Two 乐播传媒 students have been awarded 2026 Davis Projects for Peace grants to carry out individual humanitarian projects 鈥� one focused on expanding economic opportunities for women, and the other on safe menstrual waste disposal.

The grantees, Angel Guitcha 鈥�27 of Accra, Ghana, and Vyshu Viju 鈥�26 of Atlanta, will each receive $10,000 to complete projects in Ghana and India, respectively, this summer. Projects for Peace, which is based at Middlebury College, is funding 142 projects in 2026, taking place across 59 countries and seven U.S. states. 

Since its inception in 2007, Projects for Peace has funded more than 2,200 projects. The organization鈥檚 goal is to support student-led, community-centered, and scalable projects addressing pressing issues 鈥� anywhere in the world. To develop their projects, 乐播传媒 students work closely with staff from the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, including Daphne Comeau, associate director for center operations and Davis Partners for Peace campus liaison, and Director of the Harward Center Darby Ray.

Last summer, 2025 Projects for Peace grantee Axelle Tougouma 鈥�27 of Fada N鈥橤ourma, Burkina Faso, led the installation of an irrigation system and agricultural training for women refugees from Burkina Faso living in Ouangolodougou, Ivory Coast. 

Tougouma aimed to create an agricultural system through which refugee women could not only improve their food security but also support themselves financially. She led the three-month-long project virtually while also completing an internship in Boston. 

鈥淚t was definitely fulfilling,鈥� Tougouma says. 鈥淚t also made me realize that the small action we do can also contribute in solving problems. Because sometimes when I sit down and I read news about my country, about terrorism attacks, and [I see] those millions of people being displaced, I wonder, being abroad and not living in that situation, how can I give back to my community?鈥� 

Tougouma hired an engineer to install the irrigation system, identified teachers to lead agricultural lessons, and gave financial literacy classes via WhatsApp. While managing the $10,000 project budget, she leaned on what she鈥檚 learned at 乐播传媒 as an economics major and math minor.

鈥淲e really needed to maximize our budget at some points, and that required giving up on some things,鈥� Tougouma says.

Since the project鈥檚 conclusion, Tougouma has remained in contact with the refugee women 鈥� as has the irrigation engineer, who has offered ongoing consultation free-of-charge 鈥� and plans to pursue other grant and funding opportunities to continue her work in Ouangolodougou.

鈥淸We are] making sure that they feel like we are still supporting them, and this is something that we really care about,鈥� Tougouma says. 鈥淲e are definitely ready to step in if other opportunities open up.鈥�

2026 Davis grantee Angel Guitcha applied for Projects for Peace after learning about the opportunity from Tougouma. She will be completing her project, 鈥淜ayayei Artisan Initiative: Economic Empowerment for Women in Accra,鈥� in Ghana, which borders both Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.聽

In Accra, Ghana鈥檚 capital city, tens of thousands of women workers called 鈥渒ayayei鈥� make their living as porters, carrying heavy loads of market items in large baskets atop their heads. When Guitcha was growing up in Accra, she met a girl working as a kayayoo. The girl was desperate to earn a living after a rape made her a mother at only 12. Her circumstances were not unusual; many kayayei work for as little as a few dollars a day in unsafe labor conditions, sleeping on the streets where they are vulnerable to gender-based violence.

Talking with the girl, Guitcha became determined to organize a project to improve kayayei鈥檚 quality of life. 

鈥淭hat conversation sort of radicalized me. 鈥� That was a very difficult conversation to have with someone at that age,鈥� Guitcha says.

Guitcha will return to Accra this summer to coordinate a six-week workshop on craftsmanship skills for 50 kayayei, with the goal of fostering autonomy and economic empowerment. Women will learn how to make beaded jewelry and embellish Kente clothing, then how to sew reusable menstrual pads with fabric leftover from textile companies. In addition to teaching the women how to create products they can sell and keeping discarded fabric out of landfills, the workshop will also make it easier for the women to take care of their menstrual health, which they often don鈥檛 have the money or time to properly maintain. 

At the end of the workshop, Guitcha will host a graduation ceremony, during which the women will be able to sell the products they鈥檝e made.

鈥淚’m hoping that they leave their workshops feeling more empowered and more in control of their lives,鈥� Guitcha says.

Guitcha, a biochemistry major with a math minor, volunteers regularly in the Lewiston community through the Harward Center and at St. Mary鈥檚 Hospital. She plans to attend medical school.

鈥淚’m very passionate about community service,鈥� Guitcha says. 

Davis grantee Vyshu Viju will head to India this summer for her project 鈥淪ustainable Cycles: Integrating Hygiene Equity and Waste Sovereignty in Chelannur,鈥� which aims to improve access to menstrual waste disposal by installing trash incinerators specifically for menstrual waste.

The town of Chelannur, where Viju鈥檚 grandparents live, is known for its excellent trash management system. However, menstrual product waste is excluded from regular trash pickup because of health safety concerns. Residents are instead expected to dispose of it at a site two hours away, but many residents burn their menstrual waste at home, Viju says, which causes pollution.

鈥淭hey’re supposed to collect [their menstrual waste] for two to three months and then throw it away,鈥� Viju says. 鈥淏ut most people just find that to be a lot of work, and it just takes up too much of their time.鈥�

Viju and her grandparents will together work to secure government approval for the incinerators, then purchase and install them around Chelannur. 

鈥淚’m hoping it decreases pollution and creates a more sustainable pathway in the way that trash is done,鈥� Viju says. The incinerators鈥� emissions from burning waste could also be harvested as an energy source, she says. 

Viju has long been passionate about issues related to reproductive justice and access; she volunteers with Maine Family Planning as a Harward Center Bonner Leader and hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology. She thought up the idea for the incinerators in conjunction with her grandmother, who is involved in a local feminist group called Kudumbashree.

Staff at the Harward Center were instrumental in helping the project come together, Viju says, including Comeau and Ray, along with Ellen Alcorn, associate director of community-engaged learning and director of student leadership programs, who initially connected Viju with Maine Family Planning.

Viju has also learned a lot about waste management while working as a landscape assistant with 乐播传媒 Facility Services, specifically from 乐播传媒 grounds and maintenance workers Amy Ray and Ian Brownlie.

鈥淭hat’s been a very meaningful part of my 乐播传媒 experience, and I think it very much inspired this project,鈥� Viju says.

Both Projects for Peace are scheduled to be completed by September.

Emily Scarrow 鈥�25 knew she wanted to go into medicine since high school, but six weeks into her first year at 乐播传媒, she was diagnosed with cancer. At age 18, she was forced to return home to Washington, D.C., for treatment.

鈥淚 spent most of that year at home,鈥� said Scarrow, who was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin鈥檚 lymphoma. 鈥淚 was sent home in October and came back in March.鈥� 

Rather than deterring or derailing her, the experience narrowed Scarrow鈥檚 focus, grew her determination, and deepened her positive attitude toward her goal to advance medicine. It also helped her land a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986, eponymously named to honor the longtime U.S. senator from Arizona. The award provides funding to college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

Scarrow wants to go to medical school and also work in clinical research immediately after she graduates from 乐播传媒 to help inform her future work as a physician. 

Specifically, her goal is to 鈥渋mprove lives using holistic human-focused research as a physician鈥� that can be implemented 鈥渋n the real world to help people.鈥�

Working in the lab is often separated from patient care, Scarrow said. “I鈥檓 really interested in being able to combine research with clinical care. So often, it鈥檚 one or the other. It鈥檚 very important to me to focus on the quality of the patient experience, but also the research is important in my journey,鈥� Scarrow said. 

For most of her first year at 乐播传媒, Scarrow lived at home in Washington, D.C., where she could get treatment for her cancer every other week at Georgetown University Hospital. She worked with 乐播传媒 professors taking two virtual classes each semester. 鈥淚 could not be where I am if it were not for the support I got from 乐播传媒,鈥� she said.

She then caught up with classes over the summer at Georgetown University so she could stay on track to graduate next spring as a biology major with a minor in chemistry. All the while, she doubled down on her commitment to excel in science research, focusing on gaining needed experience in the lab.

In her Goldwater application, Scarrow wrote about being the beneficiary of medical research, and how that fits with her goal of being a researcher-physician.

鈥淚 personally experienced the implementation of translational research into my care routines. My life was saved by decades of work done in labs around the world. For my future, it is not that research is needed to be a good physician. It is, instead, that being a doctor is the best way to complete the patient-focused research I will conduct,鈥� Scarrow wrote.

“She kind of doesn鈥檛 see any limits, which I absolutely appreciate about her.”

Lori Banks

Throughout her time at 乐播传媒, Scarrow has sought experiences in the medical field. She is a member of 乐播传媒 EMS as an emergency medical technician and responds to calls on campus. While studying abroad in both Chile and Denmark, she pursued study in the health care systems in those countries. 

She also is a First Connection volunteer with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helping recently diagnosed patients by offering advice, resources, and the benefit of her own personal experience as a cancer survivor. She鈥檚 also a co-chair on the group鈥檚 young adult council in Washington, D.C.

Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks, one of Scarrow鈥檚 references for the Goldwater, said from the moment Scarrow walked into her lab for the course 鈥淟ab-Based Biological Inquiry鈥� as a sophomore, she stood out. Banks hired Scarrow to work as a research assistant in her lab outside of class. Banks called Scarrow, who will co-author at least one paper with her, one of the brightest students she鈥檚 had.  

鈥淪he is such a go-getter and really excited about what we were doing in class. She kind of doesn鈥檛 see any limits, which I absolutely appreciate about her,” said Banks.

