Faculty/Staff Career News February 2022

To read complete versions of these abbreviated news items, where you see a faculty or staff name as a live link, click to reach the faculty/staff member’s personal page. Then visit that page’s “Recent News” tab, where this current item in fuller detail beyond the first few lines shown here will be at or near the top. For employees without a profile page, the full text of each news item is included here.

Kristyn Achilich ’05, director of the College’s Center for the Environment and instructor of Environmental Studies & Sciences, has led the Center to a Silver STARS rating, a strong national recognition that came this summer for the Center’s valuable and innovative work under her direction. The certification is valid through July 5, 2024. Also, fall semester 2021, Kristyn joined a Zoom talk by the author of this year’s environmentally themed Common Text, Braiding Sweetgrass, as an active participant.

Dina Alsaffar ’20 started work in August as an Academic Support Services Specialist at Saint Michael’s. After graduating, Dina went on to pursue higher education at McGill University, where she completed her master’s degree in sociology. She lives in South Burlington, Vermont her family of seven.

Jolivette Anderson-Douoning is the inaugural Edmundite Graduate Fellow/Scholar in Residence/history for 2021-2022. Professor Kathryn Dungy (history) mentors Jolivette in team-teaching seminar, BIPOC Resistance and Power. In September, she joined a Boston-area ceremony honoring her late boss and mentor Bob Moses. In November, she presented a lecture outlining findings from her dissertation, LOUISIANA LEARNING: Race-Space Geographic Education and the Creation of a Black Cultural ‘Place’ in Shreveport’s Hollywood Neighborhood.

Alaba Apesin of the Business Administration/Accounting faculty presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in July 2021: “Impact of Leadership Academy on the Transformational and Servant Leadership Development of Students,” was a collaboration with her St. Mike’s colleague Paul Olsen. Alaba also had a publication in Journal of Leadership Education (April 2021), titled “Investigating the Predictors of Leader Self-Efficacy (LSE) Development among Freshmen in Historically Black Institutions.”

George Ashline of the mathematics faculty in late June was interviewed on a popular Vermont morning talk radio show by host Ric Cengeri as part of the WDEV Math Show – that day’s feature for Cengeri’s “Vermont Viewpoint” series. “It was interesting getting a couple of calls into the show from listeners with math/related questions,” says George.

Lyndsay Avery, newly hired in the past year as assistant professor of biology, recently had a manuscript that she wrote published in Frontiers in Immunology, describing a novel mouse model of a human immunodeficiency. Lyndsay previously was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after completing her doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh. She lives in Winooski with her wife, infant daughter and dog, and says she enjoys hiking, camping and craft beer.

Jeffrey Ayres, professor of political science/international relations and Director of the Center for Global Engagement, collaborated with three Czech professors and a Canadian colleague to co-teach a short but intense virtual course called “Comprehending Canada.” Also, he was part of a research team that in late summer made public “The 2021 Border Barometer” examining COVID impacts. He did many media interviews on that topic as well as on Canadian election politics, and formalized a collaboration with the University of Wales Trinity-Saint David.

Margaret Bass, special assistant to the president for diversity and inclusion at the College, took a principled stand during a meeting about the hiring of a new Winooski town manager, according to an article this week by the Vermont online news source VTDigger. She spoke up about the importance of a diverse pool of candidates and ultimately a Black, Indigenous or person of color chosen as city manager for Winooski.

Claudine Bedell, Amy Saks Pavese and Becky Wigglesworth of the Education faculty organized a fall Workshop Series through the College’s Master of Arts in Teaching program fall semester, including a well-attended December 1 session with five panelists, all local educators with relevant experiences, on the topic “Antiracist Pedagogies: Justice and Healing at the Center.” Among the panelists was Rebecca Haslam ’03 of the Education faculty. The Fall Workshop Series started in 2018 to supplement MAT cohorts’ understanding of key issues.

