Table of Contents
Turn Left in Bismarck, and Go Until…
Relax! We Have New Labs for That
Fieldwork Across the Curriculum:
Update on ISEI
Letter from James Costopoulos '83
Lifelong Learning
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Lifelong Learning
Kate Bergman Carey ’80 and Michael Carey ’80
Current positions: Professors of psychology, Syracuse University; adjunct faculty appointments at Upstate Medical University. Michael is also director of the Center for Health and Behavior at SU.
Advanced Education: Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Vanderbilt (both)
Their Work: In addition to teaching, both specialize in clinical health psychology, a new discipline that focuses on the relationships among behavior, health and disease. Kate: use of alcohol and other addictive substances. Michael: sexual health, especially prevention of HIV infection. Together they have received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and have published several hundred research papers in professional journals.
Honors and Recognition: Kate: associate editor, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, editor of special issue devoted to binge drinking. Michael: fellow of the American Psychological Society and the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2000 prize for outstanding graduate teaching at Syracuse University. Both: Independent Scientist Awards from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, fellows of the American Psychological Association; invited to the National Institute if Mental Health and Neurosciences in India to lecture and consult with Indian scientists on behavioral research related to substance use and HIV.
The Issues: Health psychologists and other behavioral scientists continue to be amazed at a simple truth: it is difficult to change harmful health behaviors once they are established. Despite this axiom, however, Kate and Michael’s research indicates that behavioral interventions that strengthen a person’s motivation for change (for example, by providing people with accurate normative information and feedback and benefits that accrue from health behaviors) and enhance specific behavioral skills needed for change can assist people in their self-improvement efforts.
John Ewing ’66
Current Position: Executive director, American Mathematical Society (AMS), which represents 30,000 research mathematicians.
Advanced Education: MS, Ph.D., Brown
His work: “Publishing accounts for more than 75% of AMS revenue, so I spend a lot of my time managing this work.” With nine scholarly journals, more than 100 new books each year and 2,500 titles in print, plus electronic publishing and Internet services, this one area alone could consume Ewing’s time as he develops ways to share contemporary mathematical research.
The AMS plays an active role in Washington policy circles for science, organizing a number of meetings and conferences each year and coordinating employment and professional services for the mathematics community. Ewing brings personal experience as a college professor to his post; he spent 22 years as a faculty member at Indiana University.Honors and Recognition: George Polya Prize for expository writing from the Mathematics Association of America; honorary doctorate in science from St. Lawrence (“which has meant a great deal, coming from an institution like St. Lawrence.”); editor-in-chief of American Mathematical Monthly and editor of two books: A Century of Mathematics: Through the Eyes of the Monthly and Towards Excellence: Leading a Mathematical Department in the 21st Century.
The Issues: In the Sept. 20, 2002, Chronicle of Higher Education, Ewing says “The next big thing in mathematics? Biology. As biologists discovered the value of mathematics for decoding the genome, mathematicians in turn rediscovered that some of the most interesting parts of their subject have roots in the real world…The sophisticated blending of mathematics and biology already is a spectacular area of research that is certain to grow enormously in the next 10 years.”
D. J. Monette ’94
Current Position: Native American Liaison (Fish and Wildlife Biologist), Northeast Region, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Previously, fish and wildlife habitat restoration projects in New Jersey, and worked for the San Carlos Apache Tribe in East-central Arizona, conducting habitat restoration activities on the 1.8-million acre reservation.
His Work: “The federal government has a distinctive political relationship with federally recognized Indian Tribes that has given rise to special legal responsibilities and obligations of the United States toward the Tribes, and the application of fiduciary standards of due care with respect to Indian lands, Tribal trust resources, and the exercise of Tribal rights. The USFWS, as a bureau of the Department of the Interior, has a mandated responsibility to ensure that the federal Indian trust responsibility is fulfilled.”
His responsibilities as the Native American liaison include counsel to the USFWS directorate concerning Native American issues that impact USFWS operation; primary point-of-contact regarding Tribal conservation issues; liaison to Tribal governments for fish and wildlife conservation issues that impact federal and Tribal resources; and ensuring that the USFWS operates on a government-to-government basis with the Tribes.