The Banks lab investigates a protein in rotavirus known as NSP4 to better understand its role in the virus’s ability to cause gastroenteritis and debilitating symptoms of diarrhea and fever.

In her Goldwater recommendation letter, Banks explained how Scarrow 鈥� as a sophomore 鈥� worked with a 乐播传媒 senior doing thesis research using an E. coli-based genetic screen to find out how specific changes in a NSP4 protein might weaken its function.

鈥淪he picked up the basic protocols for culturing bacteria and isolating DNA, but also quickly started thinking about follow-up experiments and big-picture issues like clean water access for the kids most affected by rotavirus,鈥� said Banks.

Following that experience, Scarrow landed an internship at the National Cancer institute in Bethesda, Md., part of the National Institutes of Health, the summer before her junior year, what Banks called a heady step. 

鈥淪he has a very strong sense of self. I have this belief in myself, as well, that I can accomplish anything 鈥� given enough coffee,鈥� Banks said with a laugh. 鈥淚 would not be surprised if she became the director of the NIH at one point. I would not be surprised at all.鈥�

In 2018, when April Horton arrived at 乐播传媒 from the University of Richmond as the inaugural Wagner Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM, she brought considerable experience in guiding Goldwater hopefuls. She used that knowledge to help guide Scarrow鈥檚 application for the ultra-competitive STEM scholarship. She thinks Scarrow鈥檚 Goldwater 鈥� 乐播传媒’ first since 2013 鈥� could be the first of more to come for 乐播传媒. 

Horton said the fact Scarrow knew she wanted to do biomedical research and has done all she can to gain experience to that end elevated her application in the eyes of the Goldwater fellowship committee.

鈥淗er personal story is very compelling and an important part of who she is. But I think what really shines for this kind of scholarship is that she is someone who takes the initiative to get a position at a place like NIH to do research that aligns with their interests,鈥� Horton said. 

鈥淕oing out and finding that position, landing it, and really pouring herself into it 鈥� I鈥檓 certain that was strongly considered for the Goldwater. Emily is going to do research with me next year, and I can say from my conversations with her that she is really driven.鈥�

We began our 鈥淲hat It Took鈥� series last fall to share stories from 乐播传媒 people about how they鈥檝e learned to become resilient in tough times, with a focus on the skills and strategies that help them double down when the road gets rough.

What we didn鈥檛 know at the time is that how we tell stories of our life 鈥� how we narrate our experiences 鈥� goes a long way toward achieving resilience and psychological well-being.

Now we do, thanks to Jonathan Adler 鈥�00, a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering and a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Storytelling is one of the oldest art forms, as well as an important tool that helps us make informed decisions and navigate the path ahead. 

Adler has conducted research on narrative identity, which is the idea that the stories we weave together about our reconstructed past, perceived present, and imagined future help us make meaning out of the things that happen to us. Adler recently shared his research with host Shankar Vedantam on the popular NPR show Hidden Brain where he explained how research shows that whether we look back at past events plays a critical role in our mental health. 

looked at 600 narratives from about 50 adults who came to a psychotherapy clinic for a wide range of issues, from depression, anxiety, and eating disorders to a simple desire to improve friendships and relationships. Adler and his colleagues measured the clients鈥� psychological well-being using standard indicators both before therapy and after each session 鈥� then they looked at the stories the clients told.

鈥淲hat was really cool is that using statistical modeling techniques we found that the stories actually changed before people鈥檚 psychological well-being changed. It was as though people were narrating a new version of their lives, and then a week or two later, their well-being would sort of catch up with the new story,鈥� Adler said. 

When Adler learned about this 乐播传媒News series, he wanted to help 鈥� but he encouraged us to seek out stories that don鈥檛 necessarily have a happy ending, that don鈥檛 end with a feeling of redemption. Those types of stories are powerful, too, Adler said, and they offer another narrative option for those suffering through difficult times.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty profound thing to say, 鈥業鈥檝e come out the other side of this challenging thing, and it didn’t make me happy, but it did help me understand some things about my life and my values.鈥� That in and of itself is a worthwhile outcome,鈥� Adler said. 鈥淚 think stories that demonstrate the importance of searching for meaning push back against what I call the 鈥榩ress for redemption鈥� in our culture.鈥�

As an example, he points to a study he helped conduct involving the parents of neurodivergent children on the autism spectrum and parents of non-neurodivergent children. 

One woman who stood out was the mother of a child with severe autism spectrum disorder. Her child required a lot of care and attention, yet when she talked about caring for this child, she told a story of a love that made her learn more about herself. Adler said these lessons are valuable.

“Meaningfulness and happiness are separate qualities we search for in life and both are important.鈥�

Jonathan Adler ’00

鈥淪he would not say, 鈥楬aving this child with severe autism spectrum disorder was a gift.鈥� That鈥檚 a socially appropriate story. And some people genuinely do feel like that, and that鈥檚 great. But that鈥檚 not the only option,鈥� he explained.

鈥淚 think she would say, 鈥楾his has been really hard. I don鈥檛 know that I would鈥檝e asked for this challenge, but because I have had this challenge, I have learned things about myself that I might not otherwise have.鈥� And there’s a positivity to that. But it鈥檚 not necessarily redemptive. Meaningfulness and happiness are separate qualities we search for in life and both are important.鈥� 

A decade ago, Adler began working with the nonprofit , which helps patients with all kinds of illnesses share stories of struggle. The organization hosts 鈥淗ealing Story Sessions,鈥� where patients (and sometimes medical providers) share their stories. These events are sometimes performed in small private living rooms, sometimes in large auditoriums. One that is held annually at Massachusetts General Hospital draws several hundred. But whatever the size of the crowd, Adler called them 鈥渢ransportive and therapeutic鈥� for both the storytellers and the audience.

Like the story of the mother above, these sessions support the idea that our life stories are not always redemptive. 鈥淲hen we’re working with people who have terminal illnesses, they sometimes say, 鈥楬appiness is not an option for me. That鈥檚 not the goal. I need to make sense of what this is all about.鈥� And that is valuable in and of itself,鈥� Adler said. 

When Adler attended 乐播传媒 from 1996 to 2000, he obviously didn鈥檛 know he would go on to do important research in a new field, but he knew he was passionate about both his psychology major and his interest in theater, directing three plays with the Robinson Players. Today he uses both disciplines in his work.

Twice a year at Olin, he leads a story slam where students, faculty, and staff tell short stories about their lives. He takes engineering and business students who have no experience in theater and helps them deliver thrilling performances. He also leads story slams at other colleges, such as Wellesley College, and has led them for major organizations.聽Adler also has become a playwright. (co-authored with Jim Petosa) premiered Off-Broadway in July of 2022.

An important element of the stories we tell is what psychologists call the 鈥渃hapter breaks,鈥� the moments in time where we draw the connection between the good and bad times, because if we see things as transitioning from good to troubling times, we can get stuck in that contaminative mindset.

Adler found this to be true in his own life story, which he shared a piece of on the Hidden Brain episode .鈥� Adler explained to host Shankar Vedantam how, as a young gay man in the 1990s who had not yet come out, he spent his semester abroad in Australia hoping to learn more about himself in a new environment. But he just ended up lonely. 

After he returned from Australia, Adler threw himself into his studies. He graduated as one of the top students in his class and took a research job at Harvard University. He then applied to 10 graduate schools 鈥� but only got into one.

鈥淎t the time, it felt like a shock. I imagined that I might have more choices when approaching this next big chapter of my life,鈥� Adler said on Hidden Brain. 鈥淚f you draw the end of a chapter break with me coming back from Australia, it looks like good turned bad, it looks like contamination. But if you expand the chapter until I鈥檓 already ensconced in graduate school, then it looks like redemption.鈥� 

As it turned out, the one school Adler got into 鈥� Northwestern University 鈥� was the research base of Dan McAdams, a pioneering scientist in the study of narrative identity, who became Adler鈥檚 mentor and, eventually, his scientific collaborator. Chicago also was where Adler met his future husband. 

鈥淚 look back at this turning point in my life with a profound sense of, first of all, gratitude, but also redemption,鈥� Adler said on Hidden Brain. 鈥淲hat at the time felt like close to failure 鈥� that all my work in college, and all my ignoring of my personal life for the sake of my intellectual life had presented me with only one option 鈥� now feels like the universe trying to make sure I found my way. Within a year, I was having a more gratifying intellectual experience than I ever imagined, and I was in love.鈥�

Now with his son and daughter 鈥� ages 8 and 10 鈥� Adler is trying to be mindful of helping them narrate healthy stories, as he and his husband, Jonathan Lewis, raise them.

鈥淚鈥檓 really thoughtful when I鈥檓 helping our kids recount their day to think about both the event and the feelings of the day. I want them to have as broad a sort of narrative toolbox as possible when they become narrators of their own lives,鈥� Adler said.

Often, scientists who conduct cutting-edge research are racing elbow-to-elbow against thousands of other researchers to publish their findings first. But when it comes to the research being conducted by Martin Kruse, recently funded with a $415,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, the 乐播传媒 associate professor of biology and neuroscience might be in a race by himself.

Kruse will use the NIH grant to study IRBIT, an important but not fully understood protein found in our cells, which might play a critical role in several neurological conditions, such as epilepsy and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. (The letters in protein names, like IRBIT, are not acronyms, per se, but instead convey the protein’s function, structure, or the process they are involved in.)

What is exciting for Kruse is that the protein IRBIT has been “dramatically understudied” up until now, he said. There are only a few dozen scholarly papers describing the protein. So Kruse could be the first to answer basic fundamental questions about IRBIT such as: How does it work in the cell? Where is it in the cell? And under what conditions does the protein restrict calcium signals? 

