Dana Spiotta

The December Vogue is a special issue guest-edited by fashion icon Marc Jacobs. is a long profile of Kaia Gerber, who in addition to being a well-known model and up-and-coming actress, now has a large following for her online book club, . Spiotta’s article explores Gerber’s experience growing up in the fashion world and the challenges of how the world perceives her vs. how she perceives herself.

Along with penning the Vogue cover story, Spiotta’s book “” is the inspiration for an alternative opera, which will take to the stage Jan. 9-17 as part of the in New York. The prestigious festival is a co-production of , “two trailblazers in the creation and presentation of contemporary, multi-disciplinary opera-theatre and music-theatre works.”

“Eat the Document” follows the intertwined lives of two anti-war activists who come together during the Vietnam era. After a protest they orchestrate goes tragically wrong, they are forced into hiding, adopting new identities to escape their past. The story alternates between the 1970s and the 1990s, delving into themes of identity, memory and the impact of political activism. Spiotta’s “Eat the Document” was a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the American Academy’s Rosenthal Foundation Award in 2007.

The new opera has been in development since 2020 by John Glover (composer), Kelley Rourke (librettist), Kristin Marting (director) and Mila Henry (music director).��.”

A faculty member in the since 2009, Spiotta is one of the University’s leading fiction writers. She is the author of five novels. Alongside “Eat the Document,” she has written “Wayward,” which was named a best book of 2021 by Vogue and The New York Times, “Innocents and Others,” winner of the St. Francis College Literary Prize and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, “Stone Arabia,” a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and “Lightning Field,” which was a New York Times Notable Book. Spiotta is currently teaching workshop classes in the undergraduate and graduate Creative Writing Program.

Bradford Smith (left) working with Danielle Lanphere (right) during a conversation club meeting at the Gebbie Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic. He and other individuals who use Alternative Augmentative Communication to help express themselves gather weekly to build community and expand their communication abilities.

“At each meeting, members share stories, thoughts and plans while participating in engaging and fun activities,” says Hammerle. “This allows them to grow the complexity of their language, increase efficiency with AAC use, and develop a sense of community and support through interaction with other individuals utilizing AAC.”

Michael Theobald (right) uses a Smartbox Gridpad speech-generating device to communicate with others at a conversation club meeting.

Practical Experience

Meetings revolve around a specific theme, and participants take part in various related activities, including games, trivia and guided discussions. Some recent group exercises have included filling out a March Madness bracket, participating in Syracuse history trivia and planning a cross-country road trip.

Each session is planned and facilitated by graduate students, with oversight from Hammerle and other faculty. Through this experience, students acquire transferable skills that will benefit their careers as speech-language pathologists after graduation. They learn how to:

• Use different types of high-tech alternative augmentative communication devices;
• Assist group members with programming and troubleshooting; and
• Operate various software used by each participant.

Alongside these practical skills, students also build relational competencies through their interactions with group members, allowing them to see AAC users as individuals rather than just focusing on their devices.

“By spending a semester in the group, they form great relationships with the AAC users that can help inform their empathy and clinical care in the field,” says Hammerle.

Spreading AAC Awareness

To help educate the public about Alternative Augmentative Communication, several organizations came together in 2007 to designate October as AAC Awareness Month. It marks a time to celebrate individuals who utilize AAC for communication and create supportive communities for AAC users. Each October, members of the conversation club create outreach initiatives to express their unique perspectives, and this year they produced a news article. According to Hammerle, the goal was to help make the public aware of what AAC is, provide tips for communicating with AAC users and express what AAC means to them.

Below are excerpts from the team’s news article, lightly edited for length and clarity:

The Significance of AAC Awareness Month

This month encourages advocacy, education and understanding, helping to raise awareness about the diverse methods of communication available. By promoting AAC, we aim to empower users, foster connections and enhance inclusivity, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to express themselves and be heard.

By raising awareness, we can break down barriers and misconceptions surrounding communication challenges, empowering individuals to express themselves fully. AAC awareness encourages empathy, patience and support from friends, family and the community, ultimately enhancing the quality of life for those who rely on these tools. As we advocate for AAC, we promote not only the right to communicate but also the celebration of diverse perspectives, reminding us that every individual’s voice matters.

The Advantages of AAC for its Users

Mike, an AAC user who comes to the Gebbie Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic for conversation club, says that AAC serves as a vital means of communication for him, as it helps him “get the thoughts out of [his] head. I don’t want them going into the ether.”

Shannon, another member of the conversation club, says that while some people may use AAC occasionally, for others, “it’s a lifeline to the rest of the world so we aren’t so encapsulated in our own heads with our own thoughts.”

Tips for Effective Communication with AAC Users

Brad, a member of the conversation club, says that AAC is “unpredictable technology. They want to work when they want to work.” Shannon added, “just because I use this to speak doesn’t mean I don’t understand what you say and do.” Brad says that AAC is akin to learning a foreign language, and often, the user may be the only person in their family fluent in this form of communication, highlighting the need for patience and empathy from those around them.

The group notes, “We want people communicating with AAC users to know that the process can be time-consuming.” Mike says, “Just give [us] time to speak. It may take a while, but [we] may have something important to say.”

The group notes that everyone deserves to have the time they need to express themselves fully, so patience is key. Rushing the conversation can lead to missed opportunities for deeper understanding, so allowing for that extra time can make all the difference in fostering genuine communication.

If you use AAC and would like to find out more about the conversation club or learn about the clinic’s other services, visit the website or contact them at gebbie@syr.edu.

Eva Legge has been named a Mollie Beattie Visiting Scholar by the Society of American Foresters and was also awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. (Photo courtesy of Eva Legge)

Legge will receive a $10,000 scholarship to pursue her research on the role mycorrhizae play in boosting forest resilience. Mycorrhizae are fungi that grow on the roots of trees and plants and provide mutual benefits. As a Mollie Beattie Visiting Scholar, she will gain valuable professional development and networking opportunities. In addition to connecting with SAF members across the country, she can also submit her research to an SAF journal and collaborate with staff and partners at the SAF headquarters in Washington, D.C.

This latest award comes on the heels of Legge winning a  from the National Science Foundation over the summer. Like the Mollie Beattie award, the NSF fellowship includes a stipend and access to professional development opportunities. According to the NSF program, its mission is to “help ensure the quality, vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.”

Legge is part of A&S biology professor  Mycorrhizal Ecology Lab and SUNY ESF Professor  Applied Forest and Fire Ecology Lab. As a member of these teams, she studies how climate-adaptive forest management, such as timber harvest, assisted tree migration and prescribed fire, affects the symbiotic relationship between fungi and forests. Their goal is to devise strategies to safeguard these crucial yet delicate symbioses, ultimately aiding in the development of effective forest management practices.

“Climate change will likely add to the many stressors facing eastern U.S. forests. However, the positive benefits of fungal partnerships with tree roots can, in certain contexts, increase a forest’s stress tolerance,” Legge said in an .

With this funding, she will continue her research exploring the connection between forest management, mycorrhizal symbioses and seedling success. She hopes to improve management practices and maximize the advantages mycorrhizae offer to “future-adapted” seedlings, thereby enhancing the resilience of America’s forests.

Eva Legge (second from left) and her team have been conducting their latest field research in Huntington Forest, located in the Adirondacks. (Photo courtesy of Eva Legge)

“Eva is an exceptionally driven graduate student motivated by addressing critical knowledge gaps in forest ecosystem resilience to global change,” says Fernandez. “Her research focuses on the crucial role of belowground dynamics in forest resilience, bridging fundamental ecological research with applied forest management. Her multidisciplinary approach promises to advance both basic scientific understanding and sustainable land management practices in a changing world. I am thrilled to see her outstanding work recognized with these prestigious awards.”

Learn more about the ���Ի���.

Science festivals offer a platform for researchers to demystify complex scientific phenomena and help the public better understand the relevance and importance of their work. By making science accessible to broader audiences, it can also inspire future scientists to pursue careers in STEM.

Syracuse University postdoctoral researcher Graeme Eddolls (left) and his collaborator Andrew Spencer (right) presenting their research on gravitational waves during the Orkney International Science Festival.

Graeme Eddolls, a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) who works with the (CGWAA), recently attended the in Scotland. The festival regularly draws prominent scientists, historians and experts who share their research with the public in approachable ways. Notably, when it was founded in 1991, it was the world’s second ever science festival, following the renowned Edinburgh Science Festival, which was established in 1989. Eddolls and his collaborators, Andrew Spencer, a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, and Leon Trimble, an audiovisual artist and honorary research associate at the University of Birmingham, presented their “Swimming with Gravitational Waves” project, which includes creative and interactive experiences that connect water, sound and gravitational waves. During the week, they also showcased their “Music of Deep Time” project and hosted booths at an Orkney Festival family event as well as a workshop at Kirkwall Grammar School.

About the Project

Leon Trimble performing at the Swimming with Gravitational Waves event.

To a general audience, the concept of gravitational waves may seem complex and challenging to understand. However, as Eddolls explains, gravitational waves follow similar physics principles as those we observe in everyday phenomena like light, water and sound waves.

Gravitational waves are produced in the aftermath of some of the most energetic processes in the universe, like when black holes or neutron stars collide. These events produce ‘ripples’ in spacetime, a concept which was first predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity. By the time these signals reach Earth, they are extremely faint. To detect them, researchers measure laser interference using detectors known as laser interferometers.

When a gravitational wave passes through a detector, it alters the distance that laser light travels along the detector’s two arms, changing their interference pattern. This technology, used by some of the most advanced detectors like the (LIGO) in the U.S., helped scientists make the first direct observation of gravitational waves in 2015, a monumental discovery made by an international team of physicists, including several researchers from Syracuse.

Eddolls points out that a fascinating aspect of gravitational waves is that their vibration frequencies fall within the range of human hearing.

The team brought their rubber spacetime demonstrator to the cliffs of Orkney to capture a scenic photo during the festival.

“While we can’t directly hear gravitational waves with our ears, we can take the signal from our detectors and turn it into sound,” he says. “You can actually to the converted signal of the first ever gravitational wave detection.”

Participants enter a swimming pool, where they can hear sound waves through speakers positioned above and below the water. This setup creates a unique auditory experience, mimicking how gravitational waves are produced everywhere in the universe. Furthermore, by swimming in the pool, participants can experience water waves through sight which gives the audience a good physical intuition of what waves are, how waves move and how waves interfere when they pass through each other.

As technology advances, companies face a growing need to hire graduates skilled in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, finding the ideal candidate can be difficult at times due to a limited pool of applicants. Part of the reason for this is that 1 in 3 students who originally declare as a STEM major change their field of study before they graduate, according to research from the .

Professors (from left) Abrar Aljiboury, Heather Coleman and Carlos A. Castañeda have been awarded an NSF grant to welcome undergraduate students from around the country to Syracuse to conduct research over the summer. (Photo by Elise Krespan)

One way to keep STEM students engaged in their major is through hands-on research, where they can apply their theoretical knowledge to address real-world challenges. In 1987, the National Science Foundation launched the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program to help attract and retain STEM students by funding experiential learning opportunities during the summer.

Three biology faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) have been awarded that department’s first three-year , “.” , associate professor of biology, serves as the grant’s principal investigator (PI), with , associate professor of biology and chemistry, and , biology professor of practice, collaborating as co-PIs. The award will fund 10 undergraduate students per year (30 in total) from other institutions to conduct summer research at Syracuse University in biology and biology-affiliated labs alongside faculty.

While this is the first REU site grant in biology at Syracuse, faculty from the department have collaborated on similar programs through the site in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and the site in A&S. Other active REU site grants at the University include the and the programs.

According to Coleman, a primary objective of the team’s project is to promote diversity within the STEM field and offer meaningful hands-on research experiences to students who may not have access to such opportunities at their home universities. They will focus on recruiting domestic students from minority-serving institutions, primarily undergraduate institutions and community colleges.

“Students who participate in research are more likely to see themselves as scientists and remain in STEM,” says Coleman. “Through this 10-week summer program, students from diverse backgrounds will have the opportunity to conduct research, join a cohort of summer undergraduate researchers across the university, participate in professional development and present their research.”

Beginning in 2025, REU students will conduct 10 weeks of summer research with one of 14 biology and physics faculty mentors. Research will focus on using microscopy to understand form and function across biological scales. This entails developing insight into the relationship between the shape, size and structure of an organism and exploring how these characteristics enable functions that support the organism’s survival.

“Each student’s project will incorporate microscopy into innovative biological research,” says Coleman. “All REU participants will gain exposure to microscopy methods, including fluorescence and super-resolution, using state-of-the-art instrumentation to address questions that cross multiple scales of biological research.”

The team notes that this REU will take advantage of the University’s strengths in microscopy, and the core facilities and resources, including the (directed by biology professor and managed by co-PI Aljiboury) and the BioInspired Institute’s (directed by Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D.).

Potential student projects include investigating molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning neurodevelopment; identifying the connections between form, function and environment in animals that interface with and attach to surfaces; examining mechanisms driving plant responses to climate change; elucidating mechanisms of protein quality control to understand the assembly and disassembly of biomolecular condensates; and understanding how cells self-organize and develop.

The will host its first cohort of undergraduates in the summer of 2025. The program will begin accepting applications in November 2024 through the .

A team of Syracuse University researchers have published a study exploring how genomic diversity of acetic acid bacteria can alter properties of sourdough. Pictured are sourdough starters grown up from experimental communities (from the left: control [no microbes added], yeast only, yeast plus lactic acid bacteria, yeast plus lactic acid bacteria plus acetic acid bacteria).

When millions of people went into lockdown during the pandemic, they went in search of new at-home hobbies to help cure their boredom. Among them was making sourdough bread. In addition to being sustainable for its use of natural ingredients and traditional methods which date back thousands of years to ancient Egypt, it also is valued for its nutritional benefits. For example, studies have shown that sourdough contains more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants compared to many other types of bread. For people with mild sensitivities to gluten, sourdough bread can be easier to digest since much of the gluten is broken down during the fermentation process. What’s more, many lactic acid bacteria species, which are foundational to sourdough, are considered probiotics, associated with improved gastrointestinal health.

A Flavor Profile Years in the Making

The process of making sourdough bread begins with a sourdough starter. These starters are created when microbes–communities of bacteria and yeast–stabilize in a flour and water mixture. Known as a microbiome, this community of wild yeast and bacteria is what makes sourdough bread rise and contributes to its taste and texture. Sourdough notably differs from most bread because it relies on this starter of wild microbes to help it rise instead of baker’s yeast packets.

Many sourdough starters are preserved over generations, with some samples dating back thousands of years. To maintain a sourdough starter, you extract a sample from a previous dough and mix it into new flour and water. With enough transfers of the sourdough starter, the microbial community will be composed of the yeast, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), and acetic acid bacteria (AAB) that are best adapted to the sourdough environment. What makes different sourdough starters unique are the varying strains of yeast and bacteria that produce the distinctive sour flavor.

Testing Genetic Diversity

Advances in sequencing technology have enabled researchers to rapidly profile microbial communities, such as the sourdough microbiome. In the College of Arts and Sciences, members of biology professor  lab have been studying acetic acid bacteria to determine how genetic diversity of AAB impacts sourdough communities.

Professor Angela Oliverio (left), Nimshika Senewiratne (middle), a Ph.D. candidate in Oliverio’s lab, and Beryl Rappaport (right), a Ph.D. student in Oliverio’s lab, co-authored a study which characterized acetic acid bacteria (AAB) from 500 sourdough starters to better understand how genetic diversity of AAB influences characteristics of sourdough.

While previous research has focused more on lactic acid bacteria and yeast, the ecology, genomic diversity and functional contributions of AAB in sourdough remain largely unknown. Beryl Rappaport, a Ph.D. student in Oliverio’s group, recently led a paper published in , a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, where she and other sourdough scientists, including Oliverio, Nimshika Senewiratne from the Oliverio lab, SU biology professor , and professor Ben Wolfe from Tufts University, sequenced 29 AAB genomes from a collection of over 500 sourdough starters and constructed synthetic starter communities in the lab to define the ways in which AAB shape emergent properties of sourdough. The team’s work was supported by a awarded to Oliverio earlier this year.

“While not as common in sourdough as lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria are better known for their dominant roles in other fermented foods like vinegar and kombucha,” says Rappaport. “For this study, we were interested in following up on previous findings which stated that when present in sourdough, AAB seems to have a strong impact on key properties including scent profile and metabolite production, which shape overall flavor formation.”

Plates testing for presence or absence of microbes grown in synthetic sourdough communities.

To assess the consequences of AAB on the emergent function of sourdough starter microbiomes, their team tested 10 strains of AAB, some distantly related and some very closely related. They set up manipulative experiments with these 10 strains, adding each one to a community of yeast and LAB. They kept a separate community of just yeast and LAB to serve as the control.

“Since we can manipulate what microbes and what concentrations of microbes go into these synthetic sourdough communities, we could see the direct effects of adding each strain of AAB to sourdough,” says Rappaport. “As we expected, every strain of AAB lowered the pH of the synthetic sourdough (associated with increasing sourness) since they release acetic acid and other acids as byproducts of their metabolic processes. Unexpectedly, however, AAB that were more closely related did not release more similar compounds. In fact, there was high variation in metabolites, many related to flavor formation, even between strains of the same species.”

Graduate students from the Experimental Neutrino Physics group with Syracuse-area high school students who took part in the Syracuse University Physics Emerging Research Technologies Summer High School Internship Program in summer 2024.

