Newsbriefs (spring 2008)
Clark Labs early-warning project for global health security receives $1.2M grant
Clark Labs, a world leader in GIS and image processing software, has received a grant of over $1.2 million to research the potential for a climate teleconnection-based early-warning system for food, health and ecosystem security.
Jointly funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (moore.org) and Google.org, Google's philanthropic arm (google.org), the project will investigate the relationship between climate teleconnections and problematic climatic episodes that lead to crop failures, infectious disease outbreaks and ecosystem disruptions such as fire. Teleconnections refer to a linkage between climate changes over widely separated regions of the earth. The best known of these is the quasi-oscillatory El Niño/La Niña phenomenon where anomalous sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific lead to widespread climate impacts with durations that can span from months to a year or more.
The Early Warning System project will focus on the geography of teleconnection impacts, their tendency to follow prototypical patterns and the degree to which leading indicators (precursor patterns) exist that will allow a short-term (three- to six-month) warning of their likely impact pattern. Integration with numerical climate teleconnection forecasts will also be explored, as will the ability to serve this information publicly in an ongoing and timely manner.
Partner organizations that will assist or advise in this research effort include the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies group (GIMMS) at NASA and the Environmental Systems Research Institute.
J. Ronald Eastman, director of Clark Labs, geography professor and the Landry University Professor, is principal investigator of the project. According to Nancy Budwig, associate provost and dean of Graduate Studies and Research, Eastman is at the forefront of transforming how scientists conceptualize the role of visualization tools in thinking about climate issues while simultaneously using these tools to solve pressing problems. Use-inspired work like Eastman's path-breaking project is central to Clark's research mission.
Clark Labs is known for pioneering advancements in areas such as decision support, uncertainty management, classifier development, change and time series analysis, and dynamic modeling. Partnering with several esteemed organizations, Clark Labs leverages its academic base to develop innovative and customized research tools, provide software solutions to organizations in need and apply geospatial expertise to a range of real-world problems. For more about Clark Labs, visit clarklabs.org.
Clark receives grant to help assess risks of chemical exposures to pregnant women
Clark received a $677,499 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop ways to practically use particular kinds of measurements to assess needs for exposure standards to protect pregnant women against risks of some chemical exposures. With this grant, Clark is helping to solve the mystery of the connection between measured biomarkers and chemical exposures. A biomarker is a substance, structure or process that can be measured in biological samples, such as blood or urine, to indicate exposure, susceptibility or health effects. Examples of biomarkers include lead levels in blood or pesticide metabolite levels in urine. Complicating the use of biomarkers to estimate exposures, however, is the fact that different people process and excrete chemicals at different rates. Estimating the extent and implications of this variability requires complex analysis.
These types of biomarkers indicate exposure to specific compounds. In many cases, biomarkers can be measured analytically, but it is not always clear what the levels mean in terms of how much exposure occurred or what amount of the chemical reaches a place in the body where it could possibly cause a health effect (dose).
Clark will work with Columbia University and a toxicologist consultant on this research project. The work follows up on Columbia University's pioneering research comparing developmental effects in children exposed in the womb to a particular pesticide (chlorpyrifos) before and after it was banned for residential uses. This grant is one of five that EPA is awarding in response to a request for applications called "Interpretation of Biomarkers Using Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling."
"Improved estimates of exposure are key to improving the accuracy and relevance of epidemiological studies for assessing health risks," said Dale Hattis, the principal investigator for the grant. Hattis is a research professor in the George Perkins Marsh Institute.
"This research will help enable EPA scientists to protect public and prenatal health by expanding our understanding of what measured biomarker levels mean," said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England office.
The EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) research grant will be used to enhance a computer model that will be able to predict what biomarker levels mean in terms of exposure and dose during pregnancy. The researchers will use chlorpyrifos, an organophosphate insecticide, as the initial test compound. The research results will allow scientists and risk assessors to understand more about the meaning of biomarkers to help derive a developmental Reference Dose and/or Acceptable Daily Intake.
EPA's STAR program funds research grants and graduate fellowships in many environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. The program engages the nation's best scientists and engineers in targeted research that complements EPA's own research programs and those of its partners in other federal agencies.