Finding the answers to these basic questions, Kruse said, would be a considerable contribution to science. 

鈥淲e are luckily not to be in a situation where we are competing with hundreds to thousands of other research groups which are all doing similar things, and it would therefore be like a foot race to be the first one to publish findings,鈥� Kruse said. 鈥淚’m hoping we have the opportunity to be some of the first to provide knowledge on how this protein really works.鈥�

With the release of too much calcium in our cells, “certain parts in our brain, for instance, become more active, other parts might become less active. And this has triggered tremendous interest in many neuroscientists.”

Martin Kruse

Human cells typically maintain low calcium ion concentrations. Then, under certain conditions, a signal releases “a little bit of that calcium from storage into the rest of the cell.”

But too much calcium being released can be incredibly harmful. The research Kruse is pursuing with 乐播传媒 students could bear out the theory that a lack of IRBIT in cells leads to a harmful increase in calcium signals.

With the release of too much calcium, “certain parts in our brain, for instance, become more active, other parts might become less active,” Kruse said. “So it changes our behavior, it changes the way we might be thinking,” and possibly plays a role in neurological disorders like epilepsy or Alzheimer’s disease. “And this has triggered tremendous interest in many neuroscientists.”

Kruse’s research on IRBIT has an important connection to another area of his work. For about 15 years, he has studied a certain type of lipid known as phosphoinositides, which were once thought to be bit players in cell functioning but are now known to regulate the flow of molecular signals, like a cellular traffic cop.

Under certain conditions, phosphoinositides get destroyed, and that can lead to an unexpected release of calcium ions. Kruse and his student researchers will investigate the connection between phosphoinositides, the activation of IRBIT, and the release of calcium ions.

“We think, and there’s also some preliminary evidence for, that alterations in the levels of IRBIT in a cell also influence the metabolism of the cell for the lipids that activate these calcium signals.”

Kruse got involved with this research in 2010 during a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Washington in Seattle. He brought that research to 乐播传媒 in 2017 and has since acquired preliminary data with the help of students 鈥� all of which helped land the NIH grant.

In the past year, using a kidney cell line known as HEK293, which has certain properties that make it a great model system for research, Kruse and his students ran tests using the powerful genome-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 (pioneered by Nobel Prize鈥搘inning biochemist Jennifer Doudna, recipient of a 2019 乐播传媒 honorary degree).

They deleted the IRBIT protein in one cell but not another to see if the cells without the protein IRBIT have larger calcium signals than the cells with the protein. 

鈥淲e compared the genetically modified cell with the cells with IRBIT. It appears it does make a difference for the cells if they have IRBIT or not. The protein indeed seems to be a regulator of these calcium signals,鈥� Kruse said. 鈥淚f the protein is gone, the calcium signals grow bigger and it kind of shows that, in a healthy cell, IRBIT would be restricting the calcium signals.鈥�

The research Kruse is pursuing with 乐播传媒 students could bear out the theory that a lack of IRBIT activity in cells 鈥� and a resulting increase in calcium signals 鈥� is a factor in these neurological conditions.

Typically such groundbreaking research is done at research universities with teams of graduate students all working 50 to 70 hours a week. But Kruse is excited to share this rare, golden opportunity with his students. 

This year, several senior thesis students are tackling subjects related to Kruse’s research: Sydney Rastkhane of North Haven, Conn., Nick Gonzalez of Chappaqua, N.Y., and Ben Morse of Sunderland, Mass. Rastkhane and Gonzalez will join Kruse in presenting the lab’s research to date at the Biophysical Society鈥檚 annual meeting on Feb. 11 in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, if Kruse鈥檚 research sheds new light on the protein, it could one day lead to new treatments for some neurological diseases. 

鈥淚 think any kind of knowledge that we can acquire about this would help in a clinical setting to come up with better treatments. That would be fantastic,鈥� Kruse said.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R15GM150377. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

The way to someone鈥檚 heart is through their stomach, they say. More important, it’s the route to our overall well-being.

Recently, professionals from the 乐播传媒 Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) program gathered to discuss diet and mental health, offering facts and tips, giving cautions about social media, and explaining why you don’t “yuck on someone else’s yums.”

The topic of food and well-being is a vast one, admitted Dr. Susanna Preziosi, a CAPS psychologist who moderated the discussion on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that filled a Pettengill Hall classroom. 鈥淲e could devote a month-long conference to it.鈥�

And in the coming years, “medicine is going to understand more is the connection between gut and the brain,” said Dr. Heidi Walls.

For example, the majority of the body’s serotonin, which regulates mood, appetite, sleep, and cognition “is actually produced in the gut,” Walls said. “So there is a kind of biological basis for mood connections and our brain. Some people talk about the gut actually is a second brain of the body.”

These days, college students ponder their food choices from a few savvy perspectives. They look for food to fuel their sporting life. They look for food that is organic and/or locally grown. They look for vegan or vegetarian options.

But college students are at the most vulnerable time of their life for eating disorders and mental illness to develop, so it is to their benefit to understand how diet and eating affects mental well-being.

鈥淕ood nutrition and well-balanced diets are related to mental health in a variety of ways,鈥� said Dr. Wendy Kjeldgaard, a CAPS psychologist who specializes in treating eating disorders.

Food and diet, Kjeldgaard said, affect 鈥測our cognitive functioning, your ability to regulate stress, your capacity to experience really strong, powerful, negative emotions.鈥�

When it comes to the gut-to-brain roadway, 鈥渟ome people talk about the gut as a second brain, which is really fascinating,鈥� said Walls, who serves as head team physician for 乐播传媒 Athletics. 鈥淭he majority of the. So there鈥檚 a biological basis that makes sense for some of these food connections and our brain.鈥�

Which means, said Brandon Ouellette, a CAPS counselor, 鈥渨hen you have a gut feeling, you really are having a gut feeling.鈥�

But there are roadblocks between the stomach and brain, the experts explained. From the perspective of working with athletes focused on diet to create the best body possible for their sport, Walls says that she is 鈥渁lways fighting the idea that smaller is faster when it comes to sports.鈥�

Many people assume there’s a certain body that is healthier or more athletic, 鈥渁nd we think of those as being related to weight,鈥� Walls said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 important to realize that we completely cannot tell someone’s health from the outside of their body.鈥�

In an ideal world, added Kjeldgaard, 鈥渇ood and weight and emotion and shape would not have to be tied together.鈥� She referenced the , noting that 鈥測ou can be perfectly healthy, medically stable, at many different weights. And just because you’re smaller, that doesn’t mean you’re healthier.鈥�

A student鈥檚 homesickness might be exacerbated by missing the comfort of home cooking, whether the cooking is from their home in China or the coast of Maine. 鈥淔ood is important to who we are, our identity,鈥� said Walls, who recounted her return from study abroad during college, and how her mother asked, 鈥淲hat can I make you for dinner now that you’re home?鈥� To which Walls, who is from Maine, replied: 鈥淎ll I want . That was the thing that I wanted and missed.鈥�

Kjeldgaar told the students that certain behaviors around eating can affect other parts of your personality.鈥� She pointed to the landmark Minnesota Starvation Experience in 1944鈥�45, the first to .

When study subjects restricted their food intake, 鈥渢hey started to exhibit the kind of behaviors that people with disordered eating do,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭hey became very rigid in terms of behavior. Their cognitive flexibility decreased, and they became obsessive and compulsive in their exercise behaviors. Their world just started getting smaller and smaller.鈥�

Also important is our state of mind鈥攃alm or jazzed up鈥攚hen we eat, said Walls. Humans have two nervous systems that control our involuntary bodily functions. There鈥檚 the sympathetic system, often called the fight-or-flight response. And there鈥檚 the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest-and-digest response that occurs when you are sleeping, napping, meditating, or digesting your food.

鈥淓ating in an environment or situation where you’re having an increased sympathetic 鈥榯one鈥� is going to make it harder to get the parasympathetic drive you want to digest food,鈥� Walls said.

If possible, students should find a way to chill out when they eat 鈥� the parasympathetic state, keeping in mind, the experts acknowledged, that setting aside time to dine can be hard and social anxiety around eating in a large dining hall like Commons is real.

A decade ago, Snickers landed on a tagline, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not yourself when you鈥檙e hungry,鈥� that became famous partly because it鈥檚 so true. 鈥淓veryone’s had an experience of being hangry,鈥� said Ouellette, the CAPS counselor, 鈥渨hen you’re so hungry it’s all consuming and it puts you in such a bad mood. The way that we satisfy those physical needs is going to affect our mental health, as well.鈥�

To avoid the hangries, Ouellette encouraged the students to be self-aware about how hunger affects their mood. 

鈥淚’ve worked with children, and nine times out of 10, when a child had a meltdown, my first response was, 鈥楧o you need a snack? Are we hungry? Are we thirsty? Do we need to use the bathroom?鈥� And nine times out of 10, it was coming from a physical sensation that was really difficult.鈥� We experience that as adults, too, Ouellette said. 

Students are busy and under stress and pressure 鈥� classes, extracurriculars, and trying to make time for relationships 鈥� “some really important body maintenance things can start to fall by the wayside,” he said. “I’m always talking to clients about making sure you’re eating throughout the day. If you have a really busy afternoon, grab a banana or an apple or a little snack from Commons to bring with you.”

During the Q&A, a 乐播传媒 student asked how they could help friends who seem to struggle with food issues.