It takes sophisticated technology to study the behavior of invisible particles like neutrinos and cosmic rays, which pass through our bodies every second before zooming back off into the universe without us even knowing. While they might be tiny, these particles have massive importance, as understanding their interactions could help scientists determine why our universe exists and why all of the “stuff” in the universe, including stars, planets and people, are made out of matter and not antimatter. Faculty and students in the  group in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) are part of an international effort to explore the secrets of neutrinos.

So, what’s the buzz about neutrinos? Neutrinos and other invisible particles such as cosmic rays are produced by some of the most extreme events in the cosmos, like the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago or when massive stars end their life cycles in a blaze of glory known as supernovae explosions. Neutrinos come in three flavors (electron, muon and tau) and have some mysterious characteristics, such as puzzlingly low masses and the ability to oscillate, or change from one type of neutrino to another. Scientists use cutting-edge particle detectors to study the information embedded in neutrinos and make definitive determinations of neutrino properties.

Physics Professors �����Ի��� are working with undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers on everything from detector construction to operation and analysis, both at Syracuse and at larger detection sites like . Fermilab is one of the few places on Earth where a focused beam of neutrinos can be created and aimed at a detector.

Through Fermilab’s ��(DUNE), particle detectors are being constructed one mile underground in a former gold mine in South Dakota right in the path of a neutrino beam originating from Fermilab in Illinois. Once operational, DUNE scientists will be able to study a phenomenon called “neutrino oscillation,” which looks at how the three different flavors of neutrinos that make up the Standard Model (electron, muon and tau) change between types as they travel. These insights could reveal why the universe is dominated by matter and whether a fourth type of neutrino (sterile neutrino) exists, which would go beyond the Standard Model, indicating that there is more to the universe’s fundamental particle makeup than we currently understand.

Prototype Paves the Way

Physics graduate student Tom Murphy (right, in orange hard hat) working on a DUNE prototype. (Photo by Dan Svoboda)

DUNE, currently under construction, will be the most comprehensive neutrino experiment in the world. But before it comes online, scientists have been testing prototype equipment and components in preparation for the final detector installation. Members of Syracuse’s Experimental Neutrino Physics group have been part of the , which recorded its first . While the final version of the DUNE near detector will feature 35 liquid argon modules, the prototype has four modules arranged in a square and allows scientists to validate the design.

“Our group members who are resident at Fermilab, including postdoctoral researcher Luis Zazueta and graduate student Tom Murphy, have helped with final detector construction, installation and operations,” says Soderberg. “Zazueta was the inaugural “deputy run coordinator” for the 2×2 effort, which is a leadership role important to the operation of the detector. We are anticipating more involvement in the full-size DUNE detector that the 2×2 is a prototype for.”

Exploring the Cosmos on Campus

Physics Ph.D. student Sierra Thomas is another one of the A&S scientists who has been involved in the DUNE collaboration. She is currently setting up the equipment to make observations of cosmic events at Syracuse using the new prototype “pixel” Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber detector. Located on the third floor of the physics building, this hi-tech device allows researchers to make observations about the universe from the comforts of campus. What’s more, the experiments conducted with this equipment are contributing to the enhancement of larger detectors at Fermilab.

Watch the video below for Sierra’s take on the detector.

A Search for Oscillation

In addition to the DUNE project, Fermilab also hosts the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program, which is a chain of three particle detectors—ICARUS, MicroBooNE and the Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND). SBND is the near detector for the Short Baseline Neutrino Program and the newest of the three. ICARUS, which started collecting data in 2021, is the far detector. SBND will measure the neutrinos as they were produced in the Fermilab beam and ICARUS will measure the neutrinos after they’ve potentially oscillated. The neutrino interactions collected from these detectors play a critical role in performing searches for neutrino oscillations, which could provide proof of the elusive fourth kind of neutrino.

The Short-Baseline Near Detector and ICARUS are the near and far detectors, respectively, in the Short-Baseline Neutrino Program. (Photo courtesy of Fermilab)

Rohan Rajagopalan standing in the SBND building near the detector.

SBND, the final element that completed Fermilab’s Short-Baseline Neutrino Program, recently reached a key milestone as scientists identified the detector’s  earlier this year. Members of Syracuse’s Experimental Neutrino Physics group played integral roles in constructing and commissioning the detector, whose planning, prototyping and construction took nearly a decade. Current group members Amy Filkins, a postdoctoral researcher, and Rohan Rajagopalan, a graduate student, are currently based at Fermilab and working on SBND, having made major contributions to SBND’s first operations.

Amy Filkins (in yellow hard hat) working on the Short-Baseline Near Detector’s data acquisition rack.

The collaboration will continue operating the detector and analyzing the many millions of neutrino interactions collected for the next several years.

“I’m proud of the work that our team has been undertaking,” says Whittington. “I find the process of building, understanding and operating these experiments very engaging, and I’m excited to see them come to fruition over the next few years.”

Students interested in hands-on, international research and exploring the secrets of neutrinos can learn more by visiting the  group website.

Pop star Dua Lipa (right) holding a copy of George Saunders’ book, “Lincoln in the Bardo.” The book is her October book of the month for her 87.5 million followers on Instagram.

Bestselling author and professor of English G’88 has received numerous accolades in his literary career. His book, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” won the 2017 Man Booker Prize; his most recent work, “Liberation Day,” was chosen as one of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2022; and earlier this year, three of his books were included in The New York Times list of .

Now, Saunders’ work is reaching an even broader audience as his “Lincoln in the Bardo” takes center stage as Grammy-winning superstar Dua Lipa’s October book club pick.

Lipa’s monthly book club is part of her global platform, , which provides fans with a curation of lists, stories, perspectives and conversations with the world’s most compelling voices. Club members are invited to read a different book each month and engage with content centered around the author, including discussion guides, author Q&As and further reading lists. She amplifies that content to her millions of social media followers around the world.

“Lincoln in the Bardo” was Saunders’ first novel and debuted at number one on The New York Times Bestseller List. The book is Saunders’ conception of a visit by President Abraham Lincoln to the cemetery where his deceased 11-year-old son, Willie, is buried. The experimental novel explores Abraham Lincoln’s grief for the loss of his son alongside a cast of narrating ghosts who are in the “bardo” — a limbo state between death and the afterlife.

The global acclaim for “Lincoln in the Bardo” demonstrates the profound impact that creative writing can have in uncovering fresh insights on history, while also nurturing readers’ emotional and intellectual growth.

When asked why she loved the book, Dua Lipa said in an article on , “There is no one writing today who can match George Saunders for compassion and empathy. The very last page still replays in my mind. The voices of these spirits — the wretched and the brave, and the dead boy Willie Lincoln —will stay with me forever.”

Throughout October, the Service95 Book Club will offer exclusive insights, interviews and articles from Lipa and Saunders.

Service95 content includes:

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in children, and the numbers are only expected to rise. The CDC reported that in 2022, over 7 million (11.4%) U.S. children aged 3–17 years were diagnosed with ADHD, an increase of 1 million compared to 2016. The elevated numbers aren’t limited to children. According to a  in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 8.7 million adults in the U.S. have ADHD.

Kevin Antshel

ADHD is a chronic condition characterized by difficulty focusing, restlessness and impulsive behavior. If untreated, ADHD can have severe negative consequences on physical and mental health throughout a person’s life, including low self-esteem, chronic stress, fatigue and higher risk of substance abuse. That’s why diagnosis during childhood and early intervention are crucial for helping children reach their potential and avoid the potential life-long challenges associated with the disorder. To educate the public with reliable information, reduce stigma and highlight the importance of ADHD diagnosis and treatment, several advocacy groups joined forces to designate October as ADHD Awareness Month.

The College of Arts and Sciences sat down with , professor of psychology and principal investigator for Syracuse University’s , to discuss the rise in ADHD diagnosis among children and adults, the signs to look out for, and the importance of treatment.

The 2024 cohort of Syracuse-area high school students who took part in the Syracuse University Physics Emerging Research Technologies Summer High School Internship Program.

Thanks to a new National Science Foundation grant, Syracuse University’s physics department doubles the number of Syracuse-area high school participants in their paid summer internship program.

STEM jobs are quickly becoming the backbone of America. By 2031, STEM occupations are , while non-STEM occupations will grow at about half that rate at 4.9%. Therefore, it’s essential for today’s students to gain a solid foundation in math, science and engineering subjects. Syracuse is about to see its own boom in STEM jobs, as the arrival of the Micron chip manufacturing facility will include 9,000 high-paying positions at the Central New York campus.

Federal funding organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF) have acknowledged this workforce shift and are seeding and supporting initiatives aimed at growing a diverse STEM workforce. Since 2022, the Department of Physics has hosted one such program, bringing in Syracuse-area high school students to participate in a paid research internship. In support of that program, the NSF recently pledged nearly $1 million to Syracuse University through their Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) campaign, which will fund the physics internship over three years.

Ruell Branch

Originally known as Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh) during its first two summers in 2022 and 2023, the program seeks to create STEM career pathways for historically excluded groups by involving them in authentic research experiences and providing mentoring and peer networks. SURPh was the brainchild of former physics student Ruell Branch ’24, who pitched the idea to his professors as a way to strengthen the University’s connection with the local community and inspire local students to pursue STEM.

“I wanted Syracuse high school students who have interests in physics to see what it’s like to work as a paid scientist,” says Branch, who graduated from the Syracuse City School District. “I think it’s extremely important for students to get experience conducting research in an actual science lab.”

Expanding the Program

With the help of physics professor , Henninger High School science teacher Melanie Pelcher, and fellow Syracuse alum and Henninger High School graduate Devon Lamanna ’23, G’24, SURPh was born. Now, thanks to the NSF funding awarded to Ross and fellow physics professor and department chair , the summer program will be funded through the summer of 2026.

“The new NSF support is a game-changer,” says Soderberg. “It signifies to the students who participate that not only those of us in the SU physics department and Syracuse city schools, but also policymakers in the federal government, see value in helping them get excited about STEM disciplines and see the potential for them as future professionals who will someday help drive innovation and discovery.”

The three-year grant, totaling nearly $1 million, allowed the program to grow from 12 students in 2023 to 24 in 2024 and brought in additional faculty mentors. SURPh was made possible in past years thanks to funding from the John Ben Snow Foundation and internal support from the Engaged Humanities Network and the physics department.

“This program could not have achieved NSF funding without these other sources to prop us up,” says Ross.

Now called the Syracuse University Physics Emerging Research Technologies Summer High School Internship Program (SUPER-Tech SHIP), the program just wrapped its summer session with a closing ceremony and poster session.��Through SUPER-Tech SHIP, students were exposed to skills and concepts related to computational physics, biophysics and particle physics during the six-week program.

Read the full story on the .

Sinead Feeney O’Connor performing in her class’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

When enrolling in an English class about Shakespeare, you might imagine that the course will involve reading, writing and discussing the famous playwright and his plays. In professor of English  class, ENG 411: Doing Shakespeare, which was offered in Spring 2024, this was just the beginning. Shirilan wanted students to explore for themselves how theatrical practice and production generate different modes of inquiry than text study alone. By engaging in hands-on and active learning, the experience aimed to enhance students’ problem-solving abilities, boost their confidence and encourage their creativity—soft skills which are crucial for success after graduation.

“The idea of the course, simply, is that students learn Shakespeare by ‘doing Shakespeare,’” says Shirilan. “I issued an invitation to make of this course what they willed, and what they willed was a full production of a play chosen, as we strove to do with every decision, collectively.”

Learning by Doing

Shirilan’s inspiration for this course draws from the educational technique of “learning by doing,” a teaching methodology where students retain information through active learning and hands-on experience. In “Doing Shakespeare,” students were presented with a full range of options for the scale and scope of production to pursue.

“They chose to mount a full show, or aim towards it, understanding that we would be working collaboratively and distributing the labors across as many hands as were able and willing,” says Shirilan. “Everyone was involved in multiple areas of production. Everyone acted, most students took responsibility for a production element, including props, costume and sound design.”

Together the students conceived of, organized and performed a full theatrical production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The crew, many of whom had little to no prior theater experience, included Tate Abrahmason, Maurissa DEmello, Sinead Feeney O’Connor, Anderson Fuentes, Valerie Goldstein, Eva Greene, Victoria Lafarge, Jenny Lee, Ailis McVearry, Blair Seaman, Alexandra Steward and Cricket Withall.

Before moving into production, students spent the first half of the semester largely devoted to text study, table work, vision work and research. During the second half of the semester, the team went into production mode, blocking, rehearsing and producing the play. The semester concluded with a full theatrical performance at Syracuse Stage.

Professor Stephanie Shirilan reviewing the script during a rehearsal.

Wearing Many Hats

“Doing Shakespeare” offered students a unique opportunity to have a hand in every aspect of the performance, from design to direction.

Valerie Goldstein ’24, who majored in policy studies in the College of Arts and Sciences | Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and minored in applied data analytics in the School of Information Studies, went into the experience thinking it would mostly involve acting, but was delighted to discover the wide range of skills she would ultimately utilize.

“I played Bottom and Oberon and was an assistant director, producer, projections designer and did other odd jobs like creating the daily rehearsal schedule, carpool system and tech to-do lists,” says Goldstein. “There were so many lessons in problem-solving and actually following through and creating something that I never would have learned in a traditional classroom.”

After graduation, Goldstein accepted a position with . As she embarks on a career in teaching and education policy, she says taking part in a course involving performance-based learning—where students apply their knowledge and skills to execute a task—will inform her own instructional techniques.

Valerie Goldstein (right) playing the role of Bottom during the class’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“I think there are better ways to engage students than having them study something abstractly all the time,” says Goldstein. “This class gave me an opportunity to explore a new pedagogy that I may be able to implement in my own profession.”

Blair Seaman ’24, who majored in broadcast and digital journalism in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, was an assistant director and played Titania and Hippolyta in the production. Rounding out her time at Syracuse with an acting role in a Shakespeare play marked a full circle moment for her as she had previously participated in a children’s Shakespeare troupe in her hometown.

“The theater had a huge impact on me deciding to come to Syracuse to study journalism, as I wanted to fuse my love for storytelling with a passion for helping others,” says Seaman. “As much as I loved my degree, I had truly missed performing, and so, I eagerly jumped at the chance to take a class called ‘Doing Shakespeare.’”

She notes that the class was the perfect way to end her four years at Syracuse, and on a more personal level, provided an opportunity to memorialize her mother, who passed away when Seaman was a sophomore at Syracuse.

“[My mother] always sat front row in every production I had previously been a part of, and in a way, it felt like a gift to her to perform in one last show,” Seaman says. “As I said goodbye to my college experience, I was able to return to a passion of mine that was built up through her love.”

Honoring a Classmate

While the performance marked a time to celebrate the culmination of the team’s hard work, it also presented a moment to honor a classmate who gave so much to the production but was unable to participate in the finale due to health reasons. Ailis McVearry ’24 assumed various duties during the semester, from working as an assistant director to head of costuming to starring as Oberon and Theseus.

In support of their classmate, students collected contributions and donated proceeds from the final performance to defray transportation and other costs related to her care.

“Our final production honored her and the beautiful work she poured into this class both on and off the stage,” says Shirilan. “We hope that the money we raised can be used to provide comfort to her during this difficult time, assisting with medical bills and other essentials.”

A Performance for the Ages

According to Shirilan, the culminating performance marked a milestone for the English department and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), as it was likely the first full theatrical performance put on by an A&S class at Syracuse Stage. A testament to their hard work, shows were nearly sold out before opening night.

“The final performance was truly a triumph,” recalls Shirilan. “I was consistently amazed by the insights and discoveries made through this process, a success that reflects the astonishing commitment, capability and courage of this team.”

With the high level of interest shown by students for this class, Shirilan is exploring possibilities for expanding the course as a 6-credit offering to facilitate running it as another full production experience. She is scheduled to teach it in Spring 2025 as a 3-credit course, for which students will collectively decide the scope and scale of production.

Watch the class’s performance of “.”

In today’s interconnected world, cultural competency, critical thinking and innovative problem solving are important proficiencies that are highly sought after by employers. The Institute for the Future predicts that 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 have not yet been invented, highlighting the need for adaptable graduates. The humanities play a vital role in cultivating skills such as agility, resilience and flexibility by broadening students’ worldviews and exposing them to diverse cultures, perspectives and experiences.

For the last 21 years, the Syracuse Symposium has done just that through a public series of art exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, workshops and musical performances which encourage people to think critically about important questions and reflect on their values and beliefs.

“Syracuse Symposium’s free, inclusive programming is so important to creating a sense of purpose and contribution larger than our individual selves,” says , professor of women’s and gender studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of both the Humanities Center and Central New York Humanities Corridor. “Symposium’s diverse lineup of immersive experiences in the arts and humanities helps to humanize large-scale problems and to imagine how we can make a difference, together.”

Each year’s symposium programming centers around a theme, with this year’s being “community,” as chosen by the . May notes that the range of events will engage attendees in conversations about social justice and well-being, while also demonstrating how community is vital to achieving more just and equitable futures. For example, a lecture and workshop with prison studies scholar Brandon Erby will highlight how incarcerated individuals are developing communities to foster a sense of belonging and emotional support as they work to prepare for life after release. Another art exhibition and film screening will highlight how the women artists in the Mithila region of northeast India are using art to challenge longstanding gender-based violence and patriarchal structures to foster empowerment and social reform.

