News briefs and announcements
NSF awards three-year grant to study sponges
The National Science Foundation has made a three-year grant of $244,221 to a team of Richmond scientists and a collaborator at Fairfield University to study the effects of temperature changes on sponge life.
Led by Dr. Malcolm S. Hill, associate professor of biology, the project will examine “Stability and Structure of Temperate and Tropical Marine Sponge Symbiont Communities in Response to Climate Change.” Co-investigators are Dr. Jonathan Dattelbaum, assistant professor of chemistry; Dr. April Hill, associate professor of biology; and Fairfield University’s Dr. Olivia Harriott, associate professor of microbiology.
The project will study symbiotic associations between ocean sponges and their microflora and study the consequences of increased temperatures at the sea surface on those communities. The grant funds summer research for the four investigators, one graduate student and an undergraduate student as well as equipment, supplies and travel to field sites in Florida and the Chesapeake Bay.
University launches study-abroad Web management system
The Office of International Education has launched a new study-abroad Web site using StudioAbroad, a state-of-the-art, Web-based management system. StudioAbroad allows students to search for study-abroad destinations based on multiple parameters, submit applications and request faculty recommendations. The system also allows them to create blog journals and upload photos while abroad as well as submit articles and respond to questionnaires upon their return. The implementation of StudioAbroad places Richmond once again at the forefront of international educators, leading the way with peers Dartmouth College, University of Virginia and Wake Forest University. For a closer look, visit oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/international/ and click on “Study Abroad.”
Spring break trip planned to Guatemala
Approximately 20 students, staff and faculty will travel to Guatemala during spring break with Partners in Service, a nonprofit program that exists to provide transformational travel experiences. Partners in Service was founded by Richmond graduate Ben Blevins.
The group will leave the United States March 3 and return March 10. While in Guatemala, they will live in a Catholic church- owned retreat center in Quetzaltenango and work on stove-building and reforestation projects in local Mayan villages.
According to Partners in Service, stove-building improves the health of residents by channeling thick smoke from cooking fires out of unventilated, brick dwellings. Reforestation is a critical need to replace vast tracts of forests that have disappeared throughout Central America and helps halt soil erosion.
Steve Tallman, professor of management systems and international business, who will accompany the group and offer independent study credit for the experience, said that because the point of the trip is “to open the eyes of the visitors as much as to help the locals, we will likely visit schools and community groups” in the villages.
“Partners in Service works very hard,” he said “to ensure that participants are made aware of the Mayan culture and come to understand how it has enabled the people to survive centuries of marginalization by the dominant Hispanic culture and economy.”
Student brings fair-trade rice farmers to Richmond
Katherine Lydon, ’08, a mathematical economics major, studied in Thailand last semester, examining development from villagers’ perspectives. While there, she became involved with fair-trade rice efforts and helped organize a fair-trade rice farmer tour that stopped at many universities last month. The tour was sponsored by United Students for Fair Trade (www.usft.org) and ENGAGE (www.engagetheworld.org). On Feb. 26–27 the farmers visited University of Richmond and the College of William and Mary. In the past 10 years, the farmers have switched from conventional farming to organic farming, organized fair trade cooperatives in their villages and have become exporters. They speak about the environmental, health and social benefits of fair trade in their communities and also about global trade, the implications of FTAs and the limitations of the fair trade market in the United States and Europe.
International photo contest winners announced
The Office of International Education has announced the winners of the 2006–07 International Photo Contest. Study abroad students, international students, faculty and staff submitted nearly 200 photos, and first and second prizes were awarded in a number of categories. Photos will be featured in the 2007 Richmond International and are posted on the International Education Web site at oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/international/newsandevents/photocontest.shtml.
New online databases
University Libraries recently acquired several new online databases, including Education Research Complete, Communication & Mass Media Complete and Ancestry Library Edition. More than 1,730 journals are indexed in Education Research Complete, with full-text coverage for nearly 830 titles. In addition to journal articles, indexing for books and conference papers is also available for all levels and aspects of education. Communication & Mass Media Complete provides quality research articles in areas related to communication and mass media and offers cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 390 journals and selected coverage of 200 more. Ancestry Library Edition provides U.S. and British census and immigration records from 1790–1930, as well as historical maps and photographs. All can be found under “Online Databases” on the library’s Web site at library.richmond.edu.
Jablin Dissertation Award presented
A dissertation on the rise of evangelicals in American culture and politics has earned the Jepson School of Leadership’s 2006 Jablin Dissertation Award.
The author, Dr. D. Michael Lindsay, assistant professor of sociology at Rice University, explores the ways in which evangelical leaders have risen in prominence and prestige in politics, business, arts, the media and higher education. He wrote his dissertation—“A Vision for the Center: Elite Refashioning of American Evangelicalism”—while completing his doctorate at Princeton University in the sociology department.
Lindsay presented his work and received the award at the International Leadership Association meeting in Chicago and will have his dissertation published as Oxford University Press’ lead title in fall 2007.
Established in 1999, the award is named in memory of Jepson School professor Frederic M. Jablin and recognizes new scholars who develop research on leadership. The International Leadership Association (ILA) is a co-sponsor of the Jablin Award. ILA is a global network for those who practice, study and teach leadership.