Grad News Forum

Congratulations to Marie Onakomaiya, one of the winners of the 2013 Graduate Community Award!

Graduate Community Award winners were announced by Dean F. Jon Kull on May 10 at the Graduate Poster Session as part of Graduate Appreciation Week (April 6-12). The Graduate Studies Office awards the Graduate Community Award each year to recognize graduate students’ commitment to serving the Dartmouth community. Recipients contribute through participation in student governance, serving on campus-wide committees, and in the development and promotion of academic and social programs. They receive $1,000 in honor of their dedication to the community.

Onakomaiya is a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology in the Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine. She earned her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Babcock University in Nigeria. Onakomaiya works in the lab of Professor Leslie Henderson, studying the sex-specific effects of anabolic androgenic steroids on anxiety. She also examines how alcohol consumption and voluntary exercise interact with steroid use. This work is significant because it could inform steroid users, which today includes both men and women, of the potential long-term effects of chronic anabolic steroid use on their behavior and brain. Onakomaiya has won several awards, including a Graduate Travel Award in 2012 and a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Early Career Investigators Travel Award in 2011. She was also an Albert J. Ryan Foundation Fellow in 2012.

While it is difficult to fully describe the extent of Onakomaiya’s engagement on campus, a couple of the groups and programs with which she is involved include the Dartmouth International Graduate Mentorship Program (IGMP), the Dartmouth Graduate-Undergraduate Mentoring Program, the Graduate Relief Team, the Geisel Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee, and the events committee for the Neuroscience Center at Dartmouth. Onakomaiya was also a student representative for the Graduate Student Council (GSC) from 2010-2011 and the student life chair of GSC from 2011-2012. She is currently a member of the GSC web team committee.

The Graduate Relief Team (GRT), of which Onakomaiya is co-chair, has been involved in a number of activities on campus. The group coordinates monthly volunteer opportunities for graduate students with community non-profits and Dartmouth service organizations. It organized a campus-wide screening of the award-winning documentary Water Pressures in association with the ONE Campus Challenge on World Water Day in March 2012. In addition, the GRT has conducted fundraising and organized a graduate student team to participate in the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay For Life.

As the graduate student representative of the Geisel Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee, Onakomaiya helped organize several events to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. in January 2013. Currently, as a student representative for the events committee of the Neuroscience Center at Dartmouth, Onakomaiya is helping to organize the first Upper Valley Brain Bee for local high school students. The event seeks to raise awareness about the brain and encourage interest in neuroscience.

Onakomaiya is also a member of the grants review committee for Granite United Way and a volunteer at Upper Valley Haven in White River Junction, Vermont, where she provides mentoring and childcare for shelter guests. She has also worked with the non-profit, Friends of Firefighters, on developing a relief service project in communities in New York affected by Superstorm Sandy.

In nominating her for this award, her peers wrote that Onakomaiya “is a dedicated leader within the graduate community and beyond,” who “is involved in countless activities outside of lab, all of which serve to strengthen the Dartmouth community.” They described her as “passionate and motivated, organized and caring.” One nominator reflected, “this award exists for people exactly like Marie.”

The Graduate Studies Office applauds Onakomaiya for her hard work and wishes her the best in all of her future community endeavors!

Congratulations to Ron Bucca, one of the winners of the 2013 Graduate Community Award!

Graduate Community Award winners were announced by Dean F. Jon Kull on May 10 at the Graduate Poster Session as part of Graduate Appreciation Week (April 6-12). The Graduate Studies Office awards the Graduate Community Award each year to recognize graduate students’ commitment to serving the Dartmouth community. Recipients contribute through participation in student governance, serving on campus-wide committees, and in the development and promotion of academic and social programs. They receive $1,000 in honor of their dedication to the community.

Bucca is a second-year student in the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies program with a concentration in Globalization Studies. Bucca, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, has focused on researching the new modes of global communication, and is currently writing a thesis on the benefits of social media in humanitarian relief.

Since arriving on campus last January, Bucca has dedicated himself to organizing graduate students from a variety of programs and advocating for the things our students need most. As the chair of the Dartmouth Graduate Veterans Association, Bucca has boosted graduate student recognition on campus by associating graduate students with high-profile events and prolific guest speakers. The DGVA has a now-famous record of public service, which includes their work with the Claremont Food Pantry, their mentoring of underprivileged youth of Orion’s House, and their continued efforts to advocate for veterans on campus and across the Upper Valley.  Back in February, the DGVA was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Social Justice Award—a first for an organization in its first year—in recognition of these efforts. It was clear at that event that the top administrators at Dartmouth have taken notice of the work this group of graduate students is doing on campus. Though he’d never admit it, Bucca has been, unquestionably, the leader of these efforts.

