Faculty and Staff Career News

To read complete versions of these abbreviated news items where you see a live link, click to reach the faculty member’s personal page. Then visit that page’s “Recent News” tab, where this current item in fuller detail will be at the top. For staffers without a faculty page, the full text of each news item is included here.

Kristyn Dumont Achilich ‘05, academic program coordinator of the College’s Garden & Permaculture Sites, has on behalf of the program been awarded $5,200 from the Vermont Community Foundation’s Innovations and Collaborations grant fund as one of four community partners developing and supporting the Veteran’s Garden Initiative housed at the Saint Michael’s College Farm.  The goal is to facilitate regular and supported garden-based activities to improve veterans’ physical and mental health, enhance social connections and increase food security.

Alaba Apesin, assistant professor of business administration, was presented with the Distinguished Research Paper award for her research paper, “Effect of Instructor Transformational Leadership on Student Learning Behavior,” during the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE) Conference in Charleston, SC, on July 11, 2017. The study provides an insight into the relationship between instructors’ transformational leadership behaviors and students’ motivation, positive attitude and participation.

George Ashline, professor of mathematics, has been giving many talks at Vermont middle and high schools this semester and leading investigations through the Vermont State Mathematics Coalition’s “Expanding Horizons Program.” In July, George co-taught the course Number Theory for Teachers as part of the Vermont Mathematics Initiative (VMI), a three-year, statewide, comprehensive professional development program in mathematics for Vermont teachers.

Valerie Bang-Jensen, professor of education, and Mark Lubkowitz, professor of biology, made a juried presentation, “Read Like a Scientist: Exploring science concepts with children’s literature,” at the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference in St. Louis, MO, on November 19, 2017; they’ve presented about their recent book, born of their long Saint Michael’s Teaching Gardens collaboration, frequently and widely in recent months, including a summer book tour.

Christine Bauer-Ramazani, instructor in the Applied Linguistics Department, has had a book chapter published titled “Teacher Training with CALL Online (distance): A Project- and Standards-Based Approach.” In addition, her article on the topic will be published in The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL in 2018. In September in Bogota, she gave a keynote address and a workshop to Colombian teachers of English as a Foreign Language.

Robert Brenneman, associate professor and chair of sociology/anthropology, presented at a November 16, 2017 conference at Stony Brook University, on “The Border Wall: What it Means for New York.” He joined panelists four other colleges as well as a director of immigration legal policy for a New York coalition and representatives of Rural Migrant Ministries, S.T.R.O.N.G. Youth, and the Suffolk County Deputy Police Commissioner.

Alain Brizard, professor of physics, was “host” during a rare partial solar eclipse as experienced by nearly 100 Saint Michael’s people around his small telescope set up by the large clock on the main campus green on Aug. 21. Many donned special glasses to view the eclipse. Alain brought out his 40-year-old, personal 3.5-inch Questar telescope and set it up on a table at the site around 1 p.m., shortly after the moon first started to visibly move over the sun, and stayed till the eclipse was over several hours later.

Kellie Campbell, an associate director in Information Technology and director of the Accelerated Summer College, was recently accepted into The Boston Club — one of the largest communities of women executives and professional leaders in the Northeast, dedicated to driving the advancement of women to top leadership roles across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. The club members believe that more women in significant, visible leadership roles will generate better business performance and strengthen communities’ economic health.

Brian Collier, associate professor of art and an ecological artist, in November was an invited panelist at Burlington City Arts on the Church Street Marketplace for discussion of a film on water quality and the environment. In October at Shelburne Farms, Brian presented “Unlawning America: A Call to Inaction,” which demonstrated the positive environmental impact on water, soil, and wildlife when lawns are allowed to grow with little or no maintenance; and, Brian helped oversee a major fall campus exhibit, El Yuma, on contemporary Cuban art.

Paul Constantino, assistant professor of biology, this November attended a workshop in Chengdu, China on dental tribology (tooth wear). Fifteen researchers from around the world were invited and. Paul was only one of three Americans attending. Paul also recently was quoted in an article appearing in the periodical Science News titled “Nitty-gritty of Homo naledi’s diet revealed in its teeth: Lots of chipped enamel suggests the food of the ancient humanlike species came à la dirt.”

