Melissa Latimer always wanted to discover why things happened.
In her professional career, she settled on identifying and eradicating unfairness in society. That’s what she’s worked to do as an associate professor of sociology and instructor of women’s studies.
Latimer is also working to bring about change that will encourage women to be able to stay in fields at West Virginia University in which they are typically the minority. Faculty members of either sex are increasingly striving to achieve a balance between work and the rest of their life.
She directs the WVU ADVANCE Center, part of a $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation that is intended to recruit, retain and promote women in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
She knows how easy it is to be consumed in work, but she’s found that playing in her band Second Cousin, which includes other WVU faculty members, has helped her to keep as much of a balance as possible.
Find out more about Latimer as a scientist and how she balances her personal and work lives on this new video, the first in a series of videos that give glimpses into the lives of the female faculty at WVU showing the meeting place between who they are and what they do.
Studying both journalism and biology at West Virginia University, senior Codi Yeager has been recognized for both her interests in plant biology and writings about botanical science.
Yeager is the recipient of a Young Botanist Award, given by the Botanical Society of America (BSA). The purpose of these awards is to offer individual recognition to outstanding graduating seniors in the plant sciences and to encourage their participation in the Botanical Society of America.
This is the first award given to a journalist-botanist by the BSA; emphasizing the importance of communicating plant science to the public. Yeager’s academic background and investigative approach made her well-qualified to write accurate and engaging articles about botanical subjects for her journalism internships, utilizing her interdependent journalism major and biology minor.
While enrolled in the Tropical Ecology-Bahamas course taught by Professor Kass at the Gerace Research Center on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, she proposed and conducted an original research project, “A Study of Bay Lavender Seedlings, location, density, growth and seed germination,” on native dune-plant populations. This outstanding project was subsequently presented at two scientific meetings and is currently pending publication in the Bahamas Natural History Proceedings.
“Her findings are extremely important for the preservation of coastal dunes, which serve an important role in stabilizing shorelines,” said Lee B. Kass, PhD, who helped found the Bahamas National Herbarium, and has taught at the field station since 1982.
Her mentor at West Virginia University, Susan Moyle Studlar, PhD, curator of the WVU Bryophyte and Lichen Herbarium says that Yeager excelled at independent library and laboratory investigations; “her botany papers and reports reflect an independent and thoughtful perspective.”
Yeager’s award will be announced on the BSA website, and in the Plant Science Bulletin, a publication of the Botanical Society of America.
The Botanical Society of America, founded in 1893, is a membership society whose mission is to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere.
For more information, contact Lee Kass, adjunct professor of biology at WVU, at Lee.Kass@mail.wvu.edu or lbk7@cornell.edu or Susan Studlar, visiting associate professor of biology, at (304) 293–1794 or Susan.Studlar@mail.wvu.edu.
The WVU Women’s Studies Program and the Center for Women’s Studies will present the first annual Women’s and Gender Studies Fair on Thursday, April 19, in the Mountainlair from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Brian Jara, senior lecturer in the Women’s Studies Program, spearheaded the planning of the fair. Topics will include representations of women in the media, gender and work, violence against women, gender and politics and gender and health.
“The Fair is an opportunity to showcase our community involvement and to educate the campus and community about women’s and gender studies, said Jara. “There still is a stereotype and misperception about women’s studies and about feminism, and the Fair is one way to show the relevance of women’s and gender studies to all of our lives. If you are a woman, care about a woman, or want to learn more about gender, then there is something at the Fair for you.”
Today, the WVU Center for Women’s Studies has nearly 100 faculty associates teaching and conducting research in women and gender studies in 15 colleges and schools across campus, including athletic coaching education, biology, community health promotion, disability studies, family and consumer sciences, geography, journalism, public health, resource management and law.
More than 2,000 students enroll in women’s studies courses each year and there are currently 40 students with a declared undergraduate major or minor in women’s studies. At the graduate level, the Center has 10 students from a wide variety of disciplines – geography, education, law and history to name a few – adding a women’s studies emphasis to their degree.