Gould receives honor for physics education
Physics professor Harvey Gould received the 2007 Undergraduate Computational Engineering and Sciences award from the Krell Institute. The awards are designed to promote and enhance undergraduate education in computational engineering and science. They honor innovation, educational impact and breadth in the development and implementation of educational materials for computational engineering and science. The award, which included a $1,000 cash prize, was given to Gould and collaborators Christian Wolfgang, Mario Bellini, Anne Cox, Jan Tobochnik and Douglas Brown, in recognition of their pioneering efforts in computational physics education, including the Open Source Physics project and the undergraduate textbook, "Introduction to Computer Simulation Methods in Physics" by Gould, Tobochnik and Wolfgang.
Gould uses molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods to study supercooled liquids, nucleation and the dynamics of first-order phase transitions, and other problems in statistical mechanics. Much of his research is in collaboration with his students and with Bill Klein of Boston University. Gould is also a dedicated advocate of open standards and open source software.
Gould is associate editor of the American Journal of Physics and co-edited the Computer Simulation column in Computers in Physics and Computing in Science and Engineering for more than 10 years. He is currently working on an undergraduate textbook on statistical mechanics to be published by Princeton University Press.
The Krell Institute, established in 1997, provides technical resources, knowledge and experience in managing technology-based education and information programs. It develops fellowship programs, educational outreach programs and information management and exchange programs.
To learn about how Gould and his students create computer simulations to understand the behavior of atoms and molecules in a variety of contexts, especially those that are difficult to study using traditional experimental methods, visit clarku.edu/faculty/gould
Clark Trustee Tony Tilton honored for outstanding contribution to society
Clark University Trustee Sumner B. "Tony" Tilton, a director at the Worcester law firm of Fletcher, Tilton & Whipple, P.C., was named the recipient of the 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Visions' Isaiah Thomas Award. Tilton received the prize during the Visions award ceremonies on Feb. 5 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
A longtime friend and supporter of Clark, Tilton is a graduate of Williams College and Boston University Law School, and holds an honorary doctor of laws degree from Assumption College and an honorary doctor of pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences. He is chairman of the board of trustees of UMass-Memorial Health Care, chairman of the board of trustees of the Healthcare Securities Trust, which administers the tobacco settlement endowment fund for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a trustee of the Willard House and Clock Museum. He is also an honorary trustee of the Worcester Arts Museum and the EcoTarium.
Tilton is known by many Clark faculty, students, staff and alumni for the longstanding commitment he has made to the University. The Isaiah Thomas Award recognizes Tilton's commitment to the Worcester community and his involvement with numerous civic efforts to boost economic development in the city and improve the quality of life for Worcester residents.
"The Clark community is most familiar with the passion and dedication Tony brings to his work on the University's Board of Trustees, but he brings that same passion and dedication to his civic work with the Worcester community," says President John Bassett. "Tony is a wonderful example for our students and alumni of how to use your knowledge and education to make a positive difference in the world, and he is most deserving of this recognition."
New appointment brings art-based learning focus to campus and beyond
Clark announces the appointment of Ted Buswick as executive-in-residence within the Graduate School of Management (GSOM). Buswick, also of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), will focus on Leadership and the Arts, acting as a catalyst for arts-based learning.
Arts-based learning is based on the premise that the relationship between the arts and businesses should be a two-way street—that the arts can contribute a great deal to business rather than just being a source for sponsorship. Buswick will work with students, faculty, area arts organizations and businesses, encouraging greater use of arts-based learning. He will also teach one course a year. As one of his first activities, he would like to map the field of arts-based learning in central Massachusetts and is currently seeking input from alumni and others who have conducted training that uses the arts. (If you, or your company or organization, have used training that involves the arts, please contact him at tbuswick@clarku.edu to share your experiences.)
For the past 15 years, Buswick has been at BCG, where he has served as director of publications for BCG's Strategy Institute, oral historian, archivist, senior editor and director of platform development. Before working at BCG, he was director of product development for the American Management Association and senior editor at Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Among his recent activities in arts-based learning, Buswick initiated and was co-guest editor for a special issue of the Journal of Business Strategy on arts-based learning in business in 2005. He is lead author of "(Re)educating for Leadership: How the Arts Can Improve Business," published on the Web sites of Arts & Business (in the U.K.) and Americans for the Arts, 2004. He is co-author with Judy Buswick of the book "Slate of Hand: Stone for Fine Art & Folk Art," published by Trafford in January 2007.
Buswick is co-author of a forthcoming book about the effect poetry can have on strategic thinking and decision-making, to be published by the University of Michigan Press. The book is the result of a multiyear study by the Strategy Institute of The Boston Consulting Group that he initiated. He is co-editor of a second special issue of the Journal of Business Strategy, about "the arts as a front end to innovation," to be published in early 2009; and in 2008, co-author of "Metaphors in Strategy," to be published in Emerald's Business Strategy Series (formerly Handbook of Business Strategy).
