Media Coverage

Nicholas Jacobs, assistant professor of government, talked to NewsNation about his research on the widening divide in America between urban and rural voters. 

An article in the New York Times about the relationship between Alex Katz and Paul Taylor referenced how the Colby Museum’s current show Alex Katz: Theater and Dance is largely focused on that partnership. The piece also included commentary from the exhibition’s catalog. 

The Sunday edition of the Portland Press Herald published a feature article on Colby’s Center for the Arts and Humanities and its “Food for Thought” theme. In the story, Dean Allbritton, associate professor of Spanish and the center’s director, commented on how “food is such a rich theme,” and it’s “really about thinking about our relationship to food.” The piece also noted how the topic was “bringing food-related investigations to 16 classes in fields from anthropology and Spanish to religious studies,” and that there are also a “series of food-related lectures, panel discussions, and film screenings to underscore this year’s theme.”

Professor of Psychology Christopher Soto appeared on TVO's show "The Agenda" with Steve Paikin in an episode titled "What Makes Up Our Personality?" Soto, director of Colby's Personality Lab and an expert on the Big Five personality traits, was one of three guests discussing nature vs. nurture, lifespan personality development, intentional personality change, and the Big Five traits. TVO is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Professor of Environmental Studies Philip Nyhus, a conservation biologist who specializes in human–wildlife conflict, provided context for a story in Nature titled "Asian elephants mostly roam outside protected areas — and it’s a problem." Nyhus commented on researchers' attempts to study Asian elephants, which "live deep in dense forest and so are much more difficult to study than African elephants, which roam open savannahs," he told Nature. Researchers are trying to understand why the elephants leave protected areas and how they can reduce that behavior. "The research provides strong evidence for how to set up suitable protected areas that reduce the risk of elephants wandering out," said Nyhus.

Director of the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence Amanda Stent is one of 25 Mainers of the Year, as chosen by Maine magazine. Stent "views the work that she has done over the past year as raising awareness, first and foremost. Through talks that the institute has hosted, an interview with Maine Voices Live, and forming relationships with Bigelow Labs, Dirigo Labs, the University of Maine, and the Roux Institute, getting the word out about AI across Maine has been an important first step," the magazine said.

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Stacy-ann Robinson was quoted in CarbonBrief's latest briefing on whether developed countries should pay for loss and damage associated with climate change. She spoke about the multitude of financing options that could be available but stressed the importance of financing flows increasing with the cost of response and recovery. CarbonBrief covers the latest developments in climate science, climate policy, and energy policy and is a go-to news source for climate negotiators and other policy- and decision-makers.

The latest book by Associate Professor of Anthropology Britt Halvorson, Imagining the Heartland, is getting attention from multiple outlets. Halvorson and her coauthor were featured guests on the Leonard Lopate at Large show on WBAI New York on Aug. 30; Halvorson was the featured guest on journalist Andrew Keen's national podcast earlier in the summer; and the online news magazine Sapiens published an essay about the book in August. Looking ahead, the authors are doing another radio show/podcast on Sept. 6, Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen.

In a Portland Press Herald story highlighting the lack of affordable housing for students in Maine, Professor of Education Adam Howard noted that the "real cost" of college includes housing, food, and other expenses on top of tuition. With rising rents, housing costs, and inflationary pressures, Howard said he’s concerned that  community colleges may become inaccessible for low-income students. “We need to completely restructure how we think about financial aid if we’re interested in college being for all people,” he told the Press Herald. “Not just for middle, upper middle class and wealthy people.”