Nobel Peace Prize Winner Maria Ressa Selected as Fall Colgate University Global Leaders Speaker
Maria Ressa will be the featured speaker for The Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate in October.
Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist, free press advocate, and CEO of Rappler.com Maria Ressa will visit Colgate on Oct. 28 as the speaker for the Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate.
In addition, Ressa’s How to Stand Up to A Dictator, will be Colgate’s Summer Reading selection — the first opportunity for new students to engage in dialogue with faculty and staff members on questions that transcend disciplinary interests and that require independent analysis. The shared summer reading also provides a foundation for a variety of related events throughout the year at Colgate.
Ressa earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 in recognition of her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines. Her numerous awards include being named Time’s 2018 Person of the Year, and she is listed among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019. Ressa has been named one of Time’s 100 Women of the Year, BBC’s 100 Women of 2019, and Prospect magazine’s World’s Top 50 Thinkers in 2019. Ressa’s expertise is routinely called upon as an adviser for organizations and corporations on corporate governance, values, and strategy.
Ressa’s success and commitment to journalism have come with legal peril in the Philippines, where she is facing 10 charges related to exposing corruption within President Rodrigo Duterte’s government. In June, she was convicted of violating that country’s cyber libel laws, and she has vowed to continue fighting the charges while currently out on bail.
A journalist for more than 35 years, Ressa was CNN bureau chief in Manila before working as the network’s lead investigative reporter focusing on terrorism. In 2012, she co-founded Rappler.com, an online news platform with an ethos of a small tech start-up, starting with a team of 12 young reporters and developers. Through the power of social media, Rappler has grown into the fourth-largest news website in the Philippines with more than 100 journalists.
Ressa is also author of Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda’s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia and From Bin Laden to Facebook, and she was featured in the 2020 documentary A Thousand Cuts, which profiles her fearless reporting on the abuses of Duterte’s presidency, while also illustrating social media’s capacity to deceive and entrench political power.
Launched in 2007 and sponsored by Colgate’s Parents’ and Grandparents’ Fund, Colgate’s Global Leaders Series has brought to campus notable individuals whose work has had a global impact. Encounters with these world leaders help students prepare for lives of leadership — to contribute to the advance of local community and global society alike. Details of Ressa’s visit, and ticket information, will be available online this summer at Colgate.edu/GLS.
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- Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute Announces 2024 Research AwardsPicker Interdisciplinary Science Institute Announces 2024 Research Awards Contributing Writer The Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute (Picker ISI) has announced this year’s awards supporting interdisciplinary approaches in innovative research. The awards bring together Colgate faculty and other researchers with complementary expertise to open new areas of study and to tackle existing problems in creative, new ways. “I am pleased by the breadth and depth of research projects that we funded this year,” said Professor of Biology and Mathematics Ahmet Ay, director of the Picker Institute. “While distinct in scope, they all reflect Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute's dedication to interdisciplinary research.” This year, there are six Picker ISI awards: Paul Harnik, assistant professor of earth and environmental geosciences; Rebecca Metzler, professor of physics; and Damhnait McHugh, professor of biology, have received a $100,000 award for their project “Determining the Impacts of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Calcifying Marine Animals.” Cosmin Ilie, assistant professor of physics — in collaboration with Katherine Freese (University of Texas), Andreea Petric (the Space Telescope Science Institute), and Jillian Paulin (University of Pennsylvania) — has been awarded $84,500 in funding for the project “Probing the Nature of Dark Matter With the First Stars and Galaxies