Peapod Squad wins Boston Beanpot championship
For the second time in three years, Clark's improv troupe The Peapod Squad has won the Boston Beanpot College Bowl Tournament. The team beat out other fine teams from Holyoke, Boston College, Cornell, Northeastern, and finally Suffolk to win the overall title by one point. This year's team includes Danny Balel '08, Dan Derks '09, Mel Hardy '08, Sarah Jette '10, Kaylie Curran '10, Milo MacPhail '11, and Andrew Ninnemann '10. The Peapod Squad performs throughout the year on Clark's Campus.
The Beanpot College Bowl Tournament is an annual event, organized by Boston's leading improv company, Improv Boston. Each scene is ranked Olympics-style, with judges giving separate scores for skill in meeting the game challenges, strength of storytelling in the resulting scenes and entertainment value. The Peapod Squad was originally founded over 10 years ago by then first-year student Molly Hale '00. The squad's participation in the Improv Boston tournament was funded by Clark's Visual and Performing Arts Department's Michaelson Fund.
In the spotlight: student organization, STAND
"Genocide is the most disturbing crime in the world," asserts Naomi Sully '08, member of STAND, a national student group founded in 2004 in response to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. "It is not just mass killing; it is the intent to destroy an entire population."
The Clark chapter of this anti-genocide coalition, one of more than 1,000 chapters on high-school and college campuses nationwide, was initiated in spring 2006. STAND is an acronym for Students Taking Action Now Darfur, but Sully says the group is concerned about all genocides. Burma and the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, are other places where their efforts are needed, she explains.
One of the group's goals is to convince people and institutions to stop supporting those companies that do business in Sudan, which greatly profits the Sudanese government. Economic pressure, she says, brought on by targeted divestment of the most extreme offending companies in Sudan can deeply influence the behavior of the Sudanese government.
"It's the military that is perpetrating and funding this genocide," explains Sully, who quotes evidence indicating that between 70 and 80 percent of oil revenues in Sudan, which are fueled by foreign investors, go directly toward military expenditures. "If you can't fund genocide, you can't do it."
Currently, Clark does not have any direct investments in any of the companies identified by the Sudan Divestment Task Force, a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, as directly funding the Darfur Genocide. This spring the group has been working to educate the campus community about the importance of divestment. The Clark chapter has also joined national efforts to contact politicians, including presidential candidates, to voice the kind of political action they would like to see taken by the next President of the United States.
"World leaders are not taking as much of an interest as they should," says Sully. "Politicians will not take action if there is no political will, so we have to generate the political will." She notes that Bill Clinton had once commented that had more people pushed him to help in Rwanda when he was president, he would have.
This past fall, STAND hosted a "Voices from Darfur" event, where two genocide survivors shared their experiences with an audience of about 200 Clark and Worcester community members. Sully says it's about humanity, caring about other people, becoming informed and understanding how it affects us and the rest of the world.
"People are still saying, 'Darfur, who'? The first step is wrapping your mind around it, getting connected, and realizing that even as students, we have so much power. And with power comes responsibility."
— Amanda Guisbond '07
Clark was pre-Super Tuesday campaign stop for presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton
U.S. Senator and democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke at Clark on Monday, Feb. 4, to an audience of approximately 3,500 in the Kneller Athletic Center. Media from around the world covered the event.
Clinton took the stage to deafening cheers from the crowd of Clark students, faculty and staff, community members and area high-school students and young people.
"I'm so happy to be back here at this great university. My daughter was here about a week ago and had a wonderful time," Clinton said, referring to Chelsea Clinton's talk at Clark, where she addressed a standing-room-only crowd in Tilton Hall. The younger Clinton visited Clark as part of her "Conversations with Chelsea Clinton — Our Voice, Our Future" tour, to seek support on behalf of her mother.
Hillary Clinton discussed her plans for addressing such issues and challenges as universal health care, the economy, education, the war in Iraq and international diplomacy.
"America has invented the future. We are the innovation nation," she said. "That's why I am prepared to set big goals for America."
"We haven't been called to be bigger than ourselves in a long time," Clinton added. Looking out at the audience and noting the many young faces, she said she looks "at that next generation to once again feel confidence and optimism in our future."