“This fall’s lineup invites us to immerse in a rich array of cultural forms to consider how community can be imagined and built but also undermined,” says May. “Our fall offerings underscore the humanities’ central role in how we craft identity and forge community, including in contexts of constraint; in how to confront myriad forms of violence rupturing our communities; and in how we imagine community differently and tap into its possibilities in more just ways.”

Fall Symposium Events at a Glance

Friday, Sept. 6

Gordon Parks

– During his career as a photojournalist from the 1940s to the 1970s, Gordon Parks illuminated issues of race relations, poverty, civil rights and urban life in America. An exhibition of his works, which he donated to Kansas State University, will be on display at the SU Art Museum’s Joe and Emily Lowe Galleries through Dec. 8. At the Sept. 6 event, , associate curator at Kansas State University’s Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, will discuss the legendary photographer and his wide-ranging artistic ideas.

– , professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara and prominent architect and architectural historian, will introduce participants to new methodologies in researching architectural and urban space through colonial and post-colonial lenses. The workshop will feature selected archival materials in the Special Collections Research Center and will also include a walking tour of the Erie Canal in downtown Syracuse.

Thursday, Sept. 12

Swati Chattopadhyay

– Chattopadhyay, whose research specializations include modern architecture and urbanism, and the cultural landscape of the British empire, will present a public lecture exploring how analyzing architecture, urban design and monuments can help people understand sovereignty and its relation to colonialism.

Friday, Sept. 20

– will commemorate Latine Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15) with the opening of its new exhibition, “Weird Barrio,” featuring the work of Syracuse-based Puerto Rican artist Manuel Matías. The installation will feature a collection of miniature three-dimensional dioramas that depict the Latino experience of Syracuse and Central New York.

Friday, Oct. 18

– An art exhibition at the SU Art Museum and film screening of will emphasize how women in the Mithila region near the India-Nepali border are shifting gender and other social norms through storytelling and art. The film screening will include a question-and-answer session with producer Coralynn Davis.

Sunday, Oct. 20

– Composer Kurt Erickson and award-winning poet and veteran Brian Turner will discuss the creative process behind their collaborative works, which blend Erickson’s compositions with Turner’s poetry. As part of Remembrance Week, the artists’ talk follows a of “Each Moment Radiant,” which commemorates the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The concert will also include a rendition of “Here Bullet,” featuring a poem by Turner reflecting on his experiences as an American soldier in Iraq, and chamber music of Johannes Brahms.

Alba

Thursday, Oct. 24

– This year’s Kashi and Kameshwar C. Wali Lecture in the Sciences and Humanities will feature “bio-artist” Eduardo Kac, who gained prominence at the beginning of the 21st century with his transgenic work GFP Bunny (pictured). Kac used molecular biology and a gene found in jellyfish to create Alba, a bunny which turned fluorescent green when exposed to blue light. Kac will revisit key highlights in his career, with emphasis on his current space artworks.

Brandon Erby

Thursday, Nov. 7
– , assistant professor of writing, rhetoric and digital studies at the University of Kentucky, will discuss how incarcerated individuals build communities inside jails and the vital role they play in their emotional well-being, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Green Teaching Summit attendees gathered beside the lake at Minnowbrook Conference Center in the Adirondacks.

Can religion, philosophy, history, English and writing help tackle issues of climate change, environment and ecology? Absolutely, says , professor of English and outgoing William P. Tolley Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities. Through his Tolley professorship, a role designed to support enhancement of the pedagogical experience and to boost effectiveness in the classroom, he made it a goal to show how the humanities subjects are vital to helping society understand and respond to today’s complex ecological challenges. Here are just four of many ways humanists are engaged in research relating to climate:

A. More Than Just a Map: While maps depict selected data about a place, humanists play a key role in translating and communicating what maps say about power, representation and climate urgency—crucial insights for leaders making decisions about the allocation of resources and implementation of policies.

B. Losing Languages: Climate change doesn’t just affect the physical world. It affects human culture too. When climate change causes people to leave their homeland, they often also lose their language. Through the study of language endangerment, humanists examine the causes, processes and consequences of languages becoming extinct and work on ways to preserve them.

C. Religion and Ecology: Religion scholars might explore the environmental consequences of festivals and pilgrimages that draw millions of people to a concentrated area. Or, research on sacred texts can delve into how the texts shape environmental consciousness in different faith traditions, highlighting political issues and raising doctrinal concerns.

D. Human-Animal Entanglement: Bestiaries, or works about mythical animals, can spark discussions about human-animal entanglements in different countries and contexts.

A main component of Goode’s professorship was highlighting opportunities for faculty and staff across campus to share resources to help students respond to the implications of the climate crisis and to think ecologically.

Inspired in part by the success of a collaboration with the Syracuse University Art Museum where Goode teamed up with staff and students to explore the ways in which objects and artworks in the museum’s collection could be utilized as , he wanted to see how others at the University could forge partnerships to elevate their own research and teaching around ecology. In May, he convened a team of faculty from numerous humanities disciplines at the Green Teaching Summit at University’s Minnowbrook Conference Center in the Adirondacks. The three-day conference provided a space for scholars to discover shared interests and forge collaborations, set in a location that itself is ecologically vulnerable.

Arts and Sciences Communications (A&S) sat down with Goode to talk about his motivation for the summit and how the humanities play a crucial role in sparking ecological discussions.

Why is now such a critical time for humanists to focus on ecology and climate?

When doing my English Ph.D. in the early 1990s, I remember one of my professors, Homi Bhabha, declaring that whatever our training and expertise in the humanities, every humanities course would soon need to engage in some way with the histories of colonialism and empire. His comment encountered considerable audience skepticism at the time, but it turned out to be prophetically accurate. We’re facing a similar turning point in the humanities. Whatever our training or expertise, we are likely less than a decade removed from a time when every one of our courses will need to engage with ecology, climate and environmental justice in some way. As the Tolley Professor, I focused on trying to help the humanities at Syracuse University lean into this coming shift and to increase their visibility on campus for doing so.

In between presentation sessions, faculty mingled with one another to discuss collaborations on the shores of Blue Mountain Lake.

What was the inspiration for the Green Teaching Summit?

Since the Tolley professorship is charged with expanding and improving humanities teaching, I wanted the summit to be a humanities-focused event with faculty from various environmental disciplines. I wanted as many of the most recently hired tenure-track humanities faculty as possible to attend along with staff who could highlight ways to further leverage campus resources, so the next generation of humanities scholars are empowered with the critical perspectives necessary to help raise awareness, inspire action and help shape policies that are socially just and culturally sensitive.

What do you hope that faculty can take away from this experience?

I had three goals:

1. Have people on campus who already teach in these areas connect with one another, describe what they do in the classroom, learn more about how different subjects get taught from different disciplinary vantage points and plant the seeds for future initiatives and collaborations.
2. Highlight campus resources, centers and offices with which to collaborate on experiential learning, student success and professional development related to ecology, climate and environmental justice concerns.
3. Bridge generations, connecting the newest tenure-track hires in the humanities at Syracuse to senior faculty on campus already teaching and researching in these areas, so we could mutually inspire, learn from and collaborate with each other moving forward.

What are the benefits of having a group of scholars (and administrators) come together at a summit like this? Do you think that the setting was/is particularly important?

One bit of feedback I have received repeatedly from attendees is that they did not realize just how many other people on campus were teaching in these areas and were thrilled to meet faculty with shared interests who they might not have met otherwise. The Adirondacks setting, however aesthetically pleasing, also probably contributed to a sense of urgency, since some of the weekend’s talks touched on the region’s ecological vulnerability and its connection to histories of environmental injustice through Native American displacement and dispossession.

Understanding that you are wrapping up the two-year Tolley professorship this summer, what do you hope the legacy or potential of the Green Teaching Summit will be at SU?

I’d love it if a dedicated environmental humanities chair could be created on campus to continue expanding and sustaining this kind of environmental humanities-focused programming, network-building and resource-sharing. We need people and resources to spearhead more humanities-centered working groups and to develop new campus collaborations related to ecology and climate. The Art, Ecology, and Climate Project (that I founded while Tolley Professor) is already being used in many different instructional contexts on campus, and I hope that it can eventually be grown to include holdings at repositories like SCRC and the Belfer Sound Archive. Unfortunately, climate change is the shared future of all of us, and every single faculty member needs to be positioned instructionally to grapple with it. I certainly hope that the newest humanities faculty on campus walked away from the summit energized to lean into that project more in their own teaching moving forward.

For more on the Green Teaching Summit, visit the .

George Saunders

Not one, not two, but three books by bestselling author and professor of English were included in The New York Times list of .

Saunders, who teaches in the creative writing M.F.A. program in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), was joined on the list by three former M.F.A. faculty: Junot Diaz, Mary Gaitskill and Sigrid Nunez. The rankings were compiled based on the votes of 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers.

Books by A&S-affiliated authors and their rankings are listed below.

• #85, “Pastoralia” (2000) by George Saunders
• #68, “The Friend” (2018) by Sigrid Nunez
• #63, “Veronica” (2005) by Mary Gaitskill
• #54, “Tenth of December” (2013) by George Saunders
• #18, “Lincoln in the Bardo” (2017) by George Saunders
• #11, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (2007) by Junot Diaz

.

Saunders’ book, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain” (2021), also came in at #33 on Oprah Daily’s list of .

, professor of physics in the , was recently awarded a grant from NASA for his project entitled, “Extragalactic Outbursts and Repeating Nuclear Flares From Tidal Disruption Events.” The three-year, $346,000 award will support his research on tidal disruption events (TDEs)­—one of the cosmos’ most extreme occurrences where a star is completely or partially destroyed by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH).

Eric Coughlin

By examining the formation of accretion flares—the very hot, bright shredded stellar material that falls into the black hole during a TDE— astrophysicists can gain novel insights about the evolution of SMBHs, including such demographics as their mass and spin distributions. With improvements in technology like NASA’s NICER telescope, scientists have been able to detect more TDEs than ever. While these telescopes allow scientists to make direct observations of TDEs, theoretical models are necessary to relate observations to the physical properties of the disrupted star (e.g., its mass) and the disrupting black hole (e.g., its mass).

With this grant, Coughlin will work to advance TDE theory and modeling, so they are accurate and in agreement with observations. Specifically, he will numerically simulate TDEs of individual stars to generate a repository of accretion rates, which can then be used to compare to observations and infer the physical properties of black holes.

An artist’s concept of a tidal disruption event that happens when a star passes fatally close to a supermassive black hole, which reacts by launching a relativistic jet. (Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF/NASA)

Part of the project will also be dedicated to understanding the production of repeating partial TDEs. A partial TDE occurs when a star is stripped of some of its mass by a SMBH but is not completely destroyed, while a repeating partial TDE is one in which the star orbits the black hole (similar to the Earth orbiting the Sun) and is stripped of mass—and fuels an electromagnetic outburst—once per orbit.

Coughlin notes that this aspect of his research shows specific promise for measuring quantities that normal tidal disruption events cannot. For example, in a TDE, there is an amount of time that passes after the star is partially disrupted and when accretion begins, known as the fallback time, and this period is “dark”, meaning no observable emission is produced before debris rains down onto the black hole. TDEs that generate only one accretion flare cannot be used to measure this timescale.

Repeating partial TDEs, on the other hand, enables a direct detection of the fallback time through the electromagnetic disturbances that arise as the star orbits the SMBH. The fallback time can also be reliably measured from simulations, but its value changes as a function of the star’s and the black hole’s mass, meaning that repeating partial TDEs provide a unique test of the theoretical understanding of strong tides and probe the properties of black holes (and stars in distant galaxies).

“Our goal is to develop an enhanced understanding of the variability in the accretion rates onto black holes that can be generated by tidal disruption events, ultimately to better inform our physical modeling of observations,” says Coughlin. “Our results will support the mission of NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos program: to understand the behavior of matter in extreme environments and the evolution of the Universe.”

This is the second NASA grant currently held by Coughlin, with his other entitled, “Continued Swift Monitoring of Repeating Stellar Tidal Disruption Events: Towards a Legacy Dataset.” This proposal uses data from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (an optical-UV+X-ray telescope) to probe the properties of repeating partial TDEs. His research is also funded by a $330,000 National Science Foundation grant for a project entitled, “Understanding the long-term evolution of tidal disruption events.”

Severe flooding followed heavy rains in Cranford, New Jersey.

Widespread climate change from global warming has devastating and lasting effects on human health, infrastructure and food production. As temperatures rise, certain areas are dealing with intense droughts and water scarcity, while other regions are experiencing catastrophic rainfall and flooding. The eastern United States is one area that has seen a marked rise in torrential storms in recent years. A byproduct of this was the East Kentucky flood of 2022, which occurred when a storm swept through, dropping four inches of rain per hour, resulting in the tragic loss of 44 lives and the declaration of 13 counties as federal disaster areas.

As the eastern U.S. comes to grips with the changing climate, local and state governments depend on accurate rainfall predictions to help save lives and minimize property damage. But human-caused climate change makes it difficult to isolate processes in the atmosphere and ocean responsible for long-term trends in rainfall. This makes it especially challenging to predict rainfall changes on a local scale. A team of researchers from the University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) has been awarded a $547,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate ancient climate data to help improve the accuracy of climate modeling and future rainfall predictions.

Tripti Bhattacharya (left) and David Fastovich

The project is led by principal investigator (PI) , Thonis Family Professor in EES, and co-PI , a postdoctoral researcher in Bhattacharya’s Paleoclimate Dynamics Lab. Bhattacharya is a leading expert in organic geochemistry and climatology, which involves studying how atmospheric conditions have changed over time. Fastovich, who joined Bhattacharya’s lab at Syracuse in 2022, has particular interest in using the geologic record to better understand future global change.

“This project really brings together David’s and my expertise to tackle a climate question of strong relevance to the northeast U.S., including the Central New York region,” says Bhattacharya.

According to Fastovich, extreme rainfall in the eastern and central U.S. results from a “perfect storm” of conditions in the atmosphere, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

“When oceanic and atmospheric conditions are just right, air laden with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is directed towards the central and eastern U.S. This air is then quickly lifted by atmospheric processes creating pockets of intense rainfall,” he explains. “We hypothesize that the relative importance of oceanic and atmospheric processes needed to create extreme rainfall are poorly approximated in climate models that are used to make predictions of the future.”

Answers Embedded in Leaf Wax

The team will take measurements of leaf waxes from lake sediments preserved in the last ice age and compare those results to climate models to identify why predictions of rainfall in the central and eastern U.S. are uncertain.

Their research will focus on the period from the Last Glacial Maximum (~20,000 years ago) to the Holocene (last ~12,000 years of Earth’s history). During this time, there was an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide which led to ice sheet retreat and ocean heat transport variability—which refers to the fluctuations in the movement of heat within the ocean.

The leaf waxes that the team will study originate from five lakes across Ohio, Missouri and Florida. Bhattacharya and Fastovich will be applying lab methods that extract, identify and measure leaf waxes stored within the sediments.

Bhattacharya works with a gas chromatograph, a key piece of lab equipment that allows her to quantify the concentrations of leaf waxes in ancient sediments.

“My lab measures leaf waxes, but David’s unique expertise is helping us apply this technique in a new setting,” says Bhattacharya. “This grant is a great example of how postdoctoral scholars enrich the depth and breadth of research expertise here at Syracuse University.”

According to Fastovich, being able to engage in this type of hands-on research with field-leading instrumentation was one of the reasons he chose Syracuse.

“I was really drawn to the expertise and analytical capabilities here in Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,” he says. “Through this project, we’re using sophisticated equipment to study leaf waxes, which make up the shiny layer that can be seen on plants that prevent them from drying out. They are very robust compounds that are stored in lake sediments and hold a wealth of information about climate.”

Improving Climate Models

The team will measure the different proportions of hydrogen atoms in the compounds from these sediment cores to better understand how rainfall in the central and eastern U.S. changed over the last 18,000 years. With the data collected from the leaf wax biomarkers, the team will develop a network of hydroclimate reconstructions to reveal physical processes like atmospheric circulation, evaporation and condensation. These enable researchers to understand changes in atmospheric circulation and hydroclimate.

“Climate models struggle to capture the historic hydroclimate in the eastern United States, as they overestimate precipitation along the Atlantic coast and underestimate precipitation in the Great Plains,” Bhattacharya says. “With precipitation amount and intensity predicted to robustly increase throughout these regions in the coming century, accurate climate models will be an essential tool for policymakers to make informed decisions about adaption strategies and infrastructure planning.”

Fastovich notes that it will be difficult to alter the rainfall trajectory short of stopping carbon dioxide emissions altogether. It is therefore critical to engage in research efforts that improve climate modeling accuracy to prepare for the future.

“The less carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, the less rainfall will differ from historical trends to which we are accustomed,” he says. “But it’s important to note that the eastern U.S. is locked in for some rainfall changes because of today’s high carbon dioxide levels, and as extreme rainfall becomes more common, preparing infrastructure for this new normal is imperative.”

The Importance of Postdocs

According to , vice president for research, Fastovich’s contribution to this project exemplifies the significance of postdoctoral scholars to the research mission at Syracuse University. In fall 2023, the University established an to provide centralized resources and dedicated staff to serve the interests and well-being of postdoctoral scholars.

“Professor Bhattacharya and Dr. Fastovich’s award demonstrates the important role that postdoctoral scholars play in pursuing funding, as well as working on research and creative projects,” says Brown.

To help more postdocs win research funding, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs will be running a series of research development sessions targeted at postdocs starting next academic year.

The Marley Education Center is the new home for A&S’ Department of Psychology.

