News

Arthur Holland Michel cautions that the state of consumer drone regulation is “like the early days of the automobile, with people speeding and not knowing what they were doing."

Bard alumnus Joseph Silovsky '91 mixes theater and robotics in his new play, Send for the Million Men.

After being trapped in the 2010 earthquake, Brelsford has gone on to raise money for the people of Haiti, continue her research, and compete as a paraclimber.

If the NCAA kept statistics that bridged different sports, Joanna Regan '15 might be in a category all by herself. Heading into the basketball season, this three-sport star had competed in 193 NCAA games, between soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. If she plays every game of the one basketball season and one lacrosse season she has left in her college career, she'll leave Bard with 232 games played.

Arthur Holland Michel, Bard alumnus and codirector of Bard's Center for the Study of the Drone, weighs in on this Google Hangout.

Research Professor Gidon Eshel recently presented his findings at Bard, showing that existing power lines can meet the Hudson Valley's electricity demand well into the future.

On Tuesday, November 18, the Bard Math Circle will host the middle-school-level American Mathematics Competition (AMC 8) exam. In its third year at Bard, this 25-question, 40-minute exam contains engaging math problems that are challenging at the middle-school level, and is intended to inspire, promote enthusiasm, and foster a healthy attitude toward mathematics. Students will be exposed to the richness of middle-school-level mathematics at a deeper level than is ordinarily encountered in the schools.

Jennifer Cordi, associate professor of biology at Bard High School Early College Manhattan, has been selected to receive a 2014 Sloan Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics from the Fund for the City of New York. Professor Cordi joins six other extraordinary New York City public high school science and mathematics teachers in receiving this prestigious award. The prize carries a $5,000 award for Professor Cordi and a $2,500 award for the BHSEC Biology Program, to be presented in a ceremony at the Great Hall at New York City's Cooper Union on Wednesday, December 3. Professor Cordi teaches evolutionary biology, botany, and general biology. Her research focuses on Middle Devonian fossil plants and the evolutionary patterns of vascular plant groups. She is a fellow of the New York Academy for Teachers.

What's behind the increased popularity of gluten-free diets? Environmental and urban studies professor Michael Specter investigates.

Every summer, young people who might not otherwise have access to math enrichment come to Bard for the Summer Program for Mathematical Problem Solving.

Gidon Eshel has shown that the existing infrastructure can meet the region's power needs well into the future. He will discuss his findings again at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Campus Center.

What makes herpes viruses so difficult to kill? Biophysicist Z. Hong Zhou may have found the answer in a layer of microscopic chain mail, writes Bard biology alumna Diana Crow '13.

Neuroscientist Stephanie Kadison, a biology professor at Bard High School Early College Queens, received a STEM Hero Award from the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) during the United Nations 69th Annual General Assembly on September 22. Professor Kadison was recognized as an exceptional educator who inspires young people to enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She was a member of the first cohort of the NYAS's Afterschool STEM Mentoring Fellowship Program, in which she taught genetics to underserved middle school students, an experience that inspired her to become a teacher. The inaugural STEM Hero Awards were given to 10 individuals. Other honorees included Datin Seri Hajah Rosmah binti Mansor, the first lady of Malaysia; Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda; and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union. The NYAS award ceremony accompanied the launch of their Global STEM Alliance, a public-private partnership that brings together governments, companies, schools and NGOs to increase access to STEM education around the world.

Dan Gettinger, Bard alumnus and codirector of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, talks about The Drone Primer: A Compendium of the Key Issues.

Biologist Felicia Keesing's research focuses on the cascading effects of ecosystem disruption, particularly how decreased species diversity can lead to an increase in infectious disease.

The Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College announces the release of The Drone Primer: A Compendium of the Key Issues, an online and print publication about the basic facts, issues, questions, and patterns related to unmanned systems in military, civilian, and commercial contexts. The Drone Primer is a comprehensive and concise handbook covering fundamental themes, questions, and facts about drones in technology, history, law, strategy, and culture. The report includes a portfolio of drone art, a first for a publication of this kind. The primer is free and available to the public.