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) introduced Clinton with the help of his six-year-old daughter Molly. McGovern shared a story about the buzz that ensued, even at his daughter's school when he picked her up shortly after Clinton announced she would run for president, and how he felt as he was able to tell his daughter on that day, "You can grow up to be anything you want to be—even President of the United States."
Prior to Clinton's appearance, the crowd was entertained by the Clark Bars a capella group and was welcomed by Provost David Angel, who told attendees that Clark is an appropriate place for political discourse because, "our community thinks carefully about issues." He added that one of the reasons this election is special is "the level of engagement of young people in the political process." Angel told the audience to talk, listen and debate. "Think carefully, and above all, participate in the political process."
Meagan Covino '10, president of the Democrats of Clark University student organization, also welcomed the audience to Clark and urged people to vote.
"We're the generation that's going to challenge convention," Covino said. "We're the generation that's going to make a better future for everyone else."
After the event, Clark diarist Shyamal Asher '08 wrote in his online blog, "Overall, it was a great day for Clark University as well as the students who got a firsthand look at a presidential candidate, just one day before Election Day."
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick also made Clark a campaigning target. He spoke at Clark on Feb. 2 to garner support for the Barack Obama campaign. Democrats of Clark University helped sponsor all three events.
The video of Hillary Clinton speaking at Clark is available at clarku.edu/clintonatclark
Clark receives distinguished community-service award
Clark was named to the Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service through its Learn and Serve America program, which is jointly sponsored by the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation.
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations.
"Community service for many years has been a high priority for students, faculty and staff at Clark University," said President John Bassett. "One of our signatures is 'making a difference,' and new members of the Clark community come here because they believe in that mission and continue their commitment to serving their community as they also commit themselves to excellence."
Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovativeness of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.
Overall, the Community Service Honor Roll awarded six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, four schools were recognized as Special Achievement Award winners, 127 as Honor Roll with Distinction members and 391 schools as Honor Roll members. In total, 528 schools were recognized.
Shakespeare Theater Company brought lessons to Clark students, performances to the community
In February, performers from Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS) presented public performances of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" on campus. The performances were part of a weeklong residency at Clark made possible by the Margaret W. and Richard P. Traina Endowed Fund for Shakespeare and the Arts.
Actors from AFTLS conducted workshops, on-stage demonstrations and informal meetings in Shakespeare, theater, literature and communications courses to help Clark students understand how Shakespeare's texts become scripts, words become actions, and actions become meaning. The workshops and performances were designed to help students come to a deeper understanding of "The Taming of the Shrew."
This is the second time a Shakespeare company has come to Clark through the Traina Endowed Fund. In 2006, members of the AFTLS worked with students and performed "The Merchant of Venice." Other residencies at Clark during the 1980s, 1990s and in 2001 prompted the Trainas to establish the endowed fund in 2004 to make such Shakespeare weeks a biennial tradition.
Now in its 15th year, AFTLS is one of the oldest established touring Shakespeare theater companies in the world. It is housed and workshopped in England with academic tours booked through the auspices of the Marie P. DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Notre Dame.
"We were very excited to have Actors From The London Stage in residence at Clark this year. It's a great group of performers and they really inspired both our students and faculty," says theater arts professor Gino DiIorio '88.
Mosakowski Institute director honored for commitment to the environment
James R. Gomes, director of the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise at Clark University, was honored for his 14 years as president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts (ELM) at a tribute event on Jan. 17 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The event was also to benefit ELM and the Massachusetts League for Environmental Voters. Honorary co-chairs were former Governor Michael Dukakis and Senator John Kerry.
Governor Deval Patrick was the event's keynote speaker. After pledging a significant hike in the state's parks budget, Patrick said to Gomes, "This investment in our parks is part of a tribute we pay to you."
The event was attended by more than 400 people, including Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Laurie Burt. Comedian Jimmy Tingle entertained and served as master of ceremonies.
Senator Kerry, for whom Gomes previously worked as executive assistant and chief of staff, was out of state and could not attend the event but wrote: "Jim Gomes was 'green' before most people even knew what the term meant. Years before the mainstream media and most politicians began to look seriously at man-made environmental problems, Jim was leading the charge to educate people and businesses on how they were impacting the natural world around them. He gave backbone to the environmental movement in Massachusetts and never wavered in taking the fight to polluters or the politicians protecting them. Jim is a man of rare toughness who has emerged from decades of political battles respected by all he encountered along the way. I am proud to call Jim a friend and hope that he always considers me one."