Ouellette encouraged being candid and acknowledging the discomfort of discussing sensitive topics, like food behavior. The panelists also offered . They welcomed students to come into CAPS for advice.

Walls said that “it’s never wrong to tell someone that you care about them and that you’re worried about them. Even if it comes out kind of messy, it’s probably better than not saying anything at all.鈥�

The experts also advised not commenting on a friend鈥檚 diet, food, or meal, to 鈥渘ot yuck on other people’s yums,鈥� said Kjeldgaard. If a friend is in need, Walls said, 鈥渢he first thing is to stop body talk. I know I’ve been guilty of it before: 鈥業 shouldn’t have eaten that, I feel guilty, I need to lose 10 pounds.鈥欌��

A proactive way for a student to take control of their relationship between their mental well-being and food is to be savvy about their social media use and the information pushed out on social media. 

Certain uses of photo-centric social media apps, like Instagram or Tik-Tok, 鈥渃an put you at higher risk for developing body satisfaction or disordered eating.鈥�

鈥淭his is my dream come true,鈥� said Kjeldgaard about the chance to offer advice to students about how they gather facts about diet, including problematic fad diets like Keto.

Kjeldgaard noted a study that found that nearly 50 percent of people said they learned about food and eating through social media, while around 22 percent learned from nutrition professionals. 鈥淵ou need to be wary of who’s giving you information, how much of it is driven by their desire to get more likes and clicks,鈥� she said.

She noted that certain uses of photo-centric social media apps, like Instagram or Tik-Tok, 鈥渃an put you at higher risk for developing body satisfaction or disordered eating.鈥� For example, there鈥檚 the problem of permanence: 鈥淵ou can revisit old photos or old feedback, including negative comments, and it’s very easy to compare current photos of yourself with old photos of yourself or of other people.鈥�

There’s also the absence of interpersonal cues when communicating using social media, which Kjeldgaard said can heighten social anxiety. The wide accessibility of social media content can 鈥渆xacerbate the , common in adolescents or later adolescents, where you think people are paying attention to you all the time.鈥�

Like the many other presentations on MLK Day, the CAPS session reflected this year鈥檚 chosen theme of 鈥淔ood Justice.鈥�

鈥淔ood and mental well-being does not exist in isolation. It exists in community,鈥� said Wayne Assing, director of 乐播传媒 CAPS. 鈥淚n the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, I’d like to consider that food is life, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and thus food injustice anywhere is a threat to food justice everywhere.鈥�

The experts homed in on how marginalized communities bear the brunt of food-related injustices. For example, sometimes when children who have experienced neglect and food insecurity at home are brought to a foster home where food is readily available, they show binge-eating behaviors. 

BIPOC communities have higher rates than white communities of eating disorders, said Kjeldgaard. And another population that really struggles with disordered eating and eating disorders is the LGBTQ+ population, where there are dramatically higher rates versus cisgender communities or heterosexual communities, Kjeldgaard said. 

鈥淢embers of the queer community are more likely to experience food insecurity,鈥� added Ouellette. 鈥淪o food insecurity and eating disorders are linked in that way.鈥�

To put all the pieces of advice in perspective, Assing referred to chef and author Bryant Terry鈥檚 keynote speech where he talked about gaining confidence as a cook, “where you’re using your intuition.鈥�

Assing hopes 乐播传媒 students can achieve something similar in their relationship to food and eating: confidence, independence, and intuition. 

He encouraged the students to be kind to themselves. “This is a journey and the journey is a journey of balance. None of us is going to be perfect. None of us is ever going to get it right.”

As Kjeldgaard said, “Not every meal’s going to be perfect. Not every snack’s going to be perfect.”

Instead of judgment and perfection, said Assing, students should try to ask themselves “what does an evolving practice of self-care for you look like in terms of how you navigate your relationship with food with compassion for yourself and with others to decrease this sense of judgment? Our judgment can really affect one’s gut as people have said, which really can create a lot of stress.

鈥淭he message is trust yourself. Listen to yourself, be in relationship to your needs in a given moment. Health is always a balancing act.”

Ben Morse 鈥�24 arrived at Spring Point Marina in South Portland, Maine, on July 31 to work at his first tuna tournament where his task for the day 鈥渨as like something out of a horror movie;鈥� cutting the heads off tuna and digging through fish brains. 

鈥淩eady to get to work, Ben? This one is going to have a lot of blood in it!鈥� boomed biologist Walt Golet with a laugh as he welcomed his undergraduate intern.

Morse鈥檚 mission at the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza tuna tournament involved gore and guts, but the endgame was about collecting data for Golet鈥檚 laboratory at the University of Maine and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.

By removing the otolith bone from tuna heads 鈥� a task that, it turns out, Morse is really good at 鈥� he helped provide key data used by biologists to assess the health of the tuna population in the northwest Atlantic, which, in turn, helps inform policy makers who manage the tuna fishery. 

Scientists consider the small bone in a tuna鈥檚 ear something akin to the voyage data recorder on a ship because it provides a wealth of information, like the age of the fish and whether the fish was spawned in the western Atlantic or the Mediterranean Sea.

For Morse, a biology major with a pre-med focus, the experience this summer at his Purposeful Work internship provided a more holistic understanding of the connectivity between the environment and human health.

鈥淎 concept from a European public health class I took in the Netherlands during a semester abroad really resonated with me, where it focused on humans as a species that really rely on other species and the environment.鈥�

Ben Morse

鈥淎 concept from a European public health class I took in the Netherlands during a semester abroad really resonated with me, where it focused on humans as a species that really rely on other species and the environment,鈥� said Morse of Sunderland, Mass. 鈥淚 think now more than ever we realize our own health is connected to the health of the environment.鈥�

This summer, Morse worked alongside two doctoral candidates from the University of Maine gathering data for Golet, an assistant professor at the University of Maine鈥檚 School of Marine Sciences and the lead biologist at the UMaine Pelagic Fisheries Lab located at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

Each summer, Golet鈥檚 lab collects samples from tuna caught between North Carolina and Maine from commercial and recreational landings, including at several tuna tournaments throughout the northeast. Through a partnership with 乐播传媒, GMRI has offered Purposeful Work internships to 乐播传媒 students since 2018. The GMRI internship program is competitive, receiving applications from coast to coast each year, according to Beverly Vari, who oversees 乐播传媒鈥� Purposeful Work internship program as the college鈥檚 associate director for employer engagement and internships.

Golet said every year 乐播传媒 students come to the internship ready to, literally, roll up their sleeves, get splashed by blood, and get to work. This year, Morse was no different.

鈥淭hey come in and get along with everyone in the lab; they are hard working; they鈥檙e interested; invested in the work; and they want to be here. They bring a kind of enthusiasm,鈥� Golet gushed. 鈥淭here is a big difference between sitting in a science class and being there in person with an 800-pound fish where you do all the measurements yourself and record the data. It鈥檚 actual data used the next time there is a bluefin assessment.鈥�

Between 4,000 and 6,000 bluefin tuna are harvested annually between North Carolina and Maine, according to GMRI. Last year, Golet鈥檚 lab processed around 1,500 Atlantic bluefin tuna to gather data that is used by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the regional fishery management organization that represents 52 countries in the management of highly migratory species in the Atlantic Ocean including bluefin tuna populations.

The data Golet鈥檚 team collects is used in the stock assessment process to set quotes based on the best available science.

Golet said the tuna population is doing well at the moment, and the size limit for commercially landed tuna in the northwest Atlantic by U.S. commercial fishermen 鈥� at 73 inches 鈥� is the largest minimum length in the world. 

鈥淎ll of those countries are in agreement that the east and west stocks are doing well enough to increase the fish catch,鈥� Golet said. 鈥淏luefin are coming back a little bit. It鈥檚 a conservation success story.鈥�

A key to that success story is the otolith. 

Just two months into his summer internship, Morse already had found and removed 30 otolith from tuna hauled in on fishing boats. At the Casco Bay tournament on July 31, he got to work on the six tuna that were waiting on boats lined up at the docks when he arrived at 8 a.m.

鈥淎lthough it sounds gruesome, cutting the tuna head with a saw was the most fun,鈥� Morse said. 鈥淭he goal is to get the otolith out of the head, so you ignore the gruesome part. You have a mission and it’s easy to get lost in that mission.鈥�

First Morse helped Golet measure a 600-pound tuna, then he held it as Golet used a power saw to cut off the head.

While the two worked, a crowd of spectators watched from outside a fence as tuna blood and innards dropped out of the hanging fish. For his part, Morse loved the public-education component of Golet鈥檚 work at the Bluefin Bonanza.

鈥淭he other tournaments don’t let us cut the fish up because they don’t want the kids to see. But the kids love it,鈥� Morse said. 

Moments later, Morse used an electric saw to cut into the head of a tuna. Then, using tweezers, he searched through a canal in the brain for the otolith. Yellowjackets swarmed him. But Morse worked on, unperturbed. He found his prize 鈥� the fragile ear bone 鈥� within minutes.

Even if he never participates in fisheries science again, Morse said the experience of being involved in research that will have a direct impact on public health was invaluable. 

鈥淵ou see how collaborative science is,鈥� Morse said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e part of the effort, even if you鈥檙e just an intern and not performing the chemistry. You鈥檙e an important part of the machine that, as Walt said, will inform (biologists) with more accurate data that will help to inform fishermen.鈥�

A selection of recent mentions of 乐播传媒 and 乐播传媒 people in the news.