For more information please contact Ann Oberhauser, director of the Center at Ann.Oberhauser@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2339 ext. 1155.
The Center for Women’s Studies supports teaching, research and advocacy that is based on feminist perspectives and centered on analyses of gender and its intersection with race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age and ability.
The Northern West Virginia Employment Expo is today (April 11) at the WVU Coliseum.
This one day hiring event, a joint venture between the WVU Office of Student Employment, WVU Career Services, and West Virginia Radio Corporation, will be held between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. It is open to students and the general public. Part time, seasonal, and full time positions will be available.
Applicants should dress in business attire and bring copies of their resume.
The following employers will be present:
West Virginia University Office of Student Employment acts only as a referral service and makes no particular recommendations regarding employers. We make no representations of guarantees about positions posted by our office. The Office of Student Employment is not responsible for safety, wages, working conditions or other aspects of off-campus employment. Due to the volume of jobs received by this office, we are unable to research the integrity of each organization or person that lists a job with us.
A Cornell University plant geneticist will visit West Virginia University on Tuesday, April 17, to meet with faculty and students from WVU’s genetics and developmental biology program. Jeffrey J. Doyle, professor of plant biology and plant breeding and genetics in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will speak on “Polyploidy and the evolution of soybean and its allies” at 2 p.m. Tuesday in room 1001 of the Agricultural Sciences Building.
Doyle’s work is primarily focused on whole genome duplication, and his work in this area involves comparative genomics of polyploid species, species with more than two copies of each chromosome type, as opposed to the expected matched pair of homologous chromosomes. Most of this work involves the large and economically important legume family, where projects include studies addressing the origin of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and the study of gene families involved in cell wall synthesis, aimed at developing alfalfa (a polyploid) as a biofuels crop. Soybean and its wild relatives have been the focus of much work, developing the latter into a model system for studying natural allopolyploidy.
Doyle’s visit is sponsored by the Genetics and Developmental Biology program in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences of the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
For additional information, please contact Jed Doelling, associate professor of genetics, at 304-293-2815 or jed.doelling@mail.wvu.edu.
The Center for Civic Engagement is now accepting nominations for the Excellence in Civic Engagement Awards for the 2011-2012 academic year. Awards will be presented in the following categories:
Each recipient will have shown a commitment to civic engagement and service throughout the year. Recipients will be recognized at a special Engagement Celebration on Thursday, April 29th at Lakeview Golf Resort & Spa.
The nomination deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 6th.
For more information or to nominate, please visit http://cce.wvu.edu/ceawards.
The West Virginia Chapter of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS-WV), and West Virginia Wesleyan College will be hosting Expanding Your Horizons in Science and Mathematics, an educational conference that nurtures girls’ interest in science and math.
The event is open to girls in middle school in West Virginia and will be held on Saturday, (April 14) from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Christopher Hall of Science on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College.
The West Virginia chapter of the association is a network of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math throughout the state who educate and advocate for women in science. Amy Keesee, a research assistant professor in the Department of Physics at West Virginia University, is the current president of the state chapter.
“West Virginia and US economic competitiveness will depend upon a diverse, high-tech workforce to tackle the problems we face as a society,” said Keesee. “Studies have shown that middle school is a critical age to foster girls’ natural curiosity in science and math. The EYH conference provides an opportunity for girls to do some fun experiments while interacting with role models in successful science and math careers.”
Students will participate in hands-on workshops on a variety of science, engineering and mathematics topics. The workshops include: “Become a Legal Drug Dealer,” in which students will perform pharmacy experiments; “Living With a Star,” in which students will learn about the Sun; and “Gene-y In a Bottle,” in which students will learn about and extract their own DNA.
