News

Bard College Assistant Professor of Physics Hal Haggard and his fellow researchers were awarded a 2019 Buchalter Cosmology Prize at the 235th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 6. The annual prize series, created by Dr. Ari Buchalter in 2014, seeks to reward new ideas or discoveries that have the potential to produce a breakthrough advance in our understanding of the origin, structure, and evolution of the universe. Professor Haggard and his colleagues were recognized for research testing the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of black holes.

The $5,000 Second Prize was awarded to Professor Haggard, of Bard College and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, and colleagues from the Pennsylvania State University: Eugenio Bianchi, Anuradha Gupta, and B. S. Sathyaprakash (also of Cardiff University). The judging panel recognized their paper, “Quantum Gravity and Black Hole Spin in Gravitational Wave Observations: a Test of the Bekenstein-Hawking Entropy,” as “a remarkable test of the thermodynamic character of black holes, predicting the spin characteristics of an initial primordial population of black holes that thermalize in the early universe, and which could be detectable by current and near-future gravitational wave detectors.”

Haggard’s work is part of an ongoing scientific revolution in the study of black holes. Last year, scientists captured the first direct image of a black hole, less than four years after measuring, for the first time, the gravitational waves created by the collision of two black holes circling one another at nearly light speed. These waves directly oscillate space and time. Contrary to initial expectations, pairs of black holes crashing into each other give rise to most of the gravitational waves we can currently measure. Advanced facilities like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) are now observing and measuring black hole collisions about once a week.

Previously, scientists only knew about two main types of black holes: X-ray binary systems, which often contain one active star and a black hole, in the range of five to 15 times the mass of our sun, that “siphons off” mass from the donor star; and supermassive black holes, a class that includes the black hole imaged in 2019, which measures about 6.5 billion solar masses. 

Prior to LIGO, physicists did not expect that the main class of binary collisions measured would be of two black holes, or that those black holes would have masses in the range of 20 to 80 solar masses. Most surprising of all, it now appears possible that most of the black holes measured through gravitational waves aren’t spinning at all before they collide. Scientists had thought that the majority of black holes were formed in the gravitational collapse of a rotating star. 

Haggard and his colleagues’ paper shows that black holes formed in a different way, as part of the hot primordial soup of the early universe, could naturally have zero spin. The authors also find that these black holes would be expected to have masses of 10 to 100 times the mass of our sun. Their arguments are based on understanding how entropy and temperature determine the physical characteristics of a black hole, for example its spin. 

“I’m delighted about this paper because it brings together so many of the strands of my work,” says Haggard. “Gravitational wave measurements are an exciting probe of the rich interplay between gravitational thermodynamics, black holes, and the early history of the cosmos. It is a rare point of contact between the ideas that go into a quantum theory of gravity, like black hole entropy, and experimental observations that are happening right now.”

The $10,000 First Prize was awarded to Jahed Abedi and Niayesh Afshordi for their work entitled “Echoes from the Abyss: A Highly Spinning Black Hole Remnant for the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817.” The $2,500 Third Prize was awarded to José Beltrán Jiménez of Universidad de Salamanca and colleagues for their work entitled “The Geometrical Trinity of Gravity.”

Dr. Buchalter, a former astrophysicist turned business entrepreneur, established the prize series in the belief that significant breakthroughs in the field of cosmology still lie ahead but might require challenging and breaking with accepted paradigms. “The 2019 prizewinners represent bold thinking that can help open up new frontiers in our understanding of physics and of the universe,” said Dr. Buchalter. The judging panel for the annual prizes is made up of leading theoretical physicists noted for their work in cosmology. The 2019 panel included Justin Khoury and Mark Trodden of the University of Pennsylvania and Lee Smolin of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Learn more at buchwaltercosmologyprize.org.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.05127

https://citizenscience.bard.edu/

Two Bard College students were awarded a highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship by the U.S. Department of State. Art history major Tatiana Alfaro ’21 has been awarded $5,000 towards her studies at Bard College Berlin. “I’m so happy to have received the Gilman award. It’s definitely an honor and was unexpected. My experience with Gilman will enhance my experience abroad. Studying in Berlin will help me have a more global view on the art world, and specifically, what I want my role within it to be. I believe it will be a good opportunity for me to see my personal and academic interests overlap, not only as an art historian but as a global learner.”

