External Posts
Amanda Gallinat, lecturer of environmental studies, recently had an article published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology discussing her work that paired historical observations of bird arrivals initiated by Henry David Thoreau in the 1850s with modern eBird observations. The article, "Integrating historical records and citizen science data to understand bird responses to climate change in Concord, Massachusetts: Thoreau to eBird," shows that birds are shifting their arrival times earlier with warming temperatures, but that these shifts do not keep pace with local plants and insects.
Amanda Gallinat, lecturer of environmental studies, had an article published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Ecology titled "Combined volunteer and ecological network observations show broad-scale temperature-sensitivity patterns for deciduous plant flowering and leaf-out times across the eastern USA." Gallinat and her colleagues also wrote a blog post for the journal explaining their major findings. The post explains how they tackled the challenge of "understanding how changes in the timing of seasonality is affecting the hundreds of thousands of plant and animal species across large regions" by turning to the Nature’s Notebook platform for help.
A paper by Abbie Cohen, visiting assistant professor of education, was recently published in the open-access journal of the American Educational Research Association. Her paper, "A Spectacle by Design: A Racialized Performance for Donor Dollars," explores how "racialized power dynamics impact the relationship between a youth-serving, community-based education nonprofit and its donors," according to the paper's abstract.
A course taught by Lecturer in Environmental Studies Amanda Gallinat has provided new information for an exhibition at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vt. Last year in her course Seasonal Ecology, Gallinat and her students analyzed 120 years of flowering and bird arrival records from the Fairbanks Museum. Their analysis was included into the museum's newly expanded Wildflower Table exhibition, a century-old living display. Gallinat and two students gave a scientific talk to the community at the exhibition opening, and her class’ analysis was the basis for several new wall panels highlighting warming in the region, species-level shifts in flowering times in response to warming, and the potential for mismatch with migratory birds that have not shifted their migration as much.
Goldfarb Family Distinguished Associate Professor of American Government Nicholas Jacobs was heard around the country in a story on NPR’s Morning Edition about how Democrats are planning to win rural voters. He was also quoted in a Washington Post piece about understanding the difference between rural and urban Americans.
Listen to Inside Higher Ed podcast The Key interview Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence Director David Watts for a special episode about Colby's AI leadership and initiatives like Mule Chat.
A wide range of media outlets noticed Colby’s recent Rhodes Scholarship winner, Daniel Juzych '26, including the Boston Globe. In the story, Juzych noted that “learning from some of the best professors in the world and being with classmates who are curious and incredible people has motivated my entire path.”
Dance Magazine highlighted the work of Ben Baker, assistant professor of philosophy, in an article about how recent innovations in AI-assisted motion-capture technology might impact dance artists.
The Colby football team’s successful season, including winning the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin rivalry, was featured in a story by the Portland Press Herald. The piece noted that the season was "years in the making" and that "defense and special teams played a big part in Colby’s strong finish this fall."
In a National Geographic article, Megan Cook, the Arthur Jeremiah Roberts Associate Professor of Literature, was interviewed about “dirtbag medievalism,” an interpretive lens and term she developed, which is getting broad recognition.