The workshops will be presented by faculty members and students from WVU and Marshall University. A program offered for parents, guardians and teachers of participants will include, “The Admissions and Financial Aid Process for College,” presented by a WVWC representative, and “Intro to the NASA IV&V Educator Resource Center,” presented by Amy Phillips from the NASA IV&V Facility in Fairmont.
The event is supported by a grant from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, Division of Science and Research.
Participants can register for the event here through Wednesday (April 4). A $5 registration fee applies for student registrations, with waivers available for economic hardship. There is no charge for the adult program.
For more information, please ontact Amy Keesee, AWIS-WV President, at amy.keesee@mail.wvu.edu or at 304-293-5113.
“Elixir: Humans and the History of Water,” describes the complex, ever-changing relationship human beings have had with water for the past 10,000 years. Long before water became an anonymous commodity at the end of a faucet, people revered water and treasured it to an extent unimaginable in today’s world.
This year’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Lecturer is Brian Fagan, an author and emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His lecture, “Elixir: The History of Water and Humanity and What It Means for the Future,” will be delivered on Wednesday, April 4, at 7:00 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballroom. This event is free and open to the public.
Fagan is a leading authority on the complex relationship between the environment, climate change and human society. Fagan is the author or editor of 46 books, including eight college textbooks familiar to two generations of archaeology students. For audiences ranging from business executives to high school students, Fagan places today’s highly publicized climate crisis in a crucial historical context and describes how humans have adapted to environmental changes over the eons.
He spent six years as keeper of prehistory at the Livingstone Museum in Central Africa before relocating to the US, where he has been an educator at UC Santa Barbara since 1967. In addition to his books, Dr. Fagan has contributed more than 100 papers to scientific journals and has served as an archaeological consultant to the National Geographic Society, Time/Life, Encyclopedia Britannica and Microsoft Encarta.
“Elixir” is a fascinating journey that encompasses the brilliant water managers of classical Greece, the Roman aqueducts, the magnificent gardens of Islamic engineers, and the challenges of taming Chinese rivers. It’s the story of a largely forgotten world that existed before the diesel pumps and fossil fuels of the Industrial Revolution turned water into a seemingly limitless resource. And from this largely vanished world, Fagan draws timeless lessons about the vital importance of water conservation for our society today.
While he is here, Fagan will also be guest lecturing or visiting with students enrolled in various classes. These include FHYD 444: Watershed Management with Dr. Nicolas Zegre at 11:00 a.m. in 334 Percival Hall and GEOG 207 with Dr. Eungul Lee at 3:30 p.m. in 125 Brooks Hall.
Through its Distinguished Visitors Program, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences invites to West Virginia University one or more distinguished visitors each year. These individuals visit campus for one or two days to meet with college faculty and students in special ways and provide the campus and local communities with a public program in the form of a reading, lecture, or other appropriate presentation.
This sharing of ideas and experiences is meant to inform and inspire arts and sciences students, particularly in the ideals of the Eberly College. Among these are: developing an aptitude for self-appraisal, fostering an understanding of the importance of a commitment to public issues and societal leadership, determining one’s role in the world, realizing the benefits of lifelong learning, and acquiring skills and knowledge for the workplace.
This event is being sponsored by the Eberly College of Arts & Sciences and the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
For more information, please contact Brenda Riggle, ECAS operations director, at (304) 293-4611, or at Brenda.Riggle@mail.wvu.edu
WVU ADVANCE and WVNano will host a workshop entitled “Developing and Sustaining Productive Graduate Research Groups.”
The workshop will be offered on both campuses for convenience:
Join us to discuss ways in which you can develop and sustain productive graduate student researchers in your laboratory and/or research group. We will discuss challenges and tips related to communication and mentoring.
The second annual NYC Turing Fellows Program, which matches outstanding students to paid summer internships with leading technology startups, is now accepting applications from undergraduate and graduate students across the U.S. and Canada. The program is open to students studying computer science, engineering, or mathematics who are looking for a competitive summer internship at one of New York City’s top startups.
Read more about the program in the San Francisco Chronicle.