Biology major Mary Reid ’21 has been awarded $3,000 for her term at the Lorenzo di Medici Institute in Florence, Italy. “Studying abroad is an aspiration for many students but financial concerns are often an impossible barrier. I am incredibly privileged to reach for my own aspirations as a result of this scholarship, my supportive friends, and my wonderful family. While abroad, I hope to gain a greater knowledge of new cultures and ideas, as well as an increased sense of autonomy and introspection. I am eager to make my study abroad experience live up to my childhood ambitions. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible.”

Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs with additional funding available for the study of a critical language overseas. The Gilman scholarship supports American undergraduate students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad and, since 2001, has enabled more than 31,000 outstanding Americans of diverse backgrounds to engage in a meaningful educational experience abroad. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study. The late Congressman Gilman, who served in the House of Representatives for 30 years, chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee, and was honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, commented, “Study abroad is a special experience for every student who participates. Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”
https://www.gilmanscholarship.org

Once separated by prison, BPI alumnus Antoine Patton and his daughter, Jay Jay, built Photo Patch, an app that lets incarcerated parents stay in better touch with their children.
https://www.cnet.com/features/this-dad-learned-to-code-in-jail-now-hes-connecting-other-prisoners-to-their-kids/

The Television Academy has honored Boris FX, the leading developer of visual effects plugins and applications, with three Engineering Emmy Awards. The Boris FX products Sapphire, Mocha Pro, and Silhouette have each been recognized for their technical achievements and contribution to the world of television. Bardian Ross Shain is the chief product officer for Mocha, and he accepted the award at the 71st Engineering Emmy Awards ceremony on Wednesday evening, October 23, 2019, at the JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles. 
https://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/the-wire/boris-fx-wins-big-at-engineering-emmy-awards

Matthew Junge, Bard College Assistant Professor of Mathematics, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $190,868 for research into multitype particle systems. The grant comes from the NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences Probability Program.

Interacting particle systems with random dynamics are fundamental for modeling phenomena in the physical and social sciences. Such systems can be used to describe chemical reactions, as well as the spread of disease, information, and species through a network. These models often become more meaningful when multiple particle types are incorporated. For example, the celebrated First Passage Percolation model describes the spread of a single species through an environment; the incorporation of competing species enriches the model. This project seeks to study more realistic variants of well-known models for chemical reactions, epidemic outbreaks, and the spread of information as to deepen our understanding of important phenomena from across the sciences and further develop the mathematics that helps explain them. The project will involve the training of undergraduate students.

In summer 2020, Professor Junge will use a portion of the NSF grant to run a Tiny Mathematics Research Community at Bard that vertically connects undergraduates, graduates, postdoctoral researchers, and professors in a retreat-style research workshop.

Professor Junge joined the Bard faculty this fall, coming to Annandale from Duke University, where he served as William W. Elliott Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics. He received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Washington, where he also earned MS, BS, and BA degrees.

His areas of interest include probability, statistical physics, and mathematical biology. Professor Junge’s research takes a probabilistic approach to particle systems from physics and biology, including models for chemical reactions, species proliferation, and epidemic outbreaks. He also studies random structures from classical mathematics and computer science, such as permutations and fragmented spaces.

This semester, he is teaching Probability and Calculus I, as well as supervising a research project with two Bard undergraduate students. He also teaches in the Bard Prison Initiative, alongside Mathematics Program colleagues John Cullinan and Japheth Wood.
 

Bard College, supported by New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) REV Campus Challenge, announced today the launch of a new website to be a centralized, public resource for exploring sustainable micro hydropower in New York State. The website also documents this process for the Saw Kill Micro Hydropower Project on the Bard Campus, including the installation of real-time water quality monitoring equipment.

The website is organized to streamline and standardize the process for evaluating and implementing a potential micro hydropower site responsibly. The site breaks down the requirements for assessing, implementing, and maintaining a micro hydropower system. Using the Saw Kill Project as an example, lessons learned are provided as a resource for landowners, local governments, and researchers alike.