in the Universe.” Kelly Isham, assistant professor of mathematics — in collaboration with Kartik Lakhotia (Intel) and Laura Monroe (Los Alamos National Laboratory) — has been awarded $31,250 for the project “Exploring the Mathematics of Large-scale Computer Network Design: Toward Zettascale.” Anzela Niraula, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences and neuroscience, in collaboration with Jacques Robert (University of Rochester), has been awarded $9,581 for the project “The Immune System as the Brain’s Sculptor During Metamorphosis.” Associate Professor Wan-chun Liu and Professor Spencer Kelly, from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Neuroscience, have received an award of $8,344 for their project “Song-Entangled Beat Gesture in Songbirds: A Window to the Mind and Brain.” Professor of Physics Beth Parks, with colleagues Silver Onyango (Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda) and Crystal North (MGH/Harvard), has received an award of $7,120 for the project “Sensors for Enabling Personal Behavior Changes to Reduce Air Pollution Exposure in Uganda.” “These projects are important not only because of their scholarly merit but also because they will enrich the research opportunities our university provides for our students,” Ay said. “Furthermore, they lay the framework for creating new interdisciplinary courses and expanding our university’s curricula.” A brief description of each project can be found on the Picker ISI Funding History page.Academics Faculty News Research Centers and Institutes Faculty & Staff Picker ISI
- Colgate Students Are First Undergraduates to Present at Conference for the American Association of Teachers of FrenchColgate Students Are First Undergraduates to Present at Conference for the American Association of Teachers of French tmfonda@colgate.edu Kaitlin Maratea ’25 and Amelia Rastley ’25 recently became the first undergraduates to present at the Conference for the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). Their presentation on the intersections of identity and the French language, titled “Multiple Voices from the Caribbean,” was delivered in Trois Rivières, Quebec, under the mentorship of Mahadevi Ramakrishnan, DA, senior lecturer in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Ramakrishnan’s Introduction to French Language and Culture course introduced Maratea and Rastley to the history of language, culture, and colonial and post-colonial identity politics in the French-speaking Caribbean region. “After taking Madame Ramakrishnan’s French class, I fell in love with the language,” Rastley said. Rastley’s portion of the presentation focused on Aimé Césaire, a Francophone-Martinican poet and politician. With the help of Visiting Assistant Professor of University Studies Aleksandr Skylar, Rastley researched Césaire’s life and influence in relation to his essay “Discourse on Colonialism.” “I chose to explore a text that I struggled with in class,” said Rastley. “I wanted to discern how Césaire’s use of different rhetorical tools contributed to making this text a revolutionary work in decolonial writing.” To highlight another figure in French Caribbean history, Maratea researched Maryse Condé, a French novelist and critic. Maratea’s analysis of Condé’s autobiography, Le Cœur à rire et à pleurer, served as a reference for her presentation on cultural and socioeconomic hierarchies in the French Caribbean. “My research is really focused on the concepts of internalized oppression, hierarchy, and Condé’s alienation within that context,” said Maratea. At the convention, Rastley and Maratea met a variety of French-language speakers, researchers, and educators. “It was nice not only to immerse myself in the language but also to be with teachers,” said Maratea, who plans to fuse her interests in education and the French language into a teaching career. Following their presentation, Maratea, Rastley, and Ramakrishnan were invited to present their work again at the next AATF conference, taking place this summer in San Diego. A synthesized article of their work was published in the January issue of the AATF National Bulletin. “To watch my two former students, who were both sophomores at that time, present with so much confidence was an extraordinarily proud moment for me as an educator,” said Ramakrishnan. “And this is just the beginning for them.”Academics Arts and Humanities Research News and Updates Student Romance Languages and Literatures Kaitlin Maratea ’25 (left) and Amelia Rastley ’25 (right) at the Conference for the American Association of Teachers of French in Trois Rivières, Quebec.