Awards and Recognition: A letter of appreciation from President George W. Bush in May 2002 recognized Monette’s “ability to demonstrate the value of collaborative partnerships that significantly contribute to the restoration and protection of our coastal environment,” and honored his work as the lead biologist for the development of a fishway (fish passage or fish ladder) project in New Jersey.
The Issues: “One of my favorite quotes comes from Chief Seattle: ‘What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.’ Proper management and conservation of fish and wildlife resources in a responsible and scientific manner will allow us, as keepers, to continue to share these valuable and important gifts with future generations.”
Thomas Carey ’67
Current Position: Tom Carey’s responsibilities span several departments in two colleges and one medical center at the University of Michigan:
*Associate Chair for Research, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine
*Donald A. Kerr Professor of Oral Pathology and Chair, Department of Oral Medicine, Pathology and Oncology, School of Dentistry
*Co-Director, Head and Neck Oncology Program, Cancer Center
*Director, Research Laboratory, Kresge Hearing Research Institute
Advanced Education: Ph.D., Biochemical Pharmacology, SUNY Buffalo
His Work and the Issues: “In my cancer research lab we have two main projects: to identify genes associated with progression in head and neck cancer, and to define the genetic changes and alterations in gene expression that control the response of head and neck cancers to chemotherapy.” As a colleague at the University of Michigan wrote in the institution’s weekly newsletter, “One of Thomas Carey’s goals as a research scientist if to find ways to help physicians select the best treatments for patients based on the genetic characteristic of their tumor—to allow for organ –sparing therapies whenever possible and to save lives by giving the most effective treatment.” The article cites Carey as the identifier of the first human melanoma antigen known to trigger an immune response, a discovery that led to the development of cancer vaccines used today.
At the Kresge Hearing Research Institute: developing an effective diagnostic test for autoimmune hearing loss; investigating hearing losses caused by the body’s immune system attacking the hair cells in the inner ear.
Dr. Carey also supervises the research of eight to 10 undergraduate and medical students and postdoctoral fellows.
Honors and Recognition: “Selection as a University Distinguished Research Scientist is a great honor, as is the receipt of a named professorship. “It is also an honor to be invited to speak on our research nationally and internationally.” Numerous medical journal editorial boards; project reviewer and consultant around the world; work is funded by such agencies as the National Institutes of Health. St. Lawrence University Alumni Citation, 1988.
Andrew Ewing ’79
Current Position: Professor, J. Lloyd Huck Chair and Head, Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University; Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Penn State.
Advanced Education: Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry, Indiana University
His work: Teaches undergraduate and graduate students general chemistry, instrumental analysis, electrochemistry, separations, bioanalytical chemistry and neurochemistry. “Working with my students, I have been developing new micro- and nanoscale techniques to measure neurotransmitters, metabolites and other chemical species in single nerve cells. This work is allowing us to understand the way that nerve cells communicate with one another and has shown insights into what happens, for instance, when one treats Parkinson’s patients with the drug L-DOPA. We are working to understand at the molecular and cellular level the forces that drive and control neurotransmitter release.”
Selected Honors and Recognition: Penn State Graduate Faculty Teaching Award; Penn State Faculty Scholar Medal in Physical Sciences and Engineering; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship; A.A. Benedetti-Pichler Award of the American Microchemical Society; St. Lawrence University Alumni Citation in 2001.
The Issues: Ewing cites several areas of his work that prompt provocative discussions: what is the molecular mechanism for exocystosis (the main means for cells to release neurotransmitters)? Does L-DOPA treatment of Parkinson’s patients actually increase the progression of the disease while treating the symptoms? What are the fundamental mechanisms of neurotransmitter release in the synapse?
Susan Lyndaker Lindsey ’78
Current Position: Executive Director/CEO, Wild Canid Center, a non-profit conservation organization that focuses on saving endangered species of wolves and returning them to the wild, Washington University, St. Louis
Advanced Education: M.A., Southern Illinois University, Ph.D., Colorado State University
Her Work: “We are primarily a conservation center with remarkable success in breeding and rearing endangered wolves for federal release programs. Our education program serves pre-K through international scientists. Our research focuses on nutrition, behavior and reproductive biology.” Research interests: mother-infant relationships, cooperative breeding, and measures of reintroduction success. Has worked on the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets, red wolves and Mexican gray wolves, and been a primary researcher on the little-known and endangered okapi. “My most ‘famous’ discovery is the use of infrasound (below our ability to hear) in mother-infant communication in the okapi. Wolves I have held in my hands for their ‘puppy checks’ for our veterinarian now roam free with their offspring in the west. When I left St. Lawrence I hoped to make a difference for one endangered species. I've done much more than that. One of my specialties is getting older animals to breed successfully. Their offspring go on to make very important contributions to endangered gene pools. The populations I work with are often down to fewer than 20 animals.”
