Media Coverage

Online travel site Savoteur included Waterville in a piece titled “20 Small Towns in America with Big Surprises and Unique Charm.”

In a Portland Press Herald article, Assistant Professor of Statistics Jerzy Wieczorek, who has researched ChatGPT and teaches classes on AI from a statistician’s perspective, explains how the technology works. “None of this is the computer on its own. It’s a technology developed by careful work by millions of humans,” he said. “It does not have a mind of its own. It’s a very elaborate, very well-put-together piece of engineering. But it’s humans all the way down.”

As parts of Maine reached dangerous air-quality levels this week, both the Portland Press Herald and CBS affiliate WABI looked to Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Gail Carlson to understand what was happening. “This is not something far off in the future or something that happens only in areas of high vulnerability. This is happening to all of us," she noted.

A story in Travel + Leisure on the best new hotels in college towns across the U.S. highlighted Waterville’s Lockwood Hotel, noting its proximity to Colby and how it’s been embraced as a community hub serving creative New England fare at its restaurant Front & Main in a prime location.

The Boston Globe highlighted the Colby Museum's Painted: Our Bodies, Hearts, and Village exhibition, noting that it’s one of a handful of shows that will enrich your summer.

Featured in National Geographic, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Dale Kocevski, is part of the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) research team actively working with NASA and the James Webb Telescope to unveil the hidden secrets of the universe. Their latest finding is a giant black hole roughly nine million times the mass of the sun that formed when the universe was just a toddler.

 

Referenced in the article are two other early supermassive black holes that Kocevski and his research team at Colby, including Associate Professor Elizabeth McGrath, are responsible for initially finding.

 

"It was thought that lower-mass black holes had to exist in early galaxies, but I didn't think we could find them with these observations," said Kocevski. "The most surprising thing for me is that JWST has proven to be more sensitive than we could have hoped for."

Colby's role in the dramatic discovery of distant black holes was covered by a wide range of media, including the Associated Press, Forbes, and National Geographic. All of the stories had commentary from Dale Kocevski, associate professor of physics and astronomy, who noted that when it comes to black holes, "there are probably many more hidden little monsters out there."

A feature article by Mainebiz focused on the tremendous success surrounding the Waterville revitalization initiative and what’s in the future for the city. The story had commentary from a variety of leaders involved in the work, including a real estate developer who noted how “Colby has taken an unprecedented leadership role with its early downtown investments.”

Assistant Professor of Government Nick Jacobs was the lead source for a Fortune article about student loan forgiveness. Commenting on whether Congress would cancel student loan debt, he said it’s a “political nonstarter,” and that “those who are serious about the economic burdens imposed by student loans have yet to really come together.”