Faculty Accomplishments
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Associate Professor of Psychology Jen Coane coauthored a paper with students Grace Arnold '17, Kimberly Bourne '16, and Sarah Boland '17 recently published in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. Titled "Reading the news on Twitter: Source and item memory for social media in younger and older adults," the study "examined how the presentation of news-like content in social media affected both item and source memory across two age groups," according to the paper's abstract. "Although both younger and older adults remembered the content of social media better than the content of news sources, older adults were more sensitive than younger adults to congruency effects in source memory. These findings suggest that older adults rely more on their prior knowledge of conventional language and style in traditional and social media."
Associate Professor of Psychology Erin Sheets has a newly published paper out. "Daily Interpersonal and Noninterpersonal Stress Reactivity in Current and Remitted Depression" was published in Cognitive Therapy and Research March 23. The paper's primary findings were that currently depressed individuals demonstrated greater emotional reactivity to daily perceived stress and daily negative events, relative to previously depressed and never depressed individuals. Additionally, currently depressed participants were particularly sensitive to interpersonal negative events.
Loren McClenachan, the Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, and three of her senior environmental studies students collaborated on a paper published in the journal Spire, the Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability.
The paper, "Youth perceptions of climate change and climate action in Waterville, Maine," was completed by seniors in McClenachan's Domestic Policy capstone course: Mariel Ferragamo '20, Melody Larson '20, and Peter Brown '20. The paper shows that even though "students associated the current state of the environment with more negative than positive emotions, the Maine environment was perceived more positively than that of the globe," according to the paper's abstract. However, "Students in Waterville appear to be invested in the issue of climate change, and they have an important voice to contribute to the discourse regarding action and policy."
Robinson and Nguyen ’20 Coauthor Paper on Climate Change Adaptation in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson and Cindy Nguyen '20 coauthored the paper "Differential climate change impacts and adaptation responses in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles" to be published in Caribbean Geography. In reviewing the recent literature, the paper finds that climate change impacts and adaptation responses in the Lesser Antilles vary widely, with islands mainly coping with climate effects on coastal ecosystems and sectors. In discussing its results, the paper presents three potential drivers of differential impacts and responses across the sub-region and highlights the need to address uneven adaptation research.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson has been elected vice chair of the Caribbean Geography Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers. In her role, Robinson will assist the chair and conduct and supervise elections. She will become chair for 2021/2022 when the association holds its general meeting in New York.
In the Spring 2020 issue of the Maine Arts Journal, Professor of Art Véronique Plesch has a piece on Amanda Lilleston, visiting assistant professor of art, who teaches printmaking at Colby. Plesch also wrote the introduction to this special issue on Macro/Micro, and, with the assistance of editorial interns Sabina Garibovic ‘22 and Andrew MacDonald ‘21, edited the issue.
Current Ocean Crisis Indicates Land May Be Experiencing Even More Stress
New research from an international team of scientists led by Colby College Professor of Geology Robert Gastaldo appears this week in Nature Communications, the world's leading multidisciplinary science journal. Titled “The base of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, Karoo Basin, predates the end-Permian marine extinction,” the publication of the paper in this prestigious journal once again highlights Colby’s deep expertise and excellence in the sciences.
[caption id="attachment_43434" align="alignright" width="300"]
Leaf of Glossopteris, the most common and dominant southern hemisphere tree before ecosystem disturbance in the late Permian. Photo courtesy of M. Grey, Joggins UNESCO World Heritage site, Nova Scotia.[/caption]
The research, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, reveals that at the time when planet Earth experienced the greatest loss of biodiversity, during what is known as the end-Permian mass extinction about 251.9 million years ago, biodiversity on land suffered several hundreds of thousands of years before biodiversity crashed in the ocean.
“If changes in biodiversity on land preceded the biodiversity changes in the ocean during the Great Dying, which is what our paper shows, the current changes that we’re now seeing in the ocean may mean we’re close to reaching a major tipping point and crisis on land,” said Gastaldo, the Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology at Colby. “In other words, not only are the plants and animals on land the canary in the coal mine, but the canary may already be threatened or, at the very least, quickly approaching an imbalance. The bottom line is that, while we’ve largely focused on the crisis in the ocean and how it will, or could, affect organisms on land, there is now solid evidence that land may be the first to respond.”
Gastaldo added that the timing of the turnover seems to be coincident with the beginning of massive volcanic activity that occurred in what is now Siberia. Over the course of less than one million years, this volcanic episode emplaced a volume of lava and other igneous rocks approaching 720,000 cubic miles. Those rocks now cover 80 percent of Siberia. This activity significantly increased atmospheric gas concentrations, including carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur, and mercury. “Essentially what was happening then is what we’re seeing now—a massive release of damaging gases that alter the way in which Earth systems operate,” he said.
With the publication of this paper, the turnover in vegetation across the landscape in the Southern Hemisphere during the end-Permian mass extinction—including the loss of a major group of seed plants that formed extensive forests—has now been documented in both Australia and South Africa at the same time.