Felicia Keesing and colleagues simulated a large mammal extinction by fencing off areas of African savanna. Now that research is fuel for speculation about the future of humanity.

Wallace Benjamin Flint and L. May Hawver Professor of Chemistry Craig Anderson has been teaching at Bard 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.

In 2011 he was awarded two major prizes for his work: a $198,000 award from the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program of the Chemistry Division of the National Science Foundation, and the prestigious and selective Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, recognizing both his scholarly research with undergraduates as well as his compelling commitment to teaching, and providing a research grant of $60,000. Mark Halsey, associate dean of the College, notes that “Professor Anderson has a long track record in engaging undergraduate students with exciting and fruitful research,” stressing that many of Anderson’s students go on to graduate study at leading research universities. Professor Anderson’s research is centered on the study of transition metal complexes with general applications toward bioinorganic and catalytic systems, and 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 the Society of Chemical Industry Award.

Felicia Keesing, David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, has been on the Bard faculty since 2000. She has a B.S. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Keesing is a community ecologist who studies the consequences of interactions among species.

Since 1995, she has studied how African savannas function when the large, charismatic animals like elephants, buffaloes, zebras, and giraffes disappear. She also studies how interactions among species influence the probability that humans will be exposed to infectious diseases. Keesing and her biology department colleague, Mike Tibbetts, currently have two grants from the National Science Foundation to study emerging tick-borne diseases of humans called anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Keesing also studies Lyme disease, another tick-borne disease. She is particularly interested in how species diversity affects disease transmission. Keesing has also received research grants from the National Geographic Society, National Institutes of Health, and Environmental Protection Agency, among others. She has been awarded the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2000). She is the coeditor of Infectious Disease Ecology: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease and of Disease on Ecosystems (2008) and has contributed to such publications as Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology Letters, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Ecology, BioScience, Conservation Biology, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, and Canadian Journal of Zoology, among others.

Rudd Davis helped create Swarm, a product that tracks foot traffic in stores, helping small business owners streamline staffing and improve sales.

"The Gulf between the truth about G.M.O.s and what people say about them keeps growing wider," writes Michael Specter.

In "Science Literacy: A Key to Unlocking a Fully Engaged Citizenry," Biology professor and Citizen Science Program director Amy Savage discusses the program's success at Bard.

As hobbyists and companies take to the sky with drones, Arthur Holland Michel writes that we need a more intelligent debate about how to regulate unmanned aircraft.

Research Professor Gidon Eshel's new study shows that the environmental impact of raising beef is 10 times that of raising other livestock.

One of the experiments done by middle schoolers at Bard MAT's math and science camp in July involved bungee jumping Barbie and Ken dolls from the Reem-Kayden Center balcony.

As the world's worst Ebola epidemic yet spreads through western Africa, Professor Specter calls for an improved global system to address future health disasters.

New research by Bard professor Gidon Eshel and colleagues indicates that beef production has a much greater environmental impact than pork or poultry.

How are colleges and universities using drones? For art projects, library delivery systems, and more. Bard's Center for the Study of the Drone is front and center.

The Bard Center for Civic Engagement announces more than 50 winners for the 2014 Community Action Award program, which supports student efforts to engage with communities locally, nationally, and internationally by providing funding for participation in internships that address issues impacting people around the world.

If you want to help the environment, cutting down on beef is a good place to start, says Gidon Eshel, lead author on a new study looking at the impacts of raising meat.

As seniors, Arthur Holland Michel ’13 and Dan Gettinger ’13 created the Center for the Study of the Drone, an interdisciplinary research and arts project based at Bard. Now the center is becoming a leader in the national conversation about the social, economic, ethical, and political implications of drone use.

During the week of July 14, the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching (Bard MAT) Program is hosting 25 7th–grade students and seven teachers from Hyde Park Central School District for a week-long STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) camp that will promote inquiry-based learning in line with the Common Core Standards. The 7th graders from Haviland Middle School will engage in learning experiences that promote disciplinary understanding, anchored in writing, reflection, discussion and collaboration.

