Category: Faculty & Staff

National Moth Week Spotlights Winged Insects

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National Moth Week blacklighting at Quad
Moth enthusiasts from around the world are likely to try blacklighting during National Moth Week.

If you ever see Kalamazoo College students hanging sheets by clotheslines suspended between trees on the Quad, they’re not doing laundry. They’re rounding up moths for their entomology class collections in a practice called “blacklighting.”

The process emits a black light into the UV spectrum to attract moths, and it’s one of many ways that citizen scientists are likely to celebrate National Moth Week, which is ongoing through Friday.

According to its website, National Moth Week celebrates the beauty, lifecycles and habitats of moths as the public is encouraged to learn about, observe and document moths in backyards, parks and neighborhoods. And don’t let the word “national” fool you. Since its founding in 2012, National Moth Week has gone global by expanding to all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide.

National Moth Week Luna Moth
Luna moths, known for their green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots, are common in southwest Michigan.

Although the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon likely is the more celebrated science-related event this week, moths are interesting to study because they make a “giant leap” of their own through metamorphosis. The process completely changes their bodies from wormlike caterpillars into winged adults during the cocoon stage. This abrupt change in body plan during development is found in only one-third of all insect groups, Kalamazoo College Biology Professor Ann Fraser said, but these groups account for the vast majority of insect species, suggesting this life cycle innovation was a highly successful one.

Furthermore, “many caterpillars of moths are a very important food source in the food chain,” and “some scientists use moths as indicators of bigger things going on in the environment,” Fraser said. “It’s easy to see trends with declines in their numbers as indicators of climate change or habitat loss.”

Moths definitively are insects because they have six legs and, as adults, they have three body regions consisting of the head, the thorax and the abdomen, Fraser said. Plus, they’re among the most diverse living creatures on Earth with more than 150,000 species including their day-roaming brethren: butterflies.

National Moth Week Hawk Moth
Hawk moths hover around plants and flowers so they commonly are mistaken for hummingbirds.

Some of the more eye-catching varieties of moths in southwest Michigan include hawk moths, which can be mistaken for hummingbirds because they’re about the same size as hummingbirds and hover around plants and flowers, Fraser said. Others include the luna moth known for its green wings, long tails and transparent eyespots. Plainer and more problematic varieties include gypsy moths, which are known as exfoliator pests because they strip trees and plants of their leaves.

“You can actually spot their poop on the sidewalk,” Fraser said of gypsy moth caterpillars. “Frass is the technical term for it. You see it on the ground, so you know something in the tree is feeding on the tree.”

Regardless, many hobbyists find collecting moths such as these and others to be fascinating and as easy as leaving a porch light on after dark. Fraser, for example, still remembers collecting a big moth for the first time when she was about 10 years old.

“It’s an experience that always stuck with me,” said Fraser, who curates the college’s insect collection that includes cases of pinned moths raised or collected by herself and her predecessor, Professor David Evans. “It’s always exciting to find the big colorful ones.”

For advice on how you can study moths, visit nationalmothweek.org or email info@nationalmothweek.org.

Four Professors Receive Tenure

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Four Kalamazoo College professors from the business and economics, psychology and biology departments have been awarded tenure.

The milestone recognizes excellence in teaching, scholarship and service to Kalamazoo College, and signifies the College’s confidence in the contributions these professors will make throughout their careers.

The following faculty members were approved by the Board of Trustees for tenure and promotion to associate professor:

Menelik Geremew, Stephen B. Monroe Assistant Professor of Money and Banking

Brittany Liu
Brittany Liu
Menelik Geremew earns tenure
Menelik Geremew

Geremew earned a Ph.D. in economics from Texas Tech University in 2013. His professional experiences have included visiting scholar and research consultant appointments at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He teaches courses in intermediate macroeconomics, international finance, money and banking, and principles of economics.

Brittany Liu, assistant professor of psychology

Liu earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Irvine in 2013. Her research and classes at K include subjects such as social psychology, political and moral psychology, research methodology, and psychology and law.

Amanda Wollenberg, Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Assistant Professor of Biology

Michael Wollenberg earns tenure
Michael Wollenberg
Amanda Wollenberg
Amanda Wollenberg

Wollenberg earned a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011. She was a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2011-2013. At K, she teaches immunology and human health, cell and molecular biology and symbiosis. She is currently the recipient of a 2018-2022 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Previous awards include graduate fellowships and research exchange visits from the NSF and the NIH (National Institute of Health).

