Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing

Recent News

• Elizabeth Royte ’81 Covers Rattlesnakes for National Geographic
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  Elizabeth Royte ’81 Covers Rattlesnakes for National Geographic

  

  Bard alumna Elizabeth Royte ’81.
  

  In an article for National Geographic, science writer and Bard alumna Elizabeth Royte ’81 explores the life cycles and habitats of rattlesnakes, and the various conservation efforts to protect them. More than 50 species of rattlesnakes occur exclusively throughout the Americas, and Royte notes that though there may be pockets where they thrive, the fate of most of the venomous snakes is grim. “From southwestern Canada to central Argentina, people continue to capture them for the pet or skin trade, swerve to flatten them as they warm themselves on roads, and chop up their habitat with subdivisions, pipelines, and cell towers,” she writes for National Geographic. “Timber rattlesnakes, once abundant, have been extirpated in a number of northern US states and Ontario, and they’re threatened or endangered in pockets throughout their broad US range. Several other species are categorized from generally threatened to critically endangered.”
  

  Read more in National Geographic
  

  
  Post Date: 11-26-2024
  
• Bard College Celebrates Student Excellence at Annual Scholarship Reception
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  Bard College Celebrates Student Excellence at Annual Scholarship Reception

  

  2024 Annual Scholarship Reception. Photo by Karl Rabe
  

  Bard College faculty, staff, and students gathered at Blithewood Manor for this year's Annual Scholarship Reception on Monday, November 11. This annual event honors students who have excelled in their studies and contributed to academic and campus life. The evening’s awardees, who were nominated by faculty from across the four divisions of the College, represent excellence in the arts; social studies; languages and literature; and science, mathematics, and computing. 
  
  “We are pleased to recognize this year’s Bard Scholars, who represent the very best of what we are and what we do,” said Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Studies David Shein. “These students, who were selected by their faculty and deans in recognition of their contributions in the classroom and to the campus community, have demonstrated not only excellence in their work but deep care and commitment to that work and to the life of the College.  We are proud of them and look forward to seeing what they will do next.”
  
  Many of the named scholarships are made possible by generous contributions from Bard donors. Thank you to all supporters for believing in the value of a college education, and for investing in the future of Bard students.
  
  Further reading:
  Learn More about Postgraduate Scholarships and Fellowships through Bard's Dean of Studies Office
  Learn More about Scholarships, Prizes, and Awards at Bard
  
  Post Date: 11-15-2024
  
• Brooke Jude and Robert Todd Receive Grant to Support an Undergraduate Research Experience in Microbial Mapping
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  Brooke Jude and Robert Todd Receive Grant to Support an Undergraduate Research Experience in Microbial Mapping

  

  Bard College students doing microbial violacein textile dying in Professor Jude’s Biology 111: Microbes in the Environment class. Photo by Wais Kakarr ’26
  

  Bard Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude and Bard Assistant Professor of Biology Robert Todd have received a $34,000 grant from the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation in support of the PLUMM Project, Project-based Learning for Undergraduates in Microbial Mapping, which will provide undergraduate students from both SUNY Dutchess and Bard College with an immersive, collaborative research opportunity.
  
  In this newly grant-funded part of the PLUMM Project, Jude and Todd will conduct an intensive three-week research experience. During three weeks in January, students will have the opportunity for training in STEM laboratory techniques on multiple active research projects from the Todd and Jude Labs, taking place in the state-of-the-art laboratories in the Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Center for Science and Computation at Bard College. The overarching goals of PLUMM are to provide a solid scaffolding of laboratory, experimental design, data collection, and analysis skills that would support the successful completion of a STEM degree and enhance the students’ applications for admission into graduate school or other careers in STEM-related fields. PLUMM also builds on the strong relationships Bard College has with SUNY Dutchess to include faculty and students from both institutions working side-by-side in the lab and coauthoring conference proceedings and journal articles. Students will showcase their research projects at an annual symposium and poster session that will be open to the public.
  
  “This opportunity to conduct research with students in this mid-semester experience will allow us to get students fully engaged in all aspects of the research questions and launch them continuation of this work in subsequent semesters,” said Jude. “The collaboration between students at Bard and SUNY Dutchess will also provide rich opportunities to set up long-term interactions and research projects.”
  
  Post Date: 10-25-2024
  
• Bard Welcome Corps Scholarships Awarded to Two OSUN RhEAP Students for 2025
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  Bard Welcome Corps Scholarships Awarded to Two OSUN RhEAP Students for 2025

  

  L–R: Grace George Kharthum and Ruot Wichar Duop will attend Bard College in New York in 2025 after being accepted into Welcome Corps on Campus program.
  

  Bard College’s Welcome Corps on Campus (WCC) program has accepted two students from OSUN’s Hubs for Connected Learning Initiatives in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya, to attend Bard in the 2025-26 academic year. Grace George Kharthum and Ruot Wichar Duop, originally from Sudan, secured the highly coveted scholarships from WCC, a refugee sponsorship program supported by US governmental agencies and higher education institutions, after completing the Hubs’ Realizing Higher Education Access Program (RhEAP) program. At Bard, Duop plans to study computer science and English literature, with a focus on developing data, software, and machine learning to provide innovative solutions to challenges in healthcare, education, and governance. Kharthum will pursue a degree in sociology, focusing on gender, education, and global development. “My journey from a refugee camp in Kenya to Bard College in New York is a testament to the power of education and support from dedicated individuals and organizations,” said Kharthum.
  

  Learn More
  

  Further Reading
  

  
  Post Date: 10-07-2024
  
• Professor Brooke Jude’s Microbial Textile Research Featured in The Scientist
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  Professor Brooke Jude’s Microbial Textile Research Featured in The Scientist

  

  Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude.
  

  Bard Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude’s research on pigmented microbes has been featured in The Scientist magazine. Jude is a microbiologist who studies microorganisms cultivated from water sources. When she found a sample of violacein in the Hudson River Valley, she started studying its purple pigment in her labs and eventually moved on to dyeing fabrics with it, on her own and then in her biology classes at Bard.
  
  Jude’s bright purple microbial dyes caught the interest of Around the World in 80 Fabrics, an organization which supports the Ain Leuh Women's Cooperative in Morocco. The microbial dyes provide a safer and more sustainable alternative to synthetic dyes. This experience led Jude to collaborate with Hassan Ghazal, Abderrazak Rfaki, and Said Barrijal to locate and process native pigmented plants from Morocco, and they also created a guide to the new pigments for the Womens’ Cooperative. “It was just incredible,” Jude says, “they want to set up this long-term collaboration too, [and there’s an] understanding that keeping microbes native to an area, indigenous to an area, is really the way forward in our field.”
  

  Read the article in The Scientist
  

  
  Post Date: 10-07-2024
  
• Professor Clara Sousa-Silva Featured on PBS Show NOVA
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  Professor Clara Sousa-Silva Featured on PBS Show NOVA

  Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard College, appears in the PBS award-winning documentary series NOVA. The episode, “Solar System: Storm Worlds,” focuses on the dramatic forces creating spectacular weather on neighboring planets and moons. “In our solar system, wherever there’s an atmosphere, there’s weather, no matter how different an atmosphere from Earth’s,” said Sousa-Silva. The episode explores the strange and wonderful weather occurring across our solar system, from globe-spanning dust storms, to monsoons of liquid methane, to monstrous storms with lightning bolts ten times more energetic than anything on Earth.
  
   
  
  Post Date: 10-02-2024