboration Grant titled “Chondrule Formation Experiments.” This is to run high-temperature experiments on material that makes up meteorites in order to test a hypothesis that they put forward in a recent paper in Icarus this year. Seth Redfield, associate professor of astronomy, associate professor of integrative sciences, was awarded $1,500 for a STEM Education…

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Olivia DrakeMarch 11, 20165min
A PhD candidate in chemistry will spend two years in Germany working on microwave spectroscopy research. As a recipient of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, Dan Obenchain will continue his studies at the University of Hanover. He will start his fellowship in August 2016 after taking two months of intensive German language classes. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation brings young and senior scientists from around the world to Germany to conduct research in many different fields of science. "Thankfully, working at Wesleyan has given me many great opportunities to publish my work. The faculty of both the chemistry and physics departments have been very supportive throughout…