The MicrohydroNY website will be updated on a regular basis with news about the Saw Kill Project and changes that affect micro hydropower in New York State. Visitors are encouraged to explore the website and sign up for direct emails from MicrohydroNY at microhydrony.org.
 
https://microhydrony.org/

Bard Faculty and Students in Chemistry and Physics Collaborate on Newly Published Research

In recent years, scientists have developed a new set of techniques to thin down certain materials into sheets that are only a few atoms thick—the most famous example being graphene, a one-atom thin layer of graphite that holds the title of world’s thinnest material. Graphene and its thin cousins hold promise both for being implemented in new technology and in helping physicists understand the quantum properties of materials. In making prototype devices from them, researchers often need to shape these sheets into particular patterns with features measured in nanometers.

Noting that conventional methods for doing this require multistep processes that can damage the materials, Ethan Richman ’20 led a team of undergraduates working in the labs of Bard Chemistry Professor Chris LaFratta and Physics Professor Paul Cadden-Zimansky to pioneer a potentially cleaner and faster way of slicing graphene at the nanoscale by using a high-powered laser beam focused into a microscope. While a handful of other research groups around the world have tried using lasers for graphene slicing, the Bard researchers noticed that laser cuts in air can damage the graphene at the atomic level. Taking a cue from techniques used in industrial laser cutting, Richman tried modifying the cutting technique by submerging the graphene in water and found this improved both the quality and efficiency of the cutting. Their results are published in Optics Materials Express, with Cadden-Zimansky, LaFratta, and eight student collaborators as coauthors.
https://www.osapublishing.org/ome/abstract.cfm?uri=ome-9-9-3871

By replacing meat with protein-conserving plant alternatives Americans could satisfy key nutritional requirements, while eliminating pastureland use and reducing 35-50 percent of the cropland currently needed for food production in the United States, says a new study coauthored by Bard College Research Professor Gidon Eshel. The findings, part of modeling study published in Scientific Reports, suggest that use of nitrogen fertilizer and greenhouse gas emissions would also be reduced, while only food-related water use would rise.

“While widely replacing meat with plants is logistically and culturally challenging, few competing options offer comparable multidimensional resource use reduction,” write Eshel and coauthors Paul Stainier, Alon Shepon, Akshay Swaminathan, all of Harvard University.

In their study, “Environmentally Optimal, Nutritionally Sound, Protein and Energy Conserving Plant Based Alternatives to U.S. Meat,” Eshel and his coauthors used a computer model to devise hundreds of plant-based diets to replace either beef alone or all three dominant U.S. meat types: beef, poultry and pork. Plant-based diets consisted predominantly of soy, green pepper, squash, buckwheat and asparagus. The authors’ goal was to model a range of plant replacement diets that were at least as nutritious, if not more beneficial, than the meats they replaced, while also assessing their environmental impact. Diets were modeled to exactly match the protein content of the meat they replace—13 grams of protein per day from beef or 30 grams of protein per day from all three meat types—while also satisfying 43 other nutrient requirements, such as vitamins and fatty acids.

Buckwheat and tofu jointly delivered a full third of the total protein of diets that replaced all meats, yet accounted for only 12 percent of the nitrogen fertilizer and water and less than 22 percent of the cropland needed to produce the meats they replaced. Soy contributed the most protein to beef-replacing diets, but accounted for only six percent of the overall nitrogen fertilizer needed to produce beef. Replacing meat with plant alternatives was estimated to save approximately 29 million hectares of cropland, three billion kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer, and 280 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide per year. Food-related water use was projected to rise by 15 percent.

Gidon Eshel is a research professor of environmental physics at Bard College. He earned a BA from Haifa University and MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-46590-1

A new study coauthored by Bard College Assistant Professor of Philosophy Kathryn Tabb in the journal Nature Human Behaviour finds that people consistently rated antisocial behavior as less genetically influenced than prosocial behavior. In their paper, “Asymmetrical Genetic Attributions for Prosocial versus Antisocial Behaviour,” Tabb and her coauthors write that their findings were replicated across six studies using a range of stimuli that described a variety of prosocial and antisocial behaviors. This was true regardless of whether genetic explanations were explicitly provided or refuted. Their analysis suggested that this asymmetry may stem from people’s motivating desire to hold wrongdoers responsible for their actions.

