News

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has named Felicia Keesing, Bard College’s David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, as one of its 2019 Fellows. The Society's fellowship program recognizes the many ways in which its members contribute to ecological research and discovery, communication, education and pedagogy, and management and policy. Fellows are members who have made outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA, including, but not restricted to, those that advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, non-profit organizations, and the broader society. The Society cited Keesing for “pioneering research in the ecology of infectious diseases and community ecology of African savannas, and pedagogical research that she has integrated into a vision and practice of college science teaching for enhancing scientific literacy.”

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. 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 also studies Lyme disease, another tick-borne disease. She is particularly interested in how species diversity affects disease transmission. More recently, she has focused on science literacy for college students, and she led the re-design of Bard College’s Citizen Science program. Keesing has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 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, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology Letters, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Ecology, BioScience, Conservation Biology, and Trends in Ecology & Evolution, among others.

The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world's largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 9,000 member Society publishes five journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach, and education initiatives. The Society's annual meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. For more information, visit esa.org.

 

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.

Daphany Rose Sanchez—BHSEC Queens alumna, Class of 2010—has been named to the Grist 50 list of top innovators for her work bridging affordable housing and energy efficiency.

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.

Before leaving for winter break last December, all first-year students at Bard College were given a test tube and asked to take it home and collect a sample from a freshwater pond, lake, or stream; take a photo of its source, and bring it back to campus as part of Bard’s 2019 Citizen Science program. The program, an intensive science immersion required of all Bard first-year students, aims to develop science literacy through hands-on, real-world course work and projects. The students’ water samples—collected from nearly 400 sites across the globe—were a main component of this year’s curriculum, which tackled urgent, present-day questions related to water. Students began an ongoing effort to test, plate, photograph, and map the samples, in part to document a violacein-producing bacterium that is central to the research of Bard biology professor Brooke Jude. Photos of the collection sites, as well as many of the petri dish platings of the water samples, were turned into an interactive map that will be used by both Jude and future Citizen Science students.

Mary Krembs, director of the Citizen Science Program, said the focus on water provided an ideal subject that is both part of students’ daily lives and a pressing issue in many communities. Students were asked not only to examine the properties of water and how those properties influence the contamination (and decontamination) of drinking water but also to consider the extent to which problems of contamination go beyond pure science and are affected by social, historical, and political factors. Krembs said 479 students participated in the program and were divided into 28 sections, taught by 28 faculty, each focusing on a different aspect of the science of water issues, from sampling and lab testing to education and communication.
“We’re challenging students to grapple with what it means to be scientifically literate, the role citizens play in weighing in on important scientific issues, how citizens can find the scientific information they need in order to meet the challenges they face, the skills they need to adequately and thoroughly interpret scientific claims, and the ways in which the conduct, analysis, and interpretation of science can be influenced by political and other potentially distorting factors,” said Krembs. “To be literate, students need to know how science is done, vetted, communicated, and taught.”

In addition to its valuable role in this year’s Citizen Science program, the sampling, plating, and mapping will be essential to Jude’s research, which focuses on cataloging and characterizing violacein-producing bacteria to determine if they can be used to treat invasive species infections, such as those currently decimating amphibian populations. Jude said future Citizen Science students will be gathering new water samples, and students in the research section of the program in 2020 will have an opportunity to characterize isolates from this year's collection.
 “Up until now, my study site and focus area has been largely contained to the Hudson Valley waterways, and some surrounding sites in the East Coast,” said Jude. “The research we are conducting during Citizen Science has allowed my research program to expand greatly the sites for water collection, via both the student participation as Citizen Scientists and members of the research team. We have plated water samples from over 19 countries and 30 US states, and currently have 299 violacein-producing strains to add to my data set to be further analyzed.”

Krembs gave credit to Bard Systems Administrator Hayden Sartoris ’18, a computer science graduate, for writing the software that enabled the mapping project to come to life.