Mike Bosia of the political science faculty served on a dissertation committee in International Relations at the University of Copenhagen in December 2021. The dissertation focused on activism in response to Russian state homophobia. As the recipient of the 2020 Faculty Scholarly and Artistic Achievement Award, Mike gave keynote address at September’s Academic Convocation. He also stepped down from the Faculty Welfare Committee to begin an initiative with faculty and staff to develop workplace interventions addressing trauma and well-being.

Dave Brown, adjunct in Education, wrote a commentary about equitable opportunities for learners for the Vermont news website VTDigger in its September 3 edition. In the commentary, Dave laid out how adolescents notice differences among themselves and what that means to educators.

James Byrne, professor of religious studies, published a book review in Church History Review (December 2021). Jim reviewed Frederick C. Bieser’s David Freidrich Strauss: Father of Unbelief (Oxford University Press, 2020). Jim also has an encyclopedia article in press with the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, titled “Modern Europe. “In addition, he had a paper proposal accepted for the European Conference on Science and Theology (Norway, May 2022). His paper is titled: “Ambulo Ergo Sum: The Science and Spirituality of Walking.”

Fr. Michael Carter, SSE ’12 of the campus Edmundite community wrote a review for U.S. Catholic magazine, with national circulation, of the 19-year old singing sensation Billie Eilish’s new album, “Happier Than Ever.” Later he reviewed the popular movie Stillwater for U.S. Catholic and is lined up to do more arts review for the magazine. On October 4, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, Fr. Michael conducted a “Blessing of the Animals” short service on the steps of the Chapel for the benefit of more than 10 dogs and their owners.

Vicky Castillo ’20 began work August 16 as the new assistant director of MOVE, the volunteer service arm of Edmundite Campus Ministry at Saint Michael’s. This is her first professional position after graduating from St. Mike’s in 2020. On campus as a student, Vicky worked for four years as an Office Assistant to the Dean of Academic Affairs. She lives in Williston

Emily Chabot ’19, a Saint Michael’s psychology graduate, started work July 12 as the College’s Assistant Director of Special Events. Previously Emily worked at University of Vermont Medical Center in the Nephrology and Transplant Department as a Patient Service Specialist. While a Saint Michael’s undergraduate, she was active with the Student Government Association and did research with psychology Professor Ari Kirshenbaum.

Jennie Clarke, executive assistant to the vice president for institutional advancement and assistant secretary to the Board of Trustees, has been appointed to the Advancement Committee for the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. Jennie is not a board member, but the group includes non-board members with relevant professional experience in their committees.

Allison Cleary of the media studies, journalism and digital arts faculty oversaw the recent establishment of a new Writing Center office on the entry level of Durick Library (Room 222). The Center, a creatively improvised suite of rooms ideal not only for English language learners who use it for coaching, but also for people having a background with individualized education plans or anyone in general who struggles to write. “The goal is to create a safe space, with the support and resources, which allows students to produce their best work,” Allison said.

Brian D. Collier (art & design faculty), is a contributing author for the pedagogy book, Ecoart in Action: Activities, Case Studies and Provocations for Classrooms and Communities. (New Village Press). Brian curated two visiting artist exhibitions, designed all publicity materials and hosted public artist lectures for the McCarthy Art Gallery in fall ’21. He did a radio interview on his “Unlawning America” project. A national trade journal prominently featured Brian and his art. In addition, he had an online exhibition hosted by Shelburne Museum.

Diane Corbett started work in July 2021 as the College’s new director of student financial services in July, moving to Vermont to be closer to family after leading the financial aid team most recently at Ivy League Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and before that, at one of the nation’s largest universities, The Ohio State University.

George Dameron, professor emeritus of history, presented a lecture titled “Dante in a Global Context” on Nov. 1 in the Roy Room of the Dion Center. Introducing George was Christina Root of the English faculty, who, with Crystal L’Hote of philosophy, is a co-director of the College’s Humanities Center that George founded.

Maura D’Amore of the English faculty shares that her essay on 19th-century writer, artist, and gardener Celia Thaxter, “‘Something Pathetic as Well as Wonderful’: Celia Thaxter’s Paratextual Interventions,” was published in J19: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists.

