Notable & Quotable

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering James Kaklamanos was recently profiled in a monthly feature article by the Seismological Society of America (SSA), as part of their “At Work” column.

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.

The Imagined Immigration and the Criminal Immigrants: Expanding the Catalog of Immigrant-Related Ignorance is an article published by Dr. Daniel Herda and co-authored by Merrimack alum Amshula Divadkar ’17. In the article, Herda and Divadkar use original data from a sample of college students to examine the crime perception alongside nine established components of imagined immigration, comparing their extent and consequences for a hypothetical anti-immigrant policy.

Debra Michals, assistant professor and director of women’s and gender studies, was interviewed for a March 9, 2018, segment on WBUR radio about a new study that claims bones found on Nikumaroro Island in 1940 very likely belong to famed aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Because the new study, by researcher Richard Jantz, relied on reinterpreting an original analysis of the bones more than four decades ago rather than the bones themselves, which long ago disappeared, Michals said his study is not likely to close the book on the case. “The mystique around the disappearance of Amelia Earhart will lead a lot of people to that conclusion — that without the real bones, how do we know?” she said.

Program Director and Chair of Higher Education Susan B. Marine is featured in Yahoo News’ “10 Free Online Courses on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” for her course through the University of Pittsburgh, “Gender and Sexuality: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace.”

Dr. Emma Polyakov gave public lectures on her latest book, The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel, at Brandeis University and Boston College in the United States. Following these lectures, Dr. Polyakov was invited to speak about her book later this spring at Abo Akademi University and Helsinki University in Finland, and Lund University in Sweden.

Father Rick Piatt, director of the Rogers Center for the Arts, was quoted in an Aug. 22, 2017, Burlington (Mass.) Union story about an interfaith peace and unity gathering at Temple Shalom Emeth in Burlington. Piatt said he attended the event “to listen, learn and be supportive.” He added that he is confident Americans will stand up against the type of bigotry that was on display in Charlottesville, Virginia, the previous week. “They (white supremacists) will not win,” he said.

April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, was interviewed for U.S. News & World Report’sOct. 27, 2017, “Parent First” podcaston the possible link between stimulant useand obesity in individualswith attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.People with ADHD “have consistently been found to have an increased risk of being overweight or obese,” Bowling noted. She addedthat adults with the disorder have about one-and-a-half times the obesity risk compared to adults who don’t have ADHD.

Fathers Stephen Curry and Richard Piatt spoke to the Eagle-Tribune about the burning of Cathedral of Notre Dame at the start of Holy Week. “She symbolized Paris, a symbol of grace, and hope, and comfort that both humbled and lifted up all those who approached her facade,” said Piatt. Curry said the cathedral “embodies centuries of devout Catholics’ faith, prayers, miracles, religious history, and spiritual inspiration.”

Juliana Cohen, assistant professor of health sciences, was named a fellow at the Obesity Society, the leading scientific organization dedicated to the study of obesity. The appointment, which recognizes exemplary contributions to the field of obesity research, treatment and prevention, is one of the highest honors awarded by the society. Cohen was cited for her ongoing research and publications on child nutrition, especially in economically vulnerable populations.

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.”

Laura Pruett, associate professor and chair of visual and performing arts, presented a research poster, “I Did It My Way: An Alternative Concept for Teaching American Music,” March 25, 2017, at the annual conference of the Society for American Musicin Montréal.

April Bowling, assistant professor of health sciences, was quoted in a Jan. 9, 2017, story in MedPage Today about the behavioral benefits of aerobicexercise for children with behavioral healthdisorders. “The big takeaway from this study is that kids with these types of (behavioral) challenges may not need a lot of aerobic exercise to see big improvements in classroom behavior,” Bowling said. “But it is really important to find modes of exercise that appeal to them, and work within the existing structures of school.”

Russ Olwell, associate dean of the School of Education and Social Policy,publisheda columnin the March 24, 2018, edition of the Eagle-Tribune about the benefits of early-college and dual-enrollment programs, whichhelp students earn college credits while in high school and serve to make higher education more attractive and affordable to students. “The experience of taking a college class on a college campus with a professor gives students the experience of success in college, an experience that can give them and their families hope,” Olwell wrote.

Associate Professor James Kaklamanos was recently interviewed for a feature article on earthquakes in Turkey published on InterestingEngineering.com, a website that profiles the latest events, developments, and breakthroughs in engineering, science and technology. Kaklamanos teaches in the civil engineering department at Merrimack’s School of Science and Engineering.

Raymond Shaw, associate professor of psychology, wrote an essay, “Assessing the Intangible in Our Students,” for the July 27 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. “Ten years ago, Richard Shavelson wrote that accreditation pressures could lead us to focus on easily formulated, standardized and measured student outcomes and to neglect ‘personal and social responsibility skills’ — ‘personal, civic, moral, social and intercultural knowledge and actions,’” Shaw wrote. “He warned that if we do not measure those, ‘they will drop from sight.’ If we neglect the ineffable outcomes in our efforts to understand what college is for, and what we accomplish in higher education, they could disappear from our attention, our aspirations and eventually from our teaching.”

The Business of Emotions in Modern History is a peer-reviewed book that features a range of essays that explore the intersection of business and emotions throughout history, which includes an original work authored by Dr. Debra Michals, assistant professor and director of women’s and gender studies.

Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of communication, wrote a fake news “how-to” for the Young African Leadership Initiative as part of the U.S. State Department’s ongoing campaign to counter misinformation in Africa. YALI supports young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance and enhance peace and security across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Researchers Dr. Ruth E. McKenzie, assistant professor of human development and human services and Dr. Katelyn Kurkul, associate professor of human development and human services, are advancing their research project titled “STEM Centered Intergenerational Literacy and Learning Program (SCILL),” which focuses on developing an intergenerational intervention between those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in children under five years old and older adults.

The School of Education and Social Policy’s associate professor of practice Patricia Howson was part of a panel this summer hosted by the United Way of Mass. Bay. Howson stressed the importance of preschool programs and the salaries of their teachers.Read her remarksin The Eagle-Tribune.