Citizen Science is an innovative program for all first-year students at Bard College. Through two 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. The first-year experience at Bard is designed as an immersive introduction to the liberal arts and critical thinking across disciplines. This experience serves as a foundation for all students as they pursue their particular area of interest and encounter issues driven by science that permeate society and impact their daily lives. The Citizen Science Program is a dynamic and challenging learning experience aimed at elevating the ability of each student to understand and apply scientific thought and tools. The program emphasizes the methodology and critical thinking skills used by scientists, and their application. During Citizen Science, students learn by doing. Students are fully engaged in problem solving and must learn to identify, obtain, and digest the types of scientific evidence needed to make informed decisions. Citizen Science mirrors what it is to be a scientist. For more information, visit citizenscience.bard.edu.
 

By Sarah Wallock ’19

If you’re passing through the Reem-Kayden Center on a given Saturday afternoon, you may run into a group of middle school girls, chatting about math games and examining the origami designs that they just made in the Girls Math Club. Or, if you’re a patron of the Tivoli Library, you may come across a STEAM Workshop using soap and food coloring to make marbled milk paper and learn about how calcium affects saturation rates. Both programs are hosted by STEAM Explorers, an initiative of Bard’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and Math Program. STEAM Explorers has two components: Bard Science Outreach and the Bard Math Circle. Together, they work to create experiences and design experiments that inspire wonder, spark curiosity, and challenge old ideas.

Sarah deVeer ’17 volunteered for STEAM Explorers as a Bard student; now, she runs the program as the science outreach coordinator. This year she has worked to expand the program beyond local partners in Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Kingston, and Tivoli to communities across the Hudson Valley such as in Beacon, Albany, and Hudson. Sarah also worked to revamp the curriculum, and to good effect: John Kemnitzer, the principal of Bulkeley Middle School in Rhinebeck, recently said that this year’s program was the best one yet.
“One aspect that I really love about Bard’s STEAM Explorers is that we don’t charge the schools or community for our programs,” says deVeer. “We offer these programs because we genuinely believe that Bard is a private institution operating in the public interest.” Working with six STEM fellows and 30 engagement mentors, STEAM Explorers collaborates with 12 partners in schools and community organizations throughout the Hudson Valley. DeVeer also coordinates science engagement efforts as part of Bard’s Citizen Science Program and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Engagement. The most important part of discussing issues such as water quality and natural resource use with students, she notes, is how STEAM Explorers is “starting the conversation with the next generation.”

The Bard Math Circle was started in 2007 by mathematics students and faculty at Bard, to address the dearth of math enrichment opportunities in the Mid-Hudson Valley. It began with a monthly program at the Tivoli library, where the organizers brought puzzles, games, and toys that emphasized problem-solving skills and making math fun for all ages. Students attending the library programs reported doing better in their math courses at school because of their involvement with the project.
From the outset, Bard undergraduates have been an integral part of the Math Circle, running and developing programs, leading hands-on workshops, and mentoring K-12 students. The Math Circle has expanded over time to include programs at several libraries, schools, and community centers; math contests and national math competitions; programs to empower girls in math; a Rubik’s Cube Club; special events for teachers and senior citizens; and the most popular program, a weeklong summer CAMP (Creative, Analytical Math Program) for middle schoolers, run primarily by Bard faculty, alumni/ae, undergraduates, and local high school volunteers who have taken part in Math Circle programs. One parent whose daughter participated in the Girls Math Club recently commented, “My child was always happy after meetings, and she liked the girls-only space to learn and explore.” Undergraduate leaders credit their involvement with the Math Circle as one of the highlights of their Bard experience. The majority of Math Circle student leaders choose to pursue a career in teaching after graduation.

STEAM Explorers started in 2010 as an effort to bring science and math to area students in new and creative ways. Bard Science Outreach fellows and Bard Math Circle faculty and volunteers work with more than 4,000 children and teens throughout the Hudson Valley each year. Partnering with local schools, they connect what students are learning in the classroom with real-world issues, especially those facing the Hudson Valley region.