Arianna Fano ’19 

U.S. debt ceiling: Of political game theory and unsustainable debt 鈥� Forbes India

Arianna Fano 鈥�19, an economic policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.鈥揵ased Bipartisan Policy Center, told Forbes India that the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis could 鈥渦ndermine confidence in the global banking system and potentially lead to a wider financial crisis.鈥�

鈥淭he growing national debt poses a threat to private investment, labour market productivity, and public spending on critical government programmes,鈥� Fano said.

鈥淧olicymakers of both parties must come together to explore solutions to the unsustainable fiscal path we find ourselves on.鈥� 

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Forbes India, May 24, 2023

乐播传媒 Commencement

乐播传媒 College graduates emerge from 鈥楥OVID-19鈥� college experience 鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal

The Lewiston Sun Journal鈥檚 coverage of Commencement included interviews with two local graduates who took non-traditional routes to 乐播传媒.

Jillian Richardson 鈥�23 of Auburn is a first-generation college grad who was home-schooled until coming to 乐播传媒, reported the Sun Journal‘s Joe Charpentier. 鈥淚鈥檓 forever grateful to my parents for making it possible for me to attend college, and to the people at 乐播传媒, who helped me along the way and opened doors to unforgettable opportunities,” said Richardson, who graduated with a biology major and All-America honors in cross country.

Environmental studies graduate Dylan LaRose 鈥�23 is a 38-year-old resident of Auburn who is a U.S. military veteran and co-owner of the popular Dag鈥檚 Bait & Sport Goods.

LaRose, reported Charpentier, “stared at the 乐播传媒 campus for years while picking away 鈥� first at a science degree, then a business degree 鈥� at Central Maine Community College in Auburn. It then occurred to LaRose he could simply apply to 乐播传媒 and see what happens.” 鈥淪omehow, I got in,鈥� he told Charpentier.

Read more: 

• 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, May 28, 2023
• 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, May 28, 2023

Loring Danforth, anthropology faculty

Firewalkers in Greece honor Saint Constantine in mystery-shrouded, centuries-old rituals 鈥� The Associated Press

In May, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Loring Danforth was interviewed by Associated Press reporter Giovanna Dell鈥橭rto for a story about the centuries-old ritual of firewalking in small Greek villages along the Bulgarian border. 

Dell鈥橭rto鈥檚 story focused on the leader of a group of devotees of St. Constantine, known as the anastenaria, who still practice the ritual as a way of communicating with the saints.

Danforth, the author of Firewalking and Religious Healing: The Anastenaria of Greece and the American Firewalking Movement, put the ritual into historical context, explaining the way the anastenaria were persecuted by the Orthodox church for what were seen as pagan rites.

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Associated Press, May 25, 2023

乐播传媒 Dance Festival

10 not-to-be-missed dance performances 鈥� The Boston Globe

Gearing up for its 41st season, the 乐播传媒 Dance Festival has been covered by The Boston Globe, Portland Press Herald and Down East magazine. 

Boston Globe dance writer Karen Campbell featured the festival in her piece on 10 dance events not to be missed this summer, calling BDF 鈥渟mall but mighty.鈥� Meanwhile, the festival was No. 63 on Down East magazine鈥檚 list of “101 Reasons to Love Summer in Maine.”

Festival Director Shoni Currier told Portland Press Herald feature writer Megan Gray about some of the performances that had been delayed by COVID and .

The short, five weeks of the festival creates a 鈥渕agical鈥� atmosphere on campus, Currier said. 鈥淚t creates its own space and time and dynamic and energy. There鈥檚 something about coming together around a purpose 鈥� and in this case, an artistic purpose 鈥� and having it be limited in time. It just feels essential.鈥�

Read more:

• 鈥�,鈥� The Boston Globe, May 19, 2023
• 鈥�,鈥� Down East magazine, May 2023 
• 鈥�,鈥� Portland Press Herald, May 18, 2023

Jamie Merisotis ’86

Colleges buck enrollment trends by increasing their supports for students 鈥� Forbes

Writing in Forbes about the worrisome numbers of students who leave college without completing their degree, Jamie Merisotis 鈥�86, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, wrote about what colleges can and are doing to buck that trend. He highlighted Madera Community College and the way the California school is countering the trend by prioritizing student needs.

Merisotis shared his personal experience, comparing what administrators at Madera are doing with his own 乐播传媒 experience, where 鈥渆xtra attention鈥� helped him with what wasn鈥檛 an easy transition as a first-generation student.

鈥淲hether they are first-generation students, have pressing family responsibilities, or face any of the myriad other social, economic or other hurdles confronting students today, we know quite a bit about what helps people finish their degrees, including ‘student supports’ 鈥� the practice of schools offering everything from extra advising to food pantries and childcare.”

• Read the story: “,” Forbes, May 24, 2023

Rebecca Herzig, gender and sexuality studies faculty

How to have a realistic conversation about beauty with your kids 鈥� The Atlantic

Trying to convince your child that personal appearance doesn’t matter or create privilege is 鈥渁 really complicated form of gaslighting,” said Rebecca Herzig, professor of gender and sexuality studies, in an interview with journalist, podcaster, and author Elise Hu for a story in The Atlantic about Hu talking to her own young daughters about beauty.

Hu wrote about trying to convince her daughters that looks didn鈥檛 matter. But they were skeptical, and empirical evidence 鈥� 鈥渟tudy after study confirms that prettiness can be a privilege鈥� 鈥� suggested they were right to be skeptical, no matter how much their mother wished it were otherwise. 

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Atlantic, May 18, 2023

Sam Gerry ’24 

Woburn High School graduates raising awareness of teen suicide with kickball tournament 鈥� CBS News Boston

Sam Gerry 鈥�24 of Woburn, Mass., was featured in a CBS News Boston story about a charity kickball tournament he helped inspire while he was in high school. His friend Noah Dhaliwal started the Kick it for a Cause, a suicide prevention tournament as a junior, when Sam was struggling with his mental health, with Sam鈥檚 full endorsement.  

“Oftentimes, I find that people tend to shy away from really anything regarding suicide and suicide prevention,鈥� Gerry told CBS. So Dhaliwal鈥檚 brainstorm back when they were still in high school was more than welcome. 鈥淚t was really, really encouraging, not just any random teen but one of my best friends reaching out to express interest.”

Gerry, who became the co-founder of the tournament and helped to raise thousands of dollars for local groups, is studying psychology at 乐播传媒. 鈥淚鈥檓 planning to pursue a Ph.D. of some kind focusing on suicidology,” he told the outlet. 

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� CBS News Boston, May 18, 2023

Katherine Haesche Thomson ’00

Welcome to the great Marblehead newspaper war 鈥� The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe noted the hopeful growth of community journalism in the North Shore, specifically in Marblehead, where has some 乐播传媒 connections.

Kate Haesche Thomson ’00 is a board member, and the paper’s founders include consulting editor Kris Olson P’25, formerly with the Marblehead Reporter, which had pivoted away from local coverage; and Ed Bell ‘P’97, a former Associated Press bureau chief.

It’s been inspiring work, says Thomson, who uses her advertising and brand strategy background to help market the paper. “Literal cornerstone-of-democracy stuff.”

In a story over the winter, the Globe noted that a year ago, the “local news outlook… appeared bleak. Media giant Gannett had recently shifted the North Shore town鈥檚 longtime weekly, the Marblehead Reporter, from local to regional coverage, leaving the community of 20,000 without a dedicated newspaper for the first time in more than a century.”

Since then, three new outlets “are in the unexpected position of battling it out for the readers of Marblehead and wresting back hyperlocal news from corporate control.”

• Read the story: 鈥溾�� The Boston Globe, Jan. 3, 2023

Brian McGrory ’84

The future of journalism is uncertain under Gannett CEO Mike Reed 鈥� The Boston Globe

Speaking of newspapers: In two columns for The Boston Globe, former editor Brian McGrory 鈥�84 took on Gannett CEO Mike Reed, saying that while Reed “didn鈥檛 cause the seismic collapse of the newspaper industry,” he had “inflicted brutal and probably irreversible damage on already struggling news organizations all across this country.”

McGrory recalled working at The Patriot Ledger right after 乐播传媒 when it was “one of the best suburban papers in America鈥� with a 鈥渃ouple hundred journalists at its peak.鈥� The paper, now owned by Gannett, 鈥渉as four news reporters: Four.鈥�

鈥淲e are at a perilous moment in our civic life,鈥� wrote McGrory, who now chairs the Department of Journalism at Boston University.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e heard it before and I鈥檒l say it again: Democracy is under threat. Quality information is in short supply. Misinformation and disinformation are all over your social media feeds. Lies have become the currency of a certain kind of office-holder at every level, right down to your local school committee.鈥�

Read more: 

• 鈥�,鈥� The Boston Globe, March 23, 2023
• 鈥溾�� The Boston Globe, April 12, 2023

Chuck Radis ’75, James Reese 

Remembering John Jenkins, political trailblazer and champion of Lewiston-Auburn 鈥� News Center Maine

When the late John Jenkins 鈥�74 received his 乐播传媒 degree, it was to a standing ovation, recalled Chuck Radis 鈥�75 in a recent interview with Rob Caldwell for 207, a TV news magazine produced by News Center Maine.

“Oh, my gosh, it was like a rock star was getting the degree,” Radis smiled. “And John just soaked it up.”

Radis is the author of The Mayor of Maine, a biography about Jenkins, the former mayor of Lewiston and Auburn and Maine鈥檚 first Black state senator, who died in 2020.

James Reese, associate dean of students at 乐播传媒, joined the interview, telling Caldwell that he seldom meets a 乐播传媒 person who knew Jenkins and doesn鈥檛 have 鈥渁 powerful story, whatever the examples are.”

