Author: iharrell

Halmos Alumna Presents with Faculty at DRC Conference

Storrow

Georgakopoulos

Rebecca Storrow, Ph.D., graduate of the doctoral program in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS); Harold Coleman, J.D.; and Alexia Georgakopoulos, Ph.D., faculty in DCRS presented at the 29th Annual Dispute Resolution Center’s Conference, held virtually in August 2021.  The conference theme was “Bringing People Together.” Their presentation was titled “The Craft of Mediation: Effective Strategies that also Support Diversity and Inclusion.”

Storrow is a regional vice president with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in Miami, managing large commercial arbitration and mediation cases. Coleman is senior vice president for mediation at the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and mediator/executive director for AAA Mediation.org.

Georgakopoulos’ research and teaching interests include mediation, facilitation, and workplace bullying. She is the faculty adviser to the Conflict Resolution Community of Practice Working Group in DCRS.

Double Your Impact During Special Cancer Awareness Drive

In the fight against cancer, we need your help.

Nova Southeastern University is at the forefront of cancer research. From personalized treatment and identification methods to collaborative research across disciplines, NSU is attacking cancer head-on.

AutoNation is supporting NSU’s annual drive by doubling the impact made by alumni, friends, and members of the community. The longtime supporter of cancer research is generously pledging to match all donations* to the NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast Cancer Research and Care.

Make your gift today and double your impact!

Donors who make a gift of $25+ will also receive a complimentary 2021 pink Shark lapel pin.

*Up to a predetermined amount agreed upon between AutoNation and NSU

 

Webinar Addresses Minimizing Your Risk of Cancer

Join us for a Cancer Awareness Webinar proudly hosted by Nova Southeastern University and AutoNation on October 8 from noon to 1 p.m. The topic of the webinar will be “Living Intentionally to Minimize your Risk of Breast and Other Cancers.”

The session features Jean J. Latimer, Ph.D., director of the NSU AutoNation Institute for Breast Cancer Research and Care. The discussion will include:

  • Untangling the Food Supply – Simple modifications to your brand selections and food choices that significantly reduce your cancer risk
  • Consumer Products Worth Purging – Identifying products that increase your risk for cancer
  • Golfing and Yardwork – Specific exposures you can minimize for healthier living

Halmos Chemist Publishes International Paper on Symmetry

Russell Driver, Ph.D.

This year, chemistry faculty Russell Driver, Ph.D. collaborated with researchers at KAIST in South Korea (KAIST). Part of Halmos College, Driver’s research focused on the structural elucidation of self-assembling organic materials and the processes that influence nanoscale symmetry selection.

For this paper, published in Small – Wiley Online Library, Driver solved the single crystal X-ray structures of many of the folders in the paper which was published on the inside front cover.

With a 2020 Journal Impact Factor of 13.281 (Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics, 2021)), Small continues to be among the top multidisciplinary journals covering a broad spectrum of topics at the nano- and microscale at the interface of materials science, chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine, and biology.

Halmos Faculty Presents on Understanding Family Violence

Judith McKay

Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., director of the doctoral program, and faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), presented at the 29th Annual Dispute Resolution Center’s Conference, held virtually in August 2021.  The conference theme was “Bringing People Together.” McKay’s presentation was titled “Creating Safer Communities: Understanding Family Violence and the Effects on Communities and Organizations.”

McKay is the faculty adviser to the Social Justice Roundtable and works with students in the community through Community Resolution Services, a practicum and volunteer site for DCRS. Community Resolution Services hosts Story Café, We Love our Families series, The Women’s Roundtable, and is involved in offering workshops for the county’s Crisis Intervention Teams, and other events for community groups and organizations.

McKay’s scholarly interests include conflict coaching, strategic community planning, and violence prevention and intervention in family, neighborhood, and organizational conflicts.  For more information about Community Resolution Services, please contact McKay at mckayj@nova.edu.

Halmos Faculty Presents at Distance Learning Conference

Santanu De, M.Sc., Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), presented a 30-minute talk at the Florida Distance Learning Association (FDLA) Conference 2021 held virtually from September 29 through October 1, 2021.

The theme of the conference was “Emerging with New Digital Potentials.”  The title of De’s presentation was “Key Strategies for Effective Pedagogy and Assessment of College STEM Courses Online during COVID-19.”  De collaborated on and co-presented this interdisciplinary project with Georgina Arguello, Ed.D., faculty at NSU’s Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice.

De’s research interests include, STEM education, pedagogy, reproductive physiology, developmental biology, cell biology, and protein biology.

College Spotlights Education Alumna Patrice Farquharson

On March 26, 2021, Patrice Farquharson, Ed.D., welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris at the West Haven Child Development Center as part of the Biden administration’s “Help Is Here” campaign. The Child Development Center, founded in 1978, is expected to receive funding for teachers and classrooms to further support the care and education of our children. After a period of distance learning, the center, reopened on July 6, 2020. It offers full- and part-day childcare services for infants and children up to age five. While it was closed, the center serviced families remotely by providing diapers and information to access food.