President's Lecture, Difficult Dialogues symposium focus on climate change
On Tuesday, Jan. 22, Tilton Hall was filled to capacity for keynote speaker and environmental politics and design expert, David Orr, who presented "Some Like it Hot … But Lots More Don't: The Changing Climate of U.S. Politics" as part of the President's Lecture Series in collaboration with the Difficult Dialogues initiative.
Orr addressed the politics of climate change, in the context of his extensive work on sustainability, and spoke particularly of his involvement in the Presidential Climate Action Project, which has been developed to address "one of the most important challenges facing the 44th President — arguably the most important challenge — the three interrelated problems of climate change, energy stability and national security."
Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College. He is also a James Marsh Professor at large at the University of Vermont. His career as a scholar, teacher, writer, speaker and entrepreneur spans fields such as environment and politics, environmental education, campus greening, green building, ecological design and climate change. He is best known for his pioneering work on environmental literacy in higher education and his recent work in ecological design.
In 1987, Orr helped to launch the green-campus movement by organizing studies of energy, water and materials use on several college campuses. He later raised funds for and spearheaded the effort to design and build a $7.2 million Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College. The building was described by the New York Times as "the most remarkable" of a new generation of college buildings and by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 30 "milestone buildings" of the 20th century.
On Jan. 31 Clark joined more than 1,700 other colleges, universities and schools around the country in the Focus the Nation teach-in about climate change. In a series of sessions throughout the day, 28 Clark faculty members representing 17 different academic departments and research institutes presented and shared insights based on their scholarly perspective related to the climate-change challenge. After brief faculty presentations, the remaining 30 to 40 minutes in each session were reserved for an open forum for dialogue and interaction among presenters and audience members.
During the course of the day, more than 500 Clark students, faculty, staff and community members participated in the teach-in, a testament to the interest in the topic of climate change, on campus and beyond, and engaging those issues together.
Topics ranged from "Integrating Climate Change into Formal and Informal Education," "AIDS and Climate Change," and "The Carbon Footprint of Food Choices" to "A Playwright's Perspective on Climate-Change," "Politics of Green Buildings: Changing the Way We Design, Build and Live in our Homes," "The Impact of Climate Change on Peace," and "Conflict Climate Change and the Future of Nuclear Power."
In addition to the teach-in, the Difficult Dialogues symposium on climate change included spring semester events such as film screenings, panel discussions, and conversation cafés as well as a Day of Listening focused on listening as part of effective dialogue. For more information, visit clarku.edu/difficultdialogues
Clark delegation succeeds at annual Harvard Model U.N. conference
A delegation of 36 members of Clark University's Model U.N. Team attended the 54th session of the prestigious Harvard National Model U.N. Conference (HNMUN 2008), which took place in Boston in February. Each year the HNMUN conference welcomes more than 3,000 student delegates from all over the world, with representation from 30 countries.
"I was thrilled with the performance of the Clark University team," says Srini Sitaraman, Model U.N. faculty adviser and government and international relations professor.
Two Clark delegates won awards in highly competitive committees at the HNMUN Conference: Ben Terrett '09 achieved an honorable mention representing the Netherlands in NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization); and Abhishek Raman '09 took the honorable mention award representing Turkey in OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). Terrett also serves as the co-head delegate of the Clark's Model U.N. team.
The Clark Model U.N. Program is a realistic simulation of the activities of ambassadors and representatives of different member nations who serve in the different agencies of the United Nations. Students assume the role of ambassadors or special U.N. representatives of the various member nations. They participate in live simulations of the U.N. Security Council, Economic Social and Cultural Council, and Special Middle East Summit.
The following students participated in the Harvard Model U.N
HEAD DELEGATES: Ben Raynak '10 and Ben Terrett '09.
DELEGATES: Abir Joshi '11, Ashley Emerson-Gilbert '08, Anna Moran '10, Abhishek Raman '09, Brooke Badon '11, Brad Bell '09, Bethany Williard '07, Celina Grisi '10, Carl Ten Horn '09, Diana Dunlap '10, Nicky Looho '11, Eileen Sullivan '08, Himal Jayasekara '11, Katerina Antoniou '10, Kat Flynn '08, Krittika Govil '10, Kimberly Hanson '10, Morgan Courtney '10, Minh Mai '11, Mike Pochettino '10, Oana Chimina '11, Ryan Forman '09, Sarah Richard '11, Sarkis Balkhian '09, Steven Brouillard '07, Soeren Hilck '10, Sameed Quasem '09, Tara Lewis '10, Tanya D'Lima '11, Toan Dinh '08, Avril Perez '10, Dan William '10, Zach Altman '11, and Zaeem Siddiqui '09.