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� News Center Maine, April 25, 2023

Robin Dodson ’00 

Body lotions, mothballs, cleaning fluids and other widely used products contain known toxic chemicals, study finds 鈥� The Conversation

Household and cleaning products like hairspray and windshield wiper fluid release thousands of tons of volatile organic compounds into California鈥檚 air every year, and consumers rarely know what is in the products they鈥檙e buying, said Robin Dodson 鈥�00, in a brief for The Conversation.

Dodson, an adjunct assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University, recently co-wrote and published a study analyzing data on consumer product emissions in California and identifying product types and chemicals they see as high priorities for reformulation with safer alternatives or regulatory action.

鈥淲e believe our new analysis points to the need for national action that ensures consumers and workers alike have safer products,鈥� she wrote.

• Read the brief: 鈥�,鈥� The Conversation, May 2, 2023

Angela Twitchell ’90

Maine Coast Heritage Trust hires Topsham resident to lead program 鈥� The Times Record

Angela Twitchell 鈥�90 is the new director of a signature program of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, reported The Times Record of Brunswick.

As land trust program director, Twitchell will consult with and advise local land trusts and work to build a land trust network across Maine.

A Topsham resident, Twitchell has over 15 years of knowledge and experience in land conservation. Like many Mainers who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, she experienced 鈥渇irsthand the effects of pollution on the Androscoggin River and the result of humans not being good stewards of the land,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 knew from a young age that I wanted to go into an environmental field.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Times Record, May 4, 2023

Christian Beal ’21

Richmond outfielder Christian Beal will join Blue Jays, but not as player 鈥� Richmond Times-Dispatch

In joining the Toronto Blue Jays’ player development department, Christian Beal ’21 has begun a career in Major League Baseball that he hopes will include the big job of general manager, wrote John O鈥機onnor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

鈥淚t kind of connects my passion for baseball and also my passion to be a business leader,鈥� Beal said. After graduating from 乐播传媒, with eligibility remaining due to COVID, Beal played for two years for the University of Richmond, where he is studying for an M.B.A.

He first applied for a “head of data鈥� position with the Jays. He realized he wasn’t qualified for the position but hoped his resume might attract some attention, which it did. 鈥淚 decided I was going to go out on a limb,鈥� he said – it was a home run.

He’ll begin his career in Dunedin, Fla., home of Toronto鈥檚 spring-training facility, in a role that involves 鈥渄ata but also a lot of the day-to-day (operations), and understanding how it鈥檚 all connected.鈥�

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 18, 2023

Dominick Pangallo ’03

Pangallo to become Salem’s next mayor 鈥� The Salem News

Longtime Salem, Mass., resident Dominick Pangallo 鈥�03 is now his home city’s mayor after winning a special election to fill the seat on May 16.

Pangallo is the longtime chief of staff to former mayor Kim Driscoll, whose move to become the commonwealth’s lieutenant governor created the special election.

• Read the story: 鈥�,鈥� The Salem News, May 16, 2023

Vanessa Paolella 鈥�21, Pat Webber 

Androscoggin Watershed Conference set for Poland May 16 鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal

Vanessa Paolella 鈥�21 and Pat Webber, director of Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, spoke at the annual Androscoggin Watershed Conference on May 16, addressing the history of the Androscoggin River, said the Lewiston Sun Journal in a conference advance.

At the conference, Webber talked about the history of the river, beginning with its formation by glaciers and ending with the Clean Water Act, which became law 50 years ago through the efforts of U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie ’36.

Paolella, a geology major who did her senior thesis on the Androsoggin, discussed remediation strategies for the river beginning in the 1940s. She provided data from her thesis to help illustrate what worked (the Clean Water Act and wastewater treatment facilities) and what had little effect (building lagoons to store waste and modifying the papermaking process.) 

• Read the advance: 鈥�,鈥� Lewiston Sun Journal, May 9, 2023

Here鈥檚 the seventh and final installment of our series that profiles, in images and words, each and every resident of 乐播传媒鈥� newest academic building, Bonney Science Center, as they begin to engage with their wondrous new home and the students they work with. This week鈥檚 profiles feature:

• Lori Banks, an assistant professor of biology who encourages her students’ to lead with their hearts and hands.
• Andrew Kennedy, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry whose students have a certain glow.
• Jennifer Koviach-C么t茅, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry who carries the many languages of chemistry with her.
• Jason Castro, an associate professor of neuroscience who has a nose for his research.

Lori Banks

Title: Assistant Professor of Biology

Joined 乐播传媒: 2019

Date Photographed: Nov. 30 and Dec. 3

She says: 鈥淲hen you put the right opportunity in front of a student, you see their personality change.鈥�

Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks teaches in a Bonney Science Center classroom and conducts research in a Bonney lab. But the science she pursues is everywhere, 鈥渨hether it鈥檚 mathematical modeling or physics in a pressure cooker in somebody鈥檚 kitchen.鈥�

In her lab, Lori Banks and her student researchers explore preclinical drug development, 鈥渕ostly in the area of antimicrobials for both bacteria and viruses,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 sort of a hybrid microbiologist / biochemist.鈥� 

Among her current projects is one looking at the workings of a specific non-structural protein in rotavirus. (Viruses use non-structural protein to replicate themselves, among other purposes.)

In the classroom, Banks teaches courses that explore the cellular basis of life as well as cellular biochemistry and microbiology. Next fall, she鈥檒l teach one of the department’s new CURE courses, delivering a Course-Based Research Experience, looking at microbes.  

As a teacher, Banks says she 鈥渄efinitely draws a lot from Ms. Frizzle,鈥� referencing the fictional elementary school teacher of The Magic School Bus edutainment fame. (Fun fact: The theme song for the TV series was sung by Little Richard.)

鈥淪he’s just sort of this free spirit science teacher whose magic bus can take her class out to space or shrink them and let them watch molecules interact inside of a baking cake.鈥�

Silly stuff, but serious intent. 鈥淭o encourage people to do stuff, get your hands in it. Let them get messy. That’s how you’re really going to learn things and retain the information.鈥�

To that end, Banks鈥� cellular biochemistry last fall had a heaping helping of community engagement, as the students helped a Lewiston Middle School class learn about the value of a healthy, vitamin-rich diet. The course culminated in a recipe contest, the youngsters choosing an omelet dish as their favorite. 

Banks also works with the STEM Scholars program, which helps students from underrepresented groups who are interested in pursuing science or math begin to think like, and believe in themselves as young scientists.

The best part about teaching, Banks says, is providing what she calls a 鈥渓anding pad, a safe environment for them to screw up some stuff and figure it out.鈥�

The Banks landing pad means that a student, after failing, can back up and try again or try something new. 鈥淵ou see a student trudge through a few things for a couple of weeks, and they鈥檒l say, 鈥楾hat’s really not my jam. I don’t ever want to do this again.鈥�

Banks will talk with the discouraged student, giving them a chance to reflect on what happened. From that, Banks might suggest a different area of science. 

鈥淎nd when you put the right opportunity in front of them, you just see their whole personality change. They’re like, 鈥業 didn’t know they made this part of science before, but I’m glad they did. I want to go play!鈥欌��

Andrew Kennedy

Title: Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Joined 乐播传媒: 2016

Date Photographed: Nov. 17, 2021

He says: 鈥溊植ゴ� students can walk right over to their own high-field NMR instrument and analyze their own data.鈥�

The newspaper story was incredulous: 鈥淧ut one drop of blood in a barrel of water and toxicologist, Joseph B. Swim, San Francisco toxicologist, can detect it. He uses 3- aminophthalhydrazide. He can even pronounce it!鈥�

That was in 1937, when crime investigators first began using the chemical compound, commonly known as luminol (not to be confused with the barbiturate Luminal) to detect blood at crime scenes. Luminol is chemiluminescent, meaning it glows when it chemically reacts to something, in this case the iron in hemoglobin. 

As the 1937 story noted, and Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Andrew Kennedy confirms today, 鈥渆ven small amounts of iron will emit light, making the presence of blood easy to detect.鈥�

On a Wednesday afternoon last November, Kennedy was teaching his organic chemistry students how to synthesize their own batches of luminol, a multistep process involving a few chemicals plus heat. 

As he moved about the lab, he stopped to guide Oli Seline 鈥�24 of Delaware, Ohio, with her experimental setup, specifically how to correctly position her reaction tube, like a test tube, over a Bunsen burner.

Later, in a darkened area just off the first-floor teaching laboratory of the Bonney Science Center, Jake Johnson 鈥�24 of Lake Forest Park, Wash., tested whether the luminol he had synthesized in the teaching lab would successfully detect iron.

And it did. As he poured mixtures from two beakers, one containing luminol and the other an iron complex, into a funnel, the mixture began glowing as it flowed into a larger beaker. Seeing was believing for Johson. 鈥淚t was fascinating to see an actual reaction,鈥� said Johnson.

The sophomores that Kennedy worked with last November may someday be the juniors and seniors who join Kennedy鈥檚 lab, which seeks to better understand the chemical mechanisms that encode and maintain long-term memory. The lab also works to create new molecules, such as Bobcat339, that possess epigenetic properties,, that govern the function of genes, including those related to memory loss.

