{"id":136851,"date":"2020-10-30T09:26:10","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T13:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=136851"},"modified":"2020-10-30T13:56:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T17:56:53","slug":"bates-announces-five-202021-faculty-promotions-including-tenure-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/30\/bates-announces-five-202021-faculty-promotions-including-tenure-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Bates announces five 2020\u201321 faculty promotions, including tenure awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bates has announced five faculty promotions, including tenure awards, effective for the 2020\u201321 academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoted from assistant to associate professor with tenure are Brett Huggett of the Department of Biology and Genevi\u00e8ve Robert of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promoted from associate to full professor are Meredith Greer of the Department of Mathematics, Ther\u00ed Pickens of the Department of English, and Sonja Pieck of the Program in Environmental Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The promotions were recommended by the faculty\u2019s Committee on Personnel and approved by the Bates College Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe words shared by each of these five superb scholars tell a collectively compelling story \u2014 of full and intense engagement with the world, with their students, and with the life of the mind, all underscored by great devotion to our college community,\u201d says Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. \u201cThe cycle of their creativity \u2014 teaching energized by scholarship, and scholarship energized by teaching \u2014 is displayed in their myriad contributions to Bates College.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet the five newly promoted faculty members, and learn a bit about what being a Bates professor means to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associate Professor of Biology Brett Huggett<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Assistant
Brett Huggett works with students in the 2016 Short Term course “North Woods” during fieldwork at the Saco Heath Preserve in Saco, Maine. Huggett has been promoted to associate professor of biology. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appointment year<\/strong>: 2014
Doctoral institution<\/strong>: Harvard University
Fields of research<\/strong>: Physiological and morphological adaptations and\/or responses among tree species to stress, plant physiology, plant water relations, carbon allocation, xylem structure and function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means to me to be a Bates professor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my early years as a jazz musician, to a naturalist for Massachusetts Audubon Society, and now as a Bates professor, I have always found immense joy in teaching and inspiring curiosity in others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the community of faculty, staff, and students at Bates, I have found an incredible place to incorporate my passion for plant biology into teaching and research. Working closely with the talented students at Bates \u2014 in the classroom, lab, and field \u2014 I am continually inspired to innovate my teaching and to pursue new questions in biology. The natural surroundings of Bates have allowed me to center many of my courses in field-based learning. When not in the classroom or lab, you will find me out and about in the beautiful woods of Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Associate Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Genevi\u00e8ve Robert <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Professor
Genevi\u00e8ve Robert prepares students for a mapping project near Montana\u2019s Ruby Creek during a 2016 Short Term course \u201cGeology of the Northern Rockies and Columbia Plateau.\u201d Robert has been promoted to associate professor of earth and climate sciences. (Josh Kuckens\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appointment year<\/strong>: 2014
Doctoral institution<\/strong>: University of Missouri
Fields of research<\/strong>: Rheology, viscosity, silicate melts, experimental petrology, volcanology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means to me be a Bates professor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about empowering students to view themselves as scientists. It\u2019s about learning from my colleagues. And it\u2019s about working towards a common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love that students come to class with an open mind, ready for a challenge. Working with Bates students in the classroom and the lab has made me a better teacher and mentor, and I am constantly challenged, surprised, and impressed by them. Bates students have helped me build my experimental petrology research program every step of the way. Together, we\u2019ve assembled and calibrated specialized instruments. We\u2019ve synthesized lava at 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. We\u2019ve measured how fast lava can flow and have co-authored papers. I could not do what I do without Bates students, and I feel lucky to be a part of their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m lucky to work alongside and learn from brilliant colleagues \u2014in my own academic unit, through research collaborations, and in every single committee I\u2019ve been a member of. There is such a strong culture of support, of sharing resources and expertise, and of community at Bates. And what I\u2019ve learned from day one is that staff make this place possible for all of us. I\u2019m grateful everyday for their expertise, help, and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Professor of Mathematics Meredith Greer<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Meredith
Meredith Greer (right) works with students in “Advanced Topics in Biomathematics\u201d in January 2020. Greer has been promoted to professor of mathematics. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appointment year<\/strong>: 2002
Doctoral institution<\/strong>: Vanderbilt University