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is committed to offering students and faculty state-of-the-art learning and laboratory spaces.  include new and improved labs in the Center for Science and Technology, remodeled rooms in Huntington Beard Crouse and a refreshed chemistry department.

Adding to that list is a new home for A&S’ Department of Psychology, which transitioned from its previous residence in Huntington Hall to the Marley Education Center. The renovated space provides a centralized location for faculty and students in psychology to teach, learn and conduct research in a collaborative environment, instead of going to separate locations across campus.

Phase I of the project was completed in March and included over 30 new faculty and staff offices along with graduate student offices that can accommodate over 50 people. This phase also encompassed the completion of a new space for the , where advanced doctoral students, along with faculty supervisors, assess and treat clients.

Phase II will include new research facilities and will be completed by December 2024. Once completed, the department will occupy around 25,000 square feet on floors three and four, with other portions of the building to be occupied by the E-sports curriculum, classrooms for the Office of the Registrar and Retention and Student Success.

See Inside the New Space

Step inside the Marley Education Center to see the new psychology spaces, which are now bustling with students, faculty and counseling center clients.

The Marley Education Center is located at the corner of Waverly and Irving Ave., next to Crouse-Hinds Hall. It originally opened in 1991 and was previously home to Crouse Hospital’s nursing school before the University purchased the building in 2022. It is named after the late Harry and Lillian Marley, who donated money to fund its construction. Harry was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Syracuse and their daughter, the late , was the wife of Donald Newhouse, the owner of Advance Publications. Donald’s father, Samuel Irving Newhouse, funded the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

After entering the main lobby, visitors can either take a stairway or elevators to the second-floor auditorium and classrooms.

The Department of Psychology and the Psychological Services Center are located on floors 3 and 4.

The Psychological Services Center greets visitors as they disembark from the elevator on the third floor. Windows to the lobby are frosted to provide clients with privacy.

The Norman Stein Conference Room inside the Psychological Services Center features a green accent wall. This color scheme is present throughout the department. The color green is said to have a calming and relaxing effect on people and reduces stress and anxiety.

A large Plexiglas wall sign prominently welcomes guests when they enter the Department of Psychology’s main office.

Classrooms are fully equipped with cameras and television screens allowing faculty and students to engage in virtual learning and collaboration.

Brice Nordquist, founder of the Engaged Humanities Network, welcomed guests to the inaugural EHN Showcase at the Salt City Market in Downtown Syracuse.

The research and collaborative work of teams from Syracuse University in partnership with community organizations was front and center at the Engaged Humanities Network (EHN) showcase held in Downtown Syracuse’s Salt City Market on May 3.

The event marked EHN’s first open-house style celebration of community-engaged projects, courses and creative scholarship generated by interdisciplinary groups from the University and their local partners (view a full list of participants at the end of the article).

Guests perused information tables and chatted with researchers to learn more about their respective projects. Throughout the day, presenters took the stage to provide an overview of their research and share their team’s accomplishments.

Sarah Nahar, a Ph.D. candidate in religion in the College of Arts and Sciences and environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, served as the emcee throughout the day and introduced each presenter.

The , which was founded by , Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of writing and rhetoric, has been seeding and supporting innovative opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research, teaching and learning that immerses them in the community. By applying their knowledge and skills to these initiatives, members of EHN help build relationships of trust and mutual support across communities.

This commitment to cultivating scholarly work for the betterment of society ties directly to human thriving and experiential inquiry, key areas of distinctive excellence in the University’s Academic Strategic Plan. Over the past four years, EHN has helped to foster collaborations that have connected teams at the University with 35 community-based organizations. In addition, EHN has supported 14 courses, 35 active projects and over 350 faculty, staff and students who are engaged in community work.

Phil Arnold (second from left), associate professor of religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Sandy Bigtree (second from right), a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, talked with guests about the Indigenous Values Initiative.

The student, faculty and community teams at the EHN Showcase included Project Mend (Syracuse University with Center for Community Alternatives); Write Out (Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, with YWCA); Doctrine of Discovery (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center); Breedlove Readers (Syracuse University with South Side Communication Center); Narratio Fellowship (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); La Casita Mother’s and Women’s Group; Listening to the Elders (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center and Onondaga Nation); Spanish in Action (LLL with La Casita); Data Warriors (Syracuse University with Nottingham High School); Environmental Storytelling CNY (EHN with SUNY ESF); Syracuse University Research in Physics (Syracuse University with Syracuse City School District); The Turning Lens Collective/Family Pictures Syracuse (SU with P.E.A.C.E, Inc.); Natural Science Explorers Program (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); CODA Educational Support Program (SU with Deaf New Americans Advocacy, Inc.); Photography and Literacy (PAL) (Syracuse University Art Museum with Mercy Works); Teens with a Movie Camera (VPA in collaboration with Nottingham High School); along with members of the inaugural : ENG 420: Everyday Media and Social Justice (Professor Roger Hallas and students), LIN 300: Linguistics at Work (Professor Amanda Brown and students) and WRT 114: Creative Non-fiction: Writing and Translating Courses (Professor Sevinç Türkkan and students).

Learn more about the .

For more photos and videos of the event, visit the .

Ben Samadi

As Syracuse University’s largest school with over 300 faculty spanning the sciences, mathematics and humanities, the is a key contributor to the University’s R1 Carnegie designation, signifying very high research activity. In 2023 alone, A&S’ research and related expenditures exceeded $19 million. While funded research keeps faculty on the cutting edge of their fields, there are many administrative duties related to managing their grant awards. To support A&S researchers in the fulfillment of these duties, the College has named Behrang (Ben) Samadi as the inaugural director of research administration.

According to A&S Associate Dean for Research , by assisting faculty throughout the grant process, this new position aims to reduce some of the faculty’s non-research activity, allowing more time and resources to focus on their research or scholarship.

“There are many administrative aspects both in applying for research funding and in managing awards,” says Maisto. “Ben will assist A&S faculty in all phases of pre- and post-award project administration and management.”

Samadi will work closely with faculty to bring their research ideas to fruition and effectively execute their sponsored projects by:

• partnering with principal investigators to anticipate and resolve any administrative challenges that may arise throughout grant lifecycles to ensure compliance with funder and other requirements and maximize efficiency in grant operations;
• partnering with the Office of Sponsored Programs on faculty grant proposals to ensure complete and on-time submission; and
• overseeing fiscal administration and financial reporting of research grants in concert with College budget staff and the Office of Sponsored Accounting.

Samadi, who started on April 15, comes to A&S from Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, one of Malaysia’s highest-rated private universities, where he was a project manager, program leader and associate professor of marketing and management. Through his dual roles as a project manager and professor, he is versed in both the business and academic aspects of higher education. In addition to his background in business analysis, stakeholder management and strategic planning, Samadi also has expertise in securing research funding, leading research teams and publishing work in high-impact journals – skills that will serve him well in this new position, notes Maisto.

“Based on his extensive experience working in a similar role at other universities and the high level of praise for the quality of his work, Ben will be a major asset for our faculty,” says Maisto.

Samadi’s addition affirms A&S’ commitment to supporting faculty and student research. Together with Melissa Whipps and Sarah Workman, directors of proposal development in A&S and the University’s Office of Research, their efforts will continue to further the research mission of the College and University by increasing the volume, scope, success and management of grants.

Learn more about .

Writing and rhetoric professor Amy Murphy has been awarded a Fulbright to research and teach in Slovakia. The photo is of Murphy during a trip to Slovakia in 2023. She traveled there in search of ancestral information about her great-grandfather.

Genealogy websites like are a popular way for individuals to trace and preserve their family histories. Before this information was widely accessible via the web, people would often learn about their past through stories passed down from older generations.

While a good way for family members to connect with one another and take pride in their roots, these oral histories could be subjective and not provide the full picture of how a family came to be. If certain details about a family’s past were omitted or altered, then inaccuracies could be perpetuated for generations.

For , associate teaching professor of in the College of Arts and Sciences, an unexpected discovery about her family history played a pivotal role in her scholarly pursuits, and ultimately led to her applying for and receiving a prestigious award to teach and conduct research in Slovakia.

Journey to Discovery

The research expedition began in Syracuse in 2023 when Murphy’s husband took a deep dive into her lineage using Ancestry.com. While working to recreate a family tree, he came across a surprising document: a Census record stating that Murphy’s great-grandfather, Anton Plott, listed his home country as “Slovak Land” (a term previously used to denote Slovak-inhabited territories). This came as a shock because the family had always believed him to be of Austrian descent.

“I was just very perplexed because that was not part of any conversation I ever had with my father or my grandmother or any member of that family,” says Murphy, who has taught several different writing and rhetoric classes since starting at the University in 2019. “I was just trying to understand what had happened there and why I never knew about it, and so that sort of began a larger interest that I had in Central Europe and in Slovakia in particular.”

To piece together this complicated puzzle, Murphy knew it would take more than the information available to her on the web. Luckily, she already had a trip planned to Czechia (Czech Republic), a country which borders Slovakia, for an unrelated conference in summer 2023.

“I thought that I might not get to do this again, so I set out to figure out where his village was,” says Murphy. “Since Slovakia is a very small country of about 5 million people, I presumed I’d have a good shot at finding it.”

She contacted Michael Razus, a local historian, and explained that she would be taking the train to Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) from the Czech Republic and asked if there was anyone who could take her around Kalná nad Hronom, the village where she believed her great-grandfather was born. She was introduced to another local resident, who helped her locate the cemetery where her family’s burial plot was situated and visit the Catholic church where her great-grandfather, Anton Plott, was baptized.

Anton Plott, Amy Murphy’s great-grandfather

After confirming the birthplace of her great-grandfather, the question turned to why this information was kept secret. Murphy believes it probably had something to do with the period when he emigrated to the United States. Anton came to the U.S. in the 1880s at the age of 15, a time when the Slovak people were repressed and struggling to find national identity under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

“He came to the United States as such a young person by himself,” says Murphy. “It was a very odd time historically and socially because of what was happening in Europe politically. Slovaks did not have a recognized,��national identity because they were subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. For outsiders coming to the United States at that time, they would have never disclosed that they were Slovak.”

Murphy says the experience of uncovering this remarkable untold aspect of her family history was not only emotional, but also inspired her to seek a deeper connection with her Slovak roots through her research and scholarship.

“I just felt really determined that I wanted to find a way to connect to the country, and so the Fulbright seemed the natural place to do that, so I began the application process,” says Murphy.

Connecting With Her Culture

Murphy’s research concentration lies at the intersection of history, language and literature. As a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona, she focused her dissertation on how women writers were documenting labor in the 19th century. Her longstanding interest in the historical and cultural aspects of language and writing is what led her to apply for a Fulbright, where she will research literacy in the Slovak Republic.

Whereas in the United States people have maintained the freedom to read and learn freely, Slovakia (formerly Czechoslovakia until 1993) was under an authoritarian communist rule from 1948 to 1989, which deeply impacted the literacy of people living in that country. At universities, inquiry and free debate was stifled, and lectures would often emphasize the benefits of communism.

Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, a protest movement that ended more than 40 years of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, students gained the ability to pursue their own academic interests and learn about the diversity of cultures and perspectives on a global scale.

“When I was in college in the late 1980s, people my age in Slovakia couldn’t read the literary texts that I could because they were banned,” says Murphy. “I’m interested in my generation—people that were born in the 60s and 70s—and want to explore how literacy worked in a former dictatorship in terms of access to materials and how that affected people’s ability to read and think.”

Among the topics Murphy will investigate is samizdat (from Russian sam, “self,” and izdatelstvo, “publishing”), which was literature secretly written, copied and circulated in Czechoslovakia and throughout the former Soviet Union.

“There was a whole underground of people who had typewriters and were making copies of books and manuscripts,” says Murphy. “The government saw books such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ as being a threat to a communist ideology and people could go to jail for reproducing these books. I’m very interested in finding out more about how people accessed literature.”

As a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Murphy will teach and conduct research at Comenius University in Bratislava, the largest university in Slovakia.

Murphy will research and teach in the British and American studies program at located in Bratislava, Slovakia. She will work with faculty there to explore the role United States authors and academics played in helping the underground writers to connect to literature and find inspiration.

In addition, she will connect with students, faculty and their families to document their experiences with language, literature and education to examine how Slovaks in former Czechoslovakia expressed themselves artistically despite the difficulties and potential dangers they had in obtaining texts.

As a scholar who specializes in innovative writing pedagogy, Murphy will work with Slovak students who are studying to become teachers of English. Being able to share materials which she has created for the writing studies program at Syracuse with future educators in Slovakia carries great significance, both professionally and personally.

“What I have been able to achieve in my academic and scholarly career was made possible because my great-grandfather came here and took that kind of risk and worked very hard his whole life,” says Murphy. “Having the opportunity to teach abroad and immerse myself in the culture of my ancestors is a huge gift and I’m incredibly grateful for it.”

Murphy will travel to Slovakia for the Fall 2024 semester and says she looks forward to sharing the cross-cultural teaching and research insights she gains during her time abroad with students in her classes and faculty at Syracuse University. She also plans to publish and share the results of her findings at conferences and in a scholarly journal upon her return.

On April 8, 2024, Syracuse will witness a rare and splendid event as a total solar eclipse will cast the city into a brief period of daytime darkness. Students, faculty, staff and the community are invited to the Shaw Quadrangle (aka “the Quad”) for an afternoon of fun, with science demonstrations presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Physics.

Ahead of the momentous occasion, , instructional lab manager with the , shares some tips and background about the rare occurrence of a total eclipse and how to safely enjoy it.

What happens during a solar eclipse?

(A total solar eclipse occurs) when the moon is lined up with the sun and is in a special phase, known as the new moon. We can’t see the moon during this phase because the part of the moon facing the Earth is not lit up by the sun. On April 8, the moon’s shadow is going to go right across North America and pass through Syracuse.

What is the difference between an annular and total eclipse?

During an annular eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, but the moon is a little farther from the Earth and doesn’t completely block the sun. Annular eclipses are not safe to look at without sun viewing glasses. A total eclipse happens when the moon is very close to the Earth and completely blocks the sun (as it will on April 8, 2024).

How can we safely view the eclipse?

One thing you can do is order some special eclipse glasses.* These are not sunglasses. Please do not view the eclipse through sunglasses, you will damage your eyes. But with eclipse glasses, you can put them on and look at the sun safely and comfortably and not damage your eyes.

* The has a list of eclipse glasses manufacturers.

Should we photograph the eclipse with our phones or cameras?

I strongly recommend that during totality (the moment when the moon completely blocks the sun) you do not take photographs. You want to experience that as much as possible, so don’t rely on trying to frame your photograph during totality. As that partial is filling in, go ahead and snap a photograph here and there if you’d like.

If I am going to take a photo with my phone, do you have any advice?

Do not point your cell phone directly at the sun as that can damage your sensor. What you can do is take your eclipse glasses and hold them over the lens of your camera and snap a photo of the sun. If you have something larger like binoculars or telescopes, you will need a for them because you need to filter the light coming into your telescope.

What do you find most interesting about eclipses?

It’s just awe-inspiring. You see these celestial objects dancing in the sky, creating a special event here on Earth. And the fact that we can predict these things is utterly amazing.

Visit the for more helpful information and interesting facts. Check out a Q&A with Walter Freeman, an associate teaching professor of physics in A&S, about his take on the solar eclipse and information on campus events on April 8.

Goode teamed up with staff at the  and students across campus to explore the ways in which objects and artworks in the museum’s collection could be utilized as teaching resources. Over the past year, the transdisciplinary team has conducted countless hours of research to develop a collection of electronic museums (e-museums) called the . The following section of questions and answers provide details and information about the curators, the extensive research that went into this effort and how teachers can utilize these resources.

A solar eclipse can be downright confusing for wild animals and pets who depend on the sun to know what time of day it is.

Awe, amazement and wonder are a few of the reactions humans have to a solar eclipse. The extremely rare occasion of being in the path of totality—where the moon’s disk completely blocks the sun for a few short moments—captivates audiences and inspires a sense of excitement.

While the phenomenon of a total solar eclipse may be fascinating to humans, it can be downright confusing for wild animals and pets who depend on the sun to know what time of day it is. , a biology professor in the (A&S), studies animal behaviors in his research on the biomechanics of animal movement and attachment. He recently sat down with A&S Communications to talk about what animals experience in the leadup and aftermath of a total solar eclipse.

A suction cup sound and movement tag being deployed on the back of a humpback whale in Massachusetts. These tags allow researchers to track movement and audio of individual whales.

A major example of this is passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), which records audio via a microphone in one location, usually a stationary or moving platform in the ocean. While this method allows researchers to gather acoustic data over a long period, it is difficult to extrapolate fine-scale information like which animal is producing which call because the incoming audio signals could be from any number of animals within range.

The study’s lead author, Julia Zeh, left, and Valeria Perez, a co-author, during a field research trip off the coast of Massachusetts. (Photo courtesy of Julia Zeh)

“This information can give us insight into how whales coordinate behaviors, how their calls relate to what they’re doing, what types of calls they use and what information they might exchange in group communication,” says Zeh. “Understanding acoustic sequences within and between individuals also gives us insight into the complexity of the humpback whale communication system.”

If researchers know who is calling, they can associate vocal behavior with individual age, sex or the behavioral context of the calls. This data can also be used to enhance PAM studies, which are commonly used for species’ presence/absence verification and population counts.

“Having information from tag data about call rates and timing can improve count estimates,” says Zeh. “For example, having 10 calls doesn’t necessarily mean there are 10 whales, but potentially two whales calling back and forth, or one whale producing sequential calls.”