Bucca has made it a point to dedicate himself to the entire graduate community. As the Student Life Chair on the Graduate Student Council, he has completed surveys of graduate students to assess the hierarchy of needs in our community. Once he established that extended dental and vision care were the primary concern, he has worked tirelessly to procure these services. In the face of consistent deterrence, Bucca has refused to cede defeat on these issues, and is now working with providers in the region to establish reduced pricing options for graduate students. His leadership and decision-making skills have been instrumental to the GSC this year—his fellow exec board members would echo these sentiments.

What is perhaps even more exceptional is that, despite the incredible time commitment associated with the initiatives and responsibilities listed above, Bucca still uses much of his free time for his own personal service missions. He planned and funded a trip to Haiti this fall, where he did incredible, life-changing community work in two rural villages. And he’s been helping out with Hurricane Sandy relief ever since the deadly storm struck, volunteering down at Breezy Point any time he’s home for a break.

Bucca’s incredible commitment to service and his achievements in advancing the good face of Graduate Studies here at Dartmouth are equally remarkable. That he remains a modest and thoughtful member of our community is a testament to his extraordinary character. Every student who has had the chance to work with Bucca—and there are many—will speak to his good nature, approachability, and dependability.  These characteristics exemplify leadership. They represent the best our community has to offer.

The Graduate Studies Office applauds Bucca for his hard work and wishes him the best in his future community endeavors!

Professor Cottingham, President Folt, Professor Hawley, and Dean Kull

This year’s recipients of the Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award are Professor Kathryn Cottingham and Professor Robert Hawley. Each year the Graduate Student Council (GSC) gives out two Graduate Faculty Mentoring Awards to recognize the exceptional mentoring activities of faculty advisors at Dartmouth. Award recipients are honored for their commitment to fostering the academic and professional pursuits of graduate students and receive $500 to support further mentoring activities. This year the selection committee consisted of Julia Bradley-Cook, the president of GSC, Rich Lopez, the academic chair, and Daniel Durcan, the activities coordinator. President Carol Folt announced this year’s recipients on Wednesday, April 10, at the Graduate Poster Session.

Professor Kathryn Cottingham

Professor Kathryn Cottingham is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) program. She joined Dartmouth faculty in 1998 and currently mentors two graduate students. Her research focuses on aquatic ecology, in particular the reasons for and results of cyanobacterial blooms in lakes and factors affecting the accumulation of mercury by fish and invertebrates in streams. Her lab has also been involved in examining dietary exposure to arsenic in pregnant women and infants.

In nominating her for this award, graduate students observed that Cottingham plays an important role as a mentor in her department as a whole. A member of the Cottingham lab observed that when she interviewed at Dartmouth “the most common response I received from other graduate students about the Cottingham Lab, was that Kathy may be the ‘official advisor’ to her own graduate students, but she ‘unofficially’ advises all the graduate students.”

Another aspect of Cottingham’s mentoring style that her graduate students appreciated was her ability to balance letting her students work independently, while also providing enough support and guidance to facilitate success in their research. One of Cottingham’s current students observed that her mentoring style “strikes a nice balance between letting me work independently to the extent that I want to” while always being available “to help troubleshoot, design experiments, and address any problems that arise.” Discussing the importance of building research skills in graduate school, several students expressed their appreciation of Cottingham’s guidance in data analysis and in improving their writing skills. One student explained, “I especially appreciate how her mentoring with me has changed through time as I have developed as a scientist, and has focused on everything from scientific writing, how to work in groups, [and] data analysis.”

Professor Robert Hawley

Professor Robert Hawley is an assistant professor of Earth Sciences. He came to Dartmouth in 2008. Hawley leads the Glaciology Research Group at Dartmouth, mentoring five graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. The group studies the formation and make-up of polar ice sheets to explore issues related to sea level rise and climate change. Hawley developed a new technique for studying polar firn, called Borehole Optical Stratigraphy, which involves lowering a video camera into a borehole in the ice. The camera records patterns of light and dark in the walls of the borehole, which reflect differences in ice grain size and density and facilitate the studying of annual layers.

In their nominations, Professor Hawley’s students expressed an appreciation for his enthusiasm and patience. They observed that his excitement and creativity in his research were inspiring, and these were balanced with his calm and practical approach to problem solving and project management. One of Hawley’s students explained that Hawley’s “ability to bring both perspective and calm is incredible. I cannot recall a challenging ‘moment’ or issue that I could not bring to [his] attention.”

As well as developing his mentees’ skills in academic and proposal writing and teaching techniques, Hawley also encouraged students to engage in service. A member of the Glaciology Research Group wrote, “With regard to citizen-science, [Hawley’s] work with outreach (e.g., Science Pubs at Salt hill) has been an example that I hope to emulate in my own work.” In addition, Hawley encouraged his students to pursue outside learning opportunities, such as participation in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide Ice Core Project. Finally, Hawley’s students also appreciated his willingness to prioritize their ideas and goals. A student described him as “an undeniable exemplification of a masterful mentor-extraordinaire.”

