Dr. Leslie Sautter and students of the College’s BEAMS program took first, second, and third place for poster presentations at the 2013 US Hydro Conference. Robin Banner, Kyle Ford and Montgomery Taylor, and Matt Rittinghouse collected $2,000 in scholarships and will have their work published in CARIS Coastlines marine GIS mapping newsletter.
Students Take Knowledge from the Classroom to Research, and Sweep Geology Awards
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School of Sciences and Mathematics Alumnus Named 2013 Eddie Ganaway Distinguished Alumnus of the Year
Mitchell Leverette ’85 exemplifies the spirit, character, and dedication that Eddie Ganaway so loyally demonstrated during his life-long devotion to the campus, his fellow students, and his profession.
As the first African American graduate of our Geology Dept., as a student advocate for the appreciation of diversity, and as an alumnus that has demonstrated significant and outstanding contributions to his profession and Alma mater, Mitchell Leverette personifies the spirit of Eddie Ganaway.
As a student, Mitchell was a champion for campus diversity – organizing and leading a cohort of his fellow students whom worked closely with former College of Charleston President Collins to help document, preserve, and recognize the legacy of the African American student experience at the College. These efforts had a multiplier effect, laying the foundation for a more inclusive and welcoming campus for students from diverse cultures and creating opportunity for a more diverse and vibrant learning community.
As Chief for the Division of Solid Minerals for the Bureau of Land Management, Mitchell is a leader among the Agency’s knowledge experts in mineralogical exploration and domestic resource management. He is one of the country’s foremost experts in the field, frequently lecturing on the subject and helping shape domestic energy exploration and production efforts.
Like Eddie Ganaway, Mitchell is a pioneer and peer leader. We proudly congratulate Mitchell Leverette for being recognized as the 2013 Eddie Ganaway Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient!
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The College Majors That Are Worth It
According to PayScale’s massive compensation database and job growth projections through 2020 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, these 15 college majors are the most valuable in terms of salary and career prospects. They are ranked by median starting pay, median mid-career pay (at least 10 years experience), percentage growth in pay and projected growth of job opportunities.
Source: Forbes Magazine
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2014 Beckman Scholars Program – Letter of Invitation
Students who are interested in being selected should speak with their major’s department chair. Students must receive the support of their Chair, the Dean, and the Provost. Only one application will be submitted per institution.
The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation invites you to submit an application for a 2014 Beckman Scholars Program Award.
In the fall of 1997, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation announced the Beckman Scholars Program. Its purpose is to help stimulate, encourage and support research activities by exceptionally talented undergraduate students at our nation’s universities and colleges; young people who ultimately will become prominent leaders in their scientific and professional pursuits. The research activities are to be centered in chemistry, biochemistry, the biological and medical sciences or some interdisciplinary combination of these subjects. The Beckman Scholars Program is a merit-based program; issues of gender, race and financial need should not be considered contributing factors in the application process. We believe that the generous student financial support which provides for in-depth, sustained undergraduate research experiences and the related Beckman Scholars Annual Symposium offer an academically stimulating and very distinctive educational experience.
For the year 2013, after considering undergraduate research quality and commitment indicators at universities and colleges across the country,126 were invited to submit applications for consideration for institutional Beckman Scholars Program Awards. Following a review of the highly competitive applications, an advisory panel of 12 distinguished academic teacher/scholars assisted the foundation in selecting 25 finalist institutions. After extensive review and discussion of final applications, the panel recommended, and the Foundation Board of Directors approved, 10 institutional awards supporting 53 Beckman Scholars across the nation.
Your institution may submit one application for an award.
Please refer to: http://www.beckman-foundation.com/bsp-appstartpg.html for more detailed information regarding this initiative, including the program announcement, guidelines and application forms. The application must include a cover page containing institutional endorsements from the chief academic officer and academic dean(s) for the participating academic unit(s). The application must also include the completed institutional and faculty mentor data pages. We encourage you to share this information with appropriate individuals at your institution.
Note: Institutions that have not submitted an application for two or more consecutive years will be removed from the invitation list for a minimum of two years.