While previous studies have linked caller identity to acoustic tag data, this is the first robust method for studying large baleen whales, like humpback whales. The team’s efforts to enhance caller identification through simultaneous tagging provide a new resource for researchers to better understand animal behavior and advance wildlife conservation efforts.

The team’s work was supported by the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Program, the Office of Naval Research, the ACCURATE Project, the Cetacean Caller-ID project and the U.S. Navy Living Marine Resources Program.

Across the humanities and STEM disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), faculty thoughtfully develop course curricula and learning environments that incorporate their fields’ latest findings and pedagogical best practices. This careful attention ensures students benefit from a top-tier, contemporary and inclusive academic experience.

As a PULSE Fellow, Heather Coleman, professor of biology, will collaborate with scientists around the United States to innovate undergraduate biology instruction.

Many A&S faculty are playing a key role in setting the higher education agenda through their appointments with national foundations and institutes. Recent examples include biology professor Kari Segraves’ appointment as program director for the and Professor Mariaelena Huambachano’s advisory position with the United Nations (UN) . Adding to that list is , associate professor of biology, who was recently named a Fellow of the (PULSE). She is the first Syracuse University faculty member to serve as a PULSE Fellow.

Started in 2012 as a project of the National Science Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institute for General Medical Sciences, PULSE aims to improve undergraduate teaching, learning outcomes for students, and access, equity and inclusion in life sciences by encouraging departments to look at ways to improve teaching and learning. The Department of Biology in A&S has already benefited through a collaboration with PULSE, as it had previously participated in the PULSE recognition program, which helps departments in their effort to incorporate more inclusive practices into their teaching.

Given the University’s emphasis on human thriving and experiential inquiry outlined in its Academic Strategic Plan, Coleman’s efforts with PULSE, aimed at fostering a more interactive, collaborative and equitable biology curriculum, resonate strongly with these pivotal objectives.

A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi notes that Coleman’s appointment with PULSE will enhance students’ academic experience in A&S.

“Professor Coleman has long been dedicated to ensuring our undergraduates have access to an innovative biology curriculum,” says Mortazavi. “Her involvement and now fellowship with PULSE is a wonderful recognition of this dedication, and I look forward to her continued efforts on behalf of the many students in SU’s biology program.”

As a PULSE Fellow, Coleman will connect with a larger community of undergraduate life science faculty from research universities across the U.S. who are passionate about biology research and undergraduate education. She will bring that insight back to Syracuse and work with fellow professors to apply them to the current curriculum.

“I look forward to expanding my understanding of how to support biology undergraduates, allowing them to thrive here at Syracuse University and beyond, and to contributing to the mission of PULSE to encourage departments to ‘develop inclusive, student-centered, evidence-based teaching and learning in order to cultivate the development of scientists who reflect the diversity of American society,’” says Coleman. “I’m excited to join the PULSE community and learn from biologists who have been engaged in this work since the beginning.”

A professor at Syracuse since 2011, Coleman has been committed to improving undergraduate biology instruction in A&S throughout her tenure. She previously served as the department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies (2020-23), where she led the Biology Curriculum Committee through revisions to align with recommendations from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Those changes included implementing a student-centered approach, which put greater emphasis on interactive, inquiry-driven, cooperative and collaborative activities.

Coleman, who has also served the biology department as associate chair, founded the Biology Undergraduate Peer Mentoring Program, as well as two departmental events (BioFair and Biology Research Day) aimed at increasing student access to information about biology-related clubs and resources on campus. She will continue work with the Peer Mentoring Program and will facilitate other opportunities for biology undergraduates to become more connected to the biology community in fall 2024.

In her research, Coleman studies how plant cell walls are formed and the genetic and environmental factors which influence their characteristics, using poplar trees as a model system for this work. She has received several grants and awards supporting her research, including an Early Career Award from the Department of Energy, a CUSE Good to Great Award and a Syracuse Center of Excellence Faculty Fellow Award.

Her appointment as PULSE Fellow began in January.

While fingerprint powder and microscopes are very important tools in forensics, machine learning is becoming one of the fastest emerging technologies in the field. This involves the use of algorithms and computing to perform efficient and effective investigations by analyzing large and complex sets of data. The College of Arts and Sciences’ (FNSSI) offers customized courses designed to equip students with the skills to examine these problems using computational methods and algorithms.

One specific course, titled “Computational Forensics,” introduces students to coding, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Taught by , courtesy research professor and a leading expert in digital forensics, the curriculum teaches students how machine learning and AI are utilized in the field. A highlight for students taking this course is the final project, where they select a real-world problem that they are passionate about and solve it using computational techniques learned in class. The assignment culminates with a presentation where they share their solution to the chosen problem.

Brianna Cardillo

Brianna Cardillo, a graduate student in forensics, focused her work on one of her favorite hobbies – reading. Her project, “What to Read Next? Using Historical Reader Preferences to Promote Books from Marginalized Authors,” aimed to develop a machine learning algorithm that could suggest books, with a specific focus on promoting works by underrepresented writers.

“I’ve been in social media spaces surrounding reading and creatively writing books for a long time now, and I really became aware of just how much diversity people’s reading preferences lacked,” says Cardillo. “I have read so many books from authors like that had such incredible world-building and portrayed such important themes, books that deserved more praise than they got.”

To address this inequity, Cardillo developed an algorithm which suggests books based upon readers’ interests. It takes into account information like genre, length, average rating on the book recommendation site Goodreads, and authors’ race, which she gathered from personal interviews, blog posts and book jackets. She organized this data into Excel spreadsheets and input the information into a machine learning algorithm. Simply put, the algorithm is a content-based filtering system which considers what readers enjoy and calculates whether they will enjoy other books by underrepresented authors based on those interests.

Filipe Augusto da Luz Lemos

“Increasing awareness of marginalized authors requires readers to actively choose and promote diverse stories, especially since we have so much influence over publishing with how we use our dollars,” says Cardillo. “That’s why I wanted to make the algorithm in the first place, with the hope that this could be part of that first step.”

While she primarily focused on race when developing this version of the algorithm, Cardillo would like to one day expand it to include multiple categories of marginalization alongside race, like sexuality or disability status.

“I would love to include authors of many different identities so that everyone can find books where they feel represented,” she says.

Editor’s Note: The following article was contributed to by Goldberg’s colleagues, including Eric Schiff, Tomasz Skwarnicki and Edward Lipson.

Marvin Goldberg G’65 played a vital role in expanding the Department of Physics.

The (A&S) mourns the passing of Marvin Goldberg G’65, professor emeritus of physics. Remembered for his advocacy of international research collaborations and innovations in science education, Goldberg, who passed away in November, held numerous leadership positions at the University and played a key role in enhancing the student experience and shaping the . Considered a pioneer in experimental particle physics, Goldberg focused his research on exploring the smallest ingredients of matter.

Originally from New York City, Goldberg received a degree in physics from the City College of New York in 1960 and a Ph.D. in physics from Syracuse University in 1965. Following a two-year appointment as research associate at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Goldberg joined the physics faculty in 1966 as assistant professor and was promoted to full professor in 1974.

For nearly 40 years, Goldberg helped to further the strategic goals of his department, A&S and the University. He was physics department chair from 1982 to 1986 and again from 1989 to 1995, and served on several A&S panels, including the promotions committee, faculty council and admissions committee. He was also a member of various University committees and governing bodies, including the Science Council, Chancellor’s Panel for the Future of the University and the University Senate.

Goldberg’s legacy is still felt today. As physics chair, Goldberg led major efforts to recruit leading researchers to the faculty and steered the physics department through a period of significant growth. Among the faculty he hired were Marina Artuso, Peter Saulson, Tomasz Skwarnicki, Sheldon Stone, Gianfranco Vidali and Richard Vook. Many of these researchers have gone on to contribute significantly to the University’s prominence in gravitational wave astronomy and experimental particle physics research.

The heavy quark research group, once co-directed by Goldberg, has recently contributed to key discoveries of pentaquarks and tetraquarks, and is having a pivotal impact on the major detector component to the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Marvin Goldberg

In his research, Goldberg played a leading role in experiments that led to major sub-nuclear particle discoveries. In the late 1960s, he contributed to measuring properties of meson and baryon resonances, which were essential to the formulation of the quark model.

During his time at BNL in the mid-1960s, he participated in experiments concerned with verification of the quark hypothesis formulated in the early 1960s by Murray Gell-Mann (for which he won the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics). At that time, this was a highly controversial theory proposing that subnuclear particles participating in nuclear interactions, like proton or neutron forming nuclei, were not elementary, but were themselves clumps of even smaller particles called quarks. Goldberg was a spokesperson of the two experimental collaborations at BNL which observed short-lived particles predicted by the quark model, and therefore contributed to the validation of this idea.

In the 1970s, he was involved in the Charm Search Experiment, making fundamental contributions at CERN; and in the years following was a contributor to the CLEO experiment and CLEO III detector development at Cornell University. He and fellow researchers at Cornell investigated particles containing heavier “bottom” quarks, offering an opportunity to look for yet unknown forces in nature that could explain matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. The Syracuse group built major subcomponents of the CLEO I, and later of the CLEO II experiments, which operated at Cornell through the late 1990s.

In 1995, Goldberg took a position with the National Science Foundation as a program director for the Elementary Particle Physics division where he served for more than a decade. He helped to strike an agreement between the United States and CERN for a major participation of American particle physicists in experiments at today’s highest energy particle smasher—the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). He was a strong advocate for the need of outreach to a broader society by researchers advancing science frontiers, which led to lasting changes in NSF policies.

Goldberg was a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society (APS). With the APS, Goldberg was elected Fellow, a prestigious honor held by 25 other Syracuse faculty members since its inception in 1921. He also served as a visiting physicist at both CERN and BNL.

Goldberg rounded out his career at the University as vice provost for special initiatives and was granted emeritus status in 2005-06. He was predeceased by his first wife, Arleen, and is survived by his second wife, Tatum Goldberg, and his two sons, Dr. David Goldberg and Dr. Philip Goldberg.

EHN founder , who is the Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in A&S and a professor of writing and rhetoric, established the  in 2021 to provide faculty, students, staff and community partners with support for publicly engaged research, programming and creative work. Building on that effort, Nordquist and his team started the  program this academic year (2023-24) to elevate and interconnect the work happening in new and existing A&S classes whose curriculums empower students to forge meaningful community partnerships through their coursework.

“The Engaged Communities model has worked so well in bringing collaborative research and creative teams together that we wanted to generate a similar structure for courses,” says Nordquist. “Engaged Courses presents the same cohort-based model as other EHN programs to bring faculty across departments together to share resources, exchange ideas and help invest in each other’s work around community-engaged curricular design and implementation.”

Arts and Sciences faculty and staff hold an Engaged Courses cohort meeting in the Tolley Humanities Building to share information about their classes and offer mutual support.

Community-engaged work can be challenging for faculty due to logistical difficulties, time constraints and access to resources. This is where the Engaged Courses initiative comes in. In addition to the collaborative support from their fellow faculty in planning and sharing experiences, recipients of this grant receive funding from EHN to help with anything from supplies to food to transportation and other needs.

The inaugural cohort includes five courses, each from a different A&S department. While three of the five classes are being offered in the spring semester, two launched in fall 2023: an introductory level writing course in the , and a clinical practicum in the .

Translating Cultures

, assistant teaching professor of writing and rhetoric, taught a course titled “Introduction to Creative Non-Fiction, Writing and Translating Cultures,” which connected Syracuse University students with Onondaga Community College (OCC) students of various ages, ethnicities and linguistic backgrounds who are learning English as a second language.

Arts and Sciences professor Sevinç Türkkan (right) conversing with Tara Binte Sharil during a cross-cultural exchange session between Syracuse and OCC students on the Syracuse University campus.

For one of the assignments, the OCC students selected, researched and translated a text of cultural significance in their native language that was not available in English. Syracuse students worked closely with them, offering feedback to help preserve the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic aspects of their English translations of these texts.

The OCC classroom consisted of students whose native languages included Arabic, Afghani, Persian-Farsi, Korean, Ukrainian, Spanish, Burmese, Chinese, Lingala, Vietnamese and Turkish. Türkkan says the goal of this exercise was not to simply render the texts into seamless English narratives, but also to maintain their bilingual flavors.

The OCC and Syracuse students fittingly met for the first time in Hall of Languages—the visual landmark of Syracuse University whose name references the rich history of language learning that has taken place within its classrooms. Students worked together on these narratives, revising them and communicating their significance in introductions and through various visual elements. The Syracuse students also interviewed their OCC partners on topics including immigration, the refugee experience, life as an immigrant in Syracuse, and linguistic, cultural, and economic challenges. The interviews became the basis of their final projects, which were literary profiles about their peers.

Syracuse University student Sunny Suaya (left) interviews OCC student Yeohyun Yoon about the text that he chose to translate into English and his experience living in a new country.

One such piece, prepared by Sunny Suaya ’27, highlighted the bond she made with her partner, Yeohyun Yoon. Born in South Korea, Yoon took the class at OCC with his wife so they could improve their English language skills. He chose to translate the Korean poem, “Sky, Wind, Star and Poetry,” which was written by the poet Yoon Dong-ju during the Korean Independence movement against the Empire of Japan in the early 20th century.

In her literary profile, Suaya explained the significance of Dong-ju’s work, which she learned about through her interaction with Yeohyun, and reflected on their newly formed relationship: “Yoon Dong-ju expressed the agony of a person during the colonial era in beautiful poetry and is considered a resistance poet who gave a ray of hope to the Korean people… As I ended my interview with Yeohyun, I felt our connection. We both were excited to be new friends and even later ate dinner together. By the end of the night, I left Yeohyun by saying ‘I am very happy to now have a close friend with someone from South Korea.’”

Türkkan notes that this type of personal cross-cultural exchange – where students bring their strengths to the table while at the same time recognizing that their community partner has complementary strengths – is a key competence of being an effective global citizen. Seeing this positive interaction play out in class is one of the more fulfilling experiences as an educator, she says.

Students from Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College worked together on the cultural text translation project, led by professor Sevinç Türkkan (second in from the left).

“The Syracuse students learned cultural and linguistic humility when they attempted to revise a translated text whose original they could not read and had to rely on their OCC partners for a thorough understanding of how the original text signifies in its original language,” notes Türkkan. “On the other hand, my OCC students realized that they have something precious — a native language — that gave them the confidence and strength to continue to improve their English. They approached the task of learning English from a position of strength rather than from a position of insecurity and incompetence.”

While Türkkan says the financial aspect of the grant was instrumental in helping to cover such expenses as food and transportation of students between Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College, just as important was the community she built with the rest of her Engaged Courses cohort.

“Being able to share challenges and brainstorm solutions with faculty who had the same community-engaged values and were planning similar courses was above all inspirational and motivating,” she says.

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Artist’s representation of a tidal disruption event (a star being torn apart by a black hole) (Photo courtesy of NASA/CXC/M. Weiss)

Astrophysicists from Syracuse University and the University of Leeds have collaborated with high school students in Syracuse to confirm the accuracy of an analytical model that can unlock key information about supermassive black holes and the stars they engulf.

At the center of most large galaxies lives a supermassive black hole (SMBH). The Milky Way has Sagittarius A*, a mostly dormant SMBH whose mass is around 4.3 million times that of the sun. But if you look deeper into the universe, there are vastly larger SMBHs with masses that can reach up to tens of billions of times the mass of our sun.

Black holes grow in mass by gravitationally consuming objects in their near vicinity, including stars. It’s a catastrophic and destructive end for stars unlucky enough to be swallowed by SMBHs, but fortunate for scientists who now have an opportunity to probe otherwise-dormant centers of galaxies.

TDEs Light the Way

As the name implies, black holes do not emit any light of their own, making them very difficult for researchers to observe. But when a star comes sufficiently close to a supermassive black hole, it can be destroyed by the black hole’s immense tidal gravitational field through an interaction that is, effectively, an extreme instance of the Earth’s tidal interaction with the moon. Some of the tidally destroyed material falls into the black hole, creating a very hot, very bright disk of material as it does so. This process, known as a tidal disruption event (TDE), provides a light source that can be viewed with powerful telescopes and analyzed by scientists.

TDEs are relatively rare—predicted to take place roughly once every 10,000 to 100,000 years in a given galaxy. One to two dozen TDEs are typically detected annually, but with the advent of new technology like the , currently under construction in Chile, hundreds are anticipated to be observed in the coming years. These powerful observatories scan the night sky for rising and falling sources of light, and thus “survey” the cosmos for time-changing astronomical phenomena.

Using these surveys, astrophysicists can perform studies of TDEs to estimate the properties of SMBHs and the stars that they destroy. One of the things that researchers try to understand is the mass of both the star and the SMBH. While one analytical model has been used quite often, a new one was recently developed and is now being tested.

The Advent of Analytical Models

The accretion rate—or rate at which a star’s stellar material falls back onto the SMBH during a TDE—reveals important signatures of stars and SMBHs, such as their masses. The most accurate way to calculate this is with a numerical hydrodynamical simulation, which uses a computer to analyze the gas dynamics of the tidally destroyed material from a TDE as it rains onto the black hole. While precise, this technique is expensive and can take weeks to months for researchers to compute one TDE.

In recent decades, physicists have devised analytical models to calculate the accretion rate. These models present an efficient and cost-effective method for understanding the properties of disrupted stars and black holes, but uncertainties remain about the accuracy of their approximations.