Fields of research<\/strong>: Applied mathematics, mathematical biology, mathematical ecology, mathematical epidemiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means to me be a Bates professor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has always been about the people. I chose to work at Bates because of the people I met when interviewing here \u2014 every single one was friendly, intellectually curious, helpful, and excited about what we could learn together. That has stayed true throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students regularly go above and beyond the call. On projects, they bring in experiences, coursework, and interests that form combinations only they could have developed. When challenged by new math topics, they inspire me by their engagement, time invested, willingness to try new study strategies, and overall devotion to learning. They build communities and support each other, in the classroom and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty and staff here are also amazing. There are so many examples of dedication to excellence, solving complicated issues, and taking care of each other. Being surrounded by such enthusiasm and commitment helps my teaching every day. It really is all about the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Professor of English Ther\u00ed Pickens<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Theri
Ther\u00ed Pickens teaches \u201cContemporary Arab American Literature\u201d in 2013. Pickens has been promoted to professor of English. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appointment year<\/strong>: 2011
Doctoral institution<\/strong>: University of California, Los Angeles
Fields of research<\/strong>: 20th- and 21st-century African American \/ Arab American literature, African American literature and cultural studies, Arab American literature and cultural studies, Black feminism, cognitive impairment, disability, disability studies, gender studies, literary theory, mental health, physical impairment, spectacular fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means to me to be a Bates professor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the scholarly community, we often wrongly pit research and teaching against each other. I firmly believe that the two are synergistic. In my career, I find that being an engaged scholar allows me to be a better teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years between receiving tenure, in 2016, and promotion to full professor, I wrote a book called Black Madness :: Mad Blackness<\/em> (Duke University Press, 2019); edited a collection, Arab American Aesthetics<\/em> (Routledge, 2018); edited a special issue of African American Review, <\/em>\u201cBlackness & Disability\u201d (2017); wrote five articles; and gave dozens of presentations at academic conferences and at colleges and universities the world over. All of that work \u2014 centering the theories, ideas, and creative endeavors of Black people, Arab Americans, disabled people \u2014 pressed me and others to think more explicitly about how to make a just world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In doing this work and listening to people in various settings, I became even more convinced that the study of literature, and the humanities writ large, is vitally necessary to our world. These are lessons that we need desperately as we seek to tell better stories about, and do better work in, our current global situation and for what lies ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor of Environmental Studies Sonja Pieck<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Associate
Sonja Pieck poses in her Hedge Hall office in 2019. Pieck has been promoted to professor of environmental studies. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Appointment year<\/strong>: 2007
Doctoral institution<\/strong>: Clark University
Fields of research<\/strong>: Biodiversity conservation, ecological restoration, environmental history, environmental movements, environmental politics, human geography, international development, memory studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it means to me to be a Bates professor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interdisciplinary spaces of the liberal arts are deeply appealing to me because I love drawing connections between different perspectives, theories, scales, places, interests, groups, and species. I believe environmental problems at their core derive from uneven power relations \u2014 among humans but also between human and non-human communities \u2014 and we need multifaceted and synergistic approaches to understand them and develop effective solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And my students make some of the most interesting and creative connections of all. They bring curiosity and compassion to the classroom, along with a desire to do good in the world. It is an honor to partner with them in class and on thesis projects and help them become more informed, critically engaged people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an interdisciplinary scholar, I\u2019ve long been interested in international and transnational environmental politics. I\u2019ve worked in Latin America exploring environmental activism, especially in Peru and Ecuador, where I spent formative years of my life, and am now focusing my research on Germany, my country of origin. Throughout, I\u2019ve felt supported in my work by the college and by smart, kind, and generous colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates continues to be an energizing and inspiring community of students, staff, and faculty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet these five newly promoted faculty members, and learn a bit about what being a Bates professor means to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":136865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[4,11009],"tags":[10530,10503,9828,8039,8675],"class_list":["post-136851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-life","category-the-college","tag-brett-huggett","tag-genevieve-robert","tag-meredith-greer","tag-sonja-pieck","tag-theri-pickens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136851"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137782,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136851\/revisions\/137782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}