Faculty Accomplishments

Robert A. Gastaldo, the Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology, Emeritus, has published a paper 10 years in the making in the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Titled "A tale of two Tweefonteins: What physical correlation, geochronology, magnetic polarity stratigraphy, and palynology reveal about the end-Permian terrestrial extinction paradigm in South Africa," the paper offers results to settle the debate of whether or not there were pre-extinction or post-extinction unique groups of animals during the end-Permian extinction. Gastaldo's interdisciplinary team provides several sets of independent evidence demonstrating that there was no extinction of land animals as widely held in the literature. This finding has implications for modeling how terrestrial animals and plants might respond to our current climate challenges of rising temperatures and increasing C02 levels. That means, Gastaldo said, that "we no longer have a model for how life on land, particularly the animals, responded to changing climates and conditions on Earth during what has been called the 'Mother of Mass Extinction' events."  The paper is the culmination of 10 years of research that began with several undergraduate projects in a locality called Tweefontein (two springs) in South Africa's Karoo Basin. The geology majors who first worked on these rocks were Mduduzi Langwenya '14, Kody Spencer '14J, and Tara Chizinski '14. Subsequent to their graduation, Kathy Trafton '16, Jiawen Li '16, Takuto Sasijama '16, along with Sam Sinkler '18 and Kaci Kus '18, were instrumental in both field and laboratory studies, several of which resulted in honors projects and coauthored publications.  

Associate Professor of Sociology Damon Mayrl and Dahlia Venny '22 have coauthored a new paper, "The dejudicialization of religious freedom?" published in Social Compass. The study "conceptualizes the dejudicialization of religious freedom (DRF) in institutionalist terms, examines the structural forces that have facilitated JRF [judicialization of religious freedom], and considers whether and how they may be waning in recent years," according to its abstract.

As president of the Maine Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German, Associate Professor of German Arne Koch was invited to the Maine Department of Education's virtual signing ceremony to celebrate a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Goethe-Institut Boston. Koch expressed enthusiasm for the MOU, which will promote German language and cultural education in Maine.  The event was covered by Maine's Education Department's newsroom.

Jacob Young '20, Martha Arterberry, the Clara C. Piper Professor of Psychology, and Joshua Martin, assistant professor of biology, have coauthored a new paper, "Contrasting Electroencephalography-Derived Entropy and Neural Oscillations With Highly Skilled Meditators." Published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience-Cognitive Neuroscience, the study "examined the neurophysiological responses by highly skilled meditators while meditating and while engaging in a mind-wandering task."

Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Sheets and Nathan Huebschmann ’19 have coauthored a new study, "Don’t Fear Conflict: Relationship Stress Beliefs in Friend, Familial, and Romantic Relationships," published in Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research. "Believing that stress can have positive effects (i.e., having a stressis-enhancing mindset) has been shown to mitigate the negative impact of stressful experiences on mental health," stated the paper's abstract. "Relationship strain seems to particularly affect the well-being of those who believe that conflict is debilitating rather than believing that conflict can be productive."

Visiting Assistant Professor in History Danae Jacobson has been selected as a New-York Historical Society Public Fellow in Religion and the American West. With the two-year fellowship, Jacobson, whose research focuses on the racial, gendered, and environmental implications of Catholic nuns’ missions in the U.S. West, will study these nuns' participation in settler colonialism. Her scholarship will contribute to the New-York Historical Society's public history project "Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West," which will be exhibited in fall 2022 in New York.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has been appointed to the Strategic Communications Editorial Board of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). In her role, Robinson will work alongside the other board members to provide advice on communication with AAG members and the broader community of geographers. The term will last for two years, with an option to serve for an additional year.  

A book written by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Britt Halvorson has been awarded Honorable Mention/Second Runner-Up for the 2020 Clifford Geertz Prize from the Society for the Anthropology of Religion. The Geertz Prize "seeks to encourage excellence in the anthropology of religion by recognizing an outstanding recent book in the field," according to a Twitter post by the society.   Halvorson's book, Conversionary Sites: Transforming Medical Aid and Global Christianity from Madagascar to Minnesota (2018, University of Chicago Press), investigates the role of religion in the globalization of medicine and draws on "participant observation in the American Midwest and in Madagascar among Lutheran clinicians, volunteer laborers, healers, evangelists, and former missionaries."   

Professor of Art Véronique Plesch has been invited to join the board of directors of the South Solon Historical Society, which main goal is “to care for and preserve the life and traditions of the Meeting House.” Built in 1842, the South Solon Meeting House is on the National Historic Register. Between 1952 and 1956, the interior of the building received floor-to-ceiling contemporary frescoes. The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture organized three national juried competitions to select the artists (the faculty and jurors involved were René d’Harnoncourt, Director, Museum of Modern Art; John I.H. Bauer Director, Whitney Museum of American Art; Ely Jacques Kahn and Nathaniel Saltonstall, architects; and artists Ben Shahn, Jack Levine, Franklin Watkins, and Isabel Bishop). The artists include Sigmund Abeles, Alfred Blaustein, Edwin Brooks, Ashley Bryan, Willard Cummings, Sidney Hurwitz, William King, Tom Mikkelson, Anne Poor, Henry Varnum Poor, Judith Shuman, Sidney Simon, and John Wallace.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a new paper titled "Human Adaptation to Coastal Hazards in Greater Bridgetown, Barbados." Published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, the paper highlights Greater Bridgetown’s capacity for coastal/urban resilience, but emphasizes that this cannot be maximized without institutional prioritization of vulnerability, increased stakeholder “buy-in” and participation, and significant investment in the protection of valuable coastal infrastructure. Cindy Nguyen '20, Catherine Nisbet '20, and Rock Tonkel III '20 are coauthors.