When Kennedy taught undergraduate organic chemistry at his Ph.D. institution, 鈥渟tudents didn’t even get to analyze samples,鈥� he says, partly due to numbers and partly because undergraduates didn鈥檛 rate. 鈥淭here were too many of them, and the important equipment for organic analysis, like nuclear magnetic resonance instruments, were exclusively used for the graduate-level research projects.鈥�

Now, he says, 鈥溊植ゴ� students can walk right over to their own high-field NMR instrument, load their own reaction sample, and analyze their own data.鈥�

(Fun fact: The NMR in Bonney was made possible by Dennis Keith 鈥�65 and Jo-Linda Leib Keith. Dennis was a chemistry major who earned a Ph.D. from Yale and had a long and successful pharmaceutical career. 鈥淒ennis took organic chemistry when Hedge Hall was the chemistry building,鈥� says Kennedy. 鈥淗e remembers Dana Chemistry Hall as a hole in the ground. It’s pretty incredible that he would be connected to the Bonney Science Center in this way.鈥�)

Jennifer Koviach-C么t茅

Title: Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Joined 乐播传媒: 2001

Date Photographed: Nov. 16, 2021

She says: 鈥淗aving the decal provides continuity between students who have worked in my lab in the past with students of the future.鈥�

In Dana Chemistry Hall, now in the finishing stages of a year-long renovation to become a science teaching space, the old fume hoods have been replaced with new ductless hoods that use replaceable charcoal filters. 

The new hoods filter the fumage instead of piping fumes out of the building. The innovation will reduce HVAC costs because air won鈥檛 have to be cooled or heated as it鈥檚 brought into the building to replace the exhausted air. 

But a bit of 乐播传媒 chemistry history has been lost. Well, almost lost.

Around 15 years ago, a tradition was born when students of Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jennifer Koviach-C么t茅鈥檚 students began to use Sharpies to write the word 鈥渃hemistry鈥漮n the lab鈥檚 fume hood in the language of their home or heritage.

The Japanese word for chemistry kicked it off:

Over time, other students from other countries followed: Nepali, Russian, Korean, Spanish, French, Swahili, Hindi, Singhalese, Hebrew, Norwegian, Lithuanian, Irish Gaelic, English, German, Japanese, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Vietnamese, and Burmese.

That word-strewn hood is gone, but not forgotten. Last year, Koviach-C么t茅鈥檚 thesis students gave her a lab-warming gift: a decal created from a photo of all the 鈥渃hemistry鈥� translations from the old sash. 

鈥淗aving the decal provides continuity between students who have worked in my lab in the past with students of the future,鈥� she says.

Koviach-C么t茅 teaches one of the mainstays of the departments鈥� offerings, organic chemistry. She also teaches an upper-level course that teaches students how to use two powerful tools, nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry, to glimpse and analyze the inner workings of molecules.

Koviach-C么t茅鈥檚 lab, meanwhile, synthesizes (creates, that is) and investigates organic molecules and carbohydrate-containing compounds. 鈥淲e study compounds with antioxidant activity and others with antiviral activity,鈥� she explains. 鈥淥ne compound is active against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which mostly affects infants.鈥�

On a Tuesday morning in November, four of her five thesis students were at work in the lab, including Sean Agrodnia 鈥�22 of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. 

For his senior thesis, done in collaboration with Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Colleen O’Loughlin 鈥� 鈥渨ho now works down the hall from me,鈥� says  Koviach-C么t茅 鈥� Agrodnia investigated the antibacterial properties of phenylpropanoid glycosides, which are . (Fun fact: PPGs can be found in gingko trees, several of which were planted just outside Bonney.)

When asked what鈥檚 better about her new lab, Koviach-C么t茅 says, 鈥淪pace. More elbow room to have multiple experiments at the same time and accommodate more students to work in the lab at the same time.鈥�

And better HVAC, which benefits humans and chemistry alike. 鈥淚t means that experiments are performed at consistent temperatures regardless of the season.”

Jason Castro

Title: Associate Professor of Neuroscience

Joined 乐播传媒: 2012

Date Photographed: April 1, 2022

He says: 鈥淣ow I’m spoiled.”

Payette, the architectural firm that designed Bonney Science Center, had a specific purpose in mind for most spaces: teaching, research, office work, or storage.

But there are some purposefully purposeless spaces, like Room 283, where 乐播传媒 folks can meet, discuss, laugh, and figure things out.

On April 1, the room was the scene for a lively meeting between Associate Professor of Neuroscience Jason Castro and two of his thesis students, Johnny Loftus 鈥�22 of Palo Alto, Calif., and Juliet Bockhorst 鈥�22 of Westwood, Mass.

There were some light moments as the trio used the whiteboard to sketch out some charts reflecting the work the students were doing in 鈥減rincipal component analysis,鈥� an important technique in statistics and data science.

After a difficult, month-long project, the two “had identified what might be two new cellular subtypes,” explains Castro, “using machine-learning techniques to determine whether these cells could be classified into different types.”

He doesn’t recall the reason for the levity. “Juliet may have been talking about some of the challenges she faced when trying to label neurons” 鈥� which was key to the project 鈥� “and was making light of it.”

Castro鈥檚 lab researches how we smell. (Not if we鈥檙e smelly, but how our olfactory system works.)

Take the various and tantalizing smells that hit 乐播传媒 students as they walk toward Commons for a meal. Whether it鈥檚 the allure of barbecue tempe, bacon and ham pizza, paprika braised mushrooms, or tiramisu coffee cake, it鈥檚 simply chemicals hitting and stimulating the collective 乐播传媒 nose.

鈥淎lthough we know we can smell a huge number of volatile chemicals, we still don鈥檛 understand exactly how this information is handled by the olfactory bulb 鈥� the part of the brain that receives incoming signals about smells,鈥� Castro says.

He and his students are testing the idea that there are different sub-divisions within the olfactory system 鈥� or 鈥渘oses within the nose鈥� that are each specialized for smelling different classes of chemicals. 

Before moving to Bonney, Castro had two workplaces: His office in Hathorn Hall, and his lab in Carnegie Science Hall. “I was constantly running back and forth across campus. Now I’m spoiled 鈥� the lab is just a few paces away from my office.”

鈥淚鈥檓 damned lonesome,鈥� a research subject in his 80s told Grace Ellrodt 鈥�20 last year. 鈥淏ut I don’t know what the hell to do about it. I just don’t know.鈥�

For sure, there’s no one-size-fits-all cure for loneliness, a condition particularly troublesome for older people. But with the help of that widowed Maine farmer and more than 50 other folks who shared personal experiences or professional expertise, Ellrodt has assembled an impressive new resource for lonely elders and those who support them.

鈥溾�� is first and foremost an online gallery of photographs and stories depicting the 29 people who shared their own experiences with Ellrodt, an environmental studies major from Lenox, Mass. Loneliness was a central theme in the interviews that she conducted in and around Lewiston, Maine, and during study abroad in Temuco, Chile. (The photos are also hers.)

鈥淚’ve interviewed older adults who told me that loneliness is like a darkness, you’re just alone in the darkness,鈥� says Ellrodt. But on the other hand, there’s the woman in her late 70s who鈥檚 earning a college degree, is a social activist, and who says that 鈥渓oneliness just exists in your mind, essentially. You just have to get out, get moving.鈥�

Bringing a strong record of community engagement to The EngAging Project, Ellrodt, a recipient of the Harward Center鈥檚 2020 Outstanding Community-Engaged Academic Work Award, addresses a widespread problem linked to adverse effects both psychological and physical. (A Brigham Young University researcher .)

鈥淟oneliness has been shown to contribute to heart disease, loss of motor control, dementia, depression, and anxiety,鈥� says Ellrodt, whose website describes six broad causes of elder loneliness, from financial insecurity to a disconnection from accustomed social and occupational roles.

In its 鈥淭akeaways鈥� and 鈥淭oolkits鈥� sections, respectively, the extensively researched EngAging Project proposes countermeasures against those causes; and it suggests strategies, comprehensive lists of action steps, and outside sources of assistance, all organized by specific constituencies, whether older adults themselves or local officials or policymakers.

An overriding theme of the project, though, is the role of place, specifically the importance of place in providing opportunities for social engagement among older folks, Ellrodt says. (Following the federal definition of older adult, her focus is people age 65 and up.)

鈥淚t’s a way of saying, 鈥楲et’s not focus on the public health crisis and epidemic of loneliness when aging is already characterized by problems.鈥� Instead, let’s make it about encouraging social engagement.鈥�

And Ellrodt focuses on the growing policy emphasis on so-called aging in place, where older people are encouraged to stay in their homes as long as possible. 鈥淏ut loneliness seeps into these arrangements,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f this is to be a sustainable trend, we鈥檒l need expanded state and local support.鈥�

Still, the EngAging Project positions lonely older people as the prime movers in their own healing. 鈥淲hile they need support, such as infrastructure and emotional resources, it has to be their own process and they have to be in control,” she says.

The website was Ellrodt鈥檚 major project for an environmental studies course that substitutes substantial published writing for the customary senior thesis. The project鈥檚 focus, she allows, may seem unconventional for environmental studies 鈥� but she sees at least two strong connections. One is the considerable overlap between ES and the field of public health (the area in which she hopes to make her career, perhaps through journalism).

Then there’s sociologist Eric Klinenberg’s concept of “social infrastructure” 鈥� in Ellrodt鈥檚 words, 鈥渢he programs and physical places where we form bonds, where social cohesion happens. 

鈥淎nd one of the main things Klinenberg talks about is 鈥榯hird spaces,鈥� places like libraries and public parks, but also the diner down the street.鈥� That widowed farmer, pre-COVID-19, found friends and companionship at The Settlement, a gas station-cum-restaurant in the town of Sabattus.

