乐播传媒 is welcoming a large group of new faculty this year. Seventeen tenured or tenure-track professors will join the college over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year. 乐播传媒 News will introduce them in groups over this semester.  

Ifrah Shahi, assistant professor of biology

Focus of teaching and scholarship:

I will be teaching microbiology classes, and my research focuses primarily on bacteriology. In particular, my lab will be researching the bacteria Kingella kingae, which causes bone and joint infections in children. I, along with students in my lab, will be investigating how K. kingae responds to and behaves in the presence of factors it might encounter in the human body during the course of infection 鈥� factors such as components of blood and the extracellular matrix. In addition to working on these questions in the lab, students in my 鈥淟ab-Based Biological Inquiry鈥� classes will also start playing around with these ideas as part of their class research projects! 

What are you most looking forward to in the coming year at 乐播传媒?

I’m really looking forward to teaching new classes and new materials, as well as working with students in my lab and getting some fun research done. But more than that, I鈥檓 really excited about being a part of the 乐播传媒 community. Being at 乐播传媒 is a real throwback to my own time as an undergraduate in a small liberal arts New England college (Mount Holyoke College), and I鈥檓 thoroughly exhilarated about the opportunity to be for my students the same kind of a mentor that my undergraduate professors were for me.

What is your favorite part of teaching?

First and foremost, the best part about teaching is getting to meet new students 鈥� I always come out of a semester feeling invigorated by all the amazing student interactions, learning new things, and creating long-lasting connections with the students. Secondly, I always love the active part of teaching: figuring out new ways to teach science that interests, excites, and intrigues students. I am very fond of bacteria, and imparting that affection for microbes and microbial research to students is always a wonderful full-circle moment for me.

Anderson C. Moss-Weaver, assistant professor of religious studies

Focus of teaching and scholarship:

My teaching and scholarship are relatively wide. My research focuses on how 20th-century African American poets and novelists create Black religious worlds that are grounded in the creation of sacred Black collective memory and the mystical sensations and experiences of freedom. I often joke that I am really interested in how Black people imagine what liberation feels like, smells like, tastes, and sounds like. My research is partially interested in African-American uses of East and South Asian religious and philosophical thought for the purposes of thinking through liberation from unique and alternative angles apart from the standard Western canon.

Here at 乐播传媒, I鈥檓 excited to teach courses in African American religious traditions and a course on the concept of 鈥渟piritual but not religious.鈥� I also hope to develop a seminar that helps students think critically about the complex and intertwined history of American evangelicalism and Christian nationalism. Finally, I hope to integrate my passion for TTRPGs (tabletop role-playing games) and fantasy/sci-fi into a class focused on religion, worldbuilding, and speculative fiction. I hope that students can work together to build their own fantasy world while learning how authors, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Octavia Butler, created their literary worlds by drawing on mythology and religions from our own world.

What are you most looking forward to in the coming year at 乐播传媒?

You know, I went to a small liberal arts college when I was in undergrad, and I loved it whenever a professor would come to campus events and lectures; their presence really made the small college environment feel unified. So, I really look forward to doing the same for students here at 乐播传媒 College. In that sense, I鈥檓 excited to contribute to the unique intellectual and creative reciprocity between faculty, students, and staff that can be cultivated in a small college setting.

What is your favorite part of teaching?

Learning is a transformational experience; I really mean that! But that experience we call learning, genuine learning, is challenging to provoke, and I think the best way to do it is to think alongside my students. Where are they coming from? What are they bringing to the table? Excellent pedagogy requires a dedication to understanding your students’ interests, strengths, and areas where they need improvement.

When I know my students well enough, I can ask them a question in a way that I know will push them specifically to think outside their comfort zone or really boost their confidence. By getting to know my students 鈥攖hat is, by thinking and teaching alongside them 鈥� I can see those moments of learning. They’re striking. Moments that I might call epiphanic, or someone else might call a 鈥渆ureka!鈥� moment, or what most often creates the 鈥渙h wow!鈥� expression in the classroom. So, my favorite part of teaching, really, is learning.

Robin B. McDowell, assistant professor of environmental studies

Focus of teaching and scholarship:

My teaching and scholarship live at the intersections of several fields (environmental history, Black studies, and art and design) that, taken together, animate the dynamic space of environmental studies. My work explores historical dimensions of environmental racism and environmental justice for Black communities in south Louisiana, inspired by years of community organizing and work as a walking tour guide in New Orleans鈥� French Quarter. My source base is vast 鈥� archives, oral histories, earth sciences, graphic design, and multimedia art 鈥� and I try to share as much of that material as possible in my classes.This semester, I鈥檓 teaching 鈥淟ives in Place: Introduction to Environmental Humanities鈥� and 鈥淔ree The Land: Histories of Environmental Racism in the United States.鈥� We鈥檙e doing a ton of multimodal learning grounded in iterative design thinking. I can鈥檛 wait to develop new courses that convene in critical and creative studio models and collaborate with units across the college to not only talk about but practice interdisciplinary teaching.

What are you most looking forward to in the coming year at 乐播传媒?

To be honest 鈥� office hours! Since I did not come from a liberal arts undergraduate background, I am continually awestruck and invigorated by a campus culture in which professors and students form such rich relationships and really go on the college journey together. In just the first three weeks of teaching, I鈥檝e discovered that I have sailors, knitters, dancers, bird call enthusiasts, photographers, and watercolor artists in class. I am excited to learn more about the full range of activities that inspire my students.

What is your favorite part of teaching?

I love when students start to 鈥渢rust the process,鈥� engage with a method, activity, or concept that seems intimidating at first, and then completely surprise themselves! We all have ideas about our place in the world, our strengths and challenges, and the contributions we鈥檇 like to make to the world. But often, even for young people, how we approach these ideas may be shaped by a more siloed understanding of learning 鈥� and teaching!

By exposing students to a vast array of methods in an inviting classroom environment, I start to hear things like, 鈥淚 never thought of myself as a creative person, but collaging just unlocked ideas I never considered while reading the text!鈥� Whether it’s discovering a writer, thinker, or maker whose work shifts their perspectives on events in their own lives, or working on a project that unlocks a perspective they never knew they could express, students remind me to never stop approaching the world with wonder and openness.

At Wolfe鈥檚 Neck Farm in Freeport, on a classic Maine spring day with slippery mud underfoot, Ben MacDonald 鈥�23 saw firsthand how messy scientific research can be.

As he and his other classmates in the 乐播传媒 biology course 鈥淏iological Research Experience: Molecules to Ecosystems鈥� looked on, a farm technician reached a gloved arm into a cow named Tina and took a sample of her feces, speeding along the natural process. Technically this method of collecting a sample is called 鈥渁 fecal grab.鈥� 

While the overarching goal of the research is lofty 鈥� to determine whether giving cows a seaweed supplement might decrease the high levels of , thereby cutting back on a significant source of one of the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change 鈥� the fecal grab doesn’t tend to be elegant. 

Tina is one of the dairy cows in the study, and if you want a fecal sample from her or any of the other 21 bovines in the study, you want one 鈥渁s fresh as possible,鈥� says Lecturer in Biology Louise Brogan, who devised the innovative 乐播传媒 course as part of the department鈥檚 efforts to expose students to real-life research opportunities earlier in their careers through Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE).

Because of the pandemic, 乐播传媒 reworked its 2020鈥�21 academic calendar into 鈥渕odules鈥� (think highly focused, shorter courses 鈥� and more of them) with Brogan teaching Bio 204 multiple times during the 2020-2021 academic year. BIO 204 had to be adaptable so other faculty (five professors total during the year) could rotate in and out, and because of physical distancing needs, there were two sections offered in each module. 

鈥淢y role is to help onboard and support the new faculty coming through,鈥� Brogan says. 鈥淚 am never completely separated from it.鈥�

When she was brainstorming ideas for the course back in March 2020 with colleague April Hill, the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM, Brogan鈥檚 goal was to fulfill the key components of the CURE principles. But as the weeks passed and it seemed the pandemic would complicate the coming academic year, she also had to consider a course that could work within the physical distancing requirements. 

CURE dictated that this new course had to give students a sense of 鈥渨hat real science looks and feels like,鈥� Brogan says. It also had to be an authentic inquiry “where even the instructors don鈥檛 know what the outcome is going to be.鈥� Students needed to gain the experience of reading scientific literature, using discovery-based approaches to scientific inquiry, analyzing data, interpreting results, communicating in a disciplinary style, and working in teams. 

Because Brogan has scientific interest in gut microbiomes, she was eager to center the new course around a microbiome study. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 because a microbiome represents all the genetic material from microbes that live in an environment,鈥� Brogan says. 鈥淭he information we can get from sequencing the microbiome can tell us a lot about how an ecosystem functions.鈥� 

The pandemic meant the inquiry had to be relatively close to Lewiston; you could transport students places, but Brogan wanted to avoid long bus rides with students in close proximity. 

Brogan remembered seeing a press release from a few months earlier about a collaboration at Wolfe鈥檚 Neck 鈥� its formal name is 鈥� between Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Colby College, the University of Vermont, and the University of New Hampshire investigating whether methane production from cows could be mitigated by feeding them algae-based supplements. That is, seaweed. The project is known as B3, shorthand for 鈥淏ovine BurpBusters鈥� and is funded by the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund.

