For the Record, Nov. 13, 2015
University community reports honors, presentations, publications
10:08 a.m., Nov. 13, 2015--For the Record provides information about recent professional activities of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Recent honors, panels, presentations, publications and service include the following:
People Stories
'Resilience Engineering'
Reviresco June run
Honors
Jissell Martinez, business administrator for the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and a UD alumna, has received the Delaware Commission for Women’s “She’s On Her Way” award, recognizing the achievements of young women making a difference in the state. Martinez, who earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations in 2008 and a master’s degree in public administration in 2010, is a co-founder of the Delaware chapter of the national organization Latinas in Motion.
Jon Cox, assistant professor of art, has been selected as a fellow of The Explorers Club, based on his contributions to indigenous cultures. The 111-year-old organization is dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. Cox, who in the spring was named a “National Geographic Explorer,” was the UD project manager for a multidisciplinary team that focused on documenting the culture of the indigenous Ese’Eja people of Peru. He previously contributed photographs for a book about another endangered group, the Hadzabe people of Tanzania in East Africa.
Panels
Mark Samuels Lasner, senior research fellow, Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, collaborated on a panel discussion "Provenance, Collectors and the Trade" during "Mind the Gap: Recent Provenance of Antiquarian Materials" sponsored by the Bibliographical Society of America, Nov. 6-7, New York, New York.
David Wunsch, director and state geologist of the Delaware Geological Survey at UD, served on a panel of mentors for the Geology in Government Career Pathways Mentor Luncheon on Monday, Nov. 2, during the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) held in Baltimore. The luncheon is sponsored by the GSA Foundation and benefits geoscience students interested in employment opportunities in the government sector. Wunsch represented the Association of American State Geologists, whose members are the chief executives of the 50 state geological surveys in the U.S. He was joined by seven other panelists representing the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, FBI Forensics Lab, Library of Congress, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture Climate Change Program and the U.S. Army Environmental Health Division. Over 200 students attended the panel and luncheon.
Presentations
Jackie Wilson, interim director of the Professional Development Center for Educators and coordinator doctor of education program in the School of Education, attended the Wallace Foundation convening of the Principal Pipeline Districts, a group of six urban schools districts, on Nov. 9. She discussed the approved Professional Standards for School Leaders. Districts engaged in this national work include Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina; Gwinnett, Georgia; Hillsborough, Florida; New York City; Prince Georges, Maryland; and Denver.
Yasser Payne, associate professor in the Department of Black American Studies, delivered a sermon on Nov. 8 at the Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington, Delaware. The sermon, titled “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth,” centered on the idea that many people in Wilmington are troubled and are victims of a system that needs to become more just and equitable.
Philip Goldstein, professor emeritus of English at the University of Delaware, Wilmington, presented the paper "Toni Morrison's Beloved: The Forgotten History of Slavery and Patriarchy," on Nov. 7 at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers, Philadelphia.
Faith Muirhead, associate director of mathematics in the Professional Development Center for Educators and assistant professor of education, gave a talk for TEDx Chemung River on Nov. 7. The talk was titled “Should We Stop Trying So Hard to Teach?” In the talk, she examined what it means to teach and how in efforts to teach people often leave students behind. She provided examples from her own teaching, where she fell into the trap of trying too hard to teach, and presented a refreshing alternative.
Wendy Bellion, associate professor of art history, gave an invited lecture on Nov. 1 as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. Titled “Politics in American Art,” her talk at the Art Institute of Chicago examined surprising links between early American art, culture and citizenship. One of the leading historians of American art today, Bellion is the author of Citizen Spectator: Art, Illusion, and Visual Perception in Early National America, which was awarded the 2014 Charles C. Eldredge Prize for Outstanding Scholarship in American Art by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Curtis Small, assistant librarian, Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, presented "African Americans in Delaware: Primary Sources" in the lecture series "Discover Delaware: Roots, Rifts, Reconciliation" in the Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory, Oct. 12.
Publications
Corie Charpentier, a doctoral student studying marine biosciences, and Jonathan Cohen, assistant professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy, have published “Chemical Cues from Fish Heighten Visual Sensitivity in Larval Crabs Through Changes in Photoreceptor Structure and Function” in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
UD doctoral students Yosef Shirazi, Edward Carr, Lauren Knapp have published “A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Alternatively Fueled Buses with Special Considerations for V2G Technology” in Energy Policy, a publication of Elsevier. The study analyzed costs and benefits of diesel, compressed natural gas and battery-electric powertrains for school buses.
Amy Trauth-Nare, associate director of science in the Professional Development Center for Educators and assistant professor in education, published “Re-envisioning Scientific Literacy as Relational, Participatory Thinking and Doing” in an invited forum response for Cultural Studies in Science Education.
Service
Sharon Brittingham, Professional Development Center for Educators associate, coordinated the second session of the Delaware Academy for School Leadership’s Executive Leadership Program on the topic of special education law.
Tammy Croce, Professional Development Center for Educators associate, has been working with the principal and teachers at East Dover Elementary School to develop the Focus School Plan. This plan will outline the school improvement priorities for 2016-17.
Alison Dubinski, Professional Development Center for Educators associate, provided an orientation for principals from Delaware school districts who are serving as mentors in the new University of Delaware Principal Preparation Program.
Amy Trauth-Nare, associate director of science in the Professional Development Center for Educators, facilitated professional development at several schools. She facilitated the school-wide professional development, “Engineering is Elementary,” at Olive B. Loss Elementary School on Oct. 9. More than 40 teachers and support staff participated. This professional development supports a school-wide STEM initiative and provides teachers with skills for implementing Next Generation Science Standards-aligned engineering design lessons into classroom instruction. With middle and high school teachers from Newark Charter School and Colonial, Appoquinimink and Christina school districts, she facilitated “Orthopedics in Action,” which is designed to support teachers’ knowledge of biomedical engineering and provide them with an overview of six lessons that they can implement in their classrooms.
Kimberly Wagner, literacy specialist in the Professional Development Center for Educators, began new partnership with the Seaford School District in collaboration with Sharon Walpole, professor of education, to provide literacy instruction and coaching to teachers in four elementary schools. She also began a Guided Reading partnership with Eastside Charter and Family Foundations Academy and started a writing workshop partnership with Edison Charter School.
Professional Development Center for Educators development coaches, John Kreitzer, Sue Dutton, Connie Fisher, Gary Brittingham, Jim Hudson, Ed Burton, Deb Thompson, and LouAnn Miller are working with 55 principals from Delaware school districts and charter schools to assist principals with teacher goal-setting using the Delaware Performance Appraisal System. They have also been working closely with principals to provide support and assistance as they conduct pre-observations, lesson observations, and post-conferences to assure that they are providing actionable feedback to teachers and specialists. Sharon Brittingham provides leadership to the eight coaches involved with the project.
Television
A segment of the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum program filmed at the University of Delaware Library will air at 9 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13. The segment focuses on a major map thief.
To submit information to be included in For the Record, write to publicaffairs@udel.edu.
Photo by Evan Krape