Francis Eanes, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies, taught this semester’s edition of that capstone course, 鈥淓nvironmental Writing in the Public Sphere.鈥� And Ellrodt, he says, 鈥渞easonably makes the case that 鈥榮ocial infrastructure,鈥� the web of social networks and institutional offerings that foster human connections vital for staving off loneliness, is inextricably bound up with the built environment.鈥� These are integral parts of ES, he says.

Begun as a yearlong thesis, The EngAging Project morphed into Ellrodt’s final project in the capstone, for which seniors develop an online portfolio of writings for public consumption. To Eanes, the project exemplifies the intentions of a course designed to unpack complex socio-environmental phenomena for diverse constituencies, including 鈥渁ging lonely individuals, caregivers, families, and practitioners and policymakers,鈥� he says.

“Some loneliness is natural, but long-term and intense loneliness is unnecessary suffering. We have a community responsibility to intervene.”

Ellrodt has been both 鈥渁rtful and rigorous鈥� in fusing solid research with rich human stories, Eanes says. She strikes a 鈥渟ensible balance between asset- and deficit-based approaches鈥� by offsetting the real harms of elder loneliness 鈥� harms rooted in economic and societal structures 鈥� with depictions of 鈥渢he amazing personal qualities and solutions that her aging subjects offer.鈥�

Ellrodt’s interest in public health comes in part from her parents, who work at the Berkshire Medical Center, in Pittsfield. Her father is Dr. Gray Ellrodt, who chairs the Department of Medicine at the hospital. She recalls, 鈥淲e鈥檇 sit at the kitchen table and he would take a napkin and draw charts of the different social determinants of public health trends that we were seeing鈥� in Berkshire County, which shares certain economic and demographic qualities with the Lewiston-Auburn region. 

A philosophy minor, Ellrodt also points to a biomedical ethics course at 乐播传媒 as informing her thoughts. 鈥淓lder loneliness isn鈥檛 just a societal 鈥榬esource strain,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淚t represents an injustice. Some loneliness is natural, but long-term and intense loneliness is unnecessary suffering. We have a community responsibility to intervene.鈥�

She zeroed in on elder loneliness as a research topic while studying public health practices in Chile in 2019. 鈥淚n conversations with my host mother, herself an older adult, as well as my own dad, we arrived at this question of loneliness among older people as a public health crisis.” And that question found its way into the interviews she conducted among Temuco residents.

Those subjects included indigenous people and European descendants; and in Maine, in addition to European descendants whose local roots go back generations, Ellrodt talked to older adults from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico, and Brazil.

鈥淭here’s a unity鈥� among all the subjects in terms of how they comprehend loneliness, Ellrodt says, 鈥渂ut there’s also such a disparate experience. And so I’ve been navigating it, really, just by letting interviewees define aging for themselves, define loneliness for themselves, and set out what brings them social integration, or prevents that.

鈥淎nd then once they’ve each articulated that for themselves, I鈥檓 allowed to come in and find patterns and differences.鈥� 

So, even as The EngAging Project is abundantly researched, Ellrodt has been deliberate about putting storytelling at the center of it. While there are patterns of experience common to humans confronting loneliness, even across cultural differences, ameliorating loneliness is always an individual journey, and storytelling reflects diversity and individuality.

鈥淲hat kinds of social bonds are you looking to form?鈥� she wonders. 鈥淲hat is your identity? What is your life history and how is that being interrupted by the process of aging?鈥�

In her profiles, Ellrodt combined audio and photos with the texts. 鈥淰isuals and voices make the storyteller human 鈥� more than worthy of our eyes and ears,鈥� she says. She framed most of the photos, she adds, to conceal the subject’s identity. 鈥淭hat was not only as a comfort for the photographed, already sharing so much,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut also lets the subject take on qualities of any older person you may love, or wonder about as you flit by, or imagine yourself becoming in time.鈥�

Something Ellrodt has heard a lot during the past few months is that the COVID-19 pandemic has made The EngAging Project more relevant than ever. But the truth is just a semantic difference away: The problem of loneliness among older adults was no less relevant back when they were isolated not by a pandemic but by infirmity, distance, or a lack of money.

鈥淲hile we see an alarming swell in loneliness right now, loneliness ran deep and wide through older adult communities long before COVID,鈥� Ellrodt says, 鈥渁nd it will remain long after COVID.鈥�

Different deadly virus. Same great scientific mind.

Twenty-seven years ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci, wearing academic regalia with a red awareness ribbon pinned to his gown, stood on the porch of Coram Library on Commencement Day to receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his work fighting HIV/AIDs.

Fauci, today a household name applauded for his steady and smart guidance during the coronavirus pandemic, recalls his 1993 visit warmly. It was, he says, 鈥渇ood for the soul.鈥�

That spring, he says, had been 鈥渁 pressure cooker,” his time fully taken by HIV science and policy issues in Washington, D.C. Taking a brief break on Memorial Day weekend to spend time on 鈥渢he beautiful 乐播传媒 campus鈥� and talking 鈥渨ith really smart and curious students reminded me of the great privilege of having a liberal arts education.鈥�

Dr. Anthony Fauci listens to his 乐播传媒 honorary degree citation during Commencement on May 31, 1993, as 乐播传媒 Trustee Jeannette Packard Stewart ’46 stands ready to present his hood. Both are wearing red AIDS-awareness ribbons. (David Wilkinson for 乐播传媒 College)

As an undergraduate at Holy Cross, Fauci was a classics major who also took premed courses. At 乐播传媒, he felt right at home, engaging with 乐播传媒 students 鈥渨hose interests spanned these areas and many more 鈥� the kinds of well-rounded people who go on to do great things in government, science, the arts, and other professions.鈥�

As Fauci stood on the Coram porch, then-President Donald W. Harward read the degree conferral, which he had written. He said, in part:

鈥淭o investigate scientifically is to begin to move from the darkness of ignorance to the illumination of limited understanding. To investigate humanely is to realize that even limited understanding is a gain to be used compassionately.鈥�

+1993 Honorary Degree citation for Dr. Anthony Fauci

Those intertwined qualities, the capacity to investigate scientifically and humanely, had drawn Harward and other 乐播传媒 leaders toward Fauci as a potential honorary degree candidate.

By the early 1990s, in the position he still holds today, as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci had already made great contributions to the understanding of HIV and the creation of successful strategies for combating AIDS.

In a chronicles Fauci鈥檚 evolving mindset and approach to HIV/AIDs research through the 1980s.

At first, Fauci鈥檚 approach was traditional and “paternalistic,鈥� writes Specter. Though earnestly seeking new treatments and cures, Fauci and the NIAID didn鈥檛 readily acknowledge or welcome input from activists and victims, who, among other things, demanded that experimental drugs get into the hands of AIDS sufferers more quickly.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, greets Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., with an elbow bump before a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on the coronavirus situation, March 11, 2020, on Capitol Hill. (Joe Gromelski ’74 / Stars and Stripes)

Many scientists, said Fauci, 鈥渋nstead of listening to them, simply withdrew.鈥� But not Fauci, who transformed himself from a conservative bench scientist into, as Specter writes, “a public health activist who happened to work for the federal government.鈥�

鈥淗e was the only scientist in the government who was taking HIV/AIDs seriously throughout the Reagan administration,鈥� recalls Martha Crunkleton, who in 1993 was 乐播传媒鈥� dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs. It was Crunkleton who wrote Fauci鈥檚 honorary degree citation.

鈥淗e would listen to all of us who were telling him 鈥� in frequently loud, angry ways 鈥� to pay attention to so many people dying. He brought the resources of scientific research in the government to bear on the plague.鈥�

In Fauci, 乐播传媒 could honor someone who was 鈥渋ntentionally addressing robust human challenges鈥� through “engagement that linked academics to civic and community dimensions.鈥�

In doing so, Fauci became the scientist we know today. While respecting that 鈥渟trict scientific principles…have to be adhered to in medicine,鈥� as he told The New Yorker, he also recognized that 鈥渁 humanistic touch is needed in dealing with people. You have to combine social aspects, ethical aspects, personal aspects with cold, clean science.鈥�

In Fauci, Donald Harward saw a scientist who exemplified elements of what a 乐播传媒 education could and should offer in the coming years and decades: more opportunities for undergraduate research, greater engagement between the ivory tower and human communities.

And in Fauci, as Harward recently recalled, 乐播传媒 could honor someone who was 鈥渋ntentionally addressing robust human challenges鈥� through 鈥渞esearch that had its scope broadened to community connections 鈥� engagement that linked academics to civic and community dimensions.鈥� (Today, the Center for Community Partnerships, named for Harward and his late wife, Ann, carries out that mission.)

Being able to take a break from HIV policy and science work in Washington, D.C., in 1993 to visit and engage with the 乐播传媒 community was 鈥渇ood for the soul,鈥� says Dr. Anthony Fauci. (David Wilkinson for 乐播传媒 College)

In her citation, Crunkleton praised Fauci for helping society clearly understand both 鈥渢he complexity of the virus itself and the simplicity of our human need to care for all who are and may become infected.鈥�

Her appreciation has only deepened since then. 鈥淔or five decades, he has shown a deep understanding of the importance of connecting knowledge to action,鈥� she said recently. 鈥淒r. Fauci exemplifies everything 乐播传媒, at its best, teaches its students to be and do 鈥� fight for truth and the public good.鈥�

Even minus today鈥檚 renewed awareness of Fauci鈥檚 talents, 1993 would stand as a singular point of pride for the college, says Harward. 鈥淎nn and I simply knew that we were recognizing someone who not only incorporated the values of liberal education 鈥� and of 乐播传媒 鈥� but would be, by his work, suggesting the integrity of what we might aspire to be as an institution of learning.鈥