November 2009:
Third Annual EvoS Spring Seminar Series is announced - including such luminaries as paleontologist Niles Eldredge, anthropologist Richard Wrangham, and biologist Marlene Zuk. All talks are FREE and are followed by free food. How could you miss this???
May 2009:
First-Ever Evolutionary Studies Academic Excellence Awards are Announced
As a way to recognize the high-caliber work of EvoS students who are graduating, the EvoS Board decided to honor outstanding graduates with awards for Academic Excellence in Evolutionary Studies. Recipients of this award are selected by the EvoS Board based on such criteria as GPA, performance in class, work with faculty on research related to evolutionary studies, work with the EvoS Club, etc. The May 2009 winners are as follows:
Rachael Carmen
Ayla Fleming
Stephanie Wallman
Congratulations to these outstanding graduates!
Evolutionary Studies Program Awards Faculty and Students for Course Development and Research Projects Related to Evolution
With the support of National Science Foundation monies, three course proposals were selected to receive support: Kerry Dean Carso (Art History) will develop “Nature and Science in Nineteenth-century American Art”; Alex Bartholomew (Geology) will develop “Evolution of Reefs through Time,” which will include a field excursion to a research site in the Bahamas; and Jed Mayer (English) will work on “Literature and Culture in the Age of Darwin.”
“We are very excited about the breadth of the additional courses that will soon be available to EvoS students and the entire campus,” said Glenn Geher, director of the program.
Recipients will receive a summer salary stipend and guidance through the course submission process.
Additionally, four summer undergraduate research projects will be funded through the National Science Foundation. Jacyln Martin ‘09 (Geology) and Alex Bartholomew (Geology) will explore “The Coordinated Stasis hypothesis with a field investigation of biofacies within the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group.” Rachel Carmen ‘09 (Psychology) and Corwin Senko (Psychology) will investigate “Women’s Attraction to Men with Different Styles of Humor.” Zuchra Zakirova ‘10 (Biology, English) will work with Jeff Reinking (Biology) to answer the question of “When did nuclear receptors evolve the capability to bind heme?” Finally, Jannett Dinsmore ‘09 (Biology) and Aaron Haselton (Biology) will study the “Effect of Dietary Restriction on Fruit Fly Stress Resistance Responses.”
The faculty and student members will receive a supply budget, a stipend for their efforts over the five-week period, and the students will also receive a cost-of-living allowance.
March 2009:
The Evolutionary Studies Program officially received a "Breakfast of Champions" award from the National Residence Hall Honorary. This award, which included both an official certificate as well as a bag of several fresh bagels, is in recognition of "serving the student body well" at SUNY New Paltz. Specifically, the EvoS program was cited for having an outstanding celebration in honor of Darwin's bi-centennial.
August 2008:
The university was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant of $211,387.00 to support the Evolutionary Studies program over the next two academic years. This grant was submitted in collaboration with Binghamton University – the total amount of the award is nearly $500,000. In collaboration with David Sloan Wilson (professor of biology at Binghamton), Glenn Geher (professor of psychology and director of evolutionary studies) and Jennifer Waldo (assistant professor of biology) served as principal investigators for this project, titled “Expanding Evolutionary Studies in American Higher Education.” In addition to supporting New Paltz and Binghamton’s existing programs, monies from this grant will be used to help start new programs in evolutionary studies at more than a dozen other institutions of higher learning across the country – ranging from large research universities (e.g., Cornell University) to community colleges (e.g., Ponoma College in California). At New Paltz, grant monies will be used (among other things) to support student research on projects dealing with evolution, support the development of new courses by faculty members across disciplines that pertain to evolution, and to develop an interactive online journal that will serve to connect this national consortium.
May 2008:
Albright College has approved their own undergraduate program in Evolutionary Studies - and students graduating with the EvoS minor at Albright will walk in commencement this May - The Evolution Revolution continues! Congratulations to Susan Hughes (who spoke this year in our EvoS seminar series) for making this happen!
February 6, 2008:
For our third annual Darwin Day celebration, Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers, gave two provocative and highly attended presentations on the impact of biological evolution on human behavior. People have been talking about his visit ever since! Click HERE for a pictorial of the event hosted by the Biology Department.
December 15, 2007:
SUNY New Paltz EvoS is proud to announce our first graduate. Megan Mitchell, biology major and EvoS minor, successfully completed the EvoS curriculum and graduated this December. Congratulations Megan - you make us proud!
