Faculty Accomplishments
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Nazli Konya, visiting assistant professor of government, won Cornell University's Janice N. and Milton J. Esman Prize for her outstanding thesis, "The Inappropriable People of Gezi." The prize is Cornell's highest honor awarded to a graduate student.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has received the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences' (AESS) Early Career Award in recognition of her commitment to global engagement and student success and of her contribution to the academic literature on climate change adaptation in small island developing states. AESS is a scholarly and professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary research, teaching, and service for faculty and students in the 1,000-plus environmental academic programs in the United States and beyond. The award honors individuals who are early in their careers but who have made significant contributions to knowledge, community, and diversity in environmental studies and science and have a career plan and trajectory that promise to continue and bolster such contributions.
Professor of Creative Writing Debra Spark wrote an article titled "Her Many Muses" for the Barnard alumni magazine. Spark reviewed the upcoming film A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff written by Alicia Jo Rabins, a Barnard alumna and artist that Spark admires. "Not long after the Bernie Madoff scandal broke, Alicia Jo Rabins ’98 started a yearlong artist residency on an empty floor of a Wall Street high-rise. At first, Rabins — a poet, musician, and Jewish educator — wasn’t sure what she’d produce. This was a time to be creative, but her mind kept turning to the disgraced financier who defrauded thousands of people," Spark's article begins.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Alison Bates coauthored a public report and stepwise guidance document, Community Planning for Solar Toolkit, with colleagues from the UMass Clean Energy Extension and state, local, utility, and community partner organizations as well as the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Innovation Network. This six-step toolkit provides the resources needed for New England communities to plan for large-scale solar, including financing, community engagement, and resource assessment. Bates led the research and authored two guides in the toolkit that demonstrate how municipalities can incorporate community preferences to guide solar development. The solar planning toolkit is freely available to the general public.
This work was supported by Colby students Makalyah Cowan ’22 and Julia Cantor ’23. Development of this toolkit was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Solar Energy Innovation Network cohort program for Solar in Rural Communities. Support for Colby students was provided by the Colby Provost's Office, the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, and the McVey Data Science Initiative.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a paper titled "Reviewing the nature and pitfalls of multilateral adaptation finance for small island developing states." Published in the journal Climate Risk Management, the paper shows that, following the establishment of the Global Environment Facility, many multilateral climate funds have been rife with administrative issues, creating barriers to access for particularly vulnerable countries. It proposes reorienting multilateral adaptation finance toward resilience as a means of improving the governance of international adaptation finance and increasing access for small island developing states.
Sandy Maisel, the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government, Emeritus, was recently awarded the John C. Donovan Prize for the Best Paper Written by a Faculty Member from the New England Political Science Association. The paper, “Excessive Spending in Maine: Political Advertising in the Collins-Gideon Senate Race,” was coauthored with Lauren Gervais '22 and Andrew Ordentlich '22.
The book Tropical Arctic: Lost Plants, Future Climates, and the Discovery of Ancient Greenland, cowritten by paleobotanist Ian Glasspool, a research scientist in the Geology Department, was reviewed in the high-profile journal Current Biology. The Association of University Presses Design also recently selected the book as one of 12 illustrated selections as part of its design showcase.
Professors of Education Lyn Mikel Brown and Mark Tappan, along with University of Maine professor Catharine Biddle, have coauthored the recently released book Trauma-Responsive Schooling (Harvard Education Press). The book outlines a new approach to transforming American schools through student-centered, trauma-informed practices. It chronicles the use of an innovative educational model, Trauma-Responsive Equitable Education (TREE), as part of a multi-year research project in two elementary schools in rural Maine.
Assistant Professor of Government Nicholas Jacobs coauthored the recently released book What Happened to the Vital Center: Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America (Oxford University Press). The book provides a long historical view of populism, party politics, and the growth of presidential power while tracing the joining of executive power and movement politics over the past six decades. "This book is an altogether impressive achievement―a work of impressive historical sweep and pointed analytical acuity, a bold and compelling reinterpretation of American political development," said Robert C. Lieberman, coauthor of Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy.
Advocating for the Environment, How to Gather Your Power and Take Action, written by Sue Inches '77, was recently published by Penguin Random House. The book, a citizen's guide to environmental action, is based on her experiences teaching a Jan Plan course at Colby. Michael Brune, executive director at the Sierra Club, said the book is, “Smart, strategic, and genuinely empowering." It's a book "that activists everywhere will keep coming back to.”