In the Bardian

By Dan Gettinger ’13 and Arthur Holland Michel ’13

As seniors, Arthur Holland Michel ’13 and Dan Gettinger ’13 created the Center for the Study of the Drone, an interdisciplinary research and arts project based at Bard. The idea was to bring together academics from a variety of disciplines to discuss, study, and learn about unmanned and autonomous systems technology and its implications for warfare, law enforcement, and other civilian applications. Their project has evolved to include seminars, lectures, debates, roundtable discussions at Bard and in New York City, a blog, and a weekly news roundup that Thomas Keenan, associate professor of comparative literature and director of Bard’s Human Rights Project, calls “one of the most authoritative sources anywhere for news about drones of all sorts.”

Gettinger’s interest in drones began in his sophomore year, when he took a seminar taught by Walter Russell Mead, James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities. Gettinger was intrigued by Thucydides’s account of the Peloponnesian War and how choices in weapons platforms affected the strategies of the ancient city-states. His Senior Project explored drones and the changing nature of modern warfare. Holland Michel, a double major in historical studies and written arts, broached the idea of a center for studying drones to Gettinger. In fall 2012, the two assembled a faculty team and helped design a course on drones that met with overwhelming student response, and the center took flight.

At the time we first talked about creating the Center for the Study of the Drone, U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen were peaking. Al Jazeera and the New York Times were regularly running stories about these operations, which the CIA was refusing to acknowledge. Drones hadn’t become a media sensation yet, but a public debate on the issue had begun. Advocates claimed that drones were more precise, surgical, and humane than the alternatives, while human rights activists decried the loss of civilian life, the psychological trauma of living under drones, and the threat that drones pose to privacy. The debate seemed inarticulate, misinformed, and immobilized by its own narrowness. This, we soon figured out, was no accident. Nobody really understood the drone—nobody really even knew what a drone was.

Defining the word “drone” is an exceedingly complex challenge. In the public imagination, a drone is a weaponized, unmanned aircraft that watches, and engages, members of extremist organizations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa. But from a technological perspective, this definition is too narrow. An unmanned submarine is technically a drone, too. One of our goals was to help broaden the public definition of drones to include all kinds of unmanned vehicles, be they airborne, land borne, or aquatic. As we understand it, a drone is a machine that uses sensors to collect information about its environment, and then uses actuators to either manipulate its own location and orientation in that environment or manipulate the environment itself. Some drones require a human controller to be in the loop; others can respond to their environment autonomously, according to their programming. All drones, no matter their shape or size, are irresistible, fascinating, uncanny, and somewhat terrifying; we want to find out why, and how, the combination of appeal and fear influences the public conversation. This is becoming increasingly important, as drones are not just for foreign operations anymore.

In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration plans to create licensing procedures and air traffic rules for unmanned aerial vehicles in United States airspace. Unmanned technology is set to become an enormous industry, with some insider optimists predicting that the sector could be worth up to $400 billion in the next few years. More realistic estimates range between $13 billion and $85 billion. Whatever the dollar figure, demand for drones is expected to be extremely high. A farmer who previously operated a $3 million helicopter to survey his crops for $6,000 an hour will be able to run a $20,000 multirotor drone for a few hundred dollars per day (agriculture is expected to account for 80 percent of domestic acquisitions). Police departments will turn to unmanned aerial vehicles as a cheap and effective alternative to manned helicopters. NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) already fly military hand-me-down drones to survey animal migratory patterns and weather changes. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection bureau maintains a fleet of drones, which it lends to police departments, the FBI, and U.S. Department of Justice agencies.

The unmanned vehicle industry is growing despite the fact that the use of drones by law enforcement agencies is controversial. In this era of pervasive surveillance, the idea of government agencies acquiring yet another highly capable surveillance platform to monitor the domestic population is unpopular. Fears of an era of unbounded aerial surveillance have prompted state and local legislatures across the nation to pass bills that curtail aerial surveillance by both private citizens and government organizations. But drone technology, like the Internet, has developed far more quickly than the policies that are meant to regulate it. Driven by the promise of high profits, the industry is developing ever more sophisticated drones, from solar-powered drones that can remain airborne for up to five years to drones the size of insects. Each new drone is accompanied by a set of new ethical questions and policy challenges.