Cows, whether raised for meat or dairy, are the largest human-caused source of methane emissions, which in turn are the most potent of the greenhouse gases. The hypothesis (and hope) is that when cows eat seaweed, it could change the microbes in their guts, affecting the ones that generate the methane. 

The project seemed like a perfect fit for what Brogan wanted. 鈥淪o there are the microbes,鈥� she says, living in the rumen compartment of a cow stomach. 鈥淎nd there is the ecosystem, and I know we can get ready, easy access to the gut microbiome. The fecal matter and the ruminal matter are distant from one another, but maybe what we can easily access might serve as a good reporter for what鈥檚 going on upstream.鈥�

That is, the cow patties could be scientifically enlightening. Brogan reached out to Nichole Price, a benthic marine ecologist and senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory who heads up this interdisciplinary research project, to ask if there was any potential to collaborate. Brogan鈥檚 hope was that the 乐播传媒 students 鈥渃ould generate some data.鈥�

Bovine BurpBusters now includes 乐播传媒 as a collaborator. Throughout the year, Bigelow representatives 鈥� Price, project coordinator Charlotte Quigley, and Ben Twining, another senior research scientist 鈥� have Zoomed into class meetings of Bio 204 to talk about the data and the Bovine BurpBusters program.

And the amount of data coming in from the student work is so copious 鈥渢hat we blew up Excel,鈥� Brogan says. 鈥淏ecause apparently Excel can only accept one million rows of data.鈥� (Science and Data Librarian Peter Schlax has been essential to creating 鈥渕ath magical鈥� help, aka bioinformatic support, and solutions, Brogan says.)

For the students, the journey to data starts with gloves and efficiency at Wolfe鈥檚 Neck. Either a sample gets scooped up from the ground or the technician who does the fecal grab hands it off to a student. 鈥淭hen once they had the sample in their hand it was just, 鈥楲et鈥檚 take three scoops at three different places and get it into the bag,鈥欌�� says MacDonald, a psychology and chemistry major from Philadelphia on a pre-med track. 鈥淎nd then, you know, it鈥檚 onto the next cow.鈥� Half of the cows in B3 are being fed a seaweed supplement, half are not.

What he didn鈥檛 expect 鈥� this wasn鈥檛 on the syllabus 鈥� is how messy the day at the farm would be, with many of these specimens ending up underfoot or splattering, as one might expect. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably better that Louise didn鈥檛 tell us some of the details of exactly what the collection process would look like,鈥� MacDonald says with a grin. The students have watched a video in class before the field trip, but it turns out, it can鈥檛 quite convey the sights and smells of the real farm experience.  

What MacDonald and his classmates got was an unfiltered look at how basic research can be. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not always, you know, really fancy scientific methods and really expensive equipment,鈥� MacDonald says. 鈥淪ometimes you are just collecting cow poop, you know?鈥�

The samples get packed into bags, labeled, put onto ice and are brought back to the lab at 乐播传媒. 鈥淚n the week thereafter we do a project called 鈥楶oop to PCR,鈥欌�� Brogan says. They homogenize their samples and then extract microbial DNA. The device they use to sequence the microbiomes from the cows is so small it fits in the palm of a hand. 

鈥淲e want to isolate pure, clean, high-quality DNA,鈥� Brogan says, to see if the microbial population is shifting in any way as a result of a seaweed infused diet. 

And while some of the other collaborators in B3 are also sampling, the work done by 乐播传媒 students uses a different sequencing platform, which extends the data set that Bigelow and others are working with. It might even lead to further adaptations in the methodology of future sequencing.

The collaboration is already providing an interesting educational experience, including lessons on how to communicate scientific findings. The 乐播传媒 students have various hypothetical audiences to present for, including the Maine Climate Council and the state鈥檚 Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry. Next year they may present at the 2022 Mount David Summit and a subset of the group will also present results to a transdisciplinary team within the B3 group. 

For MacDonald, the presentation was a key component of what he liked about the class. So was the connection to Bigelow scientists and research. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what made 204 feel different,鈥� he says. 

The Zoom sessions with the Bigelow scientists, he adds, “puts into perspective that the research we鈥檙e doing is actually going to an institution that is publishing papers and trying to have a significant impact on the environment and the outcome of these cows鈥� diets.鈥� 

A 乐播传媒 biology professor has a notable role in responding to one of the tough problems created by COVID-19: the shortage of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health workers and first responders.

Andrew Mountcastle, an assistant professor of biology whose teaching and research often employ three-dimensional printing, is among staff and faculty at three Maine colleges who are using three-dimensional printers to make PPE components.

During the past couple of weeks, Mountcastle has helped coordinate a team of staff and faculty at 乐播传媒, Bowdoin, and Colby colleges who are 鈥減rinting鈥� visors for face shields that help protect the wearer from hazards including aerosolized coronavirus.

The shields with their 3D-printed visors will be supplied to local first responders, with the 乐播传媒-made units and some from Bowdoin to be distributed by the Androscoggin County Emergency Management Agency starting next week.

“We’re very appreciative,” says ACEMA Director Angela Molino, whose agency assists first-response and other service organizations throughout the county, whether local government, nonprofit, or private sector.

Until 乐播传媒 organized this supply effort, the supply situation at the county level was “dire,” she explains. (乐播传媒 has also donated supplies including nitrile gloves to ACEMA, as well as supplies to a local hospital.)

鈥淟ocally, PPE resources were not available,鈥� says Molino. 鈥淲e, along with other county EMAs, requested supplies through the Maine Emergency Management Agency. We have received some items, but supplies are limited globally so sourcing them locally is extremely helpful.鈥� (乐播传媒 has since been complemented by the Dingley Press, which, says Molino, donated protective gloves.)

In times of crisis, Mountcastle says, 鈥淚 think there’s a pervasive narrative that a lot of people tend to respond in selfish ways. But when I look around, I see the opposite 鈥� I see just countless examples of people coming together to help one another.

鈥淥nce I became aware of all the potential for using 3D printers to create equipment that鈥檚 in high need amongst our healthcare professionals and first responders, for me it was a no-brainer. I feel it鈥檚 the least I can do to support members of my community and state who need it most.鈥�

Endorsed by the National Institutes of Health, this particular shield design is remarkably straightforward: Each unit can be made from the 3D-printed visor, an elastic cord or band, and a transparent plastic projection sheet or page protector. 鈥淵ou just punch the transparency with a three-hole puncher and it snaps onto three pins that come out of the visor,鈥� says Mountcastle.

The face shield project is part of a broader 乐播传媒 effort to help equip folks in the front lines of the COVID-19 fight. During the week of March 23, 乐播传媒 Facility Services gave 25 cases of hand sanitizer to Central Maine Medical Center. Mountcastle is also looking into 3D-printing parts for facial respirators for CMMC.

This week, the biology, chemistry, and geology departments donated supplies 鈥� more than 160 boxes of nitrile gloves, as well as sanitizer and surgical masks 鈥� to the ACEMA for distribution.

As for the face shield project, Mountcastle is working at 乐播传媒 with 3D鈥損rinting experts Branden Rush and Cori Hoover, academic technology consultants with Information and Library Services. Each equipped with a printer, Rush and Hoover started making the visors this week.

The larger group includes two people at Bowdoin: Erin Johnson, a professor of art and digital and computational studies, and David Israel, of Academic Technology & Consulting, who has a printer running 24/7. Participating at Colby is Assistant Professor of Biology Joshua Martin. Mountcastle is also reaching out beyond the academic community for 3D-printing capacity.

It was no simple thing to settle on a shield design to produce, says Mountcastle. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very dynamic scene. New designs are popping up almost every day.鈥� Here, as in so many facets of life these days, 鈥渢he ground is constantly shifting.鈥�

Designated the 鈥�,鈥� the open-source design the Maine group is manufacturing was adapted from an existing product by a group led by Design That Matters, a Washington-state firm that designs medical devices for global health in low-resource settings. (The feedstock for the 乐播传媒 printers is PLA, a biodegradable cornstarch derivative.)

At 乐播传媒, 3D printing has been used to make parts for theater department stage sets and create classroom models for the biology and chemistry departments, among other applications. Mountcastle 鈥� whose area of research is, broadly, functional morphology and biomechanics, and specifically, mechanisms of insect flight 鈥� employs the technology often enough that the departmental printer lives in his lab.

鈥�I’ve used 3D printing, probably, in most of the courses that I鈥檝e taught at 乐播传媒,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t’s a really powerful technique for conducting controlled experiments, because you can design a model and then change one aspect of that model while keeping every other morphological parameter the same.鈥�

For instance, in a winter 2020 course looking at fluid dynamics in sponges, his students designed sponges for testing in a water flume.

鈥淭his is an example of how I can put purposeful work into play for myself.鈥�

鈥淲ith a couple presses of the button, they can double the pore diameter” without changing any other aspect of the sponge. And in his research, Mountcastle often turns to the 3D printer for parts that can’t be bought off the shelf.