“The asymmetry was present when participants were only given descriptions of behaviour and asked to rate how much of a role genetics played in causing it, without being told anything about the actor’s genetic predisposition; and it persisted even when participants were told explicitly whether the individual in question was genetically predisposed to the type of behaviour exhibited, suggesting that people may remain relatively reluctant to accept even explicit ascriptions of antisocial behaviour to genetics,” write Tabb and coauthors Paul S. Appelbaum and Matthew S. Lebowitz, both of the Center for Research on Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Psychiatric, Neurologic, and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “The relative resistance to genetic explanations for antisocial behaviours demonstrated across these studies might help to explain findings from previous studies that indicate that genetic evidence often fails to influence the punishments deemed appropriate for criminal wrongdoing.”

In addition to adding to the substantial body of research suggesting that factors beyond the inherent quality of biological explanations for behavior can influence people’s likelihood of endorsing them, Tabb and her coauthors contend that their findings have specific real-world implications, particularly for situations involving criminal justice. “If people are generally resistant to genetic explanations for antisocial behaviour, including crime, judges and jurors may be unlikely to be swayed by such evidence,” they write. “Indeed, this resistance might help to explain why providing genetic explanations for misdeeds often fails to affect judgements about criminal culpability and punishment in the ways we might expect, as well as the finding that Americans tend to disfavour genetic explanations for violent behaviour, as compared to environmental and choice-based explanations.”

“When taken together, our results suggest that people’s interpretations and evaluations of findings in behavioural genetics may depend not only on the scientific merit of the evidence, but also on the moral valence of the behaviours in question,” the authors conclude. “This kind of motivated reasoning about empirical information can pose obstacles to scientific literacy, underscoring the importance of identifying exactly what motivations are affecting intuitions about behavioural genetics and precisely what impact biological explanations are having on people’s thinking.”

The study was funded by a grant from the Program on Genetics and Human Agency of the John D. Templeton Foundation, with additional support from the National Institutes of Health.

Kathryn Tabb is assistant professor of philosophy at Bard College. Since receiving her doctorate in history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh, Tabb has earned a master’s degree in bioethics and health law and served as assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University. Her interests include philosophy of science and medicine, bioethics, psychopathology, American pragmatism, and the history of philosophy, especially early modern philosophy. At Columbia, she taught courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, including Science and Values, The Normal and the Pathological, Darwin, and Contemporary Civilization. Professor Tabb is currently working on a monograph on John Locke, Agents and Patients: Locke’s Ethics of Thinking, that explores his theory of psychopathology and its implications for his philosophical theories. Recent peer-reviewed publications include the articles “Behavioral Genetics and Attributions of Moral Responsibility,” Behavioral Genetics; “Philosophy of Psychiatry after Diagnostic Kinds,” Synthese; “Locke on Enthusiasm and the Association of Ideas,” Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, Vol. 9; and “Darwin at Orchis Bank: Selection after the Origin,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2016). Her published work also includes reviews and commentary in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Psychological Medicine, and Evolutionary Education and Outreach; and book chapters in Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry IV: Psychiatric Nosology; Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry III: The Nature and Sources of Historical Change; and Brain, Mind, and Consciousness in the History of Neuroscience. She is an investigator for the National Endowment for the Humanities grant project “Humanities Connections Curriculum for Medicine, Literature, and Society” (2017–20) and is coprincipal investigator for the Genetics and Human Agency Project “Intuitions about Genetics and Virtuous Behavior,” funded by the John D. Templeton Foundation.
 
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0651-1

Bardians in conversation: Sam Jaffe Goldstein ’13 interviews Arthur Holland Michel ’13 on his new book Eyes in the Sky, and why he's worried about government surveillance. 
 
https://longreads.com/2019/06/21/nothing-kept-me-up-at-night-the-way-the-gorgon-stare-did/

On Wednesday, July 10, 2019, Professor Jain gave a seminar at the North West Cancer Research Centre at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. The seminar, "RNA Binding and Translation Inhibition by Novel Chemotherapeutic Compounds," was part of the Centre's 2019 Seminar Series.