During the month of January, Science Outreach fellows worked with six different school districts to host a Day of Science. The CCE outreach team conducted science experiments around the theme of Hudson River watershed health, from off-campus events at Chancellor Elementary in Rhinebeck and Smith Intermediate School in Hudson, to on-campus events for local middle school students. Bard students led activities that showed the importance of local aquifers to the ecosystem. Participants tested the salinity of the river water, played a PCB board game, explored pH filters, and demonstrated water conservation through interactive activities.

STEAM Explorers works to provide real-world applications in all its experiments, like dissecting owl pellets to classify rodent skeletons and building marshmallow towers to learn effective design and construction mechanisms. “My favorite experiment was when we played with owl pellets!” says Junnaria, a sixth-grade student in Perfect Ten, an after-school program in Hudson that empowers and mentors young girls. “It was so cool finding all the bones of the animals! This [experiment] has made me more curious about nature and biology.” Melissa, a seventh grader from Perfect Ten, comments, “I really liked the marshmallow tower. It showed me how to plan measurements for buildings. It’s cool to find out that math and science are in everything, even marshmallows.”

Antonio Gansley-Ortiz ’18, a science outreach engagement mentor, reflects on how his work with the STEAM Explorers continues to influence him: “In April while out having dinner with [another mentor], I ran into one of my middle school students. She recognized us and pointed us out to her parents. The entire family then came over and thanked us for the experience. They also mentioned the student hadn’t stopped talking about her excitement with science. That moment was incredibly fulfilling. I want to help provide that positive experience to other students in the community.”

STEAM Explorers Initiatives

• Day of Science brings eighth graders from local school districts to the Bard campus to engage with Bard science fellows, faculty, and undergraduates in a series of themed science stations.  
• Girls Math Club for middle school girls run by Bard female math majors.
• Math Circle Library Programs include puzzles, games, and fun math activities for upper elementary and middle school students.
• Rubik’s Cube Club teaches kids how to master the Rubik’s Cube.
• Science Fairs connect Black Student Organization fellows and volunteers to mentor local students preparing to enter school science fairs.
• Science for Kids brings in-school, hands-on science experiments to K-5 students by using household products in new ways.
• Science Saturday brings children and families together with Bard students at local libraries and community centers to participate in science enrichment activities.
• STEM Night Out invites young students throughout the Hudson Valley to an evening of fun, hands-on scientific experiments led by science fellows and Bard first-year students.

Visit the Bard Math Circle and STEAM Explorers to learn more.
 

Blom treats the well-documented Little Ice Age of the 17th century “as an experiment in what can happen to a society when its baseline conditions, all ultimately dependent upon the weather, are shaken,” writes Miller.

Chelsea Mozen MBA ’15 joined the inaugural class of Bard’s MBA in Sustainability program in the fall of 2012 because she wanted to make clean energy a priority in the business world. Now she's heading up a first-of-its kind carbon offset program at Etsy, which she originally conceptualized for her Capstone Project at Bard. Last week, Mozen was featured in Bloomberg, Fast Company, and Wired for the carbon-neutral delivery program she’s leading. Etsy will now purchase carbon credits to compensate for the impact of its shipping operations, a bold move that Mozen hopes will shift the e-commerce industry.

During her time at Bard, Mozen held an internship with Etsy’s sustainability team, where she began to develop an idea for solarizing Etsy sellers. This way, the company could offset the pollution coming from transport and work toward their goal of net-zero emissions. Mozen proposed that Etsy use carbon finance to encourage their network of sellers, employees, and stakeholders to install solar energy in their homes. Etsy was looking to transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2020 when Mozen pitched her climate strategy. After Mozen’s internship ended, she was hired full time as senior energy and carbon specialist.

Since then, Mozen has gone on to expand Etsy’s sustainability strategy. In her interview with a correspondent at Bloomberg, Mozen said: “The free shipping we’re used to actually isn’t free. When people think of the environmental impact from e-commerce, they immediately jump to packaging—but emissions from shipping has a big environmental cost.” She adds, “Even though we don’t directly control that shipping, we feel responsible for it because we’ve enabled it. We want consumers to know what responsible e-commerce can look like.”