A member of a couple of online engineering communities, Mountcastle explains that as COVID-19 spread and the potential for serious PPE shortages became apparent, 鈥渆ngineers and makers around the world started scrambling to design locally manufacturable, low-cost PPE to replace these stocks that were dwindling. There was a lot of activity around this in the online communities that I was part of.鈥�

After determining, first, what type of PPE they could manufacture and second, what design seemed best 鈥� simple to make, easy to use and to sterilize after use 鈥� the Maine team settled on the Design That Matters configuration. (Universities in Idaho, New York state, Oregon, and Tennessee are among schools that are undertaking similar efforts.)

The face shield project for Mountcastle is, among other things, a timely demonstration of the ideal that drives 乐播传媒鈥� Purposeful Work initiative.

鈥淚’ve spent a lot of time talking to my students about what that means, and encouraging them to think about ways that they can align their personal values and sense of meaning with the work that they do,鈥� he says.

鈥淣ow, this is an example of how I can put purposeful work into play for myself. I appreciate having that opportunity, and also to demonstrate that for my students, because it makes that philosophy more real for them. And so I feel very fortunate that I’m able to support members of the community in this way at this time.鈥�

The world is watching the novel coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 600 people and infected more than 30,000 in China, and that has now spread to more than 25 other countries, including the U.S.

And of course 乐播传媒 is watching it too 鈥� and finding in this respiratory affliction some important lessons, particularly in how the disease gets around and the role played by individual choices.

During a microbiology class in January, the virus prompted Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks and her students to talk about how, in a sense, not all contagion is strictly microbial.

“We talked about how good information vs. unsubstantiated information about outbreaks can change people’s behavior,鈥� she says, 鈥渁nd how you have to be extremely careful in the things that you’re forwarding on social media.

Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks advises caution when sharing information about the novel coronavirus. Don’t just forward something along “because it looked sensational.鈥� (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淵ou need to make sure that you’re pulling from a good reputable source and not just forwarding something because it looked sensational.鈥�

The center of the outbreak in China, the city of Wuhan, offers a cautionary tale about the disease of bad information.

鈥淧rior to the major public health machine getting going鈥� and locking down travel in and out of the city, Banks says, 鈥渢hese sensational messages that were getting out caused something like 5 million people to evacuate,鈥� many of them especially anxious to travel during the Chinese Lunar New Year. This during the eruption of a virus whose incubation period can take up to two weeks.

鈥淪o imagine if you were at the back end of that, and now you’ve traveled halfway around the world,鈥� says Banks. 鈥淵ou could have been shedding virus, but asymptomatic, for almost two weeks before you would know that you were sick. So not the best idea.鈥�

This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustration shows the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the 2019 novel coronavirus, which impart the look of a corona when viewed electron microscopically, hence the name “coronavirus.” (Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAM)

The coronavirus outbreak has proven especially relevant to a senior seminar on biomathematics taught by Associate Professor of Mathematics Meredith Greer, whose published research helped to shed light on the spread of the 2009 H1N1 鈥渟wine flu鈥� virus at 乐播传媒 and elsewhere in 2009.

Greer鈥檚 students research and present topics related to biological applications of math, including modeling the spread of disease.

鈥淭his is a type of math that closely relates to other aspects of our lives and international life,鈥� Greer told her students during a class session in late January. Mathematicians and public health officials deploy a variety of models to predict the spread and impact of disease.

For instance, a model that Greer has taught in the seminar uses differential equations, which are used to quantify change, to estimate how many people might catch a disease, as well as to predict its geographical spread.

The factors that drive a disease model include the length of the incubation period, the duration of typical infections, the population of the area where the disease first breaks out, and travel patterns.

Meredith Greer and students in a Hathorn Hall classroom during a January meeting of Greer’s course “Advanced Topics in Biomathematics.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淎ir travel makes it possible for people to go pretty far pretty quickly, so the disease can go anywhere pretty fast,鈥� Greer told the class.

Xuchong Shao 鈥�20 of Shanghai put a fine point on the importance of the calendar in the spread of disease. The Lunar New Year, which took place at the end of January, is 鈥減retty much like Thanksgiving break in the U.S.,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 traveling to their home.鈥�

鈥淭hese questions of encouraging or discouraging travel have a big effect on disease spread, but it鈥檚 also really relevant to people鈥檚 customs,鈥� Greer said. 鈥淭here are not easy answers.鈥�

If modeling can predict the spread of a disease, it can also tip off officials that their reporting might be off. In the case of novel coronavirus, that could happen because its symptoms can resemble a cold (also often brought to you by a coronavirus, albeit a different species) or influenza. And such cases might not be reported.

鈥淚f distances to which it鈥檚 spread or the rate of spread are inconsistent with the total number of people who are reported as being sick, that would be a clue that maybe not enough people have been reported as being sick,鈥� Greer said.

Meredith Greer responds to a student’s remark during a session of “Advanced Topics in Biomathematics.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

At any rate, Greer told her class, it may be too early for a reliable model of novel coronavirus. Mathematicians, epidemiologists, and public health officials might have to compare and interrogate several models before a clear picture emerges.

As Lori Banks reminds us, influenza 鈥渋s really a bigger public health concern.”

As always, it鈥檚 the unknown that’s the most unsettling aspect of a disease like novel coronavirus, and previously its coronavirus cousins, SARS and MERS. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know why it鈥檚 spreading,鈥� Greer said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know how many people will get it, or how many people will die, or how far around the globe it will spread.鈥�

But all things in proportion.

As Lori Banks reminds us, influenza 鈥渋s really a bigger public health concern. The good news is the precautions that people should take to prevent both of those viruses, both flu and novel coronavirus, are about the same鈥� 鈥� wash your hands, cover your cough, don鈥檛 share food, don鈥檛 go blessing your friends and classmates with your presence when you鈥檙e feeling seedy.

But there鈥檚 one important difference, Banks notes. 鈥淚f someone is exhibiting symptoms of a respiratory infection, and they鈥檙e sick enough to see a medical professional, they should probably call ahead鈥� to allow that medical practice to prepare, just in case the culprit is novel coronavirus.

At a small liberal arts institution like 乐播传媒, says biochemist Lori Banks, 鈥測ou get to interact with students differently than you would at a larger kind of school. There’s a different kind of connection, a different vested interest in the success of the students.鈥�

That connection 鈥渟eemed to be especially strong here,鈥� a factor that attracted the new assistant professor of biology to 乐播传媒.

The same is true of philosopher Paul Schofield. At a different kind of school, he says, there might not be the same opportunities to get to know students. 鈥淏ut because of the size of 乐播传媒 and the kinds of things that the students are looking for, you鈥檙e able to build intellectual community.鈥�

Assistant professors Banks and Schofield are among the faculty appointed to tenure-track positions this year. Others are Stephanie Pridgeon, in Spanish; Ian Khara Ellasante, gender and sexuality studies; and Asha Tamirisa, music. Those five have found that their values, interests, and goals as teacher-scholars are reflected in the 乐播传媒 community.

Tamirisa was drawn to 乐播传媒鈥� aspirations and initiatives toward equity and inclusion. 鈥溊植ゴ� seemed to be a step ahead of a lot of other institutions in terms of not thinking the remedy would simply be changing the demographics, but also changing the way the college itself works. 乐播传媒 is willing to say, 鈥楾his is what we could be doing better,鈥� and then take action.鈥�

Ellasante agrees. In particular, the gender and sexuality studies mission statement spoke to them 鈥� 鈥渋ts commitments to anti-racist, decolonial, feminist, and trans work and histories,鈥� they say, 鈥渁nd its focus on action and practice and reciprocal engagement.鈥�

For Pridgeon, who like Schofield has been at 乐播传媒 for a few years as a visiting professor, an enduring appeal of 乐播传媒 is the campus community鈥檚 commitment to take on 鈥� and see through 鈥� the tough and complex kinds of discussion without which, often, nothing really meaningful gets done.

鈥淲e’re thinking about difficult, sometimes uncomfortable, problems and challenges on topics that I want to be challenged on, that I want to be forced to reckon with,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e’re having conversations I want to be having.鈥�

That determination to challenge our understanding of the world while attending to community life is central to the value of the 乐播传媒 education, says Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

鈥淥ur latest tenure-track appointees bring expertise and a creative spirit to our talented academic community. We look forward to benefiting from their contributions in the years to come.鈥�

Let鈥檚 meet Banks, Ellasante, Pridgeon, Schofield, and Tamirisa.

Lori Banks, Assistant Professor of Biology

An early inspiration for professor Lori Banks was the “Magic School Bus” television series. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Lori Banks

Position: Assistant Professor of Biology

Degrees from: Baylor College of Medicine, Ph.D., Molecular Virology and Microbiology; Prairie View A&M University, B.S., Biology

Before 乐播传媒: Postdoctoral researcher in molecular virology and microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine

Her work: A protein biochemist engaged in preclinical drug development, Banks studies ways that microbial pathogens sense their host environments. She has studied gene expression in the anthrax bacterium and is currently exploring approaches to more effectively treat rotavirus.

