News

Obituary: Jahmal Nelson, former maintainer with Grounds Management

Jahmal N. Nelson, 41, of Amherst, a former mainainer for Grounds Management, died Dec. 26 of complications due to a long-term illness.

Born in Garberville, Calif., he was educated in local schools and lived most of his life in the Amherst area.
 
He joined the staff as a temporary hire in 2005 and worked several stints until gaining a permanent appointment in 2007. He left campus service in July 2012.

He leaves his parents, Donald and Suzanne, and his brothers, Paul Nelson and T.J. Nelson, all of Cambria, Calif., his sister, Alanna Nelson of Baltimore, and several cousins.
 
The family

Obituary: Stephen A. Resnick, professor emeritus of Economics

Stephen A. Resnick, 74, of Newton Center, professor emeritus of Economics and Helen Sheridan Memorial Scholar, died Jan. 2 of leukemia.
 
Born in New Bedford, he was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his Ph.D. in economics in 1963.
 
As a graduate student, Resnick was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in 1960-62 and held a Brookings Institution fellowship from 1962-63.
 
After completing his doctorate, he was a visiting assistant professor at the University of the Philippines from 1964-65.
 
He joined the faculty of Yale

Obituary: Jacqueline W. Mellen, former staff member and alumna

Jacqueline Wyman Mellen, of Hadley, a former campus staff member and lecturer, died Jan. 1 at Hospice of the Fisher Home in North Amherst.

Born in Bennington, Vt., she moved at the age of 2 to Guilford, Vt., where she lived with her parents. She attended Brattleboro High School where she met William J. Mellen, whom she married in 1943.

After World War II, the couple moved to Amherst, where he continued his studies at the University on the GI Bill, and she worked for the Music Department. She played trombone in the UMass Marching Band and Orchestra, and sang in the chorus.

Doctoral oral exams for Jan. 14-18

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Felicia Bokel, Ph.D., Polymer Science and Engineering. Monday, Jan. 14, 10 a.m., A110/A111 Conte Polymer Science Building. Dissertation: “Solution Assembly of Conjugated Polymers.” Ryan Hayward, chr.

Pamela Williams, Ph.D., English. Friday, Jan. 18, noon, 316 Bartlett. Dissertation: “A Multidirectional Memory Approach to Colonization, Racism and Genocide.” James Young, chr.

Male adolescent participants needed for Kinesiology study

Researchers in the Kinesiology Department are seeking male adolescents to participate in a study to help assess sedentary behavior. For completing the study, participants will earn $100.
 
The goal of the project is to validate a newly developed survey that will measure where, why and how much people sit each day. The study consists of five study visits over a four-month period, which includes three months of no study activity.

DHE funds expansion of service-learning courses

A one-year, $112,501 grant from the state Department of Higher Education’s Vision Project is funding the design and teaching of service-learning courses on campus. The new money will support faculty members to develop new courses or to adapt existing courses by adding a service-learning component.
 
Funding is now available for faculty  interested in participating in the program either as individuals or as part of a teaching team. The courses they design will be offered to students in the spring and fall semesters in 2013.
 
Service-learning is the integration of community service with

CNN Money names Geckskin a top science breakthrough for 2012

Geckskin, a super-strong adhesive device developed by campus researchers that can hold 700 pounds on a smooth wall, has been named one of the top five science breakthroughs of 2012 by CNN Money.
 
Inspired by the footpads of geckos, Geckskin was created by Michael Bartlett, a doctoral candidate in Polymer Science and Engineering, polymer scientist Alfred Crosby and biologist Duncan Irschick, who has studied the gecko’s climbing and clinging abilities for more than 20 years. The researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Materials last February.
 
“Amazingly, gecko feet can

Sinha is featured commentator on 'The Abolitionists' on PBS

As the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, historian Manisha Sinha of the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies has been tapped for a three-part public television presentation titled “The Abolitionists,” being shown on successive Tuesdays beginning Jan. 8.
 
Part of the American Experience series, “The Abolitionists” will be presented from 9-10 p.m. on PBS stations nationwide.

Doctoral oral exam for Jan. 7-11

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:
 
Jeffrey Barish, Ph.D., Food Science. Thursday, Jan. 10, 10:30 a.m., 210A Chenoweth Lab. Dissertation: “Surface Modification of Food Contact Materials for Processing and Packaging Applications.” Julie M. Goddard, chr.

 

Nüsslein, international team find Amazon deforestation brings loss of microbial communities

An international team of microbiologists led by Klaus Nüsslein, associate professor of Microbiology, has found that a troubling net loss in diversity among the microbial organisms responsible for a functioning ecosystem is accompanying deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
 
Nüsslein, an expert in tropical rain forest microbial soil communities, says, “We found that after rainforest conversion to agricultural pastures, bacterial communities were significantly different from those of forest soils.

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