A handful of analytical models currently exist, with perhaps the most well-known being the “frozen-in” approximation; this name derives from the fact that the orbital period of the debris that rains onto the black hole is established, or “frozen-in,” at a specific distance from the black hole called the tidal radius.

Proposed in 1982 by Lacy, Townes and Hollenbach, and then expanded upon by Lodato, King and Pringle in 2009, this model suggests that the accretion rate from massive stars peaks on a timescale that can range from one to 10 years depending on the mass of the star. This means that if you’re looking at the night sky, a source could initially brighten, peak, and decline with time over timescales of years.

A New Way Forward

, physics professor in the , and , associate professor of theoretical astrophysics at the University of Leeds, proposed a new model in 2022, simply referred to as the  model, which determines the peak timescale for TDEs as a function of the properties of the star and the mass of the black hole. From this new model, they recovered TDE peak timescales and accretion rates that agreed with the results of some hydrodynamical simulations, but the broader implications of this model—and also its predictions over a wider range of stellar type, including the mass and age of the star—were not completely elucidated.

To better characterize and understand the predictions of this model in a wider context, a team of researchers from Syracuse University, led by Ananya Bandopadhyay, a Ph.D. student in the , conducted a study to analyze the implications of the CN22 model and test it against different types of stars and SMBHs of various masses.

The team’s work has been published in . In addition to lead author Bandopadhyay, co-authors included Coughlin, Nixon, undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Physics, and Syracuse City School District (SCSD) students. The SCSD students’ involvement was made possible through the  (SURPh) program, a six-week paid internship where local high schoolers engage in cutting-edge research alongside University students and faculty studying physics.

SCSD students who took part in the SURPh program served as co-authors on the study. From left to right are Matt Todd (physics graduate student), Eric Coughlin (physics professor), Valentino Indelicato (SURPh participant), Dan Paradiso (physics graduate student), Julia Fancher (physics undergraduate student), Aluel Athian (SURPh participant) and Ananya Bandopadhyay (physics graduate student and lead author)

During the summers of 2022 and 2023, the SCSD students collaborated with Syracuse physicists on computational projects that tested the validity of the CN22 model. They used a stellar evolution code called “Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics” to study the evolution of stars. Using these profiles, they then compared the accretion rate predictions for a range of stellar masses and ages for the “frozen-in” approximation and the CN22 model. They also performed numerical hydrodynamical simulations of the disruption of a sun-like star by a supermassive black hole, to compare the model predictions to the numerically obtained accretion rate.

Their Findings

According to Bandopadhyay, the team found that the CN22 model was in extremely good agreement with the hydrodynamical simulations. Moreover, and perhaps most profound, was the finding that the peak timescale of the accretion rate in a TDE is very insensitive to the properties (mass and age) of the destroyed star, being ~50 days for a star like our sun destroyed by a black hole with the mass of Sagittarius A*.

Most striking and surprising about this result is that the “frozen-in” model makes a very different prediction. According to the “frozen-in” model, the same TDE would produce an accretion rate that would peak on a timescale of two years, which is in blatant disagreement with the results of hydrodynamical simulations.

“This overturns previously held notions about the way that TDEs work and what types of transients you could possibly produce by totally destroying a star,” says Bandopadhyay. “By confirming the accuracy of the CN22 model, we offer proof that this type of analytical method can greatly speed up the inference of observable properties for the disruption of stars having a range of masses and ages.”

Their study also addresses another previous misconception. By clarifying that complete TDEs cannot exceed month-long timescales, they disprove the earlier belief that they can be used to explain long-duration light curves that peak and decay on multiple-year spans. In addition, Coughlin notes that this paper verifies that peak fallback rate is effectively independent of the mass and age of the disrupted star and is almost entirely determined by the mass of the SMBH, a key indicator that models like CN22 can help researchers constrain masses of SMBHs.

“If you measure the rise time, what you could be directly peering into is actually the property of the supermassive black hole, which is the Holy Grail of TDE physics—being able to use TDEs to say something about the black hole,” says Coughlin.

Acknowledging the paper’s influence on the field, Bandopadhyay was invited by the American Astronomical Society to give a  of the team’s findings at the society’s 243rd meeting in New Orleans this past January.

Looking to the future, the team says by confirming the accuracy of the CN22 model, this study opens a window for researchers to make observable predictions about TDEs, which can be tested against existing and upcoming detections. Through collaboration and ingenuity, researchers at Syracuse are bringing details about the physics of black holes to light and helping explore areas of the distant universe that were once untraceable.

, professor of philosophy and former dean of the , was interviewed for an oral history project on bioethics produced by Johns Hopkins University’s Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Samuel Gorovitz

Titled “,” the collection serves as a resource for understanding the creation and formation of the field, which involves the study of ethical, social and legal issues within biomedicine and biomedical research. In the eight hours of interviews, Gorovitz spoke about what sparked his interest in medical ethics, philosophical questions that shaped the field, and his ongoing work as an ethicist and educator.

A pioneer of medical ethics, Gorovitz has published extensively on this and other topics and has given more than 200 invited lectures on health policy. He has also been interviewed on programs including NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Larry King Live,” and has been quoted in The New York Times, The New Yorker and other magazines and newspapers.

Gorovitz was interviewed along with 14 other pioneers of bioethics for the collection, which is designed to inform policymakers, healthcare professionals, researchers, students and the general public with an interest in medicine and ethics. Among the renowned scholars interviewed is Arthur L. Caplan, who wrote the foreword for Gorovitz’s new book, “” (Prospecta Press, 2023).

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Robert Doyle

, dean’s professor of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and associate professor of medicine and pharmacology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, has been named the inaugural Jack and Laura H. Milton Professor in A&S. A renowned medicinal chemist with an interest in pharmaceutical drug development, Doyle’s cutting-edge research focuses on peptide-based treatments, which offer significant and consistent weight loss and glucose control but without common, negative side-effects such as nausea/vomiting.

One such peptide, called GEP44, is a novel drug that could reduce eating and boost calorie burn, while also controlling glucose levels. With diabetes becoming a global epidemic, GEP44–which prompts users to expend more energy and triggers a switch in the brain to make them feel full–offers a promising approach to managing the disease, which afflicts more than 38 million Americans.

Doyle’s work earned him the 2022 American Chemical Society (ACS) Central New York Section Award in the field of chemistry and chemical engineering, and he was invited to share his findings at the  2023. Among his other awards and honors for his research and teaching, he was the CNY College Educator of the Year (2013), received the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence at Syracuse (2020) and was awarded the Henning Anderson Prize from the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology (2022). He has graduated 24 Ph.D. students to date, currently holds three National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grants and sits on the NIH ‘Advancing Therapeutics’ review panel. In addition, he regularly reviews proposals from national funding agencies in the U.K., Switzerland, Poland and Denmark.

A&S Dean Behzad Mortazavi notes that Doyle’s excellence in the classroom and the laboratory are benefiting not only the students in A&S, but potentially millions of people around the world. “Professor Doyle exemplifies our ethos of creatively and collectively seeking answers to complex problems, helping to make the world healthier, more hopeful and more humane,” says Mortazavi. “I look forward to the continued advances he and his students will make here in A&S, thanks to the support of the late Laura and Jack Milton, who made this professorship possible, and for which we are profoundly grateful.”

Doyle joined the chemistry faculty at Syracuse in 2005, was promoted to full professor in 2014, and in 2016 was named the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Dublin and completed postdoctoral research fellowships at Australian National University and Yale University prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse.

Doyle’s professorship is made possible by a generous contribution from the estate of Laura and Jack Milton. The Miltons graduated from Syracuse in 1951 and were longtime supporters of the University. Laura served as a member of the Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors for many years and Jack was a University Trustee. The couple’s ardent support has fostered numerous educational opportunities, events and lectures, and contributed to the construction of several campus facilities, including the Life Sciences Complex.

, Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and professor of (WGS), has been named the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S’) associate dean of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA). In that role, she will work with college leadership to strengthen A&S’ commitment to promoting intellectual openness and maintaining a community that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds and perspectives.

Gwendolyn D. Pough

A&S Dean notes that Pough is the ideal fit for this position as demonstrated by her strong track record of leadership and empowerment in diversity, inclusion and social justice initiatives.

“As home to the liberal arts and sciences at Syracuse University, A&S welcomes and thrives on the richness of diverse perspectives and experiences,” says Mortazavi. “To that end, I look forward to working with Professor Pough in helping to ensure our faculty, staff and students can teach, work and learn in a setting that is equitable and inclusive.”

As associate dean of DEIA, Pough will expand on existing structures and policies that actively promote equal opportunities and dismantle systemic barriers. She will collaborate with constituents across the college to enhance diversity and inclusion in hiring practices, admissions, faculty retention and the student experience, among other areas.

“I am excited to serve the college as associate dean and will work to ensure that A&S is a welcoming space for a diversity of people and ideas,” says Pough. “DEIA isn’t something we can just say we value. It requires ongoing commitment and ongoing work. Diversity isn’t a description, or even a prescription, it should be an action. It requires that we are open, flexible and nimble. Throughout my career I have helped to foster equity, diversity, inclusion, access and belonging in a variety of ways and I look forward to bringing my vast experience to this new role.”

Pough is a renowned scholar of feminist theory, African American rhetoric, women’s studies and hip-hop culture­. Her book, “Check It While I Wreck It,” (Northeastern University Press, 2004), explores the relationship between Black women, hip-hop and feminism. A faculty member at Syracuse since 2004, Pough has served the University, the college and her department in various leadership and advisory roles. As the in A&S from 2020 to 2022, she helped to shape conversations about pedagogical practices in the classroom with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, social justice and activism – work she will carry on as associate dean.

Among her leadership appointments at Syracuse, Pough was chair of WGS (2011-14 and 2018-21); served on the University Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Gender Pay Equity (2019-21); was director of graduate studies and undergraduate studies for WGS; co-chaired the University Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Social Justice/Social Difference Requirement (2019-20); and served on the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure (2016-18). In recognition of her exemplary accomplishments as a mentor of students, faculty and staff at Syracuse and around the country, Pough was recently honored with the from the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CFSHRC).

Beyond her scholarship at Syracuse, Pough has also held numerous appointments with professional organizations around the country. She is currently president-elect of the Rhetoric Society of America; served as assistant chair, associate chair and chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication; was chair of the Third Wave Feminisms Group of the National Women’s Studies Association; and was elected to executive boards for both the CFSHRC and the Association of Rhetoric and Writing Studies.

Prior to joining the faculty at Syracuse, Pough was an assistant professor of women’s studies at the University of Minnesota from 2000 to 2005 and an instructor of English at Western Washington University in 1998 and 1999. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Miami University, Ohio; an M.A. in English from Northeastern University, Boston; and a B.A. in English from William Paterson College, New Jersey.

Her appointment as associate dean will begin Jan. 1, 2024.

Nearly 30 million people in the United States struggle with alcohol use disorder (AUD), which is characterized by impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Of that 30 million, less than 10% receive treatment, according to the . Among the barriers to care are cost, stigma and presence of co-occurring psychological symptoms or conditions, including anxiety, depression and trauma.

Sarah Woolf-King (left), associate professor of psychology, and Fatima Dobani, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology, were each recently awarded prestigious grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Through the development of novel intervention strategies, members of the College of Arts and Sciences’ are dedicated to advancing treatment for individuals suffering from AUD. This is another example of cutting-edge research at Syracuse that contributes to human thriving, a key pillar of the University’s new . In support of that work, a psychologist and graduate student in psychology were recently awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

, associate professor of psychology, received a (major NIH research grant awarded to individual investigator teams) to test the efficacy of a novel approach to decrease alcohol use and improve co-existing psychological symptoms among people with HIV.

A second NIH award—an —was obtained by , a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology. The prestigious F31 award will support her work to generate a way to measure how discrimination against Multiracial young adults contributes to alcohol misuse among that population. Her study will develop a discrimination scale to help inform culturally sensitive intervention strategies.

Learn more about these .

]]> /blog/2023/11/30/bedrock-of-success-female-earth-and-environmental-sciences-scholars-carry-on-a-legacy-of-mentorship/ Thu, 30 Nov 2023 20:06:05 +0000 /?p=194572

Professor Linda Ivany (center) poses at the Association for Women Geoscientists award ceremony with former members of her lab, including: (from left) Marie Jimenez G’18, Lindsay Moon ’19, Emily Judd G’20 and Christy Visaggi G’04.

In the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S) ��(EES), women have served as leaders and mentors dating back to the early 1980s, a time when the field was predominantly comprised of men.

The legacy of high-impact research and stewardship by women came to the fore beginning in 1983 with the hiring of Professor . A leading expert in the study of modern and ancient biodiversity, her work on one of the major mass extinctions pushed researchers to examine the fossil record for clues to the catastrophic causes for extinction in the history of life. Newton was the first woman to be named chair of the department (1993-2000) and the first woman to serve as dean of A&S (2000-08). During her time at Syracuse, she has been an ardent advocate and mentor to women in the sciences, co-founding the University’s .

Among Newton’s early advisees was an undergraduate student named  ’88. Ivany, now a professor at Syracuse herself, majored in geology and minored in zoology (now biology). She graduated at the top of her class and was named a Syracuse University Scholar, an honor conferred to high-achieving seniors.

A Trailblazer in Her Field

After graduating from Syracuse, Ivany continued her academic focus on paleontology—the study of life’s deep history and evolution. It was during her time as a graduate student at the University of Florida-Gainesville where she became aware of the lack of equal representation among paleontologists.

Jennifer Schwarz

, professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). She joins  to receive the distinction over the 100 years that the award has existed. The fellowship recognizes members who have made advances in physics through original research and publication or who have made significant contributions in the application of physics to science and technology.

The APS honors each of the Fellows with a dedicated citation for their work. Schwarz’s reads: “For influential contributions to the statistical physics of disordered systems, particularly in the development of models concerning correlated percolation, as well as models related to rigidity transitions in both living and nonliving matter.”

Schwarz is a trailblazer in her research, an inspirational teacher and mentor, and a leader in her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. A professor of physics at Syracuse since 2005 and a member of the , her research examines rigidity and shape transitions in living and nonliving matter as well as the emergent properties of learning in physical networks to make apt comparisons with the more established neural networks. By advancing knowledge of the morphology and mechanics in what is known as disordered systems, this work has implications ranging from understanding how the structure of human-derived brain organoids differs from the structure of chimpanzee-derived brain organoids to how cancer cells move throughout the body to predicting when avalanches in a frictional granular packing will occur.

To date, Schwarz’s body of work includes more than 70 publications/pre-prints and she has served as principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on federally funded grants totaling more than $3 million. She was among a team of researchers awarded an  in 2021 to explore the use of anti-vimentin antibodies to block cellular uptake of the coronavirus. She was also awarded an Isaac Newton Award for Transformative Ideas During the COVID-19 pandemic from the Department of Defense in 2020 to build multiscale computational models for brain organoids early on in development.

As a longstanding advocate for diversity and inclusion in STEM, Schwarz led an initiative in 2022 establishing Syracuse University as a partnership institution of the . This effort aims to increase the number of physics Ph.D.s awarded to students from traditionally underrepresented groups by creating sustainable transition programs and providing students with research experience, advanced coursework and coaching to prepare them for a graduate school application.

, professor and current department chair of physics, who was named an APS Fellow in 2018, says: “Jen Schwarz is the most collaborative member of the department, having worked with almost the entire soft matter and biophysics group. She is also highly creative and versatile in the theoretical and simulation techniques she applies to problems. Indeed, I feel it is not an overstatement to say she is a genius working on varied topics such as brain form and function, active matter, cells and tissues, and sand piles! In addition to her outstanding research contributions, Jen has also been a leader advocating for social justice and equity in the physics department.”

Along with Schwarz, other recent APS Fellows from Syracuse include Stefan Ballmer, professor of physics (2021), Lisa Manning, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics (2019) and Christian Santangelo, professor of physics (2019).

Learn more about this year’s class of .

Stephen Maisto

, research professor and professor emeritus of psychology, has been named the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S) associate dean of research. In that role, he will help advance the mission of the college by working with faculty to increase grant funding and research expenditures. Maisto will also ensure that research activities in the college align with the University’s new Academic Strategic Plan (ASP) and A&S’ forthcoming ASP. With faculty spanning the humanities, STEM and social science disciplines, the scholarly contributions made by A&S professors play a significant role in the University’s R1 Carnegie Classification, signifying high research activity levels.

Behzad Mortazavi, dean of A&S, is thrilled to welcome Maisto to the college’s leadership team.

“I look forward to Professor Maisto carrying on the positive momentum set in place by former associate dean of research Alan Middleton,” says Mortazavi. “With his proven track record of proposal development and high-impact research publications, Professor Maisto is the perfect fit for this role moving forward.”

Maisto, whose appointment as associate dean began Oct. 16, will work closely with Mortazavi and A&S leadership to enhance the college’s research standing and increase the volume, scope and success of grant proposals. He will oversee A&S’ Research Administration team in collaboration with the Office of Research and will provide strategic oversight for the Office of Research Development staff assigned to support the college.

“I look forward to accelerating the college faculty’s positive trajectory of receiving external support for their research. Within that overall goal, I’m especially excited about the prospect of working with individual faculty to reach their research goals and for mentoring junior faculty as part of that process,” says Maisto.

Since joining the Syracuse University faculty in 1994, Maisto has focused much of his research on the assessment and treatment of alcohol and drug use disorders. His cutting-edge work also extends to HIV prevention and intervention.

