News
Campus News
Communicating Earth Issues
Earth Science
Caio Santos Rodrigues ‘16
This year, the Environmental Studies Department’s annual Earth Issues Seminars are focused on science communication. According to Emily Thorpe, Academic Technician of Environmental Studies, the Earth Issues Seminars allow for intellectual engagement among faculty, students, staff and visitors. Thorpe recalls suggesting this year’s topic: “It just kind of came to me that science communication was a topic that would serve our students in many different ways. I guess it builds off of a couple talks as part of the Clarke Forum last year,” Thorpe said. The Clarke Forum talk Thorpe refers to is last February’s “Global Consequences of Current Lake Warming,” where Dr. Catherine O’Reilly presented her research on the effects of climate change on Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. “[Dr. O’Reilly] is really big on science
Science Symposium Elizabeth Grabowski ‘17
14
The Social Hall was abuzz with the love of science the afternoon of Thursday, April 17th, 2014. Students, faculty, and community members gathered for the 29th Annual Science Student Research Symposium, a yearly event that provides students from every year with the opportunity to formally present the findings of the research that has engrossed their academic lives for the past semester…or two. Set up around the open space were seventy-four individual and group research projects that had been printed on posters and mounted for easy viewing by countless, enthralled eyes. The researchers presented in two rounds, allowing presenters and viewers alike the opportunity to circulate the crowded hall. Projects spanned all of the science disciplines, from computer science to psychology, and included a variety of topics: mobile applications for the Dickinson community, isolation of protein targets, and studies of college football performance, to name a few. Zev Greenberg, a Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology double major, worked closely with Professor Amy Witter to develop a “robust quantitative method to measure nicotine content in a variety of solid and liquid tobacco products.” The pair’s research sparked a lot of questions, Photo Courtesy of Zev Greenberg ‘16 for which Greenberg was grateful: “I realized that everyone was there to learn about my research, rather than grill me for information…the questions actually provided Professor Witter and me with leads on where we can take the project next.” He, like many of the other students who devoted countless hours to their research, has gained a new level of respect for the science community. If these projects just begin to scratch the surface of Dickinsonians’ science potential, there is no telling what remarkable research will be added to our repertoire next year.
communication and making sure that her research is communicated effectively to the public. It seemed like something that had a diverse enough crowd we could pull from–educators, writers, scientists, just all sorts of people.” One seminar in particular was advertised to all science departments. Tim Howard, producer of Radiolab, presented on October 29th. Thorpe said the hope is that, through these seminars, science students see what their Dickinson education can do for them in terms of fields of study and alternative job paths. “[These seminars are] a way to complement what [students] are already being taught in the classroom in a way that is sometimes more open for discussion and engagement and critical thought,” Thorpe said.
Newest Faculty Member of the Mathematics Department Caio Santos Rodrigues ‘16
Mathematics
The Mathematics and Computer Science department welcomes Holley Friedlander as their new Assistant Professor of Mathematics this fall. Friedlander came to Dickinson after a year teaching at Williams College. Her experience at Williams influenced her to look for jobs at small liberal arts schools. “I was focused on finding a small liberal arts school mainly for the sense of community. I wanted to have a balance between my teaching and my research. I wanted to be at an institution that valued teaching, [where] spending time with your students was not seen as a waste of time.” An accomplished scholar, Professor Friedlander is among eighty Project NExT fellows. According to its website, Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a proPhoto Courtesy of the Dickinson Department of fessional development program for Mathematics. new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. Each cohort of fellows participates in workshops and sessions where they discuss and explore a myriad of issues that are relevant to beginning faculty, such as balancing teaching and research, involving undergraduates in mathematical research, and preparing future K-12 teachers of mathematics. While she found these workshops helpful, Friedlander highlighted the sense of community among her network of fellows. “What is really cool is that we have a listserv and I’m connected to the eighty fellows that are at all kinds of institutions. The listserv allows us to send each other questions and respond to each other’s questions. That helps me put my issues in perspective and also helps me to get ideas for things to try [in the classroom].”
Dickinson Science Magazine Vol. I Issue No. 2