- Former Representatives Discuss Political Careers and American UnityFormer Representatives Discuss Political Careers and American Unity tmfonda@colgate.edu On Feb 26, former congressmen Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) and John Faso (R-N.Y.) joined Colgate students in the Golden Auditorium for an honest dialogue about the representatives’ careers on Capitol Hill and their stances on several key issues. Ellie Markwick ’24, a student majoring in international relations and peace and conflict studies, moderated the panel, which was organized by the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE) and co-sponsored by the Colgate Vote Project and Democracy Matters. The panel began with Capuano describing his time in office (1998–2019) as an advocate for progressive causes such as affordable housing, transportation infrastructure, and environmental protection. Capuano was involved in key legislation such as the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. “In politics, you’re just not going to agree on every single issue, so politics should be the art of the possible,” Capuano said. “Take healthcare, for instance — I don’t want to say no to 20 million people just because we couldn’t secure a program for 30 million. But those other 10 million, we’re still fighting for them. We’ll get them next time.” During Faso’s term in the U.S. House of Representatives (2017–19), his priorities included fiscal responsibility, advocating for lower taxes, and reduced government spending. At the panel, he offered his continued support for these causes: “Financially, I think the biggest issue we [the United States] are currently facing is our fiscal imbalance — that is really going to threaten our ability to accomplish certain things because we’re in so much debt,” Faso said. Considering future generations, Faso asked the students in the audience to think carefully about how they’re developing their political perspectives. “As college students, you’re in this unique time period, these four years, before you go out into the real world,” he said. “In terms of political issues, my advice is not to silo yourself to only sources you agree with. Challenge yourself to listen, watch, and read about other viewpoints.” Capuano agreed that a hopeful, united future in American politics can be brought about by a public that is engaged in conversation. “To me, the most interesting work in politics is talking to people with different perspectives and really trying to learn from them,” Capuano said. “A lot of people don’t do that. It’s hard work, but it opens doors.”Campus Life News and Updates Student cove
- Chasing the EclipseChasing the Eclipse sliddell@colgate.edu “Unless you have been living under a rock on another planet, you have to be aware of what is going to be happening in just a few weeks,” Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, Anthropology, and Native American Studies Anthony Aveni told an audience in the Ho Tung Visualization Lab last week. A total solar eclipse will cross North America on Monday, April 8. That day, buses will ferry more than 200 Colgate University students, faculty, and staff to Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where they will join ranks with students and astronomers to observe the celestial event, which will not take place again in the region until 2079. “We partnered with Hobart William Smith to find the perfect location within the path of totality,” explained Joe Eakin, technical director and designer at the Vis Lab, who will be leading the expedition. “You have to be in the totality path to truly experience the magic of a total solar eclipse.” In this path, the eclipse will reach Hobart William Smith’s campus in Geneva, N.Y., between approximately 2:07 p.m. and 4:34 p.m., achieving totality for 2 minutes and 21 seconds at 3:21 p.m. The sky will darken almost completely, and the sun’s corona as well as the mountains of the moon will be clearly visible. In anticipation of the pilgrimage, Aveni briefed community members on the physics and folklore of the phenomenon, which he has viewed in totality numerous times, usually from ships on the ocean. “Sublime. That’s the word that is often used to describe an eclipse,” said Aveni. According to the professor, an eclipse sparks a variety of natural phenomena as well as awe. During totality, birds fall silent, nocturnal animals emerge from hiding, winds can pick up, and temperatures plummet. Faces of friends can look grotesque in the odd shadows. Perhaps strangest of all, wavy dark and light lines or “shadow bands” are seen on surfaces immediately before and after the eclipse. “Weird things happen during totality,” Eakin confirmed. “And best of all, they’re going to happen right next door.” Colgate is hosting a wide range of activities in the weeks leading up to the eclipse including planetarium shows and an exhibition from Albright College artist Kristen Woodward inspired by the eclipse. Visit colgate.edu/calendar for dates and details. Academics Arts News and Updates Faculty & Staff Student Department of Physics and Astronomy Department of Sociology and Anthropology Pitris