Michael Wollenberg, assistant professor of biology

Wollenberg earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in 2011. At K, he teaches courses in evolution and genetics, symbiosis, computer use for biologists and microbiology. Currently, he is the recipient of a 2018-2022 National Science Foundation grant. His previous grants have included NIH and NSF training fellowships.

Conference, Faculty Catalyze Chemistry Students

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The opportunity to present to and learn from pharmaceutical professionals is normally reserved for graduate students, professional scientists and postdoctoral fellows. For Kalamazoo College chemistry students in Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge’s lab, attending the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Discussion Group annual meeting as undergrads is a tradition that opens doors and underscores their passion for science.

Chemistry Students Attend Drug Metabolism Conference
Three chemistry students attended the Great Lakes Drug Metabolism and Disposition Discussion Group on May 9 and 10 in Ann Arbor with Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Laura Furge (second from right). The students are Kevin McCarty ’20 (left), Cydney Martell ’19 (second from left) and Michael Orwin ’20 (right).

Three students attended the spring meeting on May 9 and 10 in Ann Arbor. Furge’s students, known for their research excellence, have had several opportunities in recent years to show off their work regarding the P450 enzyme, which catalyzes drug-metabolism reactions, with implications toward drug discovery.

This year’s K representatives included Cydney Martell ’19 of Gull Lake, Michigan; Kevin McCarty ’20 of Clarkston, Michigan; and Michael Orwin ’20 of Portage, Michigan.

“I feel I was really fortunate to get into (Furge’s) lab,” said Martell, whose connection with Furge also helped her secure an internship last year with Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis and committed to discovering medicines for people around the world. “The most rewarding thing about the conference is our ability to network with individuals and build important relationships. It’s nice to be able to have that connection and be on equal ground. It’s a love of science that facilitates our ability to work across experience levels.”

Martell will seek a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Northwestern University beginning this fall.

The poster presentation McCarty made from his research in Furge’s lab will evolve into his Senior Individualized Project this summer, he said, which is a testament to Furge’s guidance.

“Instead of telling you how to do things, she’ll ask you questions, engaging you in the work,” McCarty said. “She gives you the freedom to do every part of the research you can by yourself, which helps you understand and take away what’s important.”

In fact, McCarty has been so happy with his experiences in the chemistry program at K, the drug-metabolism conference and in Furge’s lab, he’d tell prospective students considering K to also major in chemistry.

“I would tell them, ‘you’d be surprised by all the opportunities you’ll have,’” McCarty said. “When I first considered K, I heard all about our small class sizes and the faculty. What they didn’t tell me is how many opportunities there would be to work with faculty members like Dr. Furge or in a lab like hers.”

Orwin echoed his peers’ excitement for attending the conference and appreciation of Furge’s leadership in their lab at K.

“I really loved attending the conference and it was a great undergraduate experience being able to present my work to industry professionals,” Orwin said. “Overall, I find the most exciting part of research is the ability to contribute to our collective knowledge alongside being able to share one’s passion with others. I find myself very fortunate for being able to have this experience.”

Teaching Fellowship Honors K’s Williams

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Think of it as a mark of teaching excellence and a sign of educational quality in which all Kalamazoo College students and faculty can take pride.

Teaching Fellowship Grant Recipient Dwight Williams cMUMMA 0041
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Course Hero have extended a 2019 Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching grant to Dwight Williams, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Chemistry at K.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Course Hero, an online learning platform for students, have extended a 2019 Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching grant to Dwight Williams, the Roger F. and Harriet G. Varney Assistant Professor of Chemistry at K.

Williams, an endowed chair at K, is one of four tenure-track professors and eight professors overall from around the country to receive the fellowship, which in his case will provide $30,000 to give students supplies, research opportunities and travel funds for professional conferences. The grant honors how Williams and K faculty like him who have found new ways to build student confidence and mastery of a subject, encourage critical thinking, and prepare students for lifelong learning.

Williams submitted a statement on his teaching philosophy and research inside and outside the Chemistry Department at K when applying for the grant. In the teaching statement, he addressed his adoption of mastery-based learning at K, which indicates a shift away from traditional exams and labs, and a move towards activities that provide students with various avenues for learning and understanding their course material. This new approach gives students multiple opportunities to learn from the things that went wrong, while also learning what works.