Tell us more: 鈥淎 horrible downstream effect of rotavirus, especially in small kids, is that repeat infections can be associated with cognitive delays,鈥� Banks explains.

A rotavirus vaccine exists, 鈥渂ut in the parts of the world where it’s most endemic, the vaccine doesn’t work very well. So we have to attack the public health problem from a different perspective, that of treating people once they’re infected.鈥� Banks calls her search for an off-switch for the virus 鈥渧ery low-tech鈥� 鈥� but notes that it could eventually 鈥渋nform drug discovery work that affects millions.鈥�

A sense of purpose: Banks was headed to an anatomy class at Prairie View when she saw a newscast of the second World Trade Center tower going down. The Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent anthrax mailings galvanized her interest in biology research. It was a feeling she likens to the call that her grandparents鈥� generation felt to mobilize for World War II. 鈥淚 remember thinking that I had this skill set or gift for thinking about biological and chemical questions,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or me it was just like, 鈥榃e’re the people that are going to be out there saving lives, designing medicine.鈥欌��

Sample lesson: 鈥淥ne of my favorite things to discuss with students is being aware of what your own personality is telling you, what skill sets you’re developing, what things you’re drawn to 鈥� and how you might be able to best serve the world, the community, your school, whatever, just by being you.鈥�

Ian Khara Ellasante, Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies

Ian Khara Ellasante, new to the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies, is a poet as well as a scholar and teacher. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Ian Khara Ellasante

Position: Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies

Degrees from: University of Arizona, Ph.D. and M.A., American Indian Studies; University of Memphis, B.A., Sociology and English.

Before 乐播传媒: Visiting scholar in residence, Washington & Jefferson College

Their work: 鈥淭here are global similarities in the ways that indigenousness, embodied blackness, and marginalized gender identities are targeted and defined,鈥� says Ellasante, a cultural studies scholar. 鈥淚 am trans, nonbinary, queer, and a person of color. I work to translate the lived experiences at that type of nexus into scholarship that is broadly and compellingly legible.鈥�

Ellasante鈥檚 recent work has involved the 鈥減eoplehood matrix,鈥� a theoretical construct developed by Indigenous scholars. In this concept, an Indigenous people鈥檚 relationship to four elements 鈥� land, language, ceremonial cycle, and sacred history 鈥� can help delineate their cultural identity. 鈥淚 argue that when a people align around these four elements, they’re able to persist despite settler colonialism and enforced assimilation.鈥�

Finding their path: Ellasante is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, focusing on housing instability and bullying in schools. As a researcher at the University of Arizona鈥檚 Southwest Institute for Research on Women, 鈥淚 got a lot of experience in community-based participatory research.

鈥淚n that work, I saw a pathway: I could merge being an advocate, working within communities, with being a researcher and scholar. I have pursued it, and 乐播传媒 feels like a good place for me to continue that path,鈥� thanks to the robust community-engaged programming of the college鈥檚 Harward Center.

A sample lesson: 鈥淓arly in the semester, I like to have students simultaneously write brief definitions of gender on the board. Then we can see that even in a small classroom, there can be many definitions of gender. Students can better understand its nuances, and the idea that gender is a social construct becomes very clear.鈥�

Stephanie Pridgeon, Assistant Professor of Spanish

Stories are central to the work of Spanish professor Stephanie Pridgeon. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Stephanie Pridgeon

Position: Assistant Professor of Spanish

Degrees from: Emory University, Ph.D., Spanish; University of Virginia, M.A., Spanish Language and Literature; College of Charleston, Honors College, B.A., Hispanic Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Before 乐播传媒: Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, The Catholic University of America. Pridgeon joined 乐播传媒 as a visiting professor in 2016.

Her work: Pridgeon studies intersections of ethnicity, gender, religion, and politics as depicted in Latin American film and literature. She鈥檚 drawn to characters 鈥渨ho don’t do what they鈥檇 necessarily be expected to do based on a category with which they identify,鈥� she says.

For instance, in Revolting Jews on Screen, a book manuscript under publisher review, she uses a variety of films to explore the contradictory effects of Jewish political involvement in Latin America. 鈥淚 became fascinated with all these retrospective stories about how fraught it was to identify simultaneously as Jewish and revolutionary.鈥�

Why teach? 鈥淚 love hearing other people’s stories,鈥� says Pridgeon, 鈥渁nd I love sharing stories with students and giving them an appreciation for the stories about, effectively, what it means to be human 鈥� the messiness of it, the nuances, and the challenges of everyday life.鈥�

Pridgeon values interactions with students that spark different directions for a course. Ditto for current events that change her teaching: for instance, the #MeToo movement gave her a new perspective on Argentinian novelist Claudia Pi帽eiro鈥檚 Tuya, about a woman who finds out her husband is cheating on her. 鈥淭hose moments where our students can see that I’m learning with them and thinking about things in new ways with them are really productive.鈥�

Why the liberal arts? For Pridgeon, 鈥渢he core of a liberal arts education has to do with understanding what it means to be human in a variety of cases and contexts. I鈥檓 teaching the ability to gain knowledge and critical language skills in order to relate to somebody else鈥檚 story, to relate to something that’s a part of human experience.鈥�

Paul Schofield, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

A teaching objective of Paul Schofield is introducing students to overlooked philosophical works by women. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Paul Schofield

Position: Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Degrees from: Harvard University, Ph.D., Philosophy; University of Wisconsin鈥揗ilwaukee, M.A., Philosophy; University of Notre Dame, B.A., Liberal Studies

Before 乐播传媒: After completing doctoral studies, Schofield came to 乐播传媒 in 2013 as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and has since served as a lecturer and visiting assistant professor.

His work: Two themes stand out among Schofield鈥檚 research. One, he says, is the question of 鈥渨hether you can owe moral duties to yourself.鈥� He explains that where contemporary moral philosophy tends to examine our interactions with others, 鈥淚 argue that the relationship that you have to yourself is morally inflected 鈥� that you owe certain actions or behaviors to your own self.鈥� His book on the topic is scheduled for publication in 2020 from Oxford University Press.

Schofield also studies philosophy and film, focusing on the medium鈥檚 strengths and weaknesses as a form of philosophical text. For example, he has written about the ballet film The Red Shoes as a distinctively deep representation of agency over one鈥檚 movement of one鈥檚 body.

Why teach? 鈥淚’ve always been intellectually curious,鈥� says Schofield, who was reading philosophy and competing in debate in his teens. 鈥淚’ve always liked sharing that with others. Even when I did high school debate as a junior or a senior, I liked to teach the first-years what I knew, which was a lot less back then.鈥�

The liberal arts: 鈥淭here are philosophers interested in the philosophy of science, philosophy of mind and psychology, political philosophy, aesthetics and the arts.鈥� And because such philosophers are 鈥渁ttempting to answer the fundamental questions about other disciplines,鈥� Schofield situates philosophy at the very center of the liberal arts education.

乐播传媒 students: 鈥淭hey’re willing to challenge themselves to take on difficult projects, to be told that there’s more work to do. I find the 乐播传媒 students to be the most intellectually curious group of young people I’ve ever been around.鈥�

Asha Tamirisa, Assistant Professor of Music

Asha Tamirisa has taught sound and video production to middle- and high-school students. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Asha Tamirisa

Position: Assistant Professor of Music

Degrees from: Brown University: Ph.D., Computer Music and Multimedia; M.A., Modern Culture and Media; M.A., Computer Music and Multimedia; Oberlin College, B.A., Musical Studies

Before 乐播传媒: While doing her postgraduate work, Tamirisa taught courses on multimedia art and electronic music at Brown and in community workshops in Rhode Island.

Her work: Harnessing a variety of technologies in performance and installations, Tamirisa describes herself as a sound and media artist. 鈥淭he research that I do really informs the creative work that I make,鈥� she says.

鈥淚’m interested in fields like feminist science and technology studies and media archeology, which look critically at the stories behind our machines and can inform technological use and design.鈥� For instance, motivated by the interrelated histories of textiles and digital technologies, Tamirisa is currently working on converting a small loom into an interface for audiovisual performance.

Tell us more: 鈥淚 see teaching as an opportunity to rethink epistemologies of technology, music, and sound,鈥� Tamirisa says. 鈥淗ow do gender and race fit into the histories of the technologies that we’re dealing with now? How does that shift our engagement or our understanding with them now?

鈥淯nderstanding how gender and race have been imbricated in the histories and practices of these fields have shifted my engagement with these fields as an instructor as much as they have as a practitioner.鈥�

Sample lesson: In the music theory course that she鈥檚 teaching this semester, Tamirisa鈥檚 students will select a piece of music and, throughout the semester, 鈥渁pply the techniques that we’re learning in class to that piece. This is a way for me to get to know the students and their musical tastes and to demonstrate how the course material connects to music across genres and styles.鈥�

She says, 鈥淚 love the push and pull of starting a class with an idea of where it鈥檚 going to go, and then hearing from the students about where they want to go and where that takes us collectively.鈥�

A few years ago, April Hill was a leader of efforts to level the playing field for students in science and math at the University of Richmond.