When Amazon announced in December that the company was developing a system for drones to deliver packages under five pounds to Amazon customers in 30 minutes, the prospect of large-scale domestic drone use departed from the realm of hobbyists and futurists and entered mainstream society. By putting its weight behind the controversial idea of domestic drones, Amazon thrust the drone debate into high gear, and highlighted the need for an informed policy response. Crucially, the Amazon announcement put pressure on the FAA to develop a domestic drone integration plan—an extremely complex task. The announcement mattered because it will require society to develop a framework for understanding the implications of unmanned technology beyond the current limited scope of the drone debate. What remains to be seen is whether Amazon’s drone delivery system will actually work in time for the prospective 2015 launch date. Critics note a long list of safety concerns. For example, many believe that Amazon drones can’t possibly work in crowded urban environments. Nevertheless, Amazon’s backing could help the technology and regulatory communities resolve lingering safety and privacy concerns. The question seems to be “when will this happen?”
rather than “will this ever happen?”

This past fall, Keith O’Hara, assistant professor of computer science, taught (De-)Coding the Drone. The four-credit class, which we designed with Professor O’Hara, combines hands-on training in unmanned systems programming with a humanities-based reading list and guest speakers from philosophy, the arts, history, and political science. The fall also saw a formal debate on drones (“Resolved: Drones Do More Good Than Harm”) with Bard students, cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and faculty from both institutions.

In a bid to help the public organize the mass of information and media buzz surrounding this subject, we created the Weekly Roundup, a short, accessible list of the latest news, analysis, commentary, art, and tech from the drone world. Each week, the roundup goes out to an expanding community of interested citizens, researchers, pilots, artists, journalists, and writers. The blog features news analysis, portfolios, and interviews, while the website is a platform for historical, cultural, and aesthetic perspectives on current events. The interviews on the website attempt to bring unheard voices into the conversation about drones. In late fall, for example, we interviewed Natalie Jeremijenko, an artist and engineer who uses unmanned technology to create environmental solutions, and is considered a leading voice on the intersection of art, environmentalism, and technology. In 1997 she created the first-ever piece of “drone art,” flying a small, camera-equipped drone over large tech campuses in Silicon Valley.

The center’s efforts have been praised by a number of influential people and organizations. When Dan wrote about how the German Pirate Party (a socially liberal party favoring Internet freedom and political transparency, among other issues) flew a drone toward German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a campaign rally, the story was distributed widely among the Pirate Party and its supporters. Our work has been quoted by Bloomberg News, and featured in Slate, USA Today, Wired, Artforum, and elsewhere. In January and February, we cosponsored two panel discussions at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. We are also providing research for the filmmaker Carl Colby’s forthcoming feature documentary on domestic weaponized drone use.

Initiatives to expand the center’s programs include concepts for tech literacy programs at Bard’s partner institutions, including the Bard High School Early Colleges, and development of an online archive for research about drones. We are confident that, through this collective enterprise, the public will be better equipped to face the social, economic, ethical, and political challenges that lie ahead.

Read the spring 2014 issue of the Bardian:

Though Hamas's new drone program may not have an immediate impact on the conflict with Israel, drones could play a bigger role should Israel send ground troops into Gaza, according to Gettinger.

The Summer Program for Mathematical Problem Solving (SPMPS) is underway at Bard College for the fourth year. Forty rising eighth graders from underserved New York City middle schools attend the program in order to study math at a high level, above and beyond what they have access to at home. Many of the participating schools have partnered with Bard's Master of Arts in Teaching Program (MAT) and currently have MAT alumni/ae as teachers. SPMPS follows up with the students throughout the year and helps them navigate New York City's high school application process. SPMPS students have gone on to competitive high schools and extracurricular programs; seven participants have been admitted to the Bard High School Early Colleges.

