Stories about "Science and technology"
Notorious (but harmless) pathogens preserved in Bates professor’s new-found World War I slides

Friday, November 13, 2020 11:13 am

A trove of wartime microscope slides include specimens of gonorrhea, diphtheria, tuberculosis, meningitis.

2019 Commencement speaker Jennifer Doudna wins 2020 Nobel Prize

Friday, October 9, 2020 12:16 pm

Doudna, Bates' 2019 Commencement speaker, won the Nobel for co-discovering CRISPR-Cas9 technology, now in use in Bates classrooms.

Zoe Knauss '23 of Buffalo, N.Y., who will declare as an ES major, and ES major Sam Gilman '22 of Mendham, N.J., , dig for soil in a field.Prof of Environmental Studies and Christian A. Johnson Prof of Interdisc Studies Holly Ewing and Lecturer in Environmental Studies & Learning Associate in Environmental Studies Camille Parrish take students in the Soils/Lab course for a field trip to Pettengill Farm in Freeport, Maine. A nineteenth century salt-water farm on the estuary of the Harraseeket River, the farm is owned by Freeport Historical Society(FHS). It includes a saltbox house (ca. 1800) on 140 acres of fields, woods, antique apple orchards and salt marsh. Most interesting are the etchings (sgraffitti) found on the plaster walls in the upper chambers of ships, sea monsters, longboats and animals. The farmhouse remains without plumbing, central heat and electricity and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Mildred Pettengill was its last resident and lived in the house until 1970.The students are digging up soil and making observations (soil profiles) before putting it back where it came from.ENVR 310 - Soils/LabDepending on one's point of view, soils are geological units, ecosystems, the foundation of plant life, a place for microbes to live, building material, or just dirt. This course takes a scientific perspective and explores the genesis of soils, their distribution and characteristics, and their interaction with plants. Field studies emphasize description of soils, inferences about soil formation, and placement within a landscape context. Labs investigate the chemistry of soils and their role in forestry and agriculture.
Picture story: “Thankful to get off campus and my hands dirty”

Thursday, October 8, 2020 4:01 pm

Follow along as Bates environmental studies students go off campus and dig into the science of dirt at a stunning coastal Maine site.

Bates biologist April Hill is part of first genome sequencing of a freshwater sponge

Friday, September 25, 2020 10:42 am

However lowly, or low in the water, freshwater sponges are "biomedically relevant,” says Bates biologist April Hill "They are important organisms for us to pay attention to.”

Meet new faculty: Tyler Harper and science fiction that goes beyond just beach reading

Friday, September 18, 2020 9:13 am

Harper researches how science fiction depicts human extinction while asking, "Who gets to live in new worlds?"

Slideshow: See how students’ internships become life-guiding forces

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 12:30 pm

From studying the diets of sea urchins to working with Lewiston's immigrant communities, Bates students forged their way into the world this summer with Bates-funded internships.

Slideshow: This Summer at Bates

Monday, August 10, 2020 12:52 pm

Under the pall of COVID-19, summer at Bates was quieter (and warmer) than usual. Still, the sun continued to rise and set each day of June, July, and August.

From a Distance: The meandering Sprague River at Bates–Morse Mountain

Friday, June 19, 2020 11:51 am

Check out this aerial photo of Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area and fun facts from Bates geologists Bev Johnson and Dyk Eusden '80.

Current affairs: Student programmers simplify electricity management

Thursday, June 4, 2020 8:11 am

In a special Digital and Computational Studies project, three seniors join EcoReps to improve how Bates measures campus electrical use.

Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies Carrie Diaz Eaton teaches (in Carnegie 226) her course DCS 105. Calling Bull in a Digital World.Our world is rife with misinformation. This course is designed to hone digital citizenship skills. It is about "calling b***s*** ": spotting, dissecting, and publicly refuting false claims and inferences based on quantitative, statistical, and computational analysis of data (with R). Students explore case studies in policy and science; possible examples include food stamps, caffeine, improving traffic, and gendered mortality rates. Students practice visualizing data; interpreting scientific claims; and spotting misinformation, fake news, causal fallacies, and statistical traps. In so doing, the course offers an introduction to programming. New course beginning Winter 2019. Enrollment limited to 29. [Q] C. Diaz Eaton.
Bates professor Carrie Diaz Eaton wins $300K grant to support open education

Friday, April 24, 2020 8:16 am

Reflecting Bates' leadership in the field, Bates professor Carrie Diaz Eaton and colleagues will use a $300,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation to create and share free educational materials — with a focus on equity.

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