Climate change experts have lauded Etsy and Mozen’s bold approach. Inquiries are arising about whether other businesses like Amazon will follow suit. “This is a solid move, and encouraging,” says Adam Klauber, director of sustainable aviation at the Rocky Mountain Institute (Wired).  “What I love about Etsy Solar is that it’s really about shared value creation for our community,” said Mozen. “By working together we can drive responsible solutions to our collective impact.”

Learn more about Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability.
 

The recommendations, made by the Saw Kill Watershed Community with data and support from the Bard Water Lab, include adoption of stormwater runoff rules to maintain watershed health.

Professor Hulbert lectured on his research on memory dynamics, direct suppression, and PTSD.

At age seven, Bard alum Ingrid Stolt ’15 fell in love with the magnets on her parents’ refrigerator: “I used to pretend that one magnet was a magic wand that was causing the other to move back and forth and rotate through supernatural powers. Magnetism seemed magical because it was so mysterious, yet I wanted to understand how it worked.” Today, she's a fourth-year doctoral student in physics, helping to develop practical uses for superconductivity at Northwestern's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory.

“The U.S. military and any military has to prepare for an operating environment in which enemy drones are not just occasional, but omnipresent,” writes Gettinger.

Hebron, who studied philosophy and film at Bard, points out a key connection between philosophy of language and machine learning: making sense of words in their context.

“Ultimately, the targeted use of disinformation as a political tactic will be to destroy public trust at scale, as voters are confronted again and again with campaigns refracted through social media platforms awash with sketchy news sources and fake accounts.”

Raspberry Simpson, Bard College at Simon’s Rock alumna, Class of 2008, is pursuing her PhD at MIT and working on the development of fusion power.

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."

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

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. Each year, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the top-producing institutions for the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The Chronicle of Higher Education publishes the lists annually.
 
Six students from Bard received Fulbright awards for academic year 2018–2019.  “We are extraordinarily proud of our Fulbright Scholars, who are studying chemistry in Ireland and Islamic radicalization in Kosovo, and teaching English in Argentina, Malaysia, Georgia, and Germany. They epitomize the intellectual engagement, global awareness, and curiosity about the world that is the hallmark of a Bard education,” said David Shein, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Studies.

“We thank the colleges and universities across the United States that we are recognizing as Fulbright top-producing institutions for their role in increasing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” said Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “We are proud of all the Fulbright students and scholars from these institutions who represent America abroad, increasing and sharing their skills and knowledge on a global stage.”

The Fulbright competition is administered at Bard College through Dean of Studies David Shein ([email protected], 845.758.7045), and Assistant Dean of Studies Kaet Heupel ([email protected], 845.758.7454).
 
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 participants—chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential—with the opportunity to exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Over 1,900 U.S. students, artists, and young professionals in more than 100 different fields of study are offered Fulbright Program grants to study, teach English, and conduct research abroad each year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program operates in over 140 countries throughout the world.
　　　
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State, funded by an annual appropriation from the U.S. Congress to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education.
　　　　
The Fulbright Program also awards grants to U.S. scholars, teachers, and faculty to conduct research and teach overseas. In addition, some 4,000 foreign Fulbright students and scholars come to the United States annually to study, lecture, conduct research, and teach foreign languages.
 
For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit eca.state.gov/fulbright.
 

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. 

Professor Eshel comments on new research published in the Lancet that calls for a low-meat, high-grain human diet in order to have a smaller environmental impact.

Building on previous work in three dimensions, the study provides a new route to a complete boundary description of four-dimensional spacetime.

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.

“Despite growing interest and investment, countering unmanned aircraft remains a significant challenge given ... the rapid evolution of drone technology.”

Most treatments for depression focus on serotonin levels in the brain. Hodes believes that a symptom-based approach could produce more accurate diagnoses and treatments.