Bard College student Thomas Harris ’22 has won a highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. Harris was awarded $3,000 scholarship towards his participation in the Bard-Smolny Program at Smolny College in St. Petersburg, where he will study in Russian for the fall 2019 semester. Harris is currently pursuing dual degrees in math and engineering through Bard College and Columbia University’s 3+2 program, in which a Bard student may transfer to Columbia at the end of their junior year at Bard, and upon completing a two-year program at Columbia, qualify for both a BA from Bard and a BS from Columbia. Born and raised in Chicago, Harris is also a concept artist and poet, going by his distinctive Russian name Foma. He is currently working on several projects, including his second book.

Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs with additional funding available for the study of a critical language overseas. The Gilman scholarship supports American undergraduate students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad and, since 2001, has enabled more than 25,000 outstanding Americans of diverse backgrounds to engage in a meaningful educational experience abroad. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study. The late Congressman Gilman, who served in the House of Representatives for 30 years, chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee, and was honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, commented, “Study abroad is a special experience for every student who participates. Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”  gilmanscholarship.org

With Public Lecture “What Is Time?” by Carlo Rovelli, World-Renowned Scientist and Best-Selling Author, on Thursday, June 13

— Further Reading —

Jim Bardeen, Hal Haggard, and Carlo Rovelli, faculty members in the Bard Summer School on Quantum Gravity, weigh in on “White Holes: Black Holes’ Neglected Twins,” in Space.

 
https://www.bard.edu/news/details/?id=308&type=feature

The study, led by biologist Gabriel Perron in collaboration with microbiologist M. Elias Dueker, both on the faculty of the Bard Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water, shows that even small concentrations of the synthetic antimicrobial agent triclosan can disrupt freshwater microbial communities in favor of bacteria that are associated with human disease and antibiotic resistance.
https://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=3155

Psychologist Simine Vazire will deliver the 2019 Andrew J. Bernstein ’68 Memorial Lecture at Bard Hall on Thursday, April 25, at 6:00 p.m. Vazire, professor of psychology and director of the Personality and Self-Knowledge Lab at UC Davis, will give a talk on “The Credibility Revolution in Psychology.” 
https://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=3140

Simon’s Rock students Eric Yi and Samantha Statter joined professors Eric Kramer and Donald McClelland, and Joseph Carlson of the Joint Genome Institute, as coauthors of an academic research paper published in Plant Direct that provides new insights into one of the big mysteries in forest ecology.
https://simons-rock.edu/news/wood-wide-web.php

The students’ water samples—collected from nearly 400 sites across the globe—were a main component of this year’s Citizen Science curriculum, which tackled urgent, present-day questions related to water.
https://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=3134

Professor Craig Anderson has published new research with Bard undergraduates in the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. The article was titled, "Synthesis, characterization, and photophysical properties of cyclometalated N-Heterocyclic carbene Platinum(II) complexes."
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022328X18308210

Professor Emily McLaughlin has received a 2018 Undergraduate Research Award from the ;American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund.






https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/grants/prf.html

Bard College is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2018–2019 Fulbright U.S. students. 
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=252

Established in fall 2018, the Bard Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water is growing quickly to address environmental issues from the ground up—on campus and off.
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=249

Two Bard College students were awarded highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships by the U.S. Department of State. Getzamany Correa, a Global and International Studies major, will be studying at Central European University in the Department of International Relations in Budapest, Hungary. Biology major Elizabeth Thomas will be studying at the University College Roosevelt in Middelburg, Netherlands. 
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=243

The study, reported in the journal Nature Sustainability, was led by Felicia Keesing of Bard College and Brian Allan of the University of Illinois.
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=213

Bard College math professor Lauren Rose has been helping girls in the Hudson Valley develop their appreciation of math through the Bard Math Circle.
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/life/2018/08/30/bard-college-professor-helps-girls-find-confidence-through-math/939443002/

Professor Swapan Jain publishes his research with Bard undergraduates in the journal Chemical Communications, in an article titled "A ruthenium–platinum metal complex that binds to sarcin ricin loop RNA and lowers mRNA expression."
 