Reflecting on the process of choosing this year’s recipients, Bradley-Cook observed, “We had an impressive collection of nominees—faculty who go above and beyond to challenge, support, and motivate graduate students. Professors Cottingham and Hawley are inspiring role models with mentoring styles that genuinely support graduate students. We are grateful for the opportunity to acknowledge their extraordinary mentorship.”

The Graduate Studies Office congratulates Professors Cottingham and Hawley on their receipt of this award and thanks them for their dedication to supporting graduate students at Dartmouth.

Congratulations to Julia Bradley-Cook for being awarded an honorable mention for the 2013 American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award!

Each year, AIBS recognizes graduate students in the biological sciences who have demonstrated an interest in and ability to contribute to science and public policy. This year competition for the award was especially fierce; AIBS awarded two students the top prize, in addition to recognizing three students, including Bradley-Cook, with honorable mentions.

Bradley-Cook is a fourth-year PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology working with Dr. Ross Virginia on carbon dynamics in Greenland soils. Bradley-Cook has been interested in the intersection of science and policy ever since an undergraduate course got her thinking about the role of science in resource management. Two years working for sustainable development NGOs in Namibia after college confirmed her interest and exposed her to the challenges of bringing science and policy together.

Since coming to Dartmouth, Bradley-Cook has continued her commitment to policy while working to complete her biology degree. Her research addresses the critical issue of how much carbon currently locked in arctic permafrost will be released as the climate warms. As Dr. Virginia says, “Julia’s work connects basic science to the information needs of the policy world. No small task, and essential work.”

As president of the Graduate Student Council, Bradley-Cook works closely with the Dartmouth administration to advocate for graduate student rights. As a fellow in Dartmouth’s Polar Environmental Change Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT), she has been able to pair her scientific research of Greenland’s soils with a study of Greenlandic policy, meeting with Greenlandic national leaders during her field seasons and on Dartmouth’s campus. Bradley-Cook says that her “understanding of the social and political context has enriched [her] connection to Greenland, and has made [her] research all the more worthwhile.”

Bradley-Cook is honored to be recognized by AIBS and says that it will encourage her to pursue science-policy positions in the future. With such pressing issues as global warming and water shortages, we need leaders like Bradley-Cook to bring science and policy together.

by Ruth Heindel

Graduate Student Appreciation Week, commencing April 6, is an annual celebration of the contributions that graduate students bring to Dartmouth. The week combines a wide range of scholarly and social activities.

Graduate students work hard.  Each one knows late nights and early mornings. However, all being said, you will have to look hard to find the graduate student who does not think this is all worthwhile. Graduate students’ dedication to their research and to the education of undergraduates is an invaluable contribution to Dartmouth. The research undertaken in both our PhD and Master’s programs, in both arts and sciences, reinforces Dartmouth as a world-class educational institution. TA-ships see graduate students burning the midnight oil, grading papers and then taking time away from their own work to spend time with students. Those who have done it know how much students benefit from the support of a TA, as a mentor and a role model. Despite the heavy workload and stressful life, graduate student’s community outreach and volunteer work is award-renowned, both in the local community and abroad.

Preparations for the poster session in Alumni Hall on Wednesday 10th April, 5pm-7:30pm.

So every year by the time it gets to spring term, some appreciation is due.

The idea for Graduate Appreciation Week came from the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (NAGPS). In 1993, NAGPS established Graduate-Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW) as a mechanism to support and appreciate graduate and professional students. Dartmouth proudly sponsors this decade-long tradition.

F. Jon Kull, dean of Graduate Studies, commented on Graduate Appreciation Week:

“I really think it is crucial for the work of graduate students at Dartmouth to be highlighted and appreciated. Being a graduate student is a fantastic thing; it shows a true dedication to learning and advancing in a field or discipline. Dartmouth as an institution is fortunate to have so many enthusiastic and talented graduate students. Their contribution is felt everyday.”

The full range of events can be found here. Keep an eye out for the Graduate Poster Session. The Poster Session displays the best of graduate student talent. There you will see the range of research undertaken and all the hard work paying off. President Carol L. Folt will announce the winners of the Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award at the session. In short, the poster session really brings together many aspects of the graduate student experience.

“Graduate Appreciation Week gives the wider community the opportunity to take stock of their valuable contributions,” says Kull, “The schedule of events shows students they are valued, and the poster session allows their work to be displayed. The poster session is a great opportunity to learn more about Dartmouth Graduate Studies and some of the fantastic things achieved here.”

After the poster session