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. 

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. Correa and Thomas are two of 844 American undergraduate students from 335 colleges and universities across the United States to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study or intern abroad during the spring of 2019.

The Congressionally funded Gilman Program broadens the U.S. student population studying and interning abroad by providing scholarships to outstanding undergraduate Pell Grant recipients who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise study abroad. Since the program’s establishment in 2001, over 1,300 U.S. institutions have sent more than 28,000 Gilman scholars who represent the rich diversity of the United States to 145 countries around the globe.

“The Gilman Program aims to make study abroad, and its career advantages, more accessible and inclusive for American students. These diverse American students gain critical skills overseas that expand their career options and ability to make an impact in their home communities,” said Heidi Manley, the Chief of USA Study Abroad at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  She notes that the program particularly focuses on supporting first-generation college students, students in the STEM fields, ethnic and racial minority students, students with disabilities, students who are veterans, students attending community colleges and minority serving institutions, and other populations underrepresented in study abroad, as well as broadening the destinations where scholars study or intern.

The Gilman Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
 

Multimedia artist Julia Christensen took video cameras to Lake Erie to document the ice that keeps the lake healthy—and what its absence could mean in the future.

In the wake of California’s devastating wildfires, Akpan talks to scientists at the National Fire Research Laboratory about how fires spread and the concept of creating defensible space.

Bard psychology professor Justin Hulbert’s research suggests that people who have experienced early trauma develop better cognitive control skills.

Professors Gautam Sethi and Robyn Smyth have been recognized for excellence in geosciences education by the professional development organization On the Cutting Edge.

The study, reported in the journal Nature Sustainability, was led by Felicia Keesing of Bard College and Brian Allan of the University of Illinois.

Study, Reported in the Journal Nature Sustainability, Led by Felicia Keesing of Bard College and Brian Allan of the University of Illinois

A study of 3,588 square kilometers of privately owned land in central Kenya offers evidence that humans and their livestock can, in the right circumstances, share territory with zebras, giraffes, elephants and other wild mammals—to the benefit of all.

The study, reported in the journal Nature Sustainability, focused on Laikipia County in central Kenya.

“Laikipia County hosts 10 percent of Kenya’s wildlife, but none of the country’s national parks or preserves,” says University of Illinois entomology professor Brian Allan, who led the study with Bard College professor Felicia Keesing. “Most people depend on livestock for income and almost 70 percent of the land is devoted to large-scale ranching or pastoralism.” 

As human populations increase, so does the pressure to expand agricultural and pastoral areas into grasslands now dominated by wildlife.
 Wildlife tourism is another source of revenue for landowners, however, as the area hosts exotic white and black rhinoceroses, Grevy’s zebras, and painted dogs, notes Keesing.

“This is leading some to remove traditional barriers between livestock and wildlife because there are benefits to having multiple sources of income,” she says.

There are big potential downsides to allowing livestock and wildlife to share territory, however, the researchers say. Wild cats sometimes prey on domestic animals. Wildlife and livestock may compete for water and grazing resources. They also can share diseases, including tick-borne infections like East Coast fever, Q fever, and bovine anaplasmosis.

“There is no greater diversity of tick species anywhere on the earth than in eastern and southern Africa,” Allan says. “And many of the ticks are host generalists, meaning they’ll happily feed on a cow, a gazelle or a zebra—and they’ll also bite humans.”
 To determine the ecological and economic effects of raising livestock on territory also used by wildlife, the researchers surveyed tick abundance, vegetation, and the dung of large herbivorous mammals on 23 Laikipia County properties during July and August in 2014 and 2015.

“We identified the ticks and sequenced DNA of tick-borne pathogens to identify infectious agents associated with the ticks,” says Keesing. The team also interviewed managers and owners of each property about the type and abundance of livestock on their land and the percentage of revenue derived from wildlife tourism and livestock operations.

