Ryan Bavis

Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences

Ryan Bavis and his collaborator at Case Western University have been awarded a National Institutes of Health R01 grant to support their research on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The cause of SIDS is complex, multifactorial, and remains largely unknown. In this project, Dr. Bavis and his collaborator will use a new animal model of SIDS to investigate central and peripheral neural mechanisms associated with mortality. They will also investigate possible urine and blood biomarkers for SIDS, which may hold potential as predictors of infants at increased risk of SIDS. Congratulations to Ryan on receiving a grant to support this important work!

Nick Balascio

Associate Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences

Congratulations to incoming associate professor Nick Balascio, who has received a grant from the National Science Foundation‘s Paleo Perspectives on Present and Projected Climate (P4CLIMATE) program. Nick is coming from the College of William and Mary to join the Bates Earth and Climate Sciences department this year. For this project, Nick will work with collaborators at Auburn University and the University of Rhode Island to investigate the connection between changes in climate and wildfires in the northeast U.S during the Holocene period. The data will be compared with current climate changes to develop predictions for future fire potential. Welcome and congratulations, Nick!

Ida Piedmonte

Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Ida Piedmonte has received a subcontract from the Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) to work on a project funded by the Department of Energy. Dr. Piedmonte will develop models for X-ray absorption data collected by her collaborator at LANL. Congratulations, Ida!

Jamie Haverkamp and Sandra Goff

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies (JH) and Associate Professor of Economics (SG)

Congratulations to Jamie Haverkamp and Sandra Goff, who have received a award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of the University of Maine’s collaborative Maine-FOREST eRISE RII EPSCoR program. collaborative proposal with the University of Maine. This project is part of a major investment by NSF to develop research networks and capacity in states which traditionally receive only a small portion of federal research funding dollars. The project seeks to transform and modernize Maine’s forest economy. Over the next four years, Jamie and Sandra will work closely with their partners at the University of Maine on the Social Resilience arm of the project, contributing to the development of adaptive community resilience and strengthen the capacity of rural communities and the Wabanaki Nations to respond to changes in the socio-ecological environment.

Carrie Diaz Eaton

Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies

Congratulations to Carrie Diaz Eaton, who has received an 18 month grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to continue the development and work of the RIOS Institute, a virtual synthesis center led by a diverse set of individuals at the interface of open education, STEM post-secondary education, and leadership in social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (SJEDI). RIOS supports Racially-just, Inclusive, and Open STEM education by providing community support, training, professional development, and open access curricular resources opportunities to STEM educations and institutional leaders.

Larissa Williams

Associate Professor of Biology

Larissa Williams has received an award from the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratories (MDIBL) National Institutes of Health-funded INBRE program to support her research using the MDIBL Bioinformatics Core. Larissa’s project will involve studying the effects of an environmental toxicant, triphenyl phsophate (TPhP) on zebrafish gene expression. TPhP is used in circuit boards, hydraulic fluids, glues, among others, and Zebrafish are a regularly used model for human toxicology. As a result, this project will provide important data about the dangers of a compound that is found at low concentrations throughout the environment. Congratulations, Larissa!

Ryan Cole

Assistant Professor of Physics

Congratulations to Ryan Cole, who received an Undergraduate New Investigator award from the American Chemical Society‘s Petroleum Research Fund. Ryan’s project will involve developing a novel model to use laser comb spectroscopy to detect atmospheric methane and differentiate the sources of the methane. Properly understanding the sources of atmospheric methane is necessary for the development of better approaches to limit climate change, and this project seeks to address a priority need identified by the World Meteorological Association’s 2022 Metrology for Climate Action concensus document.

Aleks Diamond-Stanic and Jeff Oishi

Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy

Congratulations to the Department of Physics, which under the leadership of Jeff Oishi and Aleks Diamond-Stanic, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation‘s Faculty Development in geoSpace Science program to appoint a new tenure-track professor in solar-terrestrial physics, which explores interactions between the sun and Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Read more…

Shoni Currier

Director, Bates Dance Festival

Congratulations to Shoni Currier, who has recently received two grant awards. A Major Grant from the Maine Humanities Council will support a weekend of Hip Hop events, including a battle, performance showcase, and panel discussion at the 2024 Bates Dance Festival. This event is a collaboration between the BDF and  CRĀV, and seeks to create a holistic experience and understanding of Hip Hop culture by offering discussion, history and context in addition to the opportunity to see those practices in action and to learn how to embody the practice.

An National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Arts Projects award will support bringing Gesel Mason to the 2025 Bates Dance Festival to develop and present her work “Yes, And”, a collection of performance experiments that place an expanded vision of Black Womanhood at the center of the creative process.

Congratulations to Shoni on both of these awards!

Patrick Otim

Associate Professor of History

Congratulations to Patrick Otim, who has been awarded a research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his book project entitled “Caught in Between: The History of Everyday Life in Northern Uganda, 1950-2015.” Patrick will travel to his home village in Uganda to study documentary and oral sources to to tell the story of non-combatants in the Ugandan civil war. His work will examine events beginning in the 1950s—almost three decades before the Ugandan civil war, to deepen understanding of not only the people and events in the region but also how “independence” operated differently in Northern Uganda—and end in 2015, a decade after all the displaced people had been resettled.

NEH Fellowships are highly competitive, and only 8% of proposals were recommended for funding in this cycle. Congratulations to Patrick on this amazing recognition of the importance of his work!