The goal was to shake up curriculum and teaching practices such that students from groups underrepresented in so-called STEM fields 鈥� disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 鈥� had the same opportunities to thrive as their affluent white counterparts.

In working toward that goal, Hill learned a lot.

鈥淭he most important lesson was that we had to move away from assumptions that students are lacking: lacking preparation, lacking background knowledge, lacking skills, lacking maturity, lacking discipline, lacking grit, lacking 鈥� fill in the blank,鈥� Hill told a 乐播传媒 audience on April 29.

April Hill speaks in a Pettengill Hall classroom during an April 29 event celebrating her appointment as the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

It鈥檚 on the institutional side of the ledger, instead, where the gaps appear. At Richmond, 鈥渨e needed to move toward the truth that our learning environments are lacking: lacking inclusive pedagogies, lacking strategies to help students reflect on their learning, lacking diverse and reflective practitioners, lacking transparent assignments and evaluation criteria.鈥�

Hill, whose own scientific research is in evolutionary genetics, now leads a comparable charge at 乐播传媒. Last fall she became the college鈥檚 inaugural Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM, an appointment celebrated with her address Monday to a packed Pettengill Hall classroom.

Hill used the occasion to describe programs that made a difference at Richmond and to share the stories behind insights that have helped make her a nationally recognized expert in helping all STEM students move, as her talk was titled, 鈥渇rom surviving to thriving.鈥�

In front of a packed Pettengill Hall classroom, President Clayton Spencer welcomes listeners to April Hill鈥檚 inaugural lecture as Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for 乐播传媒 College)

For Hill, it was 鈥渁 giant relief鈥� to learn about deficit-model thinking, as racial justice theorists label the presumption that marginalized groups inherently lack certain qualities. Why a relief? Because, in contrast to other manifestations of systemic racism in the U.S., faculty and staff in academe 鈥渃an definitely do something about our learning environments.鈥�

She declared, 鈥淲e must rebuild our education system on evidence-based practices, de-centering white privilege, and letting go of old notions of how science and math instruction is done.鈥�

Get SMART

At Richmond, with initial support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Hill and a few colleagues set out in 2013 to address institutional deficits by piloting a course. SMART 鈥� or 鈥淪cience, Math and Research Training鈥� 鈥� was created for first-years and combined the traditional introductory courses in biology, chemistry, and calculus into a yearlong program including labs.

鈥淭he course was designed for students who were traditionally underserved in STEM, but this was not a remedial course,鈥� Hill told her 乐播传媒 audience. 鈥淲e expected that with the right learning environment, our students could succeed and be ready for the second-year STEM curriculum even if their high school preparation did not indicate that they’d likely be successful in our traditional courses.鈥�

Here are some salient SMART characteristics:

• the course employed research examples relevant to students’ lives;
• students did meaningful research and communicated results publicly;
• the curriculum was carefully structured;
• students were empowered to find their voices and give feedback about the course;
• and in the design and execution of SMART, there was proactive consultation with staff and faculty colleagues of color.

Of the 21 students in SMART鈥檚 first year, Hill said, all proceeded to a second-year STEM curriculum, and 85 percent graduated in a STEM major. Enrollment in SMART has grown in the years since its inception, sections have been added, and student success has remained robust, with 85 percent staying in STEM and half being on track to graduate with a STEM degree.

Asked about their experience with SMART, 鈥渋n particular their belief in their own abilities as scientists and mathematicians, students indicate confidence, determination and other aspects of thriving,鈥� Hill said. Moreover, the course 鈥渉elped transform other parts of the STEM curricula. And it has helped to attract a more diverse and equity-minded set of faculty, staff, and students.鈥�

A different kind of life

Hill鈥檚 early years were turbulent. At age 3, her father away fighting in Vietnam, Hill鈥檚 mother died in a car crash. Her father鈥檚 readjustment to civilian life was troubled, and 鈥渁s his life spiraled out of control, so did my childhood,鈥� Hill told the 乐播传媒 audience.

鈥淟ike so many other first-generation college students, going to college represented important opportunities for me to build a different kind of life.鈥�

April Hill is shown during a session with students in her Carnegie Science Hall biology lab on April 25. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 like being a coach,” she says. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Hill arrived at the University of North Texas as a homeless emancipated minor, living out of her car. She had done well in high school, but high school didn鈥檛 do well by her 鈥� the school was 鈥渞ural and poorly performing,鈥� she told the 乐播传媒 audience, and didn鈥檛 prepare her adequately for college academics.

鈥淢y days as a student and my early career showed me that, like me, there were many students who continue to struggle in STEM, who left feeling like they didn’t have the ability or support to pursue their interest. And I was, and continue to be, disturbed by how many students are not thriving.鈥�

Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics Lynne Lewis talks with April Hill (right) following Hill鈥檚 inaugural lecture as the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for 乐播传媒 College)

She explained, 鈥淎 thriving student is engaged and energized by their learning. A thriving student is academically determined, investing effort and possessing an optimistic perspective. They’re involved in healthy relationships, and they have social support networks, and they want to make a difference in their communities. And they’re open to difference in others.鈥�

Captivated by science, Hill struggled past barriers familiar to many first-gen students in STEM. She made it through thanks both to a chemistry professor who recognized her potential and to what Hill calls her own 鈥済rowth mindset鈥�: 鈥淚 believed that I could get smarter and become a better problem-solver.鈥� (Hill acknowledged in her talk that for all the challenges she faced in college, being white conferred advantages not enjoyed by students of color.)

That growth mindset got her to the University of Houston, where she earned a doctorate in biology with a focus on human genetics; to a postdoctoral position in molecular and developmental biology at Harvard Medical School, where she began her current line of research; and to faculty chairs at Fairfield University and then Richmond.

Time to take responsibility

Like many others, Hill was attracted to 乐播传媒 because “women and people of color were not excluded from admission, even at 乐播传媒鈥� inception,鈥� she said.

Hill in her Carnegie Science Hall laboratory. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

And like others, Hill has learned that success at 乐播传媒 for those groups was elusive early on, and even today the college is grappling with institutional roadblocks that confront students of color, especially when it comes to STEM fields 鈥� hence Hill鈥檚 appointment.

While STEM degree attainment for 乐播传媒 students overall 鈥渋s among the highest in the nation,鈥� with nearly 60 percent of STEM-interested students graduating with STEM degrees, Hill said that it鈥檚 a different picture for groups underrepresented in the sector.

鈥淚n the past decade, only 41 percent of first-generation students interested in STEM obtain STEM degrees,鈥� she said, and the rate falls to 38 percent for the lowest-income students and 23 for black students.

Hill made sure to spotlight the college鈥檚 escalating efforts to address inequities in STEM training as well as other fields, from a $1 million HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant to conferences to a series of intensive racial justice trainings recently held for STEM faculty and for staff in several departments.

A student peruses the program for April Hill鈥檚 April 29 lecture on equity and inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for 乐播传媒 College)

But, she said, 鈥淚t’s time for us to take responsibility for ensuring the successful outcomes for our STEM students by revising our curriculum and pedagogical practices, and examining our mindsets and biases so that all students have the opportunity, freedom and resources to thrive in STEM.鈥�

Hill concluded, 鈥淲hile we do have much work to do, I believe that 乐播传媒 can become a leader among its peers in supporting student success and thriving in STEM. I’m truly honored to be part of this endeavor.鈥�

Driven by Sophie

In her welcome, 乐播传媒 President Clayton Spencer told the story of the new chair. She noted that 鈥渋n typical fashion, it centers on the creativity, persistence and courage of a 乐播传媒 student, now an alum.鈥�

That alumna is Sophie Wagener 鈥�17, a biology major from Pasadena, Calif. In talking with 乐播传媒 about a potential gift to The 乐播传媒 Campaign two years ago, Sophie鈥檚 parents, Deborah Heitz and Shaw Wagener, 鈥渧ery graciously let us know this gift would need to be driven by Sophie.鈥�

Prior to April Hill’s talk, Sophie Wagener ’17 (right) talks with Professor of Biology Donald Dearborn (left) as Vice President of College Advancement Sarah Pearson ’75 looks on. (Rene Roy for 乐播传媒 College)

In subsequent discussions with Spencer and others at the college, Sophie recalled some close friends from marginalized groups who had hoped to dedicate themselves to science at 乐播传媒, 鈥渙nly to reroute themselves out of science altogether early on.鈥�

She was clear: In science and math, the 乐播传媒 curriculum and teaching were not supporting all students equally for success.

Her declaration coincided with the college鈥檚 preparing a successful application for its HHMI grant, geared toward improving support for all students in STEM. 鈥淪ophie’s experience with her friends was mirrored in our institutional data,鈥� Spencer said.

Initially, 乐播传媒 proposed that the Wagener family gift would provide program and staff support for equity and inclusion in STEM. 鈥淪ophie listened very alertly and politely, and then, with great poise and finesse, told us we were missing the point entirely.鈥�

It would take a faculty leader, she explained, to effect meaningful change in the academic workings of a college. The Wageners 鈥渨ere unwavering in their view of the obvious,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淲e could not expect to make progress in the absence of credible academic leadership.

