December 2020 - February 2021, Vol 2, Issue 3

MacricostA&S
News

Western Connecticut State University

Special Appointment Assistant Professor of Writing

Sarah Darer (Littman) on Panel and Published

Sarah Darer (Littman) was on a panel discussing Using Fake News to Broaden Teens’ Worlds at the YALSA’s Young Adult Services Symposium with former CIA analyst, Cindy Otis, and Peter Adams, Senior VP of Education at the News Literacy Project.

Additionally, her poem, "Cutting my Heart Out with a Butter Knife” about losing her father to Alzheimer’s Disease, was recently published in the inaugural Connecticut Literary Anthology.

Biology Chair and Professor

Dr. Theordora Pinou Featured in National Podcast

Inside Higher Ed, Academic Minute featured Dr. Dora Pinou on their podcast. The episode, Teaching the Environment, explained the importance of outdoor and situational learning to build confidence in Biology and pursuing STEM careers.

Listen to the episode, here.

Assistant Biology Professor

Carlos E. Santibanez-Lopez in Netflix Mini Series

New biology faculty member, Carolos E. Santibanez-Lopez, participated last year in a mini-series that is now on Netflix. The series is called Alien Worlds, and he is in the second episode, "Janus."

Watch the trailer, here.

Undergraduate Biology Major

Shannon Miranda Published in NewsTimes

WCSU biology major, Shannon Miranda, had a letter to the editor published in the paper, NewsTimes. The letter, "No prescription needed to achieve a 'blue mind,'" is about relating to water for mental/spiritual health.

Read the letter, here.

Biology Scientific Publication

Biology Student and researchers Author Paper Published in Endangered Species Research

Co-authors of this recent paper included current WCSU graduate student, Kayla Deguzman; WCSU Biology Chair, Dr. Theodora Pinou; and Adjunt Researcher, Dr. Nathan J. Robinson. Kayla was also a WCSU Biology undergraduate and SURF program alum,

Read the paper, here.

Meteorology Alumni And Department News

Dr. Zachariah Silver Returns to WestConn

Dr. Zachariah Silver (B.S. Meteorology 2010) has returned to WestConn this spring semester as an adjunct professor, teaching PHY 103 Fundamentals of Physics and team teaching MTR 231 Weather Analysis and Forecasting II with Prof. Rob Eisenson.

Zach left WestConn and earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2017. His thesis topic was 'Mesoscale Modeling and Observations of Flow in Mountainous Terrain'.

Undergraduate Math Students

WCSU Students Present at JMM Conference

Six research teams represented WestConn at the Joint Mathematics Meeting undergraduate poster session.

One team won an Outstanding Poster Award (Evdokia Kottou, Tyler Grubelich, Advisor: Dr. Xiaodi Wang) and another earned an Honorable Mention (Lylah Bottelsen, Carina Cardoso, Advisor: Dr. Xiaodi Wang). Two of the Award winners, Kottou and Grubelich, are local high school students who took Dr. Wang's summer research class. Since 2008, WCSU students have won outstanding poster awards at 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2021's JMM.

English Professor

Dr. Heather Levy Publishes Book

Dr. Heather Levy of the English Department published Reconsidering Elizabeth Bowen’s Shorter Fiction: Dead Reckoning in December. This book integrates the entirely of scholarship on Bowen’s short stories and considers the implications of perpetrator trauma in narratives of mayhem, suicide and murder. It introduces five previously unpublished short story fragments and two nearly complete stories from The Elizabeth Bowen Collection at The Harry Ransom Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Creative and Professional Writing Students

Great News from Current and Past MFA Students

Shannon Marzella, a first semester MFA candidate, is excited to announce her first book, Girl in Shadows, has recently been acquired by an independent publisher, Nymeria Publishing.

MFA alumna, Beth Turley's next middle-grade novel, The Flyers (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), releases June 1, 2021. Pre-order her book here.

MFA candidate, Susan Mangiero, is excited to begin an internship with the Highlights Foundation, a premier non-profit that “positively impacts children by amplifying the voices of storytellers who inform, educate, and inspire children to become their best selves.”

MFA candidate, Kristine Donahue, is thrilled to announce the start of her new role as a technical writer for Medtronic, Inc. Medtronic is the largest medical device manufacturer in the world and produces a wide variety of medical devices. Kristine embarks on her new career path on Medtronic’s surgical robotics team.

Send submissions for the newsletter to msasdean@wcsu.edu