As this is the first year that we are using an online grants system, and to ensure that we have all of your application materials for review, you are required to submit the following versions of your 2014 BSP Application:
- Mail ORIGINAL and two (2) copies to the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
- Email a PDF of this copy to beckmanprograms@gmail.com
- Complete the online application process
All formats of your application must be submitted to the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation prior to Friday, June 14, 2013, 5:00 P.M. PST. Any materials received after Friday, June 14, 2013 will be eliminated from the competition.
The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation established by Dr. and Mrs. Beckman in 1977. The mission of the foundation is to make grants to non-profit research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open up new avenues of research in science.
If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact the foundation at (949) 721-2222 or email the Beckman Scholars Program Administrator, at beckmanscholarsprogram@beckman-foundation.com. Information regarding other programs supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is available on our Website at http://www.beckman-foundation.com.
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13th Annual Darwin Week to Begin Thursday, February 7.
Darwin Week, an annual fusion of everything from ecology to entomology and faith, is coming to Charleston for the 11th year Feb. 7-13.
The week’s free events, all open to the public, include:
“Why Evolution is True”: 4 p.m. Feb. 7, College of Charleston School of Sciences and Math Auditorium, at Coming and Calhoun streets.
Amid the debate about creationism and intelligent design, the empirical evidence of evolution by natural selection draws from genetics, anatomy, molecular biology, paleontology and geology. Jerry Coyne, professor in ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago, presents a summary.
“Are Science and Faith Incompatible?”: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting St.
Can science and religious faith be friends? Or are they incompatible? Coyne and Lea Schweitz, assistant professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and director of The Zygon Center for Religion and Science.
Movie Night: “Flock of Dodos”: 6 p.m. Feb. 8, School of Science and Math Auditorium.
A comic and controversial 2006 feature documentary, “Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus” looks at the intelligent design versus evolution clash.
“Corresponding with Darwin”: 11 a.m. Feb. 10, Circular Congregational Church.
As more religious people root themselves in a scientific understanding of the natural world, the Sunday morning teaching considers Darwin’s story in looking at science and religion as partners in the existential search for truth and meaning. The Rev. Dr. Jeremy Rutledge, church pastor, leads the discussion.
“Zombie Ants and Disgusted Humans: Behavior in a World of Parasites”: 4 p.m. Feb. 11, School of Sciences and Math Auditorium.
“Zombie Biology” is a new branch of behavioral ecology that examines how and why parasites control the behavior of the hosts they infect. Dr. David Hughes, assistant professor of entomology and biology at Penn State University, examines the results, along with free will in the parasitized brain.
“Myths of ‘Modern’ Human Origins”: 4 p.m. Feb. 12, School of Sciences and Math Auditorium.
For decades, paleoanthropologists have distinguished recent “behaviorally modern” humans from the earliest member of the species, Homo sapiens. The distinction reflects two long-standing myths. Join the discussion with John J. Shea, anthropology professor at Stony Brook University in New York and research associate of the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya.
“Why the Handaxe’s Tale: Stone Tools and Human Evolution”: 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12, 117 Grimsley Hall, The Citadel.
Stone tools are the most durable record of human evolution. But what do we know about them, and how do we know it? Shea takes a look.
“Climate Change and Human Origins: New Discoveries through Scientific Drilling in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley”: 4 p.m. Feb. 13, School of Sciences and Math Auditorium.
Dr. Christopher A. Sholz is professor of Earth sciences at Syracuse University and the author of many papers on tectonics and seismology. Since 2002, he has been the lead investigator on the Lake Malawi Scientific Drilling Project.
For more, go to dillonr. people.cofc.edu/Darwin Week.html.
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Hands-on lessons make College of Charleston trip memorable for Mitchell kids
On Thursday, Jan 3 and Friday, Jan 4, students from Mitchell Elementary visited the School of Sciences and Mathematics for some hands-on science lessons.
This event, now in its fifth year, provides learning opportunities in biology, chemistry, physics, and geology for over 200 students grades 3-6.
Special thanks to Drs. Robert Dillon, Ana Oprisan, Sorinel Oprisan, Neal Tonks, Brooke Van Horne, and Lauren Humphreys as well as the Charleston Chapter of Sigma Xi, support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant, and members of AXE.