“We’ve turned the teaching labs from traditional, step-by-step experiments with predetermined outcomes into mini research projects with unknown outcomes,” Williams said. “From this, students see that science doesn’t always work how you expect it to. We hope this helps students retain information for the long term and transfer this knowledge across disciplines.

“I think learning from your mistakes is a critical part of the educational process and one that is sometimes overlooked. This approach allows us to better take advantage of this step in the learning process.”

Williams added he hopes students and prospective students will see the honor as external validation of the learning that takes place at K and the strides faculty will take to engage students in their education.

“This should help students see what faculty do to engage them in learning no matter the subject, and we, the faculty, think really hard about learning, because we are also lifelong learners,” Williams said. “We hope this will help prospective students see how much we care about helping students learn through evidence-based pedagogies.”

 

International Jazz Day Gives K Reason to Toot its Own Horn

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International Jazz Day Tom Evans cMcGUIRE 2018 lo 0007
Music Professor Tom Evans rehearses his trombone with Rushik Patel ’22 at Light Fine Arts. Evans directs K’s noteworthy Jazz Band, making the College a great place to mark International Jazz Day.

There are days during the year when it makes sense for Kalamazoo College to toot its own horn. International Jazz Day is one of them, as the College’s Jazz Band is known for its well-attended, quality performances popular with the musicians themselves and audiences alike.

According to its website, International Jazz Day — celebrated each April 30 — unites communities, schools, artists, historians, academics and enthusiasts to celebrate jazz and its roots. It helps the world learn of jazz’s future and its impact, while encouraging intercultural dialogue and international cooperation.

That desire to celebrate jazz could cause anyone, from jazz novices to experts, to gravitate to K’s Jazz Band.

“We tell our audiences, ‘if the music affects you, get up and dance,’” said Music Professor Tom Evans, the band’s director, who ensures his group is deserving of recognition around K and around the Kalamazoo community. “By the end, we usually have many who are dancing in the aisles. It’s always great to play in front of such an appreciative audience.”

The enthusiasm of the musicians is part of what makes the band special. “I have one rule with the Jazz Band: It’s OK to make mistakes, but it’s not OK to play without passion,” Evans said. “I believe (the band) can make you a better person. It makes you more disciplined and it engages your mind. It’s a chance to explore history from the earliest jazz continuing through many contemporary artists.”

For those who need a primer in jazz as they mark International Jazz Day, Evans said the music is exciting because “jazz reinvents itself every night. If you go to a concert and see the same group two nights in a row, the beginning and the end might sound familiar, but the middle would be different.”

That middle represents the jazz process of improvisation, defined as the spontaneous creation of fresh, original melodies beyond the notes on a page. Improvisation is inspired by the musicians performing and how they feel at a given moment. Plus, they can never be identically repeated.

K’s Jazz Band typically follows standard big band instrumentation with five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones and a rhythm section consisting of a pianist, a bass player, a guitarist and drummers. This year’s rhythm section features two guitarists and adds a vibraphone player. A vibraphone has metallic bars instead of the wooden ones seen on the garden-variety xylophone.

“A xylophone has a distinctive wooden ‘dong’ sound, but a vibraphone has metal with sustained pitches that sound like ‘ting,’” Evans said. Those pitches are controlled through fans underneath the instrument that spin and rotate.

For students interested in Jazz Band, there are music ensemble scholarship opportunities for incoming students, and while auditions are sometimes required for the band, there are more opportunities to participate and take a leadership role than you might find at a larger school.

“If you attend somewhere like the University of Michigan, good luck. You’re probably waiting until at least your junior year to play in the Jazz Band, and even then, there might be a waiting list,” Evans said. “K is a place where students have immediate leadership opportunities from the moment they get to campus.” Jazz Band is no exception. “With the Jazz Band, every voice is critical. If one person doesn’t show up, it affects everyone.”

Evans came to K in 1995, inheriting the College’s Jazz and Symphonic bands, after teaching at Alfred University, another liberal arts institution, in Alfred, New York. His jazz bands have toured Chicago, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati and Detroit in the U.S., and Russia, Estonia, Japan, Finland and Tunisia around the world.

The group’s next concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11, in the Dalton Theater at Light Fine Arts. Evans said the band’s play list will include some early jazz, swing, bop, fusion, funk and Latin varieties.

“At the end of each concert, I want the kids to walk off the stage as heroes,” Evans said.

Hear some selections of prior Jazz Band performances and learn more about the group at its website.