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/cc/c8cc02131g/unauth#!divAbstract

Smith, an award-winning entrepreneur and tech evangelist, will deliver the address at the College’s 158th commencement on Saturday, May 26.
http://www.bard.edu/commencement

Seniors Elena LeFevre, Nicola Koepnick, Adelina Colaku, Page Benoit, and Madeleine Breshears, and Bethany Zulick ’16 are among the Fulbright winners for 2018–19.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2998

The Purple Comet Math Meet is a free, online, international team mathematics competition designed for middle and high school students.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2990

Bard College student Lily Zacharias ’19, who is majoring in Political Studies with a concentration in Gender and Sexuality Studies, has won the prestigious Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs’ 2017 International Student/Teacher Essay Contest on the World’s Greatest Ethical Challenge. Zacharias received first prize in the undergraduate category for her essay “Artificial Intelligence’s Ethical Challenges.”
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2977

Professor Christopher LaFratta publishes his research with Bard undergraduates in Optics Express journal, in an article titled "Augmenting mask-based lithography with direct laser writing to increase resolution and speed."
 
https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-26-6-7085

The Citizen Science Program at Bard College will hold a conference titled 'Why Science Matters" on Monday, January 15. The event is a new addition to the annual science literacy intensive for first-year students that takes place this month. The conference includes a number of talks and panels engaging novel perspectives on the connections between science and other areas of human thought. Bard College faculty and staff as well as outside speakers will present, including Francesca Gamber, principal and history faculty member at Bard High School Early College Baltimore. Professor Gamber will give a talk titled "Bending toward Justice: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Localism of the Moral Universe" and moderate the subsequent panel discussion. Visit the Citizen Science website to view all of the conference abstracts.

The study, "Trojan Females and Judas Goats: Evolutionary Traps as Tools in Wildlife Management," brings together the science from the pest-control, eco-evolutionary, and conservation communities to create a conceptual framework by which evolutionary traps can be repurposed as tools of deception to eliminate or control target pest species.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2948

A new study from the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College finds that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) plans to spend $6.97 billion on drone technology in 2018, a 21 percent jump over this year’s budget and far more than the military previously predicted it would spend. The study finds that the 2018 budget boosts spending on research and modernization efforts, including significant increases to key unmanned sea and ground vehicles.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2946

Bard College has created a new digital media studio made possible by a $40,000 gift from the Cornelia and Michael Bessie Foundation. The gift allowed Bard to renovate and equip a classroom in the Henderson Computer Resources Center, converting it into a new media studio. The driving design questions for this innovative space asked: How do we create responsive spaces that can be quickly and easily reconfigured to accommodate different uses, learning tasks, and audiences; easily accommodate changes in technology and pedagogy; anticipate greatly expanded use of video conferencing technologies for creating a truly connected classroom; and anticipate the expanded use of tablets and other mobile devices?
 
“Our goal has been to create an environment in which trial and error is encouraged, but that doesn’t require mastery of any sort, rather experiment and instructional problem solving,” says Dean of Information Services and Director of Libraries Jeff Katz. “Rather than undertaking the complicated installation of permanent smart classrooms, we have identified equipment that can be easily deployed to create a particular instructional space in any available classroom.”
 
In this new digital media studio, instructors and students can see and use reconfigurable furniture. They can experiment with new products like room­darkening shades or hand­held projectors, cameras and other technology that can be made available and adopted in their classrooms. The studio has already been used for video conferencing meetings, connecting to Bard College Berlin, Al-Quds Bard College for Arts and Science, Bard-Smolny Program in St. Petersburg, and Cairo. Other courses have conducted interviews with remote subjects, had three-way debates with Berlin and St. Petersburg, set up pop-up workshops with a dozen laptops in a portable cart, held demonstrations of new software such as presentation software Omeka, or GIS, or podcast, or field recording production, and had guest speakers joining classes in Annandale from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Bard College has created a new digital media studio made possible by a $40,000 gift from the Cornelia and Michael Bessie Foundation. The gift allowed Bard to renovate and equip a classroom in the Henderson Computer Resources Center, converting it into a new media studio.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2945