He has authored or co-authored more than 300 publications and was recently part of a seminal study where he and Syracuse researchers looked at the pain-relieving effects of cannabidiol (or CBD). The team’s noteworthy results revealed that CBD and expectancies for receiving CBD do not appear to reduce pain intensity but do make the pain feel less unpleasant. Their findings, which received significant media attention, shed important light on the actual effectiveness of CBD.

Throughout his career, Maisto has secured over $50 million in research funding. A testament to his proficiency with proposal development, he and fellow psychology professor Sarah Woolf-King earned a rare  on a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application in 2017–the highest score possible. Recently, Maisto was among the leaders of two research teams who received over $5 million in funding from the NIH for  focused on HIV prevention and alcohol use disorder recovery, respectively.

Maisto has held a variety of leadership positions at Syracuse University, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) centers and other professional organizations. With the Department of Psychology in A&S, he served as director of clinical training and interim department chair. With the VA Center for Integrated Health Care (Upstate New York), he served as director of research and executive director. He also held leadership roles with Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island; the VA Medical Center in Brockton, Massachusetts; and the VA Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

An accomplished professor, mentor and researcher during his nearly three decades at the University, Maisto was honored with the Chancellor’s Citation Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2018 and was awarded emeritus status in 2020. Prior to joining the University faculty in 1994, Maisto taught at Vanderbilt University, Brown University Medical School and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He received an M.A. and Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and completed a postdoctoral respecialization in clinical psychology in 1985 at George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Maisto also is board certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Resettled refugees, also called new Americans, encounter myriad challenges from being displaced, ranging from financial stress to difficulties finding employment to lack of access to resources. These hurdles are magnified for new Americans who, in addition to possibly learning a new language, require speech, language and hearing services.

As the rate of asylum seekers arriving in the United States surges, Syracuse in particular is one of the highest intake cities in the United States, welcoming over 7,000 refugees in the past decade alone. To help ease the language barriers faced by new Americans, communication sciences professionals must be prepared to provide culturally responsive, human-centered, trauma-informed services for refugees who have complex educational and health care needs.

In response to this growing challenge, the College of Arts and Sciences’ (CSD) has launched a new training program called Supporting Outcomes and Healthcare Access for Refugees (SOAR).

A first of its kind in the United States, SOAR provides the next generation of speech-language pathologists and audiologists with training in promoting health equity, interprofessional collaboration and experiential learning opportunities. CSD professors Jamie Desjardins and Stephanie McMillen lead the program, which received a $10,000 grant from the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s multicultural board in 2022 to support the project.

According to Desjardins, SOAR was established in part to respond to a recent report revealing that CSD clinicians nationwide are feeling underprepared and lacking confidence in servicing U.S. refugee populations.

“It is our responsibility, as a CSD higher-education program, to improve pre-professional training to better prepare our students for working with new Americans. We started SOAR to meet these needs in our community and profession.” – Jamie Desjardins

During the Fall 2023 semester, 19 CSD undergraduate and graduate students are participating in tailored classroom instruction and experiential learning activities. Together, these experiences allow students to learn about the needs and challenges that new Americans encounter when it comes to access to health care services.

CSD students attended a seminar where they learned about trauma-informed care.

At an event in early October, students learned how to work with an interpreter to provide linguistically and culturally sensitive clinical services for patients learning English as a new language. They interacted with in-person and virtual interpreters in scripted, live-action clinical scenarios with an actor, who portrayed a patient with limited English proficiency.

Creative writing alum Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (left) is a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, and alum Iain Haley Pollock (center) and visiting professor Emily Lee Luan (right) have received prestigious artist fellowships.

From faculty to alumni, the esteemed in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English features some of the top literary talent in the world. Their acclaimed works regularly appear on bestselling lists and garner national attention with prestigious awards. Two alumni and one visiting professor were recently recognized for their recent accomplishments and ongoing work.

National Book Award

M.F.A. graduate Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah G’16 is a finalist for the , one of the most prestigious honors in American literature alongside the Pulitzer Prize. His nomination stems from his debut novel, ““��(Penguin Random House, 2023), which portrays two gladiators fighting for their freedom within a private prison system. The novel addresses such issues as the exploitation of Black women, systemic racism, capitalism and mass incarceration.

Winners will be announced Nov. 15 at the 74th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner which will feature special guest Oprah Winfrey, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The ceremony will be broadcast on ,�� and the foundation’s website at .

In addition to being named a finalist for the National Book Award, “Chain-Gang All-Stars” was longlisted for the New American Voices Awards, shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It was also a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and was named a most anticipated book by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Goodreads, Elle, Oprah Daily and many more.

Adjei-Brenyah is also author of the bestselling short story collection, “Friday Black.” Among his other honors, he was selected as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35,” is the winner of the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for Best First Book and the Aspen Words Literary Prize.

In being a finalist for the National Book Award, Adjei-Brenyah joins bestselling author and professor  G’88, whose acclaimed book “Tenth of December” was a National Book Award in Fiction finalist in 2013; professor , whose book “Eat the Document” was a finalist in that same category in 2006; professor , whose book “Devotions” was a finalist in the poetry category in 2011; former faculty member Junot Diaz, whose book “This Is How You Lose Her” was a finalist in the fiction category in 2012; and alum M.T. Anderson G’98, who was a finalist in the Young People’s Literature category four times, winning in 2006 for his novel “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party.”

Prestigious Fellowships

Creative writing alum Iain Haley Pollock G’07 and visiting assistant professor Emily Lee Luan are recipients of . They are among 88 New York state artists to receive the award in support of contemporary artistic expression. Their fellowships fall within the poetry category; other disciplines include craft/sculpture, digital/electronic arts, nonfiction literature and printmaking/drawing/book arts.

They were chosen among a highly competitive field of more than 4,000 applicants. Since launching in 1985, the program has awarded $35 million to 5,425 artists. Pollock and Luan join creative writing professor Dana Spiotta as authors with ties to Syracuse to receive the fellowship.

Iain Haley Pollock is author of “Ghost, Like a Place” (Alice James Books, 2018) and “Spit Back a Boy” (2011). Among his literary honors, he is a nominee for the NAACP Image Award and is winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in African American Review, American Academy of Poets Poem-a-Day, American Poetry Review, The New York Times Magazine, PoetrySociety.org and The Progressive.

Emily Lee Luan is the author of “回 / Return” (April 2023), winner of a 2021 Nightboat Poetry Prize, and “I Watch the Boughs,” selected for a Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship. Her work has appeared in The Best American Poetry 2021, Best New Poets 2019, American Poetry Review, FENCE and others.

Luan earned an M.F.A. from Rutgers University-Newark and is spending the 2023-24 academic year at Syracuse as a visiting assistant professor. This fall, she is teaching a graduate seminar called Literary Mapping, and in the spring will teach a graduate Open Poetry Workshop for students in the M.F.A. program.

Faculty, staff and students gather to discuss their collaborative work at an Engaged Communities cohort meeting.

Sports teams that succeed are those that feature athletes who work well together and bring different skills to the field. Humanities scholarship is no different. When College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement  founded the  (EHN) in 2020, one of the guiding principles was to seed, support and foster collaborations among publicly engaged researchers so they could address a range of pressing issues and amplify a diverse range of voices. As Syracuse University moves forward with a new focusing on experiential inquiry and engaged citizenship as two of its pillars, the work of EHN aligns closely with the mission and goals of the University.

To build on the community-engaged work already happening across the University, city and region, Nordquist and his team established the Engaged Communities (EC) initiative in 2021. This program provides faculty, students, staff and community partners with support for publicly engaged research, programming and creative work. Inspired in part by a desire among faculty, staff and students to collaborate with communities beyond the University, the program provides project teams with seed money for their work over the next academic year. Nordquist says critical to the prolonged success of this effort is forming collaborations among project leaders that enhance the scope and reach of their work.

“While many of us are deeply invested in improving the well-being of our communities, there are few structures that bring us together to share resources, collectively problem solve, align efforts, and better understand and invest in each other’s work,” says Nordquist. “Engaged Communities is designed to draw more people into a network of mutual support to improve the efficacy and sustainability of community-engaged research, creative work and programming.”

Brice Nordquist

With funding from A&S, the Academic Affairs’ Office of Strategic Initiatives and external grants awarded to EHN, a record 11 publicly engaged projects received mini-grants through the Engaged Communities initiative, an increase from last year’s cohort of six, and five the year prior. Project leaders come from four different schools and colleges and from 17 different departments and units, making this a truly interdisciplinary effort.

Over the course of the year, the 11 teams will convene regularly in the Tolley Humanities Building on campus to workshop project ideas, exchange resources, work through challenges, collectively advocate and collaborate across projects and communities. Members of previous years’ EC cohorts will also participate in those meetings so that their projects continue to grow along with this expanding network, notes Nordquist.

One example demonstrating the benefits of this collaborative structure is a partnership between Write Out and the Natural Science Explorers Program, two projects that received mini-grants in �����Ի���, respectively. Write Out is a youth storytelling initiative run by students and faculty in the Department of English’s creative writing program and NSEP is a science exploration program for children at the North Side Learning Center organized by students and faculty from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Biology. Together, they have held joint creative writing and science workshops at the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) and the North Side Learning Center–a testament to EHN’s mission of fostering collaboration between faculty, students and communities.

2023-24 Engaged Communities Mini-Grant Recipients

• The Body Project

• Creative Art Lab: Cradle to Cradle Open Art Studio, Exhibition & Story Space

• Exploring the Intersection of Math Education and Geography through Youth-Centered Community-Engaged Research on Environmental Justice

• Family Pictures Syracuse

• Fermenting Stories: Exploring Ancestry, Embodiment and Place

• Imagined Identity / Identidad Imaginada

• Not in a Book: Haudenosaunee Elders Series

• Onondaga Community Trauma Task Force’s Community Healing Series
• Onondaga Language Project
• Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh)
• Unearthing Black Girl Literacies ‘In Place’

Visit the College of Arts and Sciences website to learn more about the .

University researchers received over $1.5M in NSF funding to study gravitational waves and design next-generation observatories. (NSF LIGO; Sonoma State University; A. Simonnet)

Billions of years ago in a distant galaxy, two black holes collided sparking one of the universe’s most extreme cosmic events. The occurrence was so powerful that it bent the fabric of spacetime, sending out ripples called gravitational waves.

These waves would eventually be detected on Earth by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors, with Syracuse University faculty playing a leading role in that monumental discovery. While members of the University’s Gravitational-Wave Group took a moment to celebrate the incredible feat, they immediately began wondering how they could build a new observatory that would allow them to explore even more of the Universe with gravitational waves.

Enter Cosmic Explorer, a next-generation gravitational-wave observatory being devised by the Syracuse University Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics (CGWAA). Established this fall, CGWAA is a hub for students and faculty at the University to play a principal role in the design and operation of gravitational-wave observatories. Working with scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, California State University, Fullerton, and the University of Florida, the CGWAA team hopes that Cosmic Explorer will be searching the universe by the mid-2030s.

Artist’s impression of Cosmic Explorer. (Eddie Anaya, California State University Fullerton)

To put the capability of Cosmic Explorer in perspective, while Advanced LIGO has made around 100 detections of colliding black holes since 2015, Cosmic Explorer will be able to detect every collision in the visible universe–about 100,000 per year, or one every five minutes. Cosmic Explorer will also see around one million neutron star mergers each year, allowing scientists to understand the nature of nuclear matter and the creation of heavy elements.

Gravitational wave detectors, like Cosmic Explorer, are large-scale interferometers. Interferometry is an extremely sensitive measurement technique that uses mirrors, laser beams and interference (the adding or canceling of combined beams) to measure the displacement of a mirror caused by the ripples from gravitational waves. The advanced detectors help researchers map black holes in the universe, something not previously possible with telescopes since, unlike stars, black holes do not produce light.

Physicists from Syracuse University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, California State University, Fullerton, and University of Florida during a proposal-writing workshop at Syracuse University’s Minnowbrook Conference Center.

In October 2022, Cosmic Explorer project collaborators came together for a proposal-writing workshop at Syracuse University’s Minnowbrook Conference Center, resulting in over $9M of federal funding to the project. Syracuse University is receiving $1.64M of funding over the next three years as part of that NSF commitment.

In Mona Awad’s Art of the Fairy Tale course, students explore such classics as “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

From an early age, fairy tales enter our lives and shape our view of the world. The classics like “Cinderella,” “Rapunzel” and “Beauty and the Beast” help to build literacy and expand our imagination. But young children aren’t the only ones who can benefit from fairy tales. They can be useful for college students too.

Since coming to the University in 2020, Mona Awad, bestselling author and professor of English, has taught a course titled Art of the Fairy Tale. During the semester, students take part in writing exercises, read such classic fairy tales as “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and discuss what makes these stories compelling. The class culminates with them writing their own fairy tale.

Awad, whose acclaimed novel “Bunny” was named a top book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue and others, is no stranger to the fairy tale genre. As a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh, fairy tales served as the subject of her dissertation.

“I spent a lot of time in the National Library of Scotland just reading fairy tales and criticism and theory, and I was just completely mesmerized,” says Awad. Her forthcoming book, “Rouge: A Novel” (Simon & Schuster, 2023) is a gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. “Rouge” is slated to hit bookshelves in September.

In the latest installment of the College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S) Cool Class feature, we spoke with Awad about what makes the class so popular and what fairy tales can teach students about creative writing.

Amanita muscaria, an ectomycorrhizal fungus, is shown from the B4WARMED experiment. These types of fungi play an important role in forest health and may be in danger under current levels of climate warming. (Credit: Louis Mielke)

Children are taught to leave wild mushrooms alone because of their potential to be poisonous. But trees on the other hand depend on fungi for their well-being. Look no further than ectomycorrhizal fungi, which are organisms that colonize the roots of many tree species where the boreal ecosystem (zone encompassing Earth’s northernmost forests) and the temperate ecosystem (zone between the tropical and boreal regions) meet. This area features a mix of boreal trees, including needle-leaved evergreens and temperate tree species, including maple and oak.

Just like a healthy human relationship, trees and fungi work well together because they help one another. When the ectomycorrhizal fungi attach themselves to tree roots, they acquire carbon in the form of sugars from their tree hosts and in turn provide the trees with important nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous. It’s an important symbiotic relationship that drives ecosystem function and resilience.

But as climate change and global warming cause higher temperatures and amplified drought, little is known about how these important fungi will respond. Additionally, there are lingering questions about how climate warming will impact the underground threads—known as ectomycorrhizal networks—formed by fungi that connects trees and facilitates the transfer of water, nitrogen and other minerals.

To investigate this issue, a research team from Syracuse University and the University of Minnesota conducted a climate change experiment where they exposed boreal and temperate tree species to warming and drought treatments to better understand how fungi and their tree hosts respond to environmental changes.

The study, led by , assistant professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, was recently published in the journal . Their findings revealed that the combined effects of warming and water stress will likely result in major disturbances of ectomycorrhizal networks and may harm forest resilience and function.

The team conducted their work at a long-term climate change experiment called (Boreal Forest Warming at an Ecotone in Danger) in Minnesota. The experiment features plots where both boreal and temperate tree species have been planted and exposed to warming and drought treatments. This allows researchers to explore how the ectomycorrhizal fungi and the networks they form with their tree hosts respond to environmental stressors.

The B4WARMED experiment features forest plots warmed with infrared lamps and soil heating cables allowing researchers to study the effects of climate warming. (Credit: Louis Mielke)

Fernandez, whose research aims to understand processes involving plant, microbial and ecosystem ecology, says their study revealed that composition of ectomycorrhizal fungal species changes dramatically with climate change. Specifically, they saw a shift from species commonly found in mature forests that have high biomass mycelium (the thread-like body of the fungus that explores the soil and that is likely important for network formation) toward low biomass species that are generally found in highly disturbed ecosystems.

“There is a supported hypothesis that these low biomass species probably do not provide the host much benefit in terms of nutrition compared to high biomass species,” says Fernandez. “We found that the networks formed by these fungi that ‘connect’ the trees shifted from relatively complex and well-connected networks to ones that are simpler with less connections.”

Kishi Animashaun Ducre (left) and Alan Middleton

A welcoming community where students of varying backgrounds thrive. An infrastructure that nurtures top-tier research and academics. These are two cornerstones of the (A&S) experience. Over the past six years, A&S has shown important strides in these areas, and that success can be attributed largely to the efforts of associate deans �����Ի���, who returned to the faculty this fall.

According to Behzad Mortazavi, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ducre and Middleton were forward-thinking leaders focused on elevating the standing of the college.

“I applaud Professor Middleton and Professor Ducre on their thoughtfulness and dedication to the college,” says Mortazavi. “Alan’s steadfast commitment to advancing research has been key to raising the profile of the college and the University. Likewise, Kishi’s work as A&S’ inaugural associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has strengthened the college’s reputation and improved the experience for our faculty, staff and students.”

Ducre, a leading scholar in gender, race and environmental justice, joined the African American studies faculty in 2005. She is an environmental sociologist examining the intersection of the geographies of race and gender within the field of environmental justice, from a Black feminist perspective. Her work has appeared in edited books and journals, including Environmental Sociology.��Ducre is also author of “A Place We Call Home: Gender, Race and Justice in Syracuse” (Syracuse University Press, 2013) and co-editor of “Addressing Environmental and Food Justice toward Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline Poisoning and Imprisoning Youth” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Ducre led several key initiatives during her time as associate dean of DEI for A&S. She successfully campaigned for the establishment of the A&S | Maxwell Diversity Council written as an amendment to the college’s by-laws and led a robust series of professional development workshops on unconscious bias within the promotion and tenure review process; bystander intervention; and best practices in inclusive hiring. She also organized the , created to help viewers consider the factors and implications surrounding the May 2020 killing of George Floyd—and the subsequent trial of police officer Derek Chauvin in spring 2021.