Get Versed in National Poetry Month

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If your knowledge of poetry is limited, April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing. That’s because it’s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate.

Kayla Park National Poetry Month
Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. She interned with Belladonna*, an independent feminist avant-garde poetry press, through the New York Arts Program during the winter 2018 term at K.

Among his classes, Baez Bendorf teaches an advanced poetry workshop, which is participating in a 21-day challenge to write every day. Students are assigned poetry-inspired aliases and write about their praxis, or practice, of writing. “Writing about writing” might sound redundant, but its purpose is to help students learn about themselves, their influences and their processes to discover what inspires them.

Audrey Honig ’21, for example, is an English and religion major with a concentration in Jewish studies from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media. Erasure poetry erases words from an existing text in prose or verse and frames the result as a poem. The results can be allowed to stand on their own or arranged into lines or stanzas.

“I thought it would be interesting to bring what normally is a distraction into my writing,” said Honig, of the social media she analyzes. “I thought I wrote a lot before this class started, but I really wasn’t creating much. I was working on my writing, but I was mostly working on the editing process. Now I’m doing something small every day.”

Her biggest takeaway from the course has been how to better give and receive feedback to classmates and other writers.

“As students, we’re used to getting feedback when a professor might say, ‘This is a B,’” she said. “In this class, we’re really thinking about the specifics of what we’re doing as writers, so we can give honest and helpful feedback without tearing anyone down.”

For her 21-day challenge, Kayla Park ’19 selects a book at random off her shelf every day and writes a poem inspired by the last sentence on page 21 in that book.

Audrey Honig Recites During National Poetry Month
Audrey Honig presents during a class at Kalamazoo College’s Humphrey House. Honig is is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media.

Park, who writes under the alias Pegasus, earned a Heyl Scholarship when she matriculated at K to study within a science major, and she double majors in English and physics. She said she can see how a writing genre such as poetry helps make her a better scientist.

“When you continue doing a lot of work in one field and you get used to a certain mode of thinking, that’s beneficial in making you an expert in your subject, although you can also restrict your thought patterns that way,” she said. “In poetry, I’m expressing knowledge under a set of conventions that is different, but no less valuable than in science. Engaging with different modes of thinking helps me to see connections across disciplines and approach all situations from a broader point of view.”

The creativity poetry stirs for Park complements what she does with two a cappella groups at K, Premium Orange and A Cappella People of Color (ACAPOC), as well as with Frelon, the campus’ student dance company. It also helps her deal with her own perfectionism.

“Sometimes when I sit down to write, regardless of the assignment, I get hung up on making it perfect,” she said. “Forcing myself to write every day is beneficial in letting a little of that perfectionism go. It helps me write more freely and produce something that I can always go back and edit later.”

Baez Bendorf also offers an intermediate poetry workshop. That class this month is memorizing poems such as Truth Serum and 300 Goats by Naomi Shihab Nye and To Myself by Franz Wright with the goal of reciting them in May.

“We approach it as a kind of ultimate close reading of the work, and then aim to know it by heart, hopefully for a lifetime,” Baez Bendorf said.

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It since has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets celebrating poetry, according to the American Academy of Poetry.

The organization drew inspiration for National Poetry Month from Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, and it aims to highlight the legacies and ongoing achievements of American poets, encourage the public to read poems, and increase the number of poetry-themed stories in local and national media. Read more about National Poetry Month at the Academy of American Poets’ website.

K Honors Outstanding Employees at Founders Day Event

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Lux Esto Award Winner Don Mack with Jorge Gonzalez at Founders Day
Lux Esto Award Winner Don Mack (right) stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez at the Founders Day Community Reflection.

Don Mack, Kalamazoo College director of technical and media services, is this year’s recipient of the Lux Esto Award of Excellence. The award, given Friday at the annual Founders Day Community Reflection marking the College’s 186th year, recognizes an employee who has served the institution for at least 26 years and has a record of stewardship and innovation.

The winner–chosen by a committee with student, faculty and staff representatives–is an employee who exemplifies the spirit of Kalamazoo College through excellent leadership, selfless dedication and goodwill.

Gonzalez credited Mack for his work, ensuring that the College’s facilities have the appropriate networking and audio-visual components to fulfill their purposes. Gonzalez added, “Through careful listening, institutional memory and insight, and just the right amount of dry humor, (Mack) promotes goodwill on campus.”