The researchers found that the practice of regularly spraying cattle with acaricides, which kill ticks without directly endangering birds or other creatures that feed on ticks, dramatically reduced the number of ticks in the grazed areas.

“Reducing the number of ticks is one key part of a strategy to reduce the transmission of tick-borne diseases,” says Keesing. “These diseases can sicken and kill people, livestock, and wildlife, which is particularly devastating in a vulnerable ecosystem experiencing many competing demands.”
 About 16 percent of the ticks collected at the study sites carried at least one bacterial or protozoal infection, the scientists found. There was no difference in the proportion of infected ticks found on properties devoted entirely to wildlife and those where wildlife and livestock were integrated. Tick abundance, however, was 75 percent lower on integrated properties than on those hosting only wildlife.

Livestock- and wildlife-related income accounted for more than 70 percent of revenue for the properties studied. Wildlife abundance was highest on properties with moderate densities of cattle—but not on land supporting sheep and goats, the researchers found. There was also less green grass on livestock-only and wildlife-only properties than on land shared by both, and the quality of the forage was highest on integrated lands.

These findings suggest that certain management practices can enhance the viability of livestock operations while also maximizing wildlife abundance and health on the same lands, the researchers say.
 “It has been the attitude of conservationists that conservation lands must be kept secure and undisturbed from human uses, including livestock production, and I can sympathize with that perspective,” Allan says. “But our data are starting to suggest that there could be circumstances where livestock-wildlife integration can work—for the benefit of all. A productive savanna ecosystem may be the perfect place to try it.”

“This project demonstrates that research on the complex interactions of natural and human systems can foster innovative management strategies to preserve environmental quality and economic productivity,” says Tom Baerwald, a program director for the National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program, which funded the research. “The findings are applicable in many parts of the United States and in other regions around the world."

The National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign support this research.

For more information, visit dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0149-2.

Professor Dueker, director of Bard’s Center for the Study of Land, Air, and Water, talks about his new report published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Bard College math professor Lauren Rose has been helping girls in the Hudson Valley develop their appreciation of math through the Bard Math Circle.

Results from coastal Maine and Namib Desert reveal common drivers of fog microbial composition, the study finds.

The study indicates that traumatic experiences might contribute to the adaption of cognitive control skills, thereby improving survivors’ later resilience.

Gettinger, codirector of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, observes that the project’s remote location has resulted in delays and cost overruns.

Results from coastal Maine and the Namibian desert reveal that fog is full of diverse microbial communities that form a viable connection between marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

Gettinger, codirector of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, weighs in on the challenges of deploying counter-drone measures “in the domestic space.”

George D. Rose ’63, distinguished visiting professor of biophysics, is known for his groundbreaking research on protein folding.

In 2011, Rose won a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany and was named Honorary Hans Fischer Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Technical University of Munich. Two years later he was appointed Temporary Eminent Scholar in the Technical University’s Department of Chemistry. Rose, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor Emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, earned his MS in mathematics and computer science and PhD in biochemistry and biophysics from Oregon State University. In 1999, he received the John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science.

Bard alumnus Troy Simon spent a childhood in and out of trouble and school. Now he’s pursuing dual master’s degrees at Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Nursing.

When Tierney Weymueller first came to Bard for Language and Thinking, she was struck by how much was happening on campus. "I remember during L&T just being so amazed that we would go to hear the orchestra, then to the museum on campus, and then to go see a play. There were just so many different things going on all at once in this space. . . . I remember that being really exciting."

Tierney grew up all over, and has lived in New Mexico, Ireland, and Canada, among other places. Bard's programs in dance and environmental science attracted her from the start. She had always lived in cities, and was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the campus and her growing love for the Hudson Valley area.

At first, Tierney decided to pursue both dance and environmental and urban studies. But she had an eye-opening experience taking a class with Eli Dueker that focused on science accessibility. She decided to major in EUS with a focus on communications. Her academic work has centered around “how to make science accessible to people, or how to make it interesting, relatable, and transparent.” At Bard, Tierney made time to be involved with the Dance Program by taking dance classes and performing in other students' Senior Projects.