鈥淪o the Wagener Family Professorship of Equity and Inclusion in STEM is the very happy result.鈥�

For a moment, the camera shows an inflatable boat, bobbing in the water near a remote Pacific coral reef where Kelton McMahon 鈥�05 does fieldwork.

Then the camera drops into the clear blue water, revealing the subject of his research: hundreds of grey reef sharks and blacktip reef sharks, each five to six feet long, swimming together in massive schools around the reef.

“How can coral reefs be so productive and biodiverse with a backdrop of such low nutrients?鈥�

McMahon, an assistant professor of biological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, showed the footage during his Jan. 14 talk at 乐播传媒 because it was awesome, yes, but also because it represents a paradox first noticed by Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s.

Kelton McMahon gestures while speaking to a junior seminar taught by Larissa Williams, associate professor of biology, on Jan. 14. A Purposeful Work infusion course, the seminar features speakers who help students make connections between coursework and the types of work they’d like to pursue after graduation. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

The paradox: Since Pacific coral reefs are in the nutrient-poor open ocean, there shouldn鈥檛 be enough food for two species of apex predator to coexist in such big numbers.

In other words, 鈥淗ow can coral reefs be so productive and biodiverse with a backdrop of such low nutrients?鈥� McMahon said.

McMahon was the first of several scientists Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams invited to campus this semester, to speak with the students in her junior seminar and then give a public talk. Williams鈥� class is a Purposeful Work infusion course, where students learn about ways they can take course material into the real world.

McMahon is an ocean ecogeochemist, a title that suggests the depth of his interdisciplinary work. Over the course of his career, he and his colleagues have been developing and applying a suite of geochemistry tools, collectively called compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA), that help scientists understand food webs better than ever before.

Kelton McMahon 鈥�05 takes a tissue sample from a grey reef shark off the Phoenix Islands, home to pristine coral reefs. (Mark Priest)

McMahon told his 乐播传媒 audience about two of his current projects, which apply CSIA to real-world problems.

But first, a few terms:

Trophic level: A living thing鈥檚 place in the food chain. For example, plants are at trophic level 1, herbivores are at trophic level 2, carnivores that eat herbivores are at trophic level 3, and so on.

Producers/consumers: Producers are organisms that make their own food, as plants do through photosynthesis. Consumers get their food by eating other organisms.

Amino acids: The compounds that make up proteins 鈥� essential for life.

Isotope: Atoms of a given element with the same number of protons and electrons, but different numbers of neutrons. An atom of carbon-12 has six protons and six neutrons (light carbon), while carbon-13 has six protons and seven neutrons (heavy carbon).

Isotope analysis: Measuring the ratio of heavy to light isotopes in a sample, which provides a chemical 鈥渇ingerprint鈥� of physical, chemical, and biological processes that have impacted those atoms. For example, by measuring the isotope ratios of a piece of shark muscle, we can understand how energy moves through a food web, from coral at the bottom to shark at the top.

CSAI gets specific

Scientists have used conventional 鈥渂ulk鈥� isotope analysis for decades, but it has its limitations, McMahon said. The bulk method gives you the average isotope value of all the atoms in an element in an organism. It doesn鈥檛 distinguish whether an isotope of carbon, for example, came from one or another compound in the body of a shark.

That means a lot of detail gets lost.

鈥淎ll the different compounds in the body tell a different piece of the story about how organic matter is made by primary producers and passed on to upper trophic level consumers through the food web,鈥� McMahon said.

As a result, if you sample two animals and get back different isotope ratios, it鈥檚 difficult to know why. It could be because the animals have a different trophic position 鈥� they feed at different levels of the food chain.

Or it could be because different producers are at the bottom of each animal鈥檚 food web. Or it could be a combination of both.

Sharks! Watch this video clip of sharks swarming in the waters near the Phoenix Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Video by Camrin Braun.

In other words, McMahon said, you can鈥檛 figure out who鈥檚 eating what at what time.

CSAI can help, as McMahon and his team demonstrated by sampling grey reef sharks and blacktip reef sharks who live near the coral reefs around the Phoenix Islands, a 10-day boat ride from Hawaii.

Over the course of several years and many controlled feeding studies 鈥� where scientists know the isotope values in both the food and the consumer 鈥� McMahon and his colleagues figured out that certain amino acids, called 鈥渢rophic鈥� amino acids, change their isotope value as they move through the food chain, whereas other amino acids, called 鈥渟ource鈥� amino acids, stay the same from phytoplankton to shark.

By measuring the changes in trophic amino acids as they move up the food chain, you can find an animal鈥檚 trophic level, McMahon said. CSAI can also reveal how an amino acid was made 鈥� important, since different producers like coral and phytoplankton make the same amino acids in different ways.

So, using a single analysis, McMahon can determine how many steps removed an animal is from the bottom of the food chain and identify the isotope signal at the bottom of the food web.

Pacific coral reefs are home to some of the most biodiverse systems on Earth 鈥� a paradox, since reefs exist in the nutrient-poor open ocean. (Mark Priest)

鈥淭his has been a really powerful tool for looking at trophic dynamics, who鈥檚 eating what in complex systems,鈥� McMahon said. 鈥淭hat information gets recorded in the biochemical signals in our consumers鈥� tissues.鈥�

For years, oceanographers thought that grey and blacktip reef sharks coexisted because they fed at different trophic levels. CSAI, however, revealed that even though the sharks are similar in size, swim together, and both eat a variety of smaller fish, they feed in two totally different food webs.

The base of a grey reef shark鈥檚 food chain is largely phytoplankton, which exist in the open water. Blacktip reef sharks, on the other hand, rely on a food web with corals on the reef itself at the base.

Kelton McMahon ’05 speaks with students in a junior seminar taught by Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams on Jan. 14. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淚t鈥檚 this compartmentalization of the food web, the division of resources, that鈥檚 helping promote the coexistence of these apex predators,鈥� McMahon said.

CSIA can also tell us about the effects of climate change, McMahon said. In January, he鈥檒l return to Antarctica 鈥� one of several 乐播传媒 alumni who conduct research there 鈥� to continue a study on how climate change and human activity, like past whaling, affect the lives of penguins over the course of hundreds or even thousands of years.

On the Antarctic Peninsula, his team will take feathers from living penguins and also dig penguin tissue out of the ground, searching for samples that show what penguins were eating throughout the last 10,000 years.

CSIA helps scientists trace the past, McMahon said, but it could also afford a view forward.

In this video, Kelton McMahon 鈥�05 conducts a test excavation of penguin tissue, which could potentially provide thousands of years of data on the penguins鈥� diets and the environmental conditions in which they lived. (Video courtesy of Kelton McMahon)

鈥淏y exploring how past ecosystems responded to disturbance, we can begin to predict how the food web supporting these penguins in the future will change, in response to, say, continued warming,鈥� McMahon said.

CSIA has 鈥渁llowed us to shed some really interesting light on how organic matter moves through a wide range of systems,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he molecular isotope tools we are developing provide a powerful tool to help us start predicting what the future might look like.鈥�

The Caitlin A arrived at the marina on a sweltering day in early August, an Atlantic bluefin tuna lying across the width of the deck. It was the latest entry in the Sturdivant Island Tuna Tournament, held every year on the waters of Casco Bay off South Portland, Maine, to see who can land the heaviest tuna.

Among those waiting at the marina were Michaela Pinette 鈥�19, a summer intern at the , and her GMRI research supervisor, Walt Golet, ready to help with the weighing and, later, to commandeer the fish鈥檚 head and stomach for research.

From the boat, the crew handed off the tuna鈥檚 gills and guts, removed as they cleaned the fish. Pinette and Golet put the gills and guts into a tote attached to a hanging scale.

Purposeful Work intern Michaela Pinette ’19 and Gulf of Maine Research Institute researcher Walter Golet move the guts and gills of a recently landed tuna into a tote during the Sturdivant Island Tuna Tournament. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

After draining the blood from the tote and weighing the guts 鈥� 42.5 pounds 鈥� Pinette, in an old T-shirt, shorts, and flip flops, located the stomach and set it aside. The contents would provide important data about what the fish had eaten, and thus where it had been.

Then the crew of the Caitlin A, joined by Pinette, a second GMRI intern, and the tourney鈥檚 land-based weigh masters, hoisted the tuna’s body out of the boat and hooked it by the tail to the crane-like hanging scale.

A few months ago, Pinette, a biology and economics double major from nearby Cape Elizabeth, would not have expected to spend her summer sifting through tuna parts for science, nor did she know it was a focus of study at all.

Michaela Pinette ’19 watches as Walt Drolet guides a tuna that’s hoisted from the Caitlin A fishing boat. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College).

When it came time to figure out what to do over the summer, Pinette turned to the 乐播传媒 Career Development Center, hoping to find a position that integrated her two majors.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even know what you can do with biology and econ, if you could use them at the same time,鈥� she says.

A BCDC staff member told her about GMRI. Part of the institute鈥檚 work involves studying both marine ecosystems and their impact on people 鈥� and, as a core employer through the 乐播传媒 Purposeful Work initiative, it prioritizes hiring 乐播传媒 interns.