For full details check out this article in the Post and Courier:
Hands-on lessons make College of Charleston trip memorable for Mitchell kids
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Undergraduates, Professor Discover New Extrasolar Planet
Two College of Charleston undergraduate research students, part of a team led by Professor Joe Carson, analyzed images from one of the world’s largest telescopes and identified a new extrasolar planet. Through careful processing of the images, they achieved a direct image of the faint object. To put the discovery in perspective, of the nearly 850 extrasolar planets – planets orbiting stars other than the Sun –currently known, only a minute fraction have been captured in actual astronomical images. The vast majority of detections rely on indirect methods.
“Just discovering a new extrasolar planet is exciting,” says Carson, an astronomy professor who also works with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA). “But, under these circumstances, with the direct involvement of undergraduate researchers, it is particularly exciting. Thea Kozakis and Laura Stevens analyzed the raw data from the telescope and identified the candidate exoplanet in their final, processed image. They nicknamed the planet ‘Derek’, which is still what we call it in our group meetings at the College of Charleston.”
Following Kozakis’ and Stevens’ initial results, Carson’s team carried out follow-up observations to confirm its identification. Kozakis and Stevens analyzed the follow-up data and confirmed that the faint object was an orbiting companion of the star, and not an unrelated background star. Based on their positive results, Carson then worked with his collaborators from around the world, including MPIA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), and Princeton University, to characterize the planet with additional follow-up observations, and to carry out optimized re-analyses of the original data.
The discovery of κ And (kappa Andromedae) b, as the planet is called, was made using the Subaru 8-meter telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawai’i, operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The observations were carried out as part of the Strategic Explorations of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru, led by Principal Investigator Motohide Tamura (NAOJ).
Carson explains the significance of being able to get a direct image of the exoplanet. “With a direct image, the planet is immediately accessible for a myriad follow-up examinations such as spectroscopic analysis. Such studies can reveal detailed information on the planet’s atmospheric chemistry and dynamics. Among other benefits, this allows us to compare the planet’s atmospheric features with those of our own solar system planets.”
Carson also notes that the kappa Andromedae system is also unique because the Super-Jupiter has an orbital separation similar to that of our own solar system’s outer planets. That suggests that the kappa Andromedae planet formed in a manner similar to that of lower mass planets. It is by far the most massive star to show strong evidence of this type of planet formation. There are some other stars that are equally massive and have known planets, but these other planets are either in extremely wide orbits, well beyond those of the Solar System planets, or exist around stars that have already reached the end of their normal nuclear-burning lifetime.
The discovery of the Super-Jupiter κ And b suggests that stars as massive as 2.5 solar masses are still fully capable of producing planets within their primordial circumstellar disks – key information for researchers working on models of planet formation.
Carson’s research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a $286,568 grant.
Watch a video of Carson talking about previous discoveries.
Read an article in the College of Charleston Magazine about Carson.
For more information, contact Joe Carson at carsonj@cofc.edu or 843.953.3643.
Office of Media Relations
Mike Robertson
Senior Director of Media Relations
robertsonm@cofc.edu
843.953.5667
Melissa Whetzel
Director of Media Relations
whetzelm@cofc.edu
843.953.7752
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Research Match-Making Session- Thursday, November 29, 2012
Are you interested in doing research during your career at the College of Charleston?
SSM is hosting a 2-hour session that will give students the opportunity to meet with professors from the College and Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) who are looking to take on research assistants. Simply join us in the atrium of the New Science Building where professors will be waiting to discuss their research endeavors and the possibilities of you working in their lab.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
4:00pm- 6:00pm
SSMB, Atrium
Refreshments will be served.
Match-Making-Session-Participating-Faculty
Questions? Call 843-953-5991.
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Two Students Selected as Goldwater Scholars
May 3, 2013
College of Charleston students Erica Tracey and Brenna Norton-Baker were selected as 2013 Goldwater Scholars from a field of more than 1,100 applicants. Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide. Virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D.
“Being awarded a Goldwater Scholarship is often the first in a string of prestigious recognitions,” the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation notes. “Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 80 Rhodes Scholarships, 118 Marshall Awards, 110 Churchill Scholarships and numerous other distinguished fellowships.”
Click here to read more!