Faculty Accomplishments

Assistant Professor of Geology Bess Koffman has contributed to a study recently published in Geophysical Research Letters. The article assessed the causes of the recent melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. "Satellite measurements and computer models have shown that the reflectivity (or albedo) of the Greenland Ice Sheet has decreased in recent decades, causing increased melt and sea level rise," stated the paper's abstract, which also noted that the causes for the albedo decline are unknown. "We demonstrate how a recent increase in the frequency of atmospheric high-pressure systems over Greenland increases grain sizes via several mechanisms and contributes to Greenland's observed albedo decline and faster melt."

Tanya Sheehan, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Art, is one of four invited contributors to the Library Company of Philadelphia’s innovative project, Imperfect History: Digital Catalog. An integral online element of the online exhibition Imperfect History, the catalog creatively engages with the project's concept of (un)conscious bias and multiple viewpoints in reading images. Four guest catalogers from the curatorial, art history, and studio art fields authored descriptions of the same visual material from their individual perspectives as influenced by their discipline. The objects selected for their analysis include an antebellum daguerreotype of an unidentified African-American woman, a mid-19th century allegorical print of the stages of life of a white man, and a circa 1880 watercolor of an 1851 Philadelphia street scene. The catalog serves as a case study of the inherent tensions and revelations invoked from a traditionally standardized, "objective" process pro-actively made subjective and diverse. In her own contributions, Professor Sheehan drew upon her expertise in 19th-century American visual culture, especially the history of photography and the representation of whiteness and blackness. In 2006 she held the William H. Helfand Visiting Research Fellowship at the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a new paper titled "China's climate ambition: Revisiting its First Nationally Determined Contribution and centering a just transition to clean energy." Published in the journal Energy Policy, the paper argues that, while China is set to meet its non-fossil fuel targets, progress on its fossil fuel targets is stymied by continual coal development, which has negative implications for staying within the Paris Agreement's 2°C temperature limit. It further argues that the country’s focus on carbon-intensive economic expansion is a major barrier to greater climate ambition, especially in view of its growing portfolio of overseas investments in fossil fuel-dependent sectors. D'Arcy Carlson '21 led the paper. Catie Blair '21 and Mara McDonough '20 are also coauthors.

Professor of English Debra Spark has written a review of Lauren Oyler's debut novel Fake Accounts for Yale Alumni Magazine. "Oyler is a terrific writer, her long propulsive sentences featuring one mordant comment after another, so that even a reader wholly uninterested in social media will enjoy the obsessive analysis of online behavior and contemporary culture," Spark wrote.

Mary Ellis Gibson, the Arthur Jeremiah Roberts Professor of Literature, has guest-edited an article, "Forum: Varieties and Denominations of Victorian Christianity," which appeared in the fall issue of Victorian Review. In the same issue, Gibson also coauthored another essay, titled "Protestant Evangelism in India: A Beginner's Guide."

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a new paper titled "Financing loss and damage from slow onset events in developing countries." Published in the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, the paper reviews the most recent publications on the topic and finds that current options for sustainable and equitable finance are limited—insurance schemes are not appropriate, though levies and taxes are likely to be relatively fair, predictable, adequate, and transparent. 

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has coauthored a new paper titled "Climate compatible development in practice." Published in the journal Development in Practice, the paper uses three island case studies to argue that, in practice, climate compatible development is not always a deliberate policy tool, and that a focus on either mitigation, adaptation, or development can have unintended but positive outcomes for one or both of the other domains. D'Arcy Carlson '21 is one of the coauthors.

Professor of Creative Writing Adrian Blevins read her poem "Bereavement Status" for WERU's Poetry Express project on May 2. This poem is from her forthcoming poetry collection Status Pending, to be released by Four Way Books in 2023.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Leeann Sullivan wrote a "letter" titled “For species reintroduction, it’s all politics” published in the most recent issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Sullivan's article explores how citizen-led efforts to reintroduce gray wolves in Colorado were as much about re-democratizing conservation as they were about wolf reintroduction.

Assistant Professor of Biology Christina Cota has been awarded a $700,000 National Science Foundation grant to carry out a collaborative research project with Princeton University and Swarthmore College. The research will look at the interplay between cell division and the signals that cells exchange to coordinate their behavior. "This is a critical area of investigation because signal-dependent coordination of cell behavior is essential for the growth of all life forms," stated the research's abstract. "Additionally, errors in signaling are the primary cause of cancer. Because cancer also entails unregulated cell division, it is particularly important to understand how division may exacerbate signaling errors."