[caption id="attachment_43435" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Skull of Lystrosaurus maccagi, a common Late Permian synapsid tetrapod in the Karoo Basin, South Africa, held by Robert Gastaldo for scale. Specimen in the collections of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa. Photo courtesy of R.A. Gastaldo.[/caption]
“We are incredibly proud of Bob’s ongoing accomplishments and congratulate him on having his research published once again in such a prestigious publication,” said Margaret McFadden, provost and dean of faculty at Colby College. “His work is reflective of science programs that are unparalleled for a small liberal arts school and that are truly having an impact by addressing the major issues and challenges affecting our world.”
This is the third time that Professor Gastaldo has been published in Nature. His most recent article in the journal, “Ancient plants escaped the end-Permian mass extinction,” discussed what happened to terrestrial plants during the end-Permian crisis.
Leaf of Glossopteris, the most common and dominant southern hemisphere tree before ecosystem disturbance in the late Permian. Photo courtesy of M. Grey, Joggins UNESCO World Heritage site, Nova Scotia.[/caption]
The research, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, reveals that at the time when planet Earth experienced the greatest loss of biodiversity, during what is known as the end-Permian mass extinction about 251.9 million years ago, biodiversity on land suffered several hundreds of thousands of years before biodiversity crashed in the ocean.
“If changes in biodiversity on land preceded the biodiversity changes in the ocean during the Great Dying, which is what our paper shows, the current changes that we’re now seeing in the ocean may mean we’re close to reaching a major tipping point and crisis on land,” said Gastaldo, the Whipple-Coddington Professor of Geology at Colby. “In other words, not only are the plants and animals on land the canary in the coal mine, but the canary may already be threatened or, at the very least, quickly approaching an imbalance. The bottom line is that, while we’ve largely focused on the crisis in the ocean and how it will, or could, affect organisms on land, there is now solid evidence that land may be the first to respond.”
Gastaldo added that the timing of the turnover seems to be coincident with the beginning of massive volcanic activity that occurred in what is now Siberia. Over the course of less than one million years, this volcanic episode emplaced a volume of lava and other igneous rocks approaching 720,000 cubic miles. Those rocks now cover 80 percent of Siberia. This activity significantly increased atmospheric gas concentrations, including carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur, and mercury. “Essentially what was happening then is what we’re seeing now—a massive release of damaging gases that alter the way in which Earth systems operate,” he said.
With the publication of this paper, the turnover in vegetation across the landscape in the Southern Hemisphere during the end-Permian mass extinction—including the loss of a major group of seed plants that formed extensive forests—has now been documented in both Australia and South Africa at the same time.
[caption id="attachment_43435" align="alignleft" width="300"] Skull of Lystrosaurus maccagi, a common Late Permian synapsid tetrapod in the Karoo Basin, South Africa, held by Robert Gastaldo for scale. Specimen in the collections of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa. Photo courtesy of R.A. Gastaldo.[/caption]
“We are incredibly proud of Bob’s ongoing accomplishments and congratulate him on having his research published once again in such a prestigious publication,” said Margaret McFadden, provost and dean of faculty at Colby College. “His work is reflective of science programs that are unparalleled for a small liberal arts school and that are truly having an impact by addressing the major issues and challenges affecting our world.”
This is the third time that Professor Gastaldo has been published in Nature. His most recent article in the journal, “Ancient plants escaped the end-Permian mass extinction,” discussed what happened to terrestrial plants during the end-Permian crisis.Associate Professor of Government Walter Hatch wrote an op-ed titled "With the coronavirus surging, compassion is more important than ever" that appeared in the Seattle Times March 20. The piece recounts the moment when students in Hatch's class learned the College would be moving to remote learning and sending students home three days hence.
In the midst of the emotions in the classroom, a student inquired about Hatch's plans, knowing Hatch splits his time between Seattle and Maine. Hatch was deeply touched by the student's concern. "It was an emotional reminder that, especially in this moment of 'social distancing,' we cannot live without compassion," Hatch wrote. "Sure, we can stock up on food, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and face masks. But what we really need is community, a thick web of connections to one another across the social distance."
Milan Babík '01, visiting assistant professor of government, was a guest on the Czech Radio podcast series Vinohradská 12 on March 6. The interview, hosted by Lenka Kabrhelová (a highly decorated Czech TV/radio reporter and foreign correspondent), covered the results of Super Tuesday, reflected on the Democratic Party primaries, and zeroed in on what the fight between Sanders and Biden indicates about the soul of the Democratic Party and its future shape.
Babík, a native Czech, speaks frequently to the Czech media about American politics. Two other recent appearances include a radio interview and a television interview, both covering Trump's impeachment.
Jessamine Batario, the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship for Artistic and Scholarly Engagement and Programs, was guest critic for the Brooklyn Rail in March, and on the publication's "Critics Page," Batario included writings by AB Brown, assistant professor of contemporary performance and dance, and Arisa White, assistant professor of English (creative writing).