In accordance with Founders Day traditions, two other employees also received individual awards. Mathematics Professor Eric Barth was given the Outstanding Advisor Award. Associate Professor of English Amelia Katanski ’92 was named the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award winner.

Eric Barth and Jorge Gonzalez at Founders Day
Mathematics Professor Eric Barth stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez after receiving the Outstanding Advisor Award at the Founders Day Community Reflection.
Amelia Katanski with Jorge Gonzalez at Founders Day
Associate Professor of English Amelia Katanski ’92 stands with Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez after receiving the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award.

“Advisers are mentors who work very closely with our students, monitoring academic progress, and helping students identify and fulfill their goals while working to complete their degrees at the College,” Gonzalez said of Barth’s award. Barth “completes all this with grace and skill.”

First-year advocates are “educators who make significant contributions to the academic achievement and personal development of students in the students’ first year at the College,” Gonzalez said about Katanski’s honor. Katanski “has gone above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of first-year students and has helped them find their place at K while developing a foundation for advocacy and community responsibility.”

Career Summit 2019 Slated for April 12, 13

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A distinguished group of Kalamazoo College alumni will provide students with two days of practical workforce preparation April 12 and 13 during Career Summit 2019. All students are welcome and encouraged to attend this special event targeting positive employment outcomes through the Center for Career and Professional Development.

Five people leading a discussion in a Career Summit 2019 Preview
Shelby Hopper ’18 introduces ClozeLoop Managing Director Hilmon Sorey (from left), Loparex Global Vice President for Research and Development Ed Hortelano ’83, retired Google Superintendent of Well-Being Bill Duane ’94 and Depot Global Inc. Co-Founder and Executive Vice President Lindsey Haswell during Career Summit 2018. Career Summit 2019 is scheduled for April 12 and 13 at the Hicks Student Center.

Through interactive break-out sessions, themed panel discussions and networking opportunities, students of all majors will gain priceless information about the global job market. All Career Summit events will be at the Hicks Student Center on campus to ensure as many students as possible may participate.

The scheduled speakers for Career Summit 2019 are:

Students may register for Career Summit 2019 through Handshake. Contact Kristy Carlson at kristy.carlson@kzoo.edu or 269.337.7183 for more information or assistance in registering.

Chemistry Symposium Bids Farewell to 40-Year Professor

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UPDATE: The venue for the chemistry symposium has been changed to Dewing Hall, Room 103.

Kalamazoo College department symposiums typically kick off student presentations of senior individualized projects. This year’s chemistry symposium has added significance, serving as the official sendoff for Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Tom Smith, who is retiring after 40 years at the College.

Chemistry Symposium Speaker Tom Smith
This year’s chemistry symposium has added significance, serving as the official sendoff for Dorothy H. Heyl Professor of Chemistry Tom Smith, who is retiring after 40 years at the College.

The chemistry symposium will start at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 2019, in Dewing Hall, Room 103. Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez will welcome attendees before Interim Provost and Chemistry Professor Laura Furge introduces alumni Chris Bodurow and Bob Weinstein, both ’79. Bodurow and Weinstein were students in the first class Smith taught in the 1978-79 school year.

After the opening remarks, Smith will offer a lecture titled “Reflections on Teaching and Research in Inorganic Chemistry: From Small Molecules to Crystals to Metalloproteins.” A reception will follow at Dow Science Center.

“We have invited alumni to attend and send notes that we will present” to Smith, Furge said. “Alumni will continue to see how strong the Chemistry department is. All faculty are research active as campus is abuzz in summer with research students, and their grants and publishing show how deeply invested our faculty are in teaching pedagogies.”

Bodurow and Weinstein were a part of the fundraising effort that endowed a research fellowship in Smith’s honor. The Thomas J. Smith Student Research Fellowship in Chemistry honors Smith by supporting an initiative close to his heart: independent summer research.

“The endowment to fund student research positions is a very fitting tribute to the work [Smith] has done,” Furge said. “He has faithfully taken on at least two students each summer, committing himself to mentoring and influencing generations of students.”

Testifying to the devotion Smith has inspired, he was designated an Alpha Lambda Delta National Honorary Society Favorite Teacher by first-year students 13 times. In addition, he directed the senior individualized projects of 70 students, was named a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Scholar and was awarded the Florence J. Lucasse Fellowship for Excellence in Scholarship or Creative Work and the Dr. Winthrop S. and Lois A. Hudson Award for Outstanding Contributions in Research at Kalamazoo College.