George Dameron, professor of history, published “Feeding the Medieval Italian City-State:  Grain, War, and Political Legitimacy in Tuscany,” in the October 2017 issue of Speculum:  A Journal of Medieval Studies. George also authored a peer-reviewed essay, “Church and Community in a Medieval Italian City: The Place of San Lorenzo in Florentine Society from Late Antiquity to the Early Fourteenth Century,” in the volume San Lorenzo:  A Florentine Church. He also reviews fellowship applications for the American Council of Learned Societies.

Maura D’Amore, associate professor of English, presented a paper, “Make Your Own Toys and Rebuild the Nation: Civil-War Era Paper Toy Manuals,” at the 2017 Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, at Historic Deerfield, in June. Maura also presented a paper at the Thoreau Society Bicentennial, in July 2017; and another at the Imagined Forms: Modeling and Material Culture Symposium, hosted by the Center for Material Culture Studies at the University of Delaware and the Hagley Museum & Library, November 2017.

Greg Delanty, professor of English, has a new book from publisher Un-Gyve Press: Selected Delanty | Poems and translations by Greg Delanty chosen and introduced by Archie Burnett. Also, in October, Greg gave a reading from his book, alongside former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin for the program Words Out Loud at Old West Church in Calais, VT. Greg also had poems appearing or accepted to appear in The Atlantic, The Irish Times, Literary Imagination, The Times Literary Supplement and in a forthcoming anthology of Vermont poets, Roads Taken.

John Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theatre, completed another season with the Saint Michael’s Playhouse, serving as Production Manager and Technical Director for all four shows. John also designed the scenery for Murder for Two and for the Black Hills Playhouse production of Unnecessary Farce in South Dakota in July, and for Moonbox Productions’ The 39 Steps in Boston in November; and, scenery and lighting for the department’s production of Mill Girls … and more. He also gave the faculty address at September’s Academic Convocation.

Mike Donoghue, longtime member of the Media Studies, Journalism and Digital Arts Department was one of the featured invited speakers at the 7th annual New England First Amendment Institute in Boston in fall 2017. Mike was part of the sessions dealing with Open Meetings/Public Records, Effective Sourcing and a panel featuring former Fellows and the work they have since done attending the institute.

Mary Beth Doyle, professor of education, Donna Bozzone, professor of biology, both were guests on Vermont Public Radio’s Morning Edition program in November, when listeners heard an inspiring extended feature by reporter Mitch Wertlieb. The piece told about a St. Mike’s group of students and professors providing children with mobility devices adapted from “Power Wheel” ride-on cars for kids. The cars are donated and adapted in the College’s MakerSpace.  Mary Beth and Donna along with three students spoke about the project in the piece.

Kristin Dykstra, distinguished scholar in residence, published translations of essays by the renowned Chilean author Raúl Zurita in Lana Turner Journal 10, just out for December. Her translation of a book by Cuban writer Marcelo Morales, The World as Presence was longlisted for the National Translation Award by the American Literary Translators’ Association. In magazines, she published translations of short works by Mexican author Manuel Becerra and Cuban authors Omar Pérez and Soleida Ríos; gave a reading at Kenyon College … and more.

Ruth Fabian-Fine, assistant professor of biology and neuroscience, and Will Mentor, associate professor of fine arts/art, co-curated an exhibition in the McCarthy Arts Center Gallery titled “Enhanced Vision: Artful Science from September 7 through October 13. This exhibition featured the often inaccessible aesthetic beauty of the natural world revealed through scientific research. It covers a broad spectrum from nature photography to the visualization of single molecules using modern research technology.

Raichle (Rai) Farrelly, assistant professor of applied linguistics, has had a host of publications recently, including collaborating on the book”Fostering International Student Success in Higher Education,” which was used in 2015 to prepare First Year Seminar instructors at Saint Michael’s and will now be published by TESOL Press — an updated version of the book will be available by March 2018. Rai made several presentations, too, including in Africa, Seattle, and Utah as well as in Vermont, on assorted topics related to her TESOL specialty.

