Notable & Quotable
Health Sciences Department assistant professorJuliana Cohenwas recently featured as an expert source for a KTVA televisionreport regarding a pilot programin Anchorage, Alaska to lengthen lunchtime and recess for school children as a means of improving academic focus.
Lisa Perks and Jacob Turner, both associate professors of communication and media, have hadamanuscript about their experiences working with undergraduate students working on scholarly research projects accepted by the peer-reviewed journal Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research.
He Li, professor of political science, published an article, “Chinese Discourse on Constitutionalism and Its Impact on Reforms,” in the September 2017 issue of the Journal of Chinese Political Science, and a book chapter, “China’s Rise in Latin America: Myths and Realities,” in “China, the United States and the Future of Latin America” (New York University Press, 2017).
Kathryn Welby, assistant professor of practice, education and community standards in theWinston School of Education and Social Policy, was featured in an article inWalletHubabout states and the best schools.
Russ Olwell, associate dean of the Winston School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College, contributed to a letter to the editor of the Eagle-Tribune about the value of dual enrollment classes.
Paul Zipper, adjunct lecturer in criminology and a detective lieutenant atthe Massachusetts State Police, was interviewed for a May 8, 2017,Channel 4 I-Team report on how state investigators pinpoint the causes of fire. Zipper said each fire is like a mystery. “To simplify it, we are doing an autopsy,” he said. “We have a death of a building, and we try to figure out what caused it.”
Associate professor in the Girard School of Business Joseph R. Stasio was featured in MoneyGeek’s Expert Advice for First-Time or Newer Cash Back Cardholders and Expert Advice for Balance Transfer Cardholders.
Brittnie Aiello and Emma Duffy-Comparone have published “I Never Thought I Could Accomplish Something Like This: The Success and Struggle of Teaching College Courses in Jail” in theJournal of Prison Education and Reentry. The article discusses their work teaching Merrimack College courses at the Essex County Correctional Facility.
Debra Michals,assistant professor and director of women’s and gender studies, was quoted in a Feb. 2, 2018, Boston Heraldstory about inspiring places to visit during Black History Month, which is celebrated nationally in February. Michals suggested Harriet Tubman Historical Park, a national park in Upstate New York,which celebrates the famed leader of the Underground Railroad. “What makes her so incredibly striking is that she went back several times after her own escape to freedom to help others,” Michals said. “I don’t think most people today could comprehend what kind of inner fortitude and dedication to the larger cause of freedom that that must have taken.”
Azam Noori, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology, presented her research at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biology (ASPB) in Portland, OR. Her presentation “Lemna minor for Silver Nanoparticles Phytoremediation” focuses on using common duckweed (Lemna minor) in removing silver nanoparticles from an aquatic environment.
Joseph Vogel, assistant professor of English, published an article, “The Confessions of Quentin Tarantino: Whitewashing Slave Rebellion in ‘Django Unchained,’” in the March 2018 issue of the Journal of American Culture.
Mechanical Engineering Department assistant professors Anthony Di Carlo and Rickey Caldwell Jr., and former student Courtney Videchak ’19, have co-authored the paper, “Optimization of Spatially Distributed Soil Conductivities for Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger” which has been accepted by the journal Applied Thermal Engineering.
Assistant professor of communication and media, Melissa “Mish” Zimdars, was featured on Newsy television to discuss how more news sites are sharing partisan messages while “masquerading” as local news sites.
Joseph R. Stasio, an associate professor in the Girard School of Business’ Marketing Department, was recently featured on WalletHub.com offeringexpertise knowledge on the use of credit cards, and especially Chase Freedom Credit Card. WalletHub.com posed three questions centered on interest rates, cash back options and advertising.
Philosophy professor William Wians has published a second volume of essays titled “Logoi and Muthoi,” exploring interdisciplinary connections between ancient Greek philosophy and literature. The chapters examine philosophical problems of knowledge and ethics in ancient writers, including Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Euripides, the pre-Socratics, the Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, and Lucretius. It is available on Amazon.com
Cynthia Carlson, assistant professor of civil engineering, was first author on a paper, “Storm-Water Management as a Public Good Provision Problem: Survey to Understand Perspectives of Low-Impact Development for Urban Storm Water Management Practices Under Climate Change,” that won Best Policy-Oriented Paper of 2016 from the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, published by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The paper explored how storm water could be thought of as a “public good” and be managed better.
Five faculty members were awarded tenure in January by President Christopher E. Hopey. They are:Jimmy Franco, assistant professor of chemistry;Brittnie Aiello, assistant professor of criminology;Sally Shockro, assistant professor of history;Susan Marine, associate professor and program director in the higher education master’s program; andSirkwoo Jin, assistant professor of management.
An article in Credit Donkey on April 27, 2020, features associate professor of marketing, Joseph Stasio, as an expert source on people’s shopping habits. Stasio, who studies entrepreneurship, discussed how people behave when looking at products in-person and online.
Assistant Professor Leena Bharath, who teaches in the School of Health Sciences, has received $434,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The awarded R15 grant will stretch over three years and is intended to support the training of undergraduate students.
Sociology assistant professorDaniel Herda,with coauthors John Hagan (Northwestern) and Bill McCarthy (UCDavis),have published a study in the journalThe DuBois Review.The research looked into the connections between legal cynicism, the electoral regime of Mayor Richard M. Daley and citizen calls for police assistance and police reports of drug crime.