Greg Delanty of the English faculty heard in July from Claire Cunningham of the Irish Arts Council and Poetry Ireland, who shared a variety of links to Greg reading his poem “One More Time” from his latest collection No More Time in different media and literary venues. In addition, The Irish Examiner, a major Irish paper, published a glowing review of an anthology from Greg.

Barbara O’Donovan, instructor of engineering and mathematics & statistics, in December again oversaw what has become a tradition for her and her Statics Engineering students in the College MakerSpace on the first floor of the Dion Family Student Center. Class members presented their bridge designs and tested the strength of those designs — an annual highly anticipated, educational and enjoyable event for these engineering students.

Kristin Dykstra, distinguished scholar in residence, was a featured panelist for the five-year celebration of the award-winning magazine, Latin American Literature Today, in December 2021. Poems from her current Vermont-based manuscript appeared in Almost Island, Clade Song, Acrobata (tr. to Portuguese by Floriano Martins), and El Nieuwe Acá (tr. to Spanish by Tina Escaja). See fuller details on more of her recent published work on her profile page.

Christopher Elhajj ‘21 started work January 3, 2022 as the new administrative assistant for Academic Affairs. He lives in Colchester, where he was born and raised. Christopher enjoys playing volleyball and kayaking on Lake Champlain. His undergraduate degree is in business administration.

William Ellis of the fine arts/music faculty received the Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Award and this year’s Academic Convocation in the fall. This is one of three annual prestigious and highly anticipated faculty awards.

Jane Eustace, course and registration specialist in the Registrar’s Office, received The Edmundite Founders’ Seed-Planter Award during presentation of this year’s staff awards in September.

Ruth Fabian-Fine of the biology faculty along with biology colleague Declan McCabe started assigning podcasts in their Biological Communications courses in 2020. A couple of Ruth’s students, Cecelia Schmelzle ’23 and Cailey Comiskey ’23,  really ran with it, and in their second “season” (which is to say, semester), they launched weekly interviews with a range of STEM (an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) majors and others with interests in STEM. Declan says the podcast is on Spotify for subscriptions.

Bret Findley of the chemistry faculty and George Ashline of mathematics collaborated (remotely) this summer with students on research projects thanks to National Science Foundation “S-STEM” summer funding support. Barbara O’Donovan, instructor of engineering and mathematics & statistics, Engineering Program coordinator, also has been involved with this student work, and has used or plans to use some of them when teaching Calculus I, says George.

Paula Gratton of the Campus Store staff received one of this year’s annual staff awards in September. Paula received The Unsung Hero Award.

Kristen Gray joined the St Mike’s team in September 2021 as a per diem nurse practitioner and now has joined Bergeron Wellness full time as of January 1, 2022 as family nurse practitioner. Kristen previously worked as a Registered Nurse at UVM Medical Center and at Community Health Centers of Burlington.

Peter Harrigan of the fine arts/theater faculty during the fall semester directed the Mainstage play, the Irish-themed Dancing at Lughnasa,” overcoming many obstacles posed by the pandemic to make the show available to limited but enthusiastic audiences. Peter also joined a panel of faculty to discuss the Irish context of the play, including Biology Professor Declan McCabe, Religious Studies Professor James Byrne and President Lorraine Sterritt, all of whom grew up in Ireland. John Devlin of the fine arts/theater faculty, the set designer, also joined.

Rebecca Haslam of the Education faculty in April of 2021 achieved approval from the College’s Art Committee for her request to mat and frame a set of ten prints called We the Future for display on the third floor of St. Edmund’s. This series features young change makers from diverse backgrounds working for racial climate and disability justice, criminal justice reform, immigrant rights, gun reform, and queer and trans rights.

Inaash Islam began work at Saint Michael’s in August as assistant professor of sociology. Inaash graduated from Virginia Tech with a master’s and doctorate in sociology. She lives in Winooski.