Pinette landed the internship and was soon immersed in the world of foraging ecology: studying what bluefin tuna eat, where the migratory fish go, how many there are, and to what extent fish from the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean mix with each other.

She鈥檚 spent her summer helping to analyze the squid, herring, and mackerel she finds in the fish鈥檚 stomachs. From the fish heads, she extracts and takes samples from otoliths, a bony inner ear structure that contains chemical 鈥渟ignatures鈥� that, when analyzed, can determine the age and spawning origin of the individual fish.

Last summer, J.R. Watanasiri ’19, the GMRI Purposeful Work intern in 2017, holds otoliths taken from a tuna during the聽 Sturdivant Island tournament. Extracted from the fish’s inner ear, the bony structures can tell the age and spawning origin of individual fish. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Walt Golet, Pinette鈥檚 supervisor, is a research assistant professor at the University of Maine and a who supervises interns from several colleges. He tries to expose his interns to several aspects of GMRI鈥檚 work, so that they鈥檒l be able to take their skills to other jobs related to fisheries.

When Pinette is done with her internship, she鈥檒l be in tune with more than tuna, Golet says.

鈥淪he will have a thorough understanding of what biological samples are necessary for stock assessments and how those samples can be used to establish age structure, stock composition, foraging ecology, and much more.鈥�

鈥淗onestly, I like getting like down and dirty.”

In addition, as a Purposeful Work intern, Pinette is taking part in reflection activities designed to help her identify what she finds personally meaningful about her work 鈥� valuable self-knowledge that will guide her career path.

For one, Pinette now knows that fieldwork feels particularly purposeful.

鈥淗onestly, I like getting like down and dirty,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 like doing the sampling 鈥� everybody thinks I’m really gross because I end up getting all bloody because I’m so small and the heads are so big that I have to hug them, almost, just to get them in the compost bin.鈥�

For her, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the most fun, dissecting the fish.鈥�

“That’s the most fun, dissecting the fish,” says Michaela Pinette, shown hoisting a tuna stomach into a plastic bag held by GMRI researcher Walt Golet. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College).

The fish she was helping to dissect at the tournament turned out to be average size based on historical tournament landings 鈥� about 7 feet, 6 inches long and exactly 454.5 pounds, including the guts. The crew would soon cut off the tuna鈥檚 head and give it to Golet, but first they wanted to show the whole fish to family members. (An 800-pound tuna won this year鈥檚 tourney, which is a scholarship fundraiser for Maine community colleges. From the tourney, the fish are sold around the world.)

Pinette isn鈥檛 only looking at the biological characteristics of tuna; she鈥檚 delving into one aspect of the economics of tuna fishing in Maine. At the end of her internship, she鈥檒l make a presentation to GMRI staff on how tuna migrations and catches in the Gulf of Maine have changed, according to data dating back to 1974. Understanding such data could have an impact on the people who make a living fishing for tuna.

鈥淭his is their livelihood, so it鈥檚 important to a lot of fishermen if the fish come in later or if the fish are smaller some years,鈥� she says.

Over the summer, Pinette鈥檚 discovered that she enjoyed the combination of fieldwork and lab work; she might consider applying to graduate school in the marine sciences.

Michaela Pinette’s Purposeful Work internship with GRMI has helped her see connections among biology, economics, and the people of the fishing industry. 鈥淭his is their livelihood,” she says. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

In the meantime, while Pinette and Golet waited for the tuna head, Pinette posed for a photo with the stomach of the largest fish caught so far, which weighed in at 737 pounds. If she held the stomach close to the ground, it was as tall as her hip.

鈥淚 know I don鈥檛 want to work a desk job,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 really enjoy getting out there.鈥�

One day on a beach in North Carolina, someone asked Ari Friedlaender 鈥�96 if he鈥檇 like to go count whales in Antarctica.

Two decades and 32 trips later, he鈥檚 become an authority on Antarctic marine mammals, specifically minke and humpback whales, and how climate change affects them. Like fellow researcher Doug Krause 鈥�99, Friedlaender often gets to know his subjects by putting video cameras on their backs. 聽

Friedlaender reaches out to people as much as he reaches out to whales 鈥� his work has been featured extensively in , , and聽, just to name a few. The reason, he says, is that we鈥檙e more inclined to want to protect what we know.

The Researcher

Friedlaender is an associate researcher at the Institute of Marine Scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

In the gloom of a sudden snow squall, Ari Friedlander ’96 searches for minke whales in Andvord Bay in Antarctica. In that moment, “it was calm and smooth and a bit eerie.” (Carolyn Van Houten/National Geographic)

The Research

Friedlaender鈥檚 specialty is whales. He鈥檚 made a career out of tagging and tracking them in Antarctica, and his team also studies them off California, Cape Cod, and southeast Alaska.

At the moment, he鈥檚 focused on minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales. His team tags them, sometimes attaching video cameras, to figure out how they eat, where they go, and how they interact.

Minke whales 鈥渆volved to live in sea ice,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e pretty cryptic, pretty elusive. They鈥檒l be most impacted by climate change, because one of the manifestations of that is that sea ice is decreasing.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to understand how they use the sea ice habitat and to predict what the future holds for them.鈥�

Antarctica on Repeat

Friedlaender has made 32 trips to Antarctica, totaling two to three months a year. 聽

A hexacopter drone documents four members of the 2018 minke expedition team as they look for whales in Charlotte Bay in the Antarctic Peninsula. (Duke Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab)

From Here to There

鈥淚 grew up on the coast in New England, and I was always fascinated with the ocean,鈥� Friedlaender says. 鈥淔rom a young age, I was encouraged to go out and observe things in nature 鈥� in fact, my mom started me taking notes in a field notebook every time I went to the beach when I was young.

鈥淚 did a degree in biology and a minor in anthropology at 乐播传媒. 乐播传媒 gave me the opportunity to learn to be a scientist and gave me the tools to go into the world and start doing science on my own. [Professor of Biology] Will Ambrose was a really important person for me because he was incredibly encouraging of the things I was interested in.

鈥淗e taught me how to think. I think that was the most important lesson I learned at 乐播传媒 鈥� learning how to think like a scientist and how to ask questions.鈥� 聽

Baptism by Ice

After he graduated, Friedlaender went to North Carolina to study stranded whales. One day, as he was dissecting a dolphin on a beach, a researcher approached him and mentioned that the Australian Antarctic Division needed 鈥渟omeone to go to the Antarctic to count marine mammals.鈥�

Friedlaender accepted, flew to Australia, and boarded a ship.

鈥淚t takes about six days to get to the ice from Tasmania, and we had horrible seas,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淲e probably had 30 to 35-foot seas and 50 to 60-knot winds. The ship was rolling all over the place, but as soon as we got into the sea ice, everything calmed down.

A minke whale breaches in Antarctica’s Paradise Bay. (Ari Friedlaender/photo)

鈥淭he first month I went down there, the average air temperature was between minus 20 and minus 40, and we didn鈥檛 see very many whales at all. But just being in that environment and feeling the cold, you feel absolutely minuscule and unimportant. It鈥檚 also such a vibrant place and such an amazing natural wilderness that you can鈥檛 help but be overcome by it.

鈥淕etting off the ship, I said to the woman who had hired me, 鈥極kay, now you鈥檝e got to deal with me because I鈥檓 here and I鈥檝e got to go back.鈥欌��

What the Camera Shows

Friedlaender is one of the first scientists to study Antarctic marine mammals extensively 鈥� he was at the vanguard of the evolution from simply counting whales to tagging and tracking them, learning a tremendous amount about individual animals.

Putting video cameras on the bodies of minke whales 鈥� the process involves to the creatures on an inflatable boat, then using a long pole to suction-cup a video tag to their skin 鈥� has led to two important revelations, Friedlaender says.

The first is that minke whales are more social than scientists thought. 鈥淵ou can see five or six whales swimming really quickly to find krill and all feeding at the same time and going really fast in different directions,鈥� he says. 聽

The second is that they鈥檙e fast eaters 鈥� a 鈥渓unge鈥� to swallow a mass of tiny krill takes about 10 seconds. 鈥淭hey accelerate, open their mouths, and take in a huge gulp of water, and the tissue on the other side of their throat can expand to hold a huge amount of water,鈥� Friedlaender ways. 鈥淲ith their tongues they push the water out of their mouths, and the krill get stuck in their baleen.鈥�

Tourists and Science

Friedlaender spends most of his time in Antarctica on boats. Sometimes it鈥檚 a government research vessel. Other times it鈥檚 a tourist boat, taking visitors to the Antarctic Peninsula for a few weeks at a time.

鈥淲e utilize those platforms to do science, but also to engage and communicate with the public while we鈥檙e doing our science,鈥� he says.

The Sea Ice Problem

Minke whales live among sea ice, which offers both protection from killer whales and sources of krill, which grow up underneath pieces of sea ice and feed penguins, birds, and seals as well as whales. 聽

Melting ice, therefore, opens minke whales to predation and diminishes an important food source. (It鈥檚 actually good in the short term for another whale, the humpback, which does better in the open ocean 鈥� though in the long term, it鈥檚 bad for everyone.)