Taking the Water course with Professor Dueker cemented Tierney’s interest in science communication and environmental education. For Tierney, the class was “a perfect blend of scientific components and the various social issues around water. . . . We did group experiments, and my group worked at a farm in Red Hook. Our project was water colony testing, but then we also ended up organizing a tree planting and working with this farmer. I got to see how environmental science could be more holistic: it wasn’t just me in the lab by myself; it was a way of addressing social issues that I was interested in, kind of like this whole package."

Tierney has interned with the Saw Kill Watershed Community. There, she attended the monthly community meetings and assisted in organizing their water monitoring program. During her time at Bard, Tierney's involvement with the community helped her “understand that this whole outreach and communications side to science is ultimately what I’m really excited about.”

She also worked in the Eel Project. Every spring the glass eels migrate up into different tributaries of the Hudson. Using a net at the Bard Field Station, volunteers count the number of eels and then set them free.

Last summer, Tierney taught on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. The Clearwater is an environmental education vessel, originally built by Pete Seeger, that sails up and down the Hudson. People go onboard to learn about the ecology and history of the river. The Clearwater focuses especially on educating young people so they’ll gain a new appreciation for the river and learn to protect it.

Tierney's Senior Project was an environmental oral history about people who work on, live near, and otherwise use the Saw Kill. She conducted interviews exploring people's relationships to the river and historical or ecological knowledge about it, and then wrote stories about the Saw Kill from these different perspectives.

In 2018, Tierney received three awards from the College: the Hudsonia Prize (shared with Elinor Stapylton), awarded by Hudsonia Ltd. to a student showing promise in the field of environmental studies; the Patricia Ross Weis '52 Scholarship, awarded to talented students in the social sciences who uphold Bard's values by ensuring a strong community; and the Rachel Carson Prize, honoring an outstanding Senior Project in environmental and urban studies that reflects Carson's determination to promote biocentric sensibility.

"The best part about Bard," Tierney observes, "is how your classes and activities connect to the community around the College. I have loved getting to know people in the Hudson Valley. Like the Saw Kill Watershed Community and the Clearwater staff—I’ve just gotten to know this group of people that’s really invested and active in this area. That has also become my community outside of Bard." She adds, "Without the professors here, I wouldn't have realized how this kind of work is really important to me. I wouldn't have known that this kind of community outreach around science exists; so it’s really exciting. . . . I love this area. The Hudson River—adore it. The fact that we can, as students, walk through the Tivoli Bays—I walked that walk every day last summer."

Tierney is now traveling through Europe with her two roommates from her first year at Bard. In the fall, she will begin work for the World Ocean School on board the historic schooner Roseway.
 

Monica Elkinton is the assistant municipal attorney for Anchorage, Alaska, the largest municipality in the state. "Anchorage contains about half the population of Alaska, about half a million people," Monica notes. "It's the most racially diverse city in the United States." Her job is to defend the city from lawsuits like personal injury or employment discrimination. "I am a civil litigator and go to court all the time, including doing jury trials. I also advise the municipal departments on legal issues. I like that it's a stable job, but with some excitement and variety, and the opportunity to learn all about how our local government works."
 
Monica studied mathematics at Bard and went on to Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. She was also a TLS Scholar. "I loved participating in Math Table for lunch and Pi Day parties, but I knew math graduate school wasn't for me." When Monica was a first-year student, Professor Lauren Rose told her, "Math majors can do anything. They can even go to law school." That stuck in her mind.

"In the 2000 election, the Dutchess County Board of Elections wouldn't let Bard students register to vote," Monica remembers. "So I organized a bunch of protests and we talked to a lawyer from the New York Civil Liberties Union and got help from the Dutchess County Democratic Party." Monica befriended a party leader who worked for Senator Chuck Schumer. She offered Monica a part-time unpaid summer internship in her office. These were Monica's first steps into a career in law.
 