Aostre Johnson, emeritus professor of education, published an article in the November, 2021 issue of Holistic Education Review: “Towards a Post-Secular Educational Paradigm: Contextualizing James Macdonald’s 1974 Transcendental Ideology of Education in 2021.”

Daniel Johnson, a new adjunct professor in the English Department teaching EN 303 Fiction Writing Workshop and EN110 Modern Irish Fiction, had three short stories published in literary journals recently. “Hagiography” published in California-based Reed Magazine As well, Dan’s poem “The Hand in Front of Your Face” is due to be made into a short film in conjunction with Moving Words 2022, an annual international collaborative project among writers, voice actors, and filmmakers, sponsored by the New Jersey based organization Arts by the People.

Katie Kirby of the Saint Michael’s philosophy faculty co-hosted an international philosophy conference from July 26 through July 29with the theme of “Solidarity and Community,” which she began organizing in early 2020 for the North American Levinas Society (NALS). She was originally organizing the event to be in-person at Saint Michael’s College in July 2020, as host for the society’s 15th annual conference, then pivoted skillfully to pull off the virtual version. With nearly 200 registrants, the four-day conference featured 47 presenters.

Ari Kirshenbaum of the Saint Michael’s psychology faculty and co-authors published six papers in 2021, in psychological, pharmacological, legal, and medical journals. Topics included: unjustified policing policies regarding cannabis; e-cigarette abuse potential; gender differences in meth addiction; how nicotine commandeers neurobiological circuitry involved in learning and memory; the use of novel drugs in psychotherapy to enhance its effects); and, finally, medical-aid-in-dying policy. He also did many media interviews on his nicotine/ e-cigarette research.

Michael Larsen, chair of mathematics and statistics, served on the National Science Foundation Advisory Panel for the Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) Program. The MMS Program is an interdisciplinary program that supports fundamental work on the development of methods for the social and behavioral sciences. Also, Michael was elected Chair-elect of the new Record Linkage Interest Group (RLIG) of the American Statistical Association. He will be chair-elect in 2022, chair in 2023, and past-chair in 2024. He also co-authored a paper in a journal.

Anna Leavey began work at Saint Michael’s on September 22 as the new Director of Health Services. Before coming to Saint Michael’s, Anna worked at Community Health Centers of Burlington and at Champlain College. She lives in South Burlington and enjoys spending time with her family outdoors and with her two labs, Fred and Francesca.

Anna Lester of the Edmundite Campus Ministry staff in early November oversaw a project in celebration of Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. She and students erected an ofrenda (altar) in the Alliot Lobby from October 25 through November 2 for the community to remember loved ones who have passed. All of the activities to honor this tradition happened in collaboration with Edmundite Campus Ministry, the Center for Multicultural Affairs and Services, the Spanish Club, the Spanish Department, and the Religious Studies Department.

Robert Letovsky of the business administration & accounting faculty was quoted in a story this summer on Burlington-area television news station NBC5 in a story titled “Union representing Canada border guards votes to strike ahead of reopening,” by reporter Brandon Menard. Robert spoke in the story about the effects of the pandemic border crossing.

Tacy Lincoln, the recently retired associate director of Athletics, received The Fr. Maurice Ouellet Service Ward during presentation of this year’s staff awards in September.

Carolyn Lukens-Olson of the classical and modern languages and literature: Spanish faculty received the Joanne Rathgeb Teaching Award during the Academic Convocation ceremony in the fall. This is one of three annual prestigious and highly anticipated faculty awards.

Declan McCabe of the biology faculty continues to write his regular nature columns appearing in newspapers and journals in New England. Declan also has helped oversee a tree-planting event or two in the College Natural Area and elsewhere on campus. A national trade journal called Private University Products and News prominently featured his extensive work in the Natural Area. He also has new podcast on insects; and, he wrote about climate change for Connecticut Woodlands magazine in its fall edition.

Mike “The Hammer” McMahon retired from Saint Michael’s College on November 19, 2021. He started on October 24, 1983 in the Building Trade Department as the College’s full-time painter.

