News

Institute for Diversity Sciences Awards 2019 Seed Grants to Three Teams

Nilanjana “Buju” DasguptaThe campus’s Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS) recently awarded three multi-disciplinary research teams that include faculty and graduate students from four schools and colleges, six departments and the UMass Medical School at Baystate.

Winning teams are Networks of Organizational Leadership: Measuring Race, Gender, and Color among Elites with Kevin Young, political science, Brendan O’Connor, computer science and Seth Goldman, communication; Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders in Emergency Contexts with Katherine Dixon-Gordon and Linda Isbell, both psychological and brain sciences, Karen Kalmakis, nursing, and William Soares and Elizabeth Schoenfeld, both emergency medicine at UMass Medical School, Baystate; Reforming Math Education to Improve STEM Success for Diverse Students with Jeffrey Starns and Andrew Cohen, both psychological and brain sciences, and Darrell Earnest, teacher education and curriculum studies.

Graduate Student Diversity Committee Honors Outstanding Student and Faculty/Staff Ally

awards winners smile with Kirsten HelmerThis April, Adaeze Egwuatu was chosen by the Graduate Student Diversity Committee as the recipient of this year’s Wendy L. Helmer Memorial Graduate Student Award. Egwuatu's fellow graduate students recognized her important contributions across many levels including in PBS, the Neuroscience and Behavior Program, and at UMass Amherst more broadly. She has also been an active mentor of students from underrepresented groups, and a member of several student organizations and outreach committees. Egwuatu is a strong advocate for inclusion and social justice, and has been a powerful, respectful voice for graduate students. 

PBS Faculty receive 2019 CNS Outstanding Achievement Awards

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion 

Nilanjana  'Buju'  Dasgupta, professor, CNS  Director of  Faculty Equity and Inclusion  

Buju Dasgupta"Buju Dasgupta is a social psychologist who could be given this award solely for her highly-successful and influential research program, which explores topics such as stereotypes, implicit biases, and the importance of role models to the success of women and under-represented minorities in STEM disciplines. These topics are highly significant for leadership in the public and private sectors, and many of those individuals have invited Buju to present her work. Closer to home, she has been a leader on all aspects of diversity, and created the new Institute for Diversity Sciences in 2018. Over 100 students and faculty are already involved." 

LIPS Lab attends Science Night at Jackson Street School

kid hums through tube with lasers inside

For the second year, the Language, Intersensory Perception, and Speech Lab participated in the Jackson Street Elementary School's Annual Science Night. Faculty member Alexandra Jesse and lab research assistants showed children how the ability to read cannot be turned off in the exhibit "Do Not Read This!", transcribed children's names in "The Secret Code of Speech Sounds", tested their lipreading abilities in "Be a Spy and Read My Lips!", and turned their voices into laser patterns in "See Your Voice!"

The International Perspectives on Disability class visits TILL

pbs students and till group pose for group photo

Students in the International Perspectives on Disability faculty-led study abroad program traveled to the Charlestown location of Toward Independent Living and Learning (TILL), a non-profit organization providing residential, clinical, and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. The students were welcomed in the after school program facilities and given a tour of newly constructed group homes for adults with disabilities. The UMass students will be traveling with 15 participants from TILL to Scotland this August to attend the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) conference.

Adam Grabell joins 2019-20 class of Family Research Scholars

adam grabellAdam Grabell, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences, has joined the 2019-20 class of Family Research Scholars established by The Center for Research on Families (CRF). Each academic year six UMass Amherst faculty members are selected to participate in the program based on their promising work in family-related research. They participate in an intensive year-long seminar that provides concrete skills for successful grant submission, peer and faculty feedback on their developing proposals, individualized methodology consultation with CRF faculty, and renowned experts and guidance on funding sources. The current group is the 16th cohort in the program's history.

Grabell’s study will test whether data collected from wearable and contactless devices can be used to detect child tantrums that indicate risk for mental disorder and predict the onset of a tantrum before it occurs in real time. The proposed study has the potential to move the field toward a future of artificial intelligence-assisted, home-based, early mental health detection and treatment.  

Psi Chi Celebrates 40th Anniversary

new psi chi inductees pose with plaque

This year the UMass Amherst chapter of Psi Chi, the International Honors Society in Psychology, celebrates their 40th anniversary! Chartered in 1979, Psi Chi at UMass is made up of undergraduates dedicated to personal growth and academic excellence. This community upholds their mission of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology.

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