Dan French, School Leadership Program coordinator at Saint Michael’s, was hired this summer as a consultant for the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union Act 46 Study Committee. He also acted as a merger consultant or project manager for a merger for a number of districts.

Traci Griffith, professor and chair of media studies, journalism and digital arts, was a guest on Vermont Public Radio’s Morning Edition about an interesting case involving two northeastern Vermont newspapers. Traci also was cited extensively in a November report the same case by a Boston correspondent for Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs. She also hosted visiting Russian journalists in her Media Ethics class this fall; and discussed state officials’ transparency on a WCAX news show in September.

Rowena He, assistant professor of history, has learned that her article “The 1989 Tiananmen Movement and Its Aftermath” has been approved for publication in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History (Ed. David Ludden. New York: Oxford University Press).

Pauline Jennings, instructor of creative dance in the Fine Arts Department, presented a series of workshops and lectures at NYU-Shanghai along with the interactive dance solo “Red Light/Green Light,” October 2017. Her dance film “Quotidian Mandala” was screened at the Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival (Los Angeles), Cinema New York City (NY) and received a Women Filmmakers’ “Award of Recognition” this fall.

Aostre Johnson professor of education, is a visiting professor in the Graduate School of Social Studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, this semester. She is teaching graduate and undergraduate classes in the area of Holistic Education. She also gave November presentation on “Twelve Dimensions of Spiritual Development and Education” at the Asian Pacific International Conference for Holistic Education at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.

Todd Johnstone-Wright ’96/M’11, director of adventure sport for the College, completed his British Canoeing/United Kingdom Coaching Certificate Level 4 Award in Performance Paddlesport Coaching. This is a two-year post-graduate certificate, and Todd is only one of three North Americans and 29 internationally, to complete the process. He’s continuing on beyond the certificate for a second master’s degree at the University of Stirling, Scotland (MSc. in Performance Coaching/Anticipated completion date July 18).

Ari Kirshenbaum, professor of psychology, this semester learned he received a $365,865 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support his research on the abuse potential of E-cigarettes in young adults. The news attracted widespread local media attention including an extended interview on Vermont Public Radio.

Robert Letovsky of the Saint Michael’s business faculty has been a guest on Vermont radio news programs to discuss various topics in recent months, including a discussion of tax reform on WVMT AM 620, a show on teacher strikes for Vermont radio station WDEV; a segment on WCAX TV news concerning a new Target store in the University Mall; and a segment with Kristin Kelly of WCAX on a new proposed headquarters for Amazon with southern New Hampshire making a bid.

Mark Lubkowitz, professor of biology, gave a talk titled “Code Switching: How to communicate your science to different audiences,” at the Annual Cell and Molecular Biology and Neuroscience Retreat at the University of Vermont. August 22, 2017.

Jim Millard, senior instructional designer/technologist, on August 4 met with a BBC 2 producer and film crew to create a segment for their popular Great American Railway Journeys television show. Jim toured the ruins of Lake Champlain’s Fort Montgomery with the show’s host- former British Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, Michael Portillo, and shared the story of the region’s infamous Fort “Blunder.”

James Nagle, associate professor in education, has published an article in Middle School Journal entitled “Tapping the experts in effective practices: Students as educators in middle grades professional development” with two colleagues from UVM. James also has published an article with Main Street Middle School teacher and Saint Michael’s College adjunct professor, Don Taylor, in the Middle Grades Research Journal.  He continues to present on the transition toward personalized learning in Vermont middle schools at national and state conferences.

Tara Natarajan, professor and chair of economics, recently had an article published in a peer-reviewed journal:  “Enriching undergraduate economics: curricular and pedagogical integration of heterodox approaches from within,” in the Review of Keynesian Economics.

Marie-France Nelson, instructor of business administration, teaches marketing at Saint Michael’s College and was a key news source for WCAX Channel 3 reporter Kristin Kelly in a special report in late November about retailer “loyalty cards” that gather more information about customers than many people realize.