Minke whales are social creatures, feeding on krill in relatively large groups. (Ari Friedlaender/photo)

鈥淭hat lack of sea ice is going to decrease the amount of krill that鈥檚 available for all the animals there, and the system is going to change very dramatically,鈥� Friedlaender says.

Total Removal

Living and working in Antarctica 鈥渃an be the greatest thing in the world, but also extremely challenging,鈥� Friedlander says.

鈥淭he physical landscape is unbelievable and beautiful and hostile and very unforgiving. It鈥檚 completely void of human elements. To be in a place that鈥檚 very wild and truly natural is a real gift, but it鈥檚 remote. You鈥檙e on a small boat with a small number of people.

鈥淟uckily, we鈥檙e able to stay connected with people through phone and internet, but we鈥檙e definitely removed from things. You can immerse yourself in this environment.鈥�

Blue Ice

On some glaciers, falling snow gets compressed into the ice and air bubbles , which means that the ice, like the ocean, is blue.

An iceberg near Marguerite Bay. (Ari Friedlaender/photo)

鈥淲e get a lot of overcast days down here, and even when it鈥檚 overcast, the ice is glowing,鈥� Friedlaender says. 鈥淚cebergs have this blue color that doesn鈥檛 fade.鈥�

Friendly Critters

鈥淭he number of penguins and whales and seals is remarkable,鈥� Friedlander says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e completely curious 鈥� they haven鈥檛 grown up with humans being a threat to them.

鈥淪eeing wildlife that hasn鈥檛 had that interference with people in a negative way is kind of refreshing.鈥�

Making Connections

Much of Friedlaender鈥檚 Antarctic work involves outreach. He frequently welcomes media outlets from around the world, he works with museums and educators, and he鈥檚 published a book of photography from the continent.

Ari Friedlaender deploys a multi-sensor suction cup tag on a humpback whale in Antarctica’s Wilhelmina Bay. (Courtesy of Ari Friedlaender)

鈥淚鈥檝e honestly grown to be less objective,鈥� Friedlaender says. 鈥淚 want to see people do better, and I want to see these animals survive and the ecosystems sustain themselves. It doesn鈥檛 affect how we do the work because science is science, but the connection that I have to the place and to the animals has grown immensely the more I learn about them.

鈥淧eople are more likely to want to protect things that they care about. I feel more of a responsibility to communicate and promote what we鈥檙e doing and learn about these animals broadly, because that鈥檚 what makes people care, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to help change people鈥檚 behavior and allow these animals and ecosystems to survive.鈥�

Read more about 乐播传媒 alumni in Antarctica

乐播传媒 Club of Antarctica: If glaciers could talk, what would they say?

乐播传媒 Club of Antarctica: If you give a seal a camera

乐播传媒 Club of Antarctica: Fossils, and beach volleyball on a glacier

乐播传媒 Club of Antarctica: The secrets of the lakes

In the summer as I train for 乐播传媒 cross country, I run over wooded trails, so I鈥檓 constantly on the lookout for ticks. All I know about these tiny arachnids is that they carry dangerous diseases, such as Lyme.

Ben Tonelli 鈥�18, a double major in biology and religious studies, is also a cross country runner. But his honors-thesis research in biology means he can look at ticks from a scientific perspective.

Last year, Tonelli took biology professor Donald Dearborn鈥檚 Short Term course in avian biology. He learned that migrating songbirds can transport ticks southward as they leave Canada and the northern U.S. during the fall.

“Until Ben鈥檚 model, we haven鈥檛 had a sense of where the redistribution might occur.”

Intrigued, he planned do his thesis research in the field, looking at songbirds and the ticks they carry 鈥� that is, until last summer鈥檚 biomedical engineering internship pointed him a different, more computational direction.

The result is unique: Tonelli has created the first mathematical model to visually illustrate the movement of ticks as they hitch rides with songbirds migrating south.

鈥淲e鈥檝e known for a long time that some southbound songbirds carry ticks, but until Ben鈥檚 model, we haven鈥檛 had a sense of where the redistribution might occur and the possible scale of that effect,鈥� Dearborn says. 鈥淏en has connected the dots of existing research.鈥�

As tick-borne illnesses continue to spread both , Tonelli hopes his research will help scientists identify emerging public-health risks. 鈥淭his is a topic people deal with in their daily life,鈥� he says.

What inspired your thesis?

After I took Don鈥檚 Short Term, we talked about doing something field-based for my thesis. Then, last summer I worked at the University of Vermont and studied under and other researchers involved in biomedical engineering.

Tonelli’s experience in an avian biology Short Term course taught by Don Dearborn in 2017 got him started on his honors thesis project. Here, Dearborn’s students head out to do fieldwork on Kent Island last May. (Don Dearborn)

Dr. Prothen has created what鈥檚 known as an individual-based model, also called an agent-based model, that seeks to in lung tissue regeneration. I thought about Don鈥檚 central question, how songbirds transport ticks, and how it might be more fruitful to look at the literature and then create a model of how those pieces play into the phenomenon as a whole, as opposed to a specific study of a specific bird species.

So I got the methodology from UVM and got the idea from Don and then combined those.

Tell us more about your individual-based model.

An individual-based model is an interesting way to answer questions about the natural world. It is based on the idea that behavioral patterns of an individual, or agent, can explain a wide, system-level dynamic.

My model depicts each bird as an individual. That meant I had to learn their behavior, so I went into the existing literature to find information; from that, I created the parameters for the model.

This animation of Ben Tonelli鈥檚 individual-based model shows how songbirds transport ticks southward during fall migration. The animation starts with 800 black dots, simulating the ovenbird species, in their northern breeding grounds. Their departure southward turns the black dots to blue. Certain dots pick up ticks and turn green. The attachment site of each tick is an orange dot, and the dropoff site, farther south, is red.

What are some of the parameters that you used?

For ticks, the parameters are pretty simple: Where they are in the U.S., the seasonal timing of their activity patterns, the rate they attach to birds, and how long they stay on.

Birds are way more in-depth. I used two different species, ovenbird and wood thrush, in the model; each forages on the ground, and researchers know a lot about them.

I had to know where they breed in the U.S. and Canada, how fast they can go, at what rate do they regain their energy stores when they stop, at what times do they start migrating, in what numbers are the initial populations, etc. 聽Anything that you can think of, because at the end of the day there are just a ton of parameters.

Did you have to learn any computer programs for your thesis?

Before last summer, I did not really know how to code. During the summer when I was working at UVM, I worked with CT scans and ended up learning how to code by learning , a platform for engineers, mostly bioengineers, but people use it for all types of things. I had to learn that to create my model for this thesis.

With 乐播传媒 now having a Digital and Computational Studies Program, students will be able to do research rooted in the natural life sciences but also have a computational end to it. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

How do you make what you write about accessible to all students, like me, who are not in STEM fields?

I鈥檝e been motivated by the fact that this topic has an impact on human health; people have personal experiences with tick-borne diseases like Lyme.

So when writing I think about how I am going to explain it to my mom and my brother, and kind of orient it toward simple language when possible. At the end of the day, hopefully this will say something about effects on humans.

You鈥檙e also a religious studies major.

I wanted to major in religious studies because I think it is a great way to access the humanities, including history, cultural studies, and philosophy.

I also like how religious studies allows for the consideration of topics surrounding human suffering in a way distinct from the sciences.

In the Filene Room, Tonelli talks with Lewiston High School track athletes following a February 2017 screening of the documentary Freedom Runners, about an Israeli teacher who forms a running team for his students, young African refugees and asylum seekers. The screening was a collaboration between the Maine Jewish Film Festival and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

How is your relationship with your adviser?

Don is an absolutely great adviser. Sometimes I get really stuck and am trying to think through how best to parameterize something in the model. I will explain it to him, and he will sit there for what seems like an uncomfortable amount of time while he thinks about it. Then he will give a really thought-out answer that will shift my thinking and really push me.

The biggest thing that Don has given me is the background in avian physiology and behavior. If I had an adviser who did not know so much about birds, the project would not have been possible because I had to learn a lot of these individual behaviors. My project is mostly self-directed, but he put the seeds in for places for me to start looking.

Tonelli competes at the NESCAC cross country championship meet on Oct. 10, 2017, at Pineland Farms.

What has been the most enjoyable part of your thesis?

I think just being self-directed and being able to pursue my question. Don鈥檚 huge background in all things avian means I can learn something totally new but also do it on my own time. That鈥檚 been really cool.

Do you have a favorite work spot on campus?

If I am coding, I work in Coram because the computer screens are huge so it is easy to have MATLAB and something else up. When I was doing the research I mostly did it in Commons upstairs, which is good because I could get plenty of coffee. I usually try to work there in the mornings because it is very quiet.

Any favorite snacks that you like to have while you are working?

If I鈥檓 working in the morning, I go upstairs in Commons and pound back breakfast in the first 10 minutes because I don鈥檛 want to get my computer all gross. Then I will just drink a ton of tea and coffee.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Find something that you are really interested in and then from there, try to think through a research question that you can answer during your time doing thesis.

Think about that early because I think that a lot of people who have the most success start doing stuff over the summer.