Honors and Recognition: Published in numerous wildlife, animal behavior and zoological journals. Lead author of The Okapi: Mysterious Animal of Congo-Zaire (University of Texas Press, 1999, foreword by Jane Goodall). Frequent behavioral consultant regarding recovery efforts.
The Issues: Lindsey cites three:
*What species of endangered wolf is most appropriate for recovery efforts in the Northeast and Adirondacks?
*Hybridization and its effect on recovery issues.
*The wild west -- people with historic grazing rights but no land ownership, with vocal opinions regarding federally owned lands and recovery efforts of any endangered species, not just wolves.Thomas Bersani ’78
Current Position: Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, Director of Oculoplastic Surgery, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY
Advanced Education: M.D., SUNY Upstate Medical Center.
His Work: Patient care, teaching and research in the field of surgery of the upper facial area, including the eyelid, eyebrow, tear duct and orbit. Problems such as drooping eyebrows and eyelids affecting vision, skin cancers on or near the eyelids, nerve palsies affecting eyelid function, blocked tear ducts, bulging eyes due to thyroid disease, orbital tumors, orbital fractures, facial and eyelid lacerations, and surgery for artificial eyes are areas of interest. Education Committee for the American Society of Opthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. “I am involved locally with the training of medical students and residents in ophthalmolgy and otolaryngology. I have trained fellows from Tunisia and Senegal and have been on medical missions to Senegal twice and to Honduras six times, teaching local doctors and providing care to patients normally unable to obtain treatment.”
Honors and Recognition: “My single greatest professional honor is to be trusted by my patients with their care. My single greatest reward is their appreciation and gratitude.”
The Issues: “Our greatest challenge is to continue to advance the science and art of surgery to benefit our patients. My current research involves reconstruction of severe congenital orbital abnormalities, in a multidisciplinary approach with neurosurgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery and ocular prosthetics. I am also collaborating with the department of radiation oncology to study the effects of radiation therapy for Graves' (thyroid) eye disease. A third project involves newer techniques for eyelid reconstruction in Graves' eye disease.”
Jeffrey Meilman ’65
Current Position: Surgeon and Executive Director, Hope for Tomorrow Foundation
Advanced Education: M.D., University of Rochester School of Medicine
His work: In 1994, Hope for Tomorrow Foundation began its work, recruiting doctors from across the United States to help children with catastrophic injuries. Meilman and his colleagues have traveled to such places as Russia, India, Cuba, China, Pakistan and Eastern Europe to perform, free of charge, complex surgeries that the families of these children could not otherwise afford.
Honors and Recognition: St. Lawrence University Sol Feinstone Award for Humanitarian Service, 2002. The honor notes his international presence as an advocate for victims of war and violence, especially children who have been injured in violent situations.Robert G. Thomas ’49
Current Position: Retired from careers as a laboratory scientist, field trial director and scientific administrator
Advanced Education: Ph.D. in radiation biology, University of Rochester
His work: 1961-74, Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, head of radiobiology; he and his team devised methods for measuring deposition of inhaled radioactive materials in the body and the generation and control of inhaled radioactive aerosols. 1974-84, Los Alamos National Laboratory, continuing research in pulmonary carcinogenesis and helping to develop ethical guidelines for the discipline. Co-program director of field trials in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project and Fission Product release tests; one of the evaluators of the post-Chernobyl effects of that nuclear accident. In 1984, Thomas became a science administrator for the United States Department of Energy, from which he retired.
Nearly 30 book chapters, symposium papers and reviews; authored over 40 open literature publications; taught and supervised research as the University of Rochester and the University of New Mexico.
Selected Honors: Department of Energy’s Outstanding Leadership and Management award; Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, Health Physics Society.