Bard College students Telo Hoy and Meagan Kenney have been awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to study abroad for the fall 2017 semester. Hoy, a music composition major from Santa Fe, New Mexico, was awarded $3,000 to study at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavik. Kenney, a mathematics major from Richmond, Virginia, was awarded $4,500 to pursue studies in Hungary at the Budapest Semester in Mathematics. Hoy and Kenney are among nearly 1,000 American undergraduates from 386 colleges and universities across the United States selected to receive the prestigious award.
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2929

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Bard College Chemistry Professor Craig M. Anderson funding up to $245,000 over three years to support a research project that will be conducted with undergraduate students. The project, “RUI: Metal complexes with Benzothiophene and/or NHC ligands: Synthesis and Applications,” looks to improve the understanding of metal-ligand bonding, with potential benefits for the environmental, economic, and health sectors, including the development of more efficient and robust organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and anticancer agents. Anderson says a vital component of this work is that it further integrates laboratory research within Bard’s undergraduate curriculum by training students to be more proficient in the practice of science in a contemporary chemistry laboratory and directly involving them in the dissemination of research results through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal articles.
 
“The hands-on experience our undergraduate students receive from conducting meaningful, publishable research, and by contributing to the writing and preparing of manuscripts is invaluable for their success in their future studies, regardless of their chosen field, and/or for their advancement as scientists,” says Anderson. He notes that NSF support that he has received since 2012 has resulted in nine published manuscripts with 42 Bard College undergraduate coauthors, with other manuscripts forthcoming. “This federal funding gives our students many more great research opportunities.”
 
Craig M. Anderson is the Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Professor of Chemistry at Bard College, where he has been teaching since 2001. He holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Western Ontario and a Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal. His awards include two previous three-year NSF grants (2014–17: $216,000 and 2011–14: $198,000), and, in 2011, the prestigious Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, which recognized his scholarly research with undergraduates as well as his compelling commitment to teaching. The $60,000 award ran from 2011 to 2016. Anderson’s research centers on the study of transition metal complexes with general applications toward bioinorganic and catalytic systems. His work has been published in numerous scholarly publications devoted to chemical sciences, including Organometallics, Inorganic Chemistry, Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and the Canadian Journal of Chemistry. His other awards include the Chemical Institute of Canada’s Award of Excellence, Andrew E. Scott Medal and Prize, and Society of Chemical Industry Award.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Bard College Chemistry Professor Craig M. Anderson funding up to $245,000 over three years to support a research project that will be conducted with undergraduate students. The project, “RUI: Metal complexes with Benzothiophene and/or NHC ligands: Synthesis and Applications,” looks to improve the understanding of metal-ligand bonding, with potential benefits for the environmental, economic, and health sectors, including the development of more efficient and robust organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and anticancer agents.

Professor Cathy Collins has been awarded a $371,652 NSF grant to study "how landscape fragmentation interferes with plant-pathogen interactions that maintain local plant diversity."
http://www.bard.edu/news/releases/pr/fstory.php?id=2885

Bard College senior and biology major Molly McQuillan ’17 and Bard assistant professor of biology Arseny Khakhalin, who is McQuillan’s senior project advisor, coauthored on a neuroscience paper published in the prestigious life sciences journal eLife.  “A cellular mechanism for inverse effectiveness in multisensory integration” presents new research that explains how the developing brain learns to integrate and react to subtle but simultaneous sensory cues—sound, touch and visual—that would be ignored individually. The study was led by Dr. Carlos Aizenman of Brown University.
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=172

How the Citizen Science Teaching Fellows Program Challenges and Supports Students and Alumni/ae
A remarkable group of students and alumni/ae has played an essential role supporting Bard first-years in the labs during Citizen Science. Now celebrating its fifth year, the Citizen Science Teaching Fellows Program is having a big impact on the lives of Bardians on campus and after graduation.
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=170

Bard student Elena Botts ’18 has been named the inaugural Serota fellow at the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. The Kevin Serota Fellowship at the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College was established in June by Kendall (KC) Serota ’04 and his parents, Kim Blaine Serota and Karen Ann Serota, in tribute to KC’s brother, Kevin Daniel Serota, who died in December 2015. The Kevin Serota Fellowship at the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College honors Kevin’s passion and aptitude in the field of drone technology and creation. The fellowship is a semester-long, intensive research position awarded to a student who has demonstrated exceptional research and writing skills, as well as an academic or professional interest in unmanned systems technology and associated issues. The Serota fellow will support a variety of original research initiatives, including both short-term and long-term research assignments, and is expected to work independently under strict deadlines. In addition to assigned work, the Serota fellow will be invited to submit proposals for original research projects to be considered for publication by the Center for the Study of the Drone.
 