Paul Olsen, assistant professor of business administration and accounting, recently learned that he has had accepted for publication, by the Journal of Critical Incidents, a critical incident case and teaching note he wrote last summer of 2017 with Connor Mitchell ’17, “Beansie’s or Bust: the Challenges of Managing a Food Truck Business.”

John O’Meara, professor and chair of physics, is a constant media presence locally and nationally as he explains interesting topics about space that are in the news. His topics have included the NASA’s LUVOIR space-telescope plans, the end of the Cassini mission to Saturn and  the solar eclipse in August; his media forums have included Deep Astronomy Channel on YouTube, Forbes Science web page, Vermont Public Radio Vermont Edition (several times), and the Burlington Free Press, along with local TV stations, and more.

Susan Ouellette, professor of history, has received media attention for her most recent book An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman: The Journal of Phebe Orvis, 1820-1830’: Arts writer Brent Hallenbeck in the Burlington Free Press this summer 2017 rounded up books by local authors that might make good summer reads, including Susan’s book. A report in the Addison County Independent newspaper also told of a presentation Susan made about her book with a reading and book-signing at the Vermont Book Shop.

Raymond Patterson, professor of religious studies and department chair, in early June received the inaugural Northeast-10 Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Faculty Mentor Award during the NE10’s year-end banquet at Gillette Stadium’s Putnam Club. Ray is a long-time supporter of Saint Michael’s athletics, and serves as the faculty affiliate for the women’s basketball, field hockey and women’s lacrosse programs, providing academic support and guidance to those teams’ student-athletes. Student-athletes nominated him for the award.

Jonathan Silverman, professor and chair of education, has been named the 2018 Vermont Art Educator of the Year – an honor more typically awarded to a K-12 art teacher. Jonathan was recognized as this year’s recipient “for inspiring many Vermont art educators over his years coordinating the Arts in Education program at Saint Michael’s College and his commitment to visual literacy and the expressive power of the arts,” according to the award citation. The award was announced at the Annual Vermont Art Education Conference.

Lorrie Smith, professor of English, and Bob Niemi, professor of English, traveled to Washington, DC, on August 11, 2017 to celebrate the swearing-in as a federal immigration judge of English Department graduate Charles Conroy ’93. The investiture took place at a Department of Justice building in Falls Church, VA.  Charles was one of nine new Federal Immigration Judges sworn in.

Patrick Standen, instructor of philosophy, was a reviewer for Routledge Publishing on selected medical ethics titles.  He also delivered a presentation on Transhumanism at Champlain College in October and a talk at the University of Vermont’s Department on Exercise and Movement Science on the philosophy of adaptive sports. Finally, in September he delivered a lecture to Doctoral candidates at the UVM Medical College on the history of the concept of disability.

John A. Trono, professor of computer science, presented his paper entitled “Efficiently Searching for a Solution to a Kirkman Packing Design Problem,” at the 26th Annual Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) Rocky Mountain conference, which was held in Orem, Utah from October 13-14, 2017.

Catherine Welch, assistant dean of students/director of student life outreach and assessment, has been named Advisor of the Year for Active Minds, a national nonprofit that urges students to speak openly about mental health to remove the stigma and change campus cultures. She received her award at the Active Minds annual national conference in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3-5. Also, later in November, Catherine attended the NASPA regional conference in Springfield, MA, and was awarded the Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award for Vermont.

Joan Wry, associate professor of English, taught 19th century American Literature as a visiting scholar for the Ticonderoga Teacher Institute, a grant-funded education program hosted at the New York Ticonderoga Museum. This summer the series focused on James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and additional prose and poetry selections by Cooper’s contemporaries. Joan also had an article published, “’Then Quiver down, with tufts of Tune’ —Emily Dickinson’s Palpable Soundscapes,” in Dickinson Electronic Archives: Emily Dickinson’s Lyrical Ecologies, ed. Marta Werner and Eliza Richards, DEA 2: October 2017.