Cougars earn NEWMAC All-Conference and All-Academic honors
The Clark winter teams were well-represented on the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Academic teams.
The Cougar women's swim and dive team led the pack with six NEWMAC All-Academic nods, including Kara Bochicchio '08, Caitlin Hanson '08, Jessica Baker '09, Korin Danchise-Curtis '09 and Kayleigh Lagasse '09. Shyamal Asher '08, Clarke Reeves '10, and Boyd Zapatka '10 earned the accolade for the men's team.
Sarah Roderigue '09 was named to the women's basketball All-NEWMAC first-team, while Mark Alexander '10 received the men's hoops second-team nod. Alexander also garnered the team's only conference Player of the Week award after helping Clark to victories over MIT (58-56) and Wheaton College (92-90) to close the season. It marked the first time the Cougars finished second (7-5) in the league since the 2002-03 season. The Cougar men's basketball team also took home the league's Sportsmanship Award.
Sara Hagstrom '09 and brother Gunnar Hagstrom '07 earned the women's and men's basketball academic all-conference honors, respectively, while Chloe Carden '10, Emily Skelton '10, and D.J. Brinn '08 also took home the hoops academic award.
Associated Press news editor for Israel and Palestinian territories speaks at Clark
Josef Federman '89, news editor for the Associated Press (AP) in Israel and the Palestinian territories, returned to Clark on Jan. 24 for the first time since he graduated to discuss his experiences working for the AP. The event was sponsored by Clark University Hillel, the student group that celebrates Jewish culture, identity, pluralism and community.
Federman joined the AP in 1993 in New York. After a year, he was briefly transferred to Charleston, W.Va., but returned to New York as an editor and supervisor in 1995. In 2000, Federman began working as an editor at the Wall Street Journal, and was soon promoted to deputy technology editor for the journal's Web site.
He returned to the AP in 2003 at the Jerusalem Bureau. During this time, he covered many important news events, such as the death of Yasser Arafat, the withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza Strip, Ariel Sharon's debilitating stroke, Hamas' rise to power and the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. In December 2006, he was appointed to his current position as news editor.
Grants & Awards:
Departments
BIOLOGY: Tim Lyerla was awarded a $223,500 grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on "Lung Fibrosis in an HPS Mouse Model."
CAREER SERVICES: David McDonough was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Theodore H. Barth Foundation for support of undergraduate internships in nonprofit organizations.
CHEMISTRY: Luis Smith was awarded a five-year $530,000 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation for research on "Solid State NMR Studies of Transition Metal Oxides: Correlation of Local Structure with Physical Properties."
CLARK LABS: Ron Eastman was awarded two $617,457 grants, one from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and one from google.org for his project, "A Climate Teleconnection-Based Early Warning System for Food, Health, and Ecosystem Security." (see story, page 2)
GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS: Jack Foley was awarded a $1,400 grant from the Worcester Cultural Council for support of the "Neighborhood Music Program."
IDCE: Laurie Ross was awarded $52,500 in funds from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, for "Action Research to Prevent and Reduce Youth and Gang Violence in Worcester, Massachusetts." Ross was also awarded $11,209 in funds from the City of Worcester for continuing support of the "Weed and Seed Program."
Research Centers
GEORGE PERKINS MARSH INSTITUTE: William Fisher was awarded a $1,940,328 grant from the United Nations AIDS to host the project management office of the aids2031 initiative. Karen Frey, who joined Clark in the fall, brought with her a $101,514 grant from the National Science Foundation for "Impacts of Sea Ice Variability and Polynya Formation on Biological Productivity in the Northern Bering Sea." Wayne Gray was awarded $21,900 in funds from Abt Associates, by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, for graduate student support for research "Linking Census and EPA Data." Ron Eastman and Gil Pontius were awarded $21,562 in funds from Conservation International for research on "Building Carbon Baselines." Ellen Foley and Octavia Taylor were awarded $61,924 in funds from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts for their project, "Meeting Youth Immigrant and Refugee Health Needs in Worcester."
JACOB HIATT CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION: Tom Del Prete was awarded second-year funding of $163,713 from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation for the Main South Secondary School Collaborative.
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