Patrice Farquharson, her daughter Julia, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Farquharson is a lifelong resident of West Haven, Connecticut, and is committed to providing a quality, research-based early childhood experience for the children of her city. She is currently in her 43rd year at the West Haven Child Development Center, serving as the executive director. Farquharson also holds the following appointments: Associate Professor of Early Childhood and Child Studies at Post University, the former Dean at the Core Faculty at Charter Oak State College, appointed by the Connecticut Board of Regents, where she teaches Psychology of Play.

Farquharson is active in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). She has presented many scholarly papers on increasing social-emotional competence in young children at risk and, most recently, leadership in early childhood education. She is also an active interdisciplinary member of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP).

She is respected in both organizations for her expertise and leadership abilities. In 2010 she received NAPNAP’s President’s Award for her collaborative work in health and education. Farquharson is always on the cutting edge of new ideas and innovations in education and practice. Her record of funding from so many foundations for these projects is evidence of her success in achieving her goals.

Farquharson has faced many challenges throughout her career. However, one of her biggest challenges was educating the public about the importance of the work that is being done in early childhood education. Adding various forms of technology into preschool classrooms is a relatively easy task. However, fully integrating technology into the curriculum is much more complicated. She came up with a way to assist the teachers to feel comfortable with technology and consider using a variety of technology tools when planning the curriculum for children.

Farquharson received her Doctor of Education in Child and Youth Studies from the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice in 1995. She also holds a Master of Science in Early Childhood Education from Southern Connecticut State University and a Bachelors from the University of Connecticut. She says the most exciting thing about child studies is the combination of psychology, sociology and child development. She is a mother of two girls and was even a cheerleader for the New England Patriots cheerleading team.

Thank You Faculty, Staff for Making Vax Max a Success

In July, I announced a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for all NSU employees to ensure the health of all NSU students, faculty, and staff in the face of the continued threat from COVID-19. I am pleased to provide you with this update on our progress.

I am happy to share that 100% of full- and part-time faculty have been vaccinated or granted an exemption, as have 99.7% of full- and part-time staff. Adding our adjuncts and temporary employees, this means that 4,552 of you reported in Vax Max – a monumental achievement in such a short amount of time.

I want to publicly say THANK YOU for stepping up. The response from the NSU Community truly shows your dedication to not only your health, but that of those around you. I also want to thank all the deans, vice presidents, and the Office of Human Resources for coordinating this massive effort. The leadership and integrity demonstrated were second to none.

Many organizations have required COVID-19 vaccinations for employees, but few have achieved what NSU has—and so smoothly and efficiently.

Even as we celebrate this success, we must recognize that the pandemic is still a threat, and I know that everyone in the NSU community will continue to ensure that we create the safest possible environment.

Thank you again for your dedication to achieving this goal. I am proud – as always – to be a Shark today.

FINS UP!

George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D.
President/CEO
Nova Southeastern University

Halmos College Research Explores Mind-Altering Parasite

Research has shown how hyena cubs infected with the toxoplasma parasite become bolder in the face of lions, resulting in higher death rates. Commonly found in house cats, Toxoplasma gondii is the parasite that sometimes spreads to humans who handle domestic cat feces and can cause a disease called toxoplasmosis.

Cats aren’t the only animal to harbor the parasite. It’s also found in wild species, including the hyenas inhabiting a remote region of Kenya. These animals are now helping researchers answer longstanding questions about T. gondii’s impacts on wild hosts. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers from a variety of fields joined forces to look if the parasite impacts the animals’ behavior and survival.

Eben Gering, Ph.D., the co-lead author of the study and Halmos College of Arts and Sciences biology faculty said, “Hyenas turned out to be an excellent model for asking questions about the links between infection and behavior.” Research showed that in hyena cubs, the parasite impacted survival rates. The team found that hyena cubs up to a year old were more likely to be killed by lions if they were infected with the parasite. In fact, all the infected cubs that died were killed by lions. Only 17% of the uninfected cubs died from lion attacks before turning a year old.

Superthin Galaxies Contain Large Amounts of Dark Matter

Examples of blue (EON 32.766 6.667, top) and red (EON 149.150 20.646, bottom) superthin galaxies. The horizontal bar in each panel demonstrates the scale in arcseconds and kpc at the distance of the galaxies.

The thinnest disk galaxies have been studied a long time because of their unusual appearance. Why are they so thin? It is unclear what preserves the disks in this state. These rare galaxies are a mystery.

An international group of astrophysicists, including Halmos College physics faculty Stefan Kautsch, Ph.D., recently published an article on the spectral observations of 138 superthin galaxies (STGs). Using the Dual Imaging Spectrograph on the 3.5m telescope at the Apache Point Observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, the research group focused on spectroscopic observations of STGs and how those may help explain the resistance of STGs against morphological transformations and disk thickening.

“We discovered that the thinnest spiral galaxies, the so called superthins, contain very big amounts of Dark Matter. It is like this unknown material squeezes the stellar galactic disks in those galaxies into their superthin state,” Kautsch said.

The researchers found that most of the STGs reviewed were dark matter dominated. Their rotational velocity and dark halo mass correlates with galactic color. The blue STGs also have less compact dark halos than the red STGs, whereas the galaxies in both color groups have their halo-to-disk scales ratios under two.

Their results are published in The Astrophysical Journal, published by the American Astronomical Society.

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