A testament to her work with social justice initiatives, last year Ducre was appointed to the 400 Years of African American History Commission by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. Through research, events and activities, the commission is charged with sparking community dialogue about the history of racism in America and will recognize and highlight the resilience and contributions of African Americans since 1619.

, professor and chair of African American studies, is excited for Ducre to rejoin the department full time following her term as associate dean.

“The department would like to extend their gratitude to Professor Ducre for her inspired leadership over the last five years, and we cannot wait to see her in Sims Hall again,” says Dima. “This fall, Professor Ducre is teaching AAS 112 (Introduction to African American Studies) and a special topics seminar, AAS 400/600 (Black Feminist Geographies), which stems from her main area of expertise, environmental justice. The faculty, students and staff of AAS are looking forward to Professor Ducre’s return.”

Middleton has been a faculty member in the Department of Physics since 1995. He was promoted to full professor in 2008 and served as chair of physics from 2013-17. He also served as the director of undergraduate studies for physics from 2000-07 and was a core faculty member of the from 2009-15.

An expert in the application of advanced algorithms to the study of structurally disordered materials, Middleton is interested in developing best teaching practices and innovative coursework. His popular class, Seeing Light, explores theories of light and vision from Lucretius through Einstein, using hands-on experiments to learn about optics and color theory. During his time at Syracuse, he has been principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on National Science Foundation grants totaling over $3 million and has authored or co-authored nearly 50 research publications. He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

As associate dean of research, he helped lead the college through significant gains in funding and research output, a key contributor to the University’s R1 Carnegie Classification, the top tier signifying high research activity levels. During his tenure, Middleton oversaw the hiring of two inaugural directors of proposal development: one in the sciences and mathematics and another in the humanities. Each of those new positions helped advance the research mission of the college as they worked with faculty to increase the volume, scope and success of grant proposals.

Under Middleton’s leadership, A&S had a record $23.4 million in research awards in 2022. Over the past year, the college also set a new record for funded research with $19.7 million in expenditures, which is the amount spent on research in A&S.

, professor and department chair of physics, is thrilled to have Middleton rejoin the physics department full time where he will help advance its teaching and research missions.

“I have known Alan Middleton for many years, and I have always enjoyed our discussions of best practices and gaining efficiencies in academic administration,” Ross says. “Alan’s research in statistical mechanics is highly versatile and will be a welcome addition to many subfields in physics, including my own. I am also excited to have Alan’s experience as an educator back on the faculty as we implement new courses to enhance student experiential learning.”

Ducre and Middleton helped create a strong foundation for the college, Mortazavi notes. “As they return to their respective departments, I am honored to help celebrate their exemplary service, for which I am profoundly grateful. Thank you, Kishi and Alan!”

As the college finalizes its Academic Strategic Plan, Dean Mortazavi will identify ways to continue the work of these outstanding faculty members.

Corrado (left) and Marciano

As part of this effort, the Air Force Work Project, a Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory, has contracted with , a company specializing in health care innovation, to explore the use case of early evidence—or self-collection—sexual assault kits. The  are a resource that allow survivors of sexual assault to collect their own evidence in private after a rape or sexual assault.

Through that collaboration, Leda has partnered with the  in the College of Arts and Sciences, who is providing forensic expertise and subject matter insight as Leda looks to scale up the distribution of their test kits.

Co-investigators from the Forensic Science Institute include Executive Director  and Research Associate Professor . They bring to the project extensive experience and knowledge of sexual assault kit processing and are well versed in the latest technologies that are being used in the field. Both Corrado and Marciano have also served on the National Institute of Science and Technology’s Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science Human Forensic Biology Subcommittee, which develops forensic science standards including those related to collection of biological evidence and forensic DNA analysis.

“Mike and I have contacts within the field, both on the scientific side and on the military side, that we are bringing into this project,” says Corrado. “It’s great to be able to combine our experience in the sexual assault forensic evidence realm as well as in the national security realm in a way that contributes to public good and honors the University’s longstanding commitment to active members of the military and veterans.”

Marciano and Corrado are specifically assisting Leda with gap analysis assessment. They will offer expertise about collection processes, chain of custody, documentation and legal issues that need to be considered when using early evidence kits. While currently wrapping up phase one of the project, which explores the feasibility of the self-collection test kits, Leda hopes to soon advance to phase two, which would involve a deeper dive into use cases of the kits and the potential impact they could have across different branches of the military.

“Sexual assault within the military is an increasing issue, with reported assaults increasing year after year, however the rates of prosecution have decreased nearly half with one of the reasons being a lack of sufficient evidence,” says Madison Campbell, co-founder and CEO of Leda. “Having our kits available to members of the military could provide survivors with different options. We’re thrilled to partner with Syracuse University’s Forensic Science Institute on this collaboration that will drive advancements in healthcare and forensic science.”

There are currently a few known methods of stimulating egg production, with one example being to increase hens’ exposure to light. But what about sound? Could this be the “wave” of the future? The answer is yes, according to Israel-based startup company Soos Technology, who is using sound wave energy to boost the hen population and address age-old ethical and economical concerns within the egg industry.

Researchers from Soos Technology and Syracuse University separate male and female chicks at a farm in Auburn, New York. Pictured from left to right are Soos scientist Asaf Moran, Zethus Avery ’23 (student in James Crill’s Lab), Peter Wengert (Ph.D. student in Steve Dorus’ Lab) and Andrew Nicholson (lab assistant in Crill’s and Dorus’ Labs).

Their proposed technology equips incubators with devices that introduce sound waves to fertilized eggs to alter gene expression. The result is genetically male chicks that express female physical traits, which means that these chicks will lay eggs. To help investigate this game-changing breakthrough from a genetic standpoint, Soos has teamed up with College of Arts and Sciences researchers at Syracuse University.�� James Crill, professor of practice in the , and Steve Dorus, professor in the , are collaborating on the project along with a student research assistant funded by Soos for two years, and a former student hired to work on the project full time.

An Ethical Dilemma

At egg farms around the world, culling male chicks is a common practice because the males cannot lay eggs and aren’t used for meat. Out of around 15 billion chicks hatched each year worldwide, 7.5 billion chicks are euthanized after they hatch, costing farms billions in losses and raising questions about the ethical treatment of animals.

In Europe, some countries are already moving away from culling male chicks, as France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Luxembourg are in the process of banning this practice. To do this, they are requiring farms to implement technologies to detect the sex of the embryos before hatching, so they can be destroyed much earlier in the embryonic developmental process.

A Sound Treatment

Researchers at Soos Technology are perfecting a method that could further transform the egg industry. Sound waves, which have been used in the past to , can also alter gene expression in the fertilized chicken embryos, resulting in sex re-assigned chicks that are genetically males but express female physical traits. According to Soos Technology, the treatment is safe for the embryos, non-intrusive to the eggs, and does not involve any form of genetic modification or hormonal intervention.

The researchers control the environmental conditions in the incubator during embryonic development using sound energy produced by vibration. By altering the sound frequencies and volumes, and the humidity and temperatures within the incubator, Soos Technology claims they can increase the odds of hatching a female chick from 50% to near 80%.

A Central New York Collaboration

To scale up their groundbreaking technology and apply it to an agricultural setting, Soos Technology was awarded a $1 million grant through the . As part of the proposal, they were required to partner with a farm and university located in New York State. They formed a collaboration with a commercial farm located in Auburn, New York, around 30 minutes west of Syracuse, and Crill and Dorus.

From left, Zethus Avery, Peter Wengert and Andrew Nicholson checking recently hatched chicks to determine their sex.

The farm’s proximity to Syracuse University allows Crill, Dorus and A&S students to participate in hands-on research each step of the way. In addition to helping sort chicks on the farm, the faculty and student team is conducting microscopy and genetic analysis on embryos that have been shipped from the farm to campus labs.

“In our labs at Syracuse University we have a large experiment in place that is looking at genomic and RNA expression to find out what’s happening inside of the chicken during embryonic development that actually tells it to be a female but also have all the male genetics in place,” says Crill. “We are looking to determine how the sound waves are triggering certain female genes to be expressed over the male genes.”

Representatives from Soos Technology have been making periodic trips from Israel to Central New York throughout the implementation and hatching process. Their initial work involved installing and optimizing the incubators at the farm with the sound wave devices in early 2022. Since then, they have returned during hatching periods to document the success rate of their method by comparing the sex of chicks from a control group not exposed to the sound waves to a group that has received the treatment. Their early data shows promise, as around 61% of the hatched chicks who have undergone the Soos treatment have been female.

“The most significant discovery we found was that exposure to sound transmissions at certain frequencies and intensities in the hatchery significantly affects the sex change process, especially when it is performed from day 0 to day 16,” says Efrat Petel, general manager for Soos USA. “On Experiment 26, we found a 69% female ratio in one set and a 63% female ratio in another set. Our technology can influence the embryo to develop into a female, which is eventually able to lay eggs.”

In the coming months, Syracuse researchers will continue analyzing genetic data and performing statistical analysis to determine exactly how sound energy-based incubation is resulting in the production of functional female chickens from genetically male embryos. Their work could result in a new method of incubation that would revolutionize the poultry industry and save both billions of dollars and billions of chicks each year.

Students from Syracuse-area high schools participated in this summer’s Syracuse University Research in Physics paid internship program. The students presented their research during a culminating poster session on Aug. 4 in the Physics Building.

Thanks to the Syracuse University Research in Physics (SURPh) paid internship program, Syracuse City School District (SCSD) students and recent graduates spent six weeks on campus in labs and in classrooms where they worked alongside faculty to engage in cutting-edge research. Among the topics explored, students took a dive into the world of invisible subatomic particles, known as neutrinos, and probed the inner regions of distant galaxies using computational astrophysics.

SURPh was an idea developed last year by rising senior physics major , who is also an alum of SCSD. The program provides SCSD students the unique opportunity to work as a paid scientist before entering college, which organizers hope will inspire the young researchers to continue in STEM.

The program is led by , professor and department chair of physics, and also includes co-organizers Melanie Pelcher, a science teacher at Henninger High School in Syracuse, Devon Lamanna ’23, an SCSD alum who majored in economics in the and is now pursuing a master’s in the same subject, and Yudaisy Salomón Sargentón, operations specialist for the Department of Physics.

Now in its second year, SURPh is a collaboration of Arts and Sciences and SCSD and is supported in part by the , , and . The program welcomed 12 new student participants and five that returned from last year’s cohort to serve as near-peer mentors.

Faculty instructors included physics professors , who specializes in computational astrophysics and simulations of black holes and stars; , who focuses on experimental biophysics and bacterial biofilms; , who specializes on experimental biophysics and microtubule self-organization; and and , who specialize in experimental neutrino physics.

Physics professors Denver Whittington (second from left) and Mitch Soderberg (third from right) with the experimental neutrino physics research group.

The program wrapped up with a poster session where students presented their research to their peers, faculty, local high school teachers and families in the University’s physics building.

“It is exciting to see the science these students are able to achieve in just six weeks,” says Ross. “It is even more exciting that so many wanted to return as mentors and to do science with us a second summer. To me, that is the impact—creating the longitudinal pipeline going into the future.”

While one of the major goals of the program is to instill in these students an interest in science, Ross hopes the six weeks on campus serves as a recruiting tool that will bring them back to Syracuse University for the next step in their academic journey.

“(At the poster session) one local teacher said that the students from his school are all saying that Syracuse University is a top pick for them to go to college, and he wasn’t sure they were thinking about college before,” says Ross. “That is a major win. Any kids who continue their school after this is a win. Any kid who stays with science is a win. If they pick physics, double win. My top-level goal is to have a student do this program, major in physics, decide to stick with it for a Ph.D. and come back to teach for us at Syracuse University. We are trying to create our own pipeline of diverse talent from the local neighborhoods up.”

Ross says they plan to hold the event again next year and will get started in December with recruiting at local high schools.

From left: Fayetteville-Manlius High School student Anusha Saxena, Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central student Miranda Azemi (center) and Fowler High School Syan Castro present their research posters.

All photos by Yudaisy Salomón Sargentón

When the Greatest Generation (people born from 1901 to 1927) speak about their youth, a common theme is how times were simpler back then. Living through the Great Depression and both World Wars made them both resilient and self-reliant. For Esther M. Larsen, grandmother of Syracuse University Board of Trustees Vice Chair Christine E. Larsen G’84, life was rustic growing up on a farm in eastern Nebraska in the early 1900s. Satisfaction came from a hard day’s work, and they did what they could to enjoy life with what they had. As Christine explains, no electricity, no running water and no radio meant entertainment came from sharing stories and reciting poetry while laboring on the farm or in the kitchen.

Mona Awad

“Poetry and singing helped pass the time while working long days in the kitchen, often with extended family members gathering in one location to preserve the day’s harvest,” says Larsen.

Esther learned poetry through the oral tradition—shared across the community. After her father died and her family sold the farm, Esther and her mother moved to the city and the poetry came along. After graduating from high school, she taught at a one-room schoolhouse just outside Sioux City, Iowa, and would remain a proponent of education throughout her life.

When thinking back on memories of her grandmother reciting poetry, Christine says Longfellow poems were among Esther’s favorites.

“She taught us a few stanzas, our favorite being ‘On the eighteenth of April in ’75…. (The midnight ride of Paul Revere),’” says Larsen, who credits her grandmother for instilling the importance of education in all five of her grandchildren: Christine, her brother and their three cousins. “She systematically taught us to read through phonics before we went to kindergarten, and we all went on to graduate from college.”

To honor her grandmother, Christine generously made a gift to the University to establish the Esther M. Larsen Faculty Fellowship in the Humanities, housed in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), through the . As part of the , the University contributes an additional amount to fund the endowed faculty fellowship. Fittingly, the inaugural fellow is bestselling author and creative writing professor . She was appointed to the fellowship by then-interim dean of A&S Lois Agnew based upon the recommendation of a faculty committee.

“I’m so pleased that the Larsen Fellowship has given us an opportunity to recognize and support Mona Awad,” says Agnew, who is now associate provost for academic programs. “Professor Awad is a remarkably prolific writer whose work has received worldwide acclaim at an early stage in her career. She is also a dedicated teacher who both challenges and supports students. She has been an outstanding addition to our renowned creative writing program, and we are fortunate that she joined our faculty.”

A young Christine Larsen (left) with her grandmother Esther at a holiday gathering.

Awad, who has been a faculty member in the Department of English’s since 2020, teaches a variety of writing courses, including the popular , where students take part in writing exercises, read classic fairy tale stories and discuss what makes the stories compelling. Her bestselling novel “Bunny” (Viking, 2019) was named a top book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue and others, and was recently optioned for film by JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions.

“It is such an honor to be associated with Mona and to support her work,” says Larsen. “As an undergrad English literature major myself, I deeply value a core liberal arts education. I wanted to particularly support the humanities faculty who often have less opportunity for outside research money.”

In addition to “Bunny,” Awad has written two other novels: “All’s Well” (Simon & Schuster, 2021) and “13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl” (Penguin, 2016). “13 Ways” won the Amazon Best First Novel Award, the Colorado Book Award and was a finalist for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize. Her forthcoming book, “Rouge: A Novel” (Simon & Schuster, 2023) is a gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. “Rouge” is slated to hit bookshelves in September.

Awad’s writing has also appeared in New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s, Time, Vice and elsewhere. This past April she was also featured in a New York Times Style Magazine article alongside legendary author Margaret Atwood, author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” (1985), who named Awad as her “.”

“I am deeply grateful to be the inaugural Esther M. Larsen Faculty Fellow in the Humanities,” says Awad. “It’s a real vote of support and is so helpful to me as it creates time and space for my next literary project, which is connected to and expands on a previous novel of mine, taking it in a very ambitious and new direction.”

Awad says the fellowship will also support a forthcoming literary project about fairy tales and fairy tale collection, which will involve a research component in Scotland.

Larsen, who earned a master’s degree in library science from the (iSchool), says giving back to the University and supporting the retention of top-tier faculty is vital to the success of the University.

Christine E. Larsen

“In 1984, armed with my SU degree, I had a career-defining professional role when I was recruited at Arthur Andersen’s consulting division (now Accenture), and from there I built a career in technology and operations leadership in financial services and payments,” Larsen says. “My career launched because previous stewards of Syracuse University provided the resources both to sustain the incredible faculty at the iSchool and to set aside fellowship money which allowed me to attend.”

In addition to this latest fellowship, Larsen has supported various initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences, Hendricks Chapel, the iSchool, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and alumni relations. She has also generously supported the athletics program and various student scholarships.

After graduating from Syracuse, Larsen embarked on a 25-plus year career leading technology and operations across all lines of business at JPMorgan Chase, held a number of senior executive roles at Citi and was senior manager in the Financial Services technology practice at Accenture. She retired as COO of First Data Corporation (now Fiserv), a Fortune 500 software company. Larsen also serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a $60 billion market cap and leading North American bank as a member of the Risk Committee.

“I am proud to be able to now be a steward through my role as vice chair of the Board of Trustees and to be able to return some of my financial success to long-term support for the University’s mission,” says Larsen. “Each faculty member touches many students, and their ongoing research and creative work drives energy and ideas that keep the students engaged. I hope that this fellowship memorializes my grandmother by enhancing humanities scholarship and education at Syracuse.”

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