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Omasta to perform wth Valley Rock Choir

Lynn Omasta, contract and purchasing manager for Facilities Planning, will be performing with the Valley Rock Choir on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Helen Hills Hills Chapel in Northampton.

Eighty singers strong, the choir will perform a mix of rock and pop songs, from "Mr. Blue Sky" (ELO) to "Chain of Fools," Aretha-style. The concert is directed by award-winning Tony Lechner, and will be accompanied by a backup band led by Mitch Chakour. Tickets are available at the door for $12 general public and $10 for seniors and students.

Nugent speaks at conferences in Norway and Ireland

J. Kevin Nugent, professor emeritus in the School of Education, addressed the 25th anniversary conference of the Norwegian Society of Perinatal Medicine held Nov. 7-9 at the Gamle Festsal, University of Oslo.

He spoke on "Family-centered Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit."

Nugent also spoke about the use of the newborn behavioral observations with at-risk infants and families at the International Infant Development in Neonatal Intensive Care-Ireland on Nov. 15 in Dublin, Ireland.

A member of the School of Education faculty since 1986, Nugent is the founder and director of the Brazelton

Overtree keynotes Safe Schools Summit in Northampton

Christopher Overtree. director of the Psychological Services Center, delivered a keynote address at the Northwestern District Attorney's Safe Schools Summit held Nov. 14 at Smith College.

Overtree's talk, "The Dignity of Expertise: Using Youth Empowerment to Improve School Climate and Culture," led local educators through the overall process of first understanding, and then reforming school climate issues that may be impacting the learning and social/emotional environment of a school.

A senior lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Overtree specializes in anxiety, depression, cognitive-behavior

Lovett discusses new book in NYC and on N.H. Public Radio

Laura Lovett, associate professor of History, helped moderate a panel titled "Forty Years of Free to Be ... You and Me: Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference It Made" on Nov. 14 at New York's 92nd Street Y.

Lovett and Lori Rotskoff of Barnard College are the co-editors of the new book "When We Were Free to Be," published by the University of North Carolina Press.

Wiist moderates, presents at APHA annual meeting

William H. Wiist, faculty member in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences’ Online MPH in Public Health Practice program, organized and moderated a session on Oct. 29 at the annual meeting and exposition of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in San Francisco.
 
Titled “Snack Food and Beverage Industry and Global Noncommunicable Chronic Disease,” the session included presentations from Sanjay Basu of Stanford University, Marion Nestle of New York University, Michele Simon of Eat Drink Politics, and Jennifer L. Pomeranz of Yale University.

Carbone presents study of Massachusetts BMI letter

Elena T. Carbone, associate professor of Nutrition, recently made two presentations based on her study of the Massachusetts Body Mass Index (BMI) letter titled “Parents’ Responses, Conceptualizations of Weight, and Health Literacy Skills.”
 
On Oct. 13, she spoke to attendees at the Research & Teaching Forum of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (AACH) in Providence. Carbone also made a presentation about her research at the Fourth Annual Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC) in Bethesda, Md., on Oct. 23.
 
In 2009, Massachusetts became the 16th state to pass Body

Ludovico discusses new book on Renato Poggioli in Florence, Bologna

Robert Ludovico, director of the Italian Studies Program and co-editor of "Renato Poggioli. An Intellectual Biography," discussed the research presented in the book during panels in Florence and Bologna on Oct. 29-30. The work is co-edited by Lino Pertile and Massimo Riva.

The book was published by Olschki Editore of Florence, perhaps the most prestigious academic publisher in Italy, according to Ludvico. His presentations took place at the Gabinetto Letterario Vieusseux, a prominent institute in Florence, and at the University of Bologna.

A Floentine-born Slavist who emigrated to the U.S.

Nagurney honored for contributions to regional science

Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management at the Isenberg School, received the Walter Isard Award from the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) last week in Ottawa, Ontario. The award was presented during the annual North American meetings of the Regional Science Association International.
 
The top research award given by NARSC, it was established in 1994 to pay tribute to regional scientists who have made significant theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of regional science throughout their careers.

Fountain elected fellow of National Academy of Public Administration

Professor Jane Fountain, Political Science and Public Policy, has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, which was chartered by Congress in 1967 as an independent body to help government leaders build more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent public sector organizations. Her induction is scheduled for Nov. 15 during the academy’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
 
The National Academy relies on its fellows to conduct in-depth studies and analyses that anticipate, evaluate and make recommendations on crucial public management, governance, policy

Collura participates in panel at ITS World Congess in Vienna

Professor John Collura of Civil and Environmental Engineering was an invited panelist at the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) World Congress, held Oct. 22-25 in Vienna, Austria.

The international panel, which included transportation researchers and educators from Europe and the Asia Pacific regions, discussed the challenges and issues facing the transportation profession around the world in educating and training its workforce to meet the needs of the 21st century.

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