Cornelia Mihaila is a new member of the Department of Mathematics faculty. She went to Wellesley for her undergraduate degree, the University of Texas at Austin for her doctorate, and completed a postdoc at the University of Chicago. Her research interests are in geometric measure theory, the calculus of variations, and partial differential equations. In addition to teaching and research, Cornelia has enjoyed volunteering for math enrichment programs in both Chicago and Austin. In her free time, Cornelia likes to bake, hike, and listen to audiobooks.

Jerome Monachino, music minister for Edmundite Campus Ministry, this recent summer joined a group of top-level professional jazz musicians from the New York City scene who were up to campus as part of a workshop for working musicians, led by the acclaimed veteran Israeli-born jazz guitarist Roni Ben Hur. Jerome joined about 35 other students who spent a week learning from six highly accomplished faculty.

Paul Olsen of the business administration & accounting faculty shares: “According to IgnitEd, ‘a community of scholars changing the world through better business education,’ cases that my faculty colleague Karen Popovich and I wrote were among the most downloaded case resources in 2021” Also, Paul is a lead organizer for an upcoming Spring 2022 panel discussion on campus titled “The Business of Beer and Hard Cider,” scheduled for February 28.

Molly Peters, the head Nordic ski coach for Saint Michael’s, figures prominently in a recent story appearing in the magazine/website Women’s Running. The piece by Matt Wisner is about efforts by Molly and others to make distances in men’s running and cross country skiing consistent with distances for women instead of the different distances now used in NCAA competition.

Karen Popovich of the business administration and accounting faculty, with co-author Virginie Khare, PhD, from Eckerd University, received the 2021 Journal of Case Studies Best Case Award, for their case, “ Sudden switch to remote instruction: Managing a crisis in a Zoom world.” This case will be published in Journal of Case Studie.s Karen also joined teams of Saint Michael’s business students (in virtually attending the 2021 Society for Case Research’s Summer Casewriters Conference on July 20, 2021.

McKenna Poppenga ’21, technical coordinator for the l’s College Makerspace, in late October and early November helped students learn 3D design, 3D printing, sewing, vinyl cutting, and laser cutting on the way for many to making creative Halloween costumes among other projects.

Steven Ragno, master plumber/ HVAC in the College’s Facilities Department, wrote and received a grant to attend a series of HVAC technician classes through Vermont Technical College.

Reza Ramazani of the economics faculty was interviewed in an article about the new Iranian president’s economic plan published by Asia Times this fall. He is quoted saying that ’Russia and China are not economic lifelines that can shield Iran from the sanctions in the long run … Both of these countries are only motivated by self-interest, trying to take advantage of the crisis in Iran.

Joel Ribout, director of facilities, received The Buff Lindau Leadership Award during presentation of this year’s staff awards in September.

Hannah Roque ’21 started work July 6 as an admission counselor in the College Admission Office. She is a recent graduate of the College with a bachelor’s degree in English and Secondary Education. A  Middlebury native, she now lives in Burlington.

Elizabeth Scott of the Durick Library staff with support from Library and Information Services Director Laura Crain created a new display in the library during fall semester. The display’s 18 panels tell the stories of Saint Michael’s individuals who reflect and/or contributed to diversity at the institution. The goals of the exhibit are to showcase rich materials in the College and Society of Saint Edmund Archives, and to connect students with primary source materials and historical research, Laura said.

Lara Scott, director of MOVE in Edmundite Campus Ministry, in December led and facilitated this year’s Let’s Grow Kids’ (LGK) Legislative session meeting for Franklin/Grand Isle counties. Lara volunteers with LGK, and staff and volunteers meet annually with legislators to talk about initiatives and discuss their support and investment in childcare in the state of Vermont. Let’s Grow Kid’s invited Lara to facilitate this year’s session.

Daniel Simmons of the College political science faculty was co-author of a piece in the Washington Post [August 25] summarizing his research with that co-author. They tested how various incentive programs affect vaccination likelihood. Dan also organized a scavenger hunt on campus for students to celebrate Constitution Day in September.