After graduating from Bard, Monica went to Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. The school "has paragraph evaluations instead of grades and focuses on public service and social justice instead of competition. It also has mandatory internships as part of the law school graduation requirements." Some students choose to do their internships in Boston, but Monica decided to do hers all over the country. She worked for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and then for public defenders in Alaska, Kentucky, and Miami. After graduation she became a criminal defense attorney in Anchorage, before taking her current position for the city.
  
Monica sought breadth in her Bard education. She took as many nonmajor classes at the College as she could, including courses in the music, religion, political studies, art, literature, and history programs. "All of it helped me to figure out what I wanted to do for a career, along with what I did not want to do," she recalls. "Bard taught me to be creative and to not be too scared about thinking outside the box. A math background helps me line up my ideas in a linear way, and use logic to draw conclusions. Writing proofs in math is pretty similar to writing legal briefs. I wrote so many papers at Bard that writing is also completely second nature to me. I am always surprised how many people there are in the world that don't know how to write."

Her advice for current Bard students? "When I started at Bard, I didn't really know what to major in. When I started law school, I didn't really know what kind of law I wanted to practice. It's OK not to know, and to be exposed to lots of different things. You'll figure it out." She adds, "Try out as many things as you want. You'll never know until you try. ... There's a whole big world out there of possible jobs. Find as many people as possible who actually work in the field you want and talk to them about what it takes to get there."
  
Monica's favorite aspect of her time at Bard was the faculty in the Mathematics Program. "I loved my department faculty, and how close the Math and Computer Science Programs were. I also don't think I've ever had a chance since Bard to go to so many film screenings and art and photo shows. The student art and music were amazing!"
 

Cameron Ogg ’11 is a graduate research assistant and Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Cameron graduated from Bard in 2011 with a degree in biology and a concentration in global public health. After Bard, she worked at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital before going to graduate school.
 
Describing her research at the University of Tennessee, Cameron says, "In the lab, I use neuroimaging as well as behavioral approaches to better understand how different brain states, such as attention, can modulate sensory processing and lead to changes in perception." Whether presenting her work at a conference or teaching kids at brain awareness events, she enjoys sharing science with others. "I hadn’t realized that this isn’t the case with all scientists (there are plenty who would love to stay behind the bench). I’m hoping to cultivate and utilize this enthusiasm and excitement as I move forward in my scientific career."
 
As a Bard senior, Cameron realized that she wanted to attend graduate school, but she decided to take some time off after graduation to make sure it was the right choice. She worked for a year in the Small Animal Imaging Core at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. "Working in a research environment solidified my desire to attend grad school." She began her program the following fall.
 
Several linguistics classes that she took at Bard stimulated her interest in neuroscience. "Without this exposure to the humanities, I wouldn’t have found the scientific field I love now!" she observes. Cameron's Senior Project examined tick-borne illnesses. "My mentor at Bard, Dr. Felicia Keesing, encouraged me to participate in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. This early research experience, along with the critical and creative thinking cultivated at Bard, has proven so valuable to me in the years since."
  
Cameron advises current Bard students to be flexible as they approach their careers and life after graduation. "You may have a very specific plan about 'what you want to be,' but unexpected opportunities can end up being better than you could have imagined! Consider and explore alternatives—at the very least, you’ll have grown from the experience."
  
What did she enjoy most about Bard? "Don Eastman, the president of Eckerd College, said that a liberal arts education 'provides… for the development of the skills necessary… to become effective and thoughtful citizens of the world.' I am so thankful that not only did I get to become an educated citizen of the world at Bard, but that my son, who was born while I was at Bard, did as well. It’s more important than ever these days!"

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."
 

The new deployment is “most probably in support of U.S. objectives in Libya, where the U.S. has for several years used drones to mitigate the threats posed by Islamic militant groups.”

The global environmental impacts of meat and dairy farming are far more damaging than previously thought, a new study shows. Professor Eshel weighs in on the results.

Gettinger, codirector of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, sees regulatory value in the data the new program will generate.

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