- Jessica Johnson ’22 Named NIH Oxford-Cambridge ScholarJessica Johnson ’22 Named NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar mniedt@colgate.edu Jessica Johnson ’22 has been selected for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program, an individualized and accelerated doctoral training program for outstanding students committed to biomedical research careers. NIH Oxford-Cambridge (OxCam) students partner with two investigators — one at the NIH and another at the University of Oxford or University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom — to perform a single collaborative dissertation project. “The NIH OxCam program is so incredibly unique,” Johnson states. “It allows me to utilize the resources of vastly different, yet highly adept, research institutions. In a way, this synergetic international collaboration is a macrocosm of my own interdisciplinary interests.” Johnson, an astrogeophysics major and German minor, is keenly interested in aerospace medicine, studying sustainable human health in weightlessness and extreme climates. Her research interests, at the intersection of physics, planetary science, and the cardiovascular system, guided her proposed research with OxCam. Johnson will be heading to Oxford in the fall to work with Ellie Tzima, PhD. They will study endothelial cell mechanosensor response to turbulent blood flow and shear stress in human vasculature. These effects are inherent factors of venous diseases and adverse fluid circulation in microgravity. While at Colgate, Johnson was highly engaged with the physics and German departments, tutoring for both. She worked closely with Professor Joseph Levy, researching boulder banding across Martian glaciers; the remote sensing of desert playa hydropatterns in Alvord, Oregon; and organic matter accumulation and distributions along water tracks in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. This work spanned three years and culminated in a six-week field expedition to Antarctica in December 2022. In addition to being highly focused on her research and academics, Johnson has been a strong proponent of advocacy through outreach. She was a founding member of the Colgate Student Coalition, for which she served as an adviser to the Internal Affairs Committee in the spring of 2020. This group created the social justice series 13 Days of Education and raised $75,000 in support of bail funds for individuals arrested as part of protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death. She was also a German language coordinator for the Foreign Language Program at Hamilton Central School, sharing her knowledge of German language, history, and customs with local second graders. Additionally, Johnson was an active student leader on campus. She was the president of the German Club, co-president of both the Senior Honors Society and Star ’Gate, and a student language ambassador at the Keck Center for Language Study. Johnson’s focus and academic achievement have not gone unnoticed. She has been honored with the Valentine Piotrow Prize in German Excellence, DAAD Rise Fellowship, Delta Phi Alpha, Phi Beta Kappa Daniel H. Saracino Prize for Scholarship of Exceptional Merit, Physics and Astronomy Joseph C. Amato and Anthony F. Aveni Award for Student Research, NIH Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA), and the Antarctica Service Medal. Most recently, she was recognized as one of 100 Polar Women by the Women in Polar Science Network and featured on the Black Women in Science Podcast for her research at Colgate, in Antarctica, and at the NIH. Currently, Johnson is completing the second year of her IRTA fellowship in the Multiscale Imaging and Integrative Biophysics Unit at the NIH under Dan Benjamini, PhD. They utilize novel, frequency-dependent multidimensional diffusion MRI techniques in the in vivo human brain to characterize tissue microstructure and degeneration. The goal is to apply this work to age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. She is also a semifinalist for a Fulbright Research Grant in Germany. “In life, do something you enjoy, even if it makes no sense to anyone else, and always take a moment to recognize the pillars who uplift you and challenge you to be your best,” advises Johnson. “I want to thank my family; professors Joe Levy, Jonathan Levine, and Matthew Miller; Steve Wright and ONFS and the many others who have provided critical guidance along my journey.” To learn more about the NIH OxCam Scholars Program or other national competitive awards, reach out to Meghan Niedt, mniedt@colgate.edu, in the Office of National Fellowships and Scholarships to schedule an appointment.Alumni Outcomes University Statements News and Updates Alumni onfs Department of Physics and Astronomy Department of German Jessica Johnson ’22
- Next Up on 13: Hitching a Ride to the MoonNext Up on 13: Hitching a Ride to the Moon kputman@colgate.edu On the latest episode of 13, explore the cosmos with Associate Professor of Physics Jonathan Levine. Professor Levine shares his journey from his childhood interests in astronomy to his work on an upcoming 2027 lunar research mission through NASA’s recurring Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) program. Levine’s professional interests are centered on the physics of the planets, planetary materials, and interactions between the Earth and its environment in space. His experimental work has included analyses of lunar samples collected by the Apollo astronauts, meteorites, presolar mineral grains, and interplanetary dust. He teaches courses in the traditional physics and astronomy curriculum, such as Introduction to Mechanics (PHYS 232) and Solar System Astronomy (ASTR 101), and also courses that draw heavily on his research themes, such as Planetary Science (ASTR 313) and a Core Sciences course on the atmosphere (Core 166S). Levine also works with the Benton Scholars at Colgate and discusses some of the exciting work being done by students in that program. Levine earned bachelor’s degrees from Cornell University and Oxford University and both his master’s and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Each episode of 13, Colgate’s award-winning podcast, digs into the work of a University community member by asking questions. Episodes highlight the wide array of academic disciplines at Colgate, with interviews featuring faculty from political science, sociology and anthropology, physics and astronomy, women’s studies, English, Africana and Latin American studies, and many more. Find 13 on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.Faculty Profiles News and Updates Faculty & Staff