Kevin Daniel Serota was Lead System Engineer at Detroit Aircraft Corporation (DAC), where he engineered, created, and built drones professionally. Kevin’s interest in drones started as a hobbyist working with aerial photography, and his passion led him into his career at DAC. He became an invaluable team member and worked on projects including the creation of drones that went to Africa to aid in antipoaching efforts and a research drone that was shipped to Antarctica. Kevin was most interested in the drone’s capacity for good. Kevin’s brother, Kendall (KC) Serota ’04, has been a member of the Bard College Alumni/ae Association’s Board of Governors since 2011. He currently serves as Vice President and Cochair of the Diversity Committee. KC and his family believe that Bard’s interdisciplinary perspective on drones honors the memory of Kevin’s interests and was instrumental in their decision to create the Kevin Serota Fellowship Fund at the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.
 
Elena Botts’18 is a Global and International Studies major with a concentration in Mind, Brain, and Behavior at Bard College. Since graduation from high school in 2014, Elena has interned and worked for local nonprofits and political campaigns, including working for local officials in the school board and state legislatures. In 2015, she interned at Lawyers for Human Rights, where she did policy research and directly assisted refugees. As a visual artist and poet, Elena explores how the psyche can influence society. Her work has been published in dozens of literary magazines and two poetry books and exhibited in local galleries.

On October 25, 37 BEAM alumni/ae and their families visited Bard High School Early College Queens for a tour and admission exam. The Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM) is an intensive program for New York City middle school students with an aptitude in math who wouldn't otherwise have access to advanced courses. They come to Bard and other colleges for three weeks every summer, followed by a robust mentoring program that helps them apply to high schools and colleges. Bard students and alumni/ae serve as faculty, BEAM students often continue on to the Bard High School Early Colleges, and this year a BEAM graduate came to Bard as a member of the class of 2020.

Kelsey O'Brien's last-minute decision to come to Bard has turned out to be a life-changing choice for her and a program-changing choice for women's soccer. O'Brien, perhaps the best keeper ever to play for the women's soccer team at Bard, has spent summers on campus working for Professor Brooke Jude in the biology lab. Now she's working her way back into peak form on the field after a knee injury and trying to decide whether to pursue a career in research or medicine after graduation.
http://www.bardathletics.com/awards.aspx?aow=17

Every year the Mid-Hudson Section of the American Chemical Society recognizes undergraduate achievements in the field of chemistry with its College Recognition Awards. This year's winner from Bard College was Kyan Jain '16.
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/life/2016/08/29/good-life/89537894/

The Michèle Dominy Award was established in 2015 to honor Professor Dominy’s 14 years of service as the dean of the college. Professor Deady, the first recipient of the award, is described in the letter of nomination as “an exemplar of Bard’s intellectual mission and dedication.”
http://www.bard.edu/doc/events/

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York State will award $1 million each to Bard College, University at Buffalo, and Broome Community College as part of the “Energy to Lead Competition.” The competition was announced by the Governor in October 2015 and challenged student-led coalitions from New York colleges and universities across the state to develop plans for local clean energy projects on campus and in their communities. The announcement was made Monday at Bard College.
http://www.bard.edu/news/features/?id=152

Joseph Danquah, mathematics faculty member at Bard High School Early College Manhattan, was honored at the White House on May 3 as an outstanding teacher. Danquah was one of five teachers nationally who received a special invitation from President Barack Obama to join an event for National Teacher Appreciation Day that honored the National Teacher of the Year, the State Teacher of the Year from each state, and other outstanding educators from around the country. Danquah was nominated to go to the White House by the organization Math for America after being named a winner of the 2015 Sloan Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics and as a 2014 New York Times Teachers Who Make a Difference Honoree.