Stacy Simonyi started work at Saint Michael’s on August 16 as a visiting assistant professor in the Education Department. Most recently, she worked for the Burlington School District as a fully remote teacher and an academic interventionist helping students struggling with reading, writing, and math. Stacy also has been a school librarian, academic librarian, and a preschool teacher.

Trish Siplon of the political science faculty, advises the campus group CAN (standing for COVID Action Network). They provided students on campus over the holidays with treats and support. In addition, Trish, with faculty colleagues Candas Pinar (sociology) and Krista Billingsley (anthropology/criminology) will receive $5,000 in preliminary research funding to be added to a $20 million National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant proposal through the University of Vermont, for their project on “Stories of Community in Vermont.”

Patrick Standen of the Saint Michael’s philosophy faculty has written a new book titled Disability: The Genealogy of a Concept from Prehistory to Mid-20th Century. The release date of the paperback through Amazon was January 4, 2022. Here’s how the publisher’s website summarizes the book: “An exhaustive survey of the history of disability in a single volume. An eye-opening look into how various cultures have conceived of the concept of disability through the centuries ….” Pat’s book is available from Phoenix Books in Vermont and online at Amazon.

Trevien Stanger environmental science/studies helped organize a tree-planting event in September with biology colleague Declan McCabe and the campus environmental group Green UP in the Natural Area. In October they ked another planting project on the newly created wetlands dug by Natural Resources Conservation Service Vermont — Trevien billed it “Restoration Generation.” He also has a new book, Our Basin of Relations: The Art & Science of Living with Water,” and brought a big Chaplain Basin map project to campus.

John A. Trono, chair and professor of computer science, was one of six panelists who shared their experiences on “The Philosophies of CS1” at the recent Midwest regional Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) hybrid conference. This was physically located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, held on October 1 and 2 – with many individuals attending these sessions via Zoom. John was one of four panelists who participated on the panel remotely.

Shawn Umansky of the Information Technology staff received one of this year’s annual staff awards in September. Shawn received The Unsung Hero Award.

Stanley Valles, the new director of public safety since August, has over 25 years of experience in law enforcement and public safety. Over those 25 years, Stan has been employed by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, New Jersey Transit Police Department, the Livingston Police Department and Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey, and Marlboro College in Vermont. He has held the roles of police officer, detective, community relations officer, school resource officer, corrections counselor, adjunct instructor and director of campus safety.

Melissa VanderKaay Tomasulo of the psychology and neuroscience faculty and Dagan Loisel of biology were guests in July on host Ric Cengeri’s Vermont Viewpoint show on radio station WDEV in Waterbury. They talked about their grant-funded research with NASA into using virtual reality as a way possibly to reduce stress for astronauts on missions. In October, Melissa gave a talk on that topic to a class at Northern Vermont University – Johnson campus, and the presentation was recorded by Green Mountain Access for wider broadcast.

Peter Vantine, director of the First Year Seminar, arranged this year’s virtual real-time First Year Seminar Common Text talk by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of this year’s Common Text for first-year students, Braiding Sweetgrass. On October 4, Peter participated in a ceremony at City Hall in Burlington during which Lise Veronneau was named the new Honorary Consul of France in Vermont. Peter made remarks at the ceremony as a representative of Vermont educational institutions and as a member of the Burlington-Honfleur Sister City Committee.

Patrick Volz began work on September 7 as the new instructional technologist in the Information Technology office. He previously worked at Champlain College as senior instructional developer, at Norwich University as instructional developer, at IBM on the help desk, and for The Media Group as a multimedia developer. He lives in Colchester with his wife of 14 years, Elizabeth Hamlin-Volz, with their two dogs, Mabel and Harry. He enjoys photography, painting, boating, waterskiing and downhill skiing, and plays bagpipes.

Leo Wermer is the new Fire Unit Chief for Saint Michael’s Fire and Rescue, assuming his new duties at the start of fall semester. Leo has worked in emergency services for the last 15 years and is an Essex, VT, native.