Forty math teachers are on campus this week for the second annual Mid-Hudson Math Teachers Circle Summer Workshop, which will be held in the Reem-Kayden Center. The Mid-Hudson Math Teachers Circle is a partnership between Bard College and Ulster BOCES that creates enrichment programs for middle school math teachers in the region. This year's facilitators include Beth Goldberg MAT '06, Joy Sebesta '13, MAT '15, and professors Mary Krembs, Lauren Rose, Csilla Szabo, and Japheth Wood. Goldberg, Rose, and Sebesta are on the program's steering committee, as is Jeff Suzuki, former director of quantitative support at Bard. Click here to view the full schedule.

Biology professor Felicia Keesing discusses the results of her new research, which show that the rate of coinfection in ticks is higher than previously thought.

Accomplished young astronomer Daniel Godinez is coming to Bard in the fall on a Distinguished Scientist-Scholar Award​—a four-year full tuition scholarship.

Bard College announces the appointment of Wilmot James, notable South African Member of Parliament and academic, as Senior Visiting Fellow at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and the Humanities at Bard College. James will be in residence at the College from April 2 to 12, 2015, and will offer a series of lectures on topics ranging from evolution, ethical considerations in the use of genetic information, and South African politics and history. He will also work with the Hannah Arendt Center to host a dynamic weeklong working group on current politics in South Africa.

People who get bitten by a blacklegged tick have a higher-than-expected chance of being exposed to more than one pathogen at the same time, according to research by Bard biologist Felicia Keesing and colleagues. The new study, published online today in the journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by scientists at Bard College, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

Experimental Humanities Director Maria Cecire talks about how the new concentration draws on innovative methods to help students explore the human condition in the digital age.

Arthur Holland Michel, Bard graduate and cofounder of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard, reports on the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International convention.

Bard biology professors Brooke Jude and Amy Savage report on how the Citizen Science program gives Bard students a foundation in the scientific method while also engaging them in science education and community service activities.

The loss of large mammals from African savannas can have unexpected and often undesirable consequences for the people and livestock that depend on them, according to a new study published in the journal BioScience. Scientists from Bard College and the University of California, Davis, experimentally removed large grazing mammals from plots of savanna land in Kenya where both livestock and wildlife are abundant. That removal set in motion a cascade of consequences. “The results of this long-term study show that preserving large mammals in African savannas can be a win-win for conservation and for human welfare,” says lead author Felicia Keesing, a biology professor at Bard.

Bard College has been awarded a three-year $500,000 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation to assemble a microscopy suite consisting of four lasers, two optical microscopes, and two scanning probe microscopes to enhance undergraduate science programs. The new science equipment builds upon Bard’s recent capital investment in a scanning electron microscope and will reside in the Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Center for Science and Computation, which opened in the fall of 2007 to house the College’s biology, computer science, and chemistry programs. This high standard of scientific equipment provides undergraduate students with enriched training opportunities in testing experimental hypotheses and conducting inquiry-based research, while allowing faculty to do research critical for advancement in their respective fields.

Citizen Science is an innovative program for all first-year students at Bard. Through three weeks of intensive study during January intersession, students develop a core understanding of both the conduct and the content of science. This foundation allows them as citizens to grapple with the ever-increasing number of national and global issues influenced by science.

Bard High School Early College's Steven Mazie takes a look at an app that helps users identify their happiest Facebook friends, and considers what Aristotle might have to say about friendship in the digital age.

Bard College President Leon Botstein and Pomona College President David Oxtoby will discuss “The Future of Liberal Arts” in a live and interactive global conversation on Google+ Hangout, on Thursday, April 3, from 6:30 to 7 p.m. EST. Presidents Botstein and Oxtoby and will address the impacts of technology and globalization on higher education and dispel some of the myths about career opportunities for liberal arts students. Participants may submit questions in advance or during the conversation by joining the Google+ Hangout or via email. Use the hashtag #futureofliberalarts on Google+ and Twitter to join the conversation.

Bard graduate and current Bard Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) student Joy Sebesta ’13 organized the presentation of the National Museum of Mathematics traveling exhibition, Math Midway 2 Go, at the Marlboro Elementary School in Ulster County on March 5. This traveling version of the museum’s hands-on math exhibits offered students in grades 3 to 5 an opportunity to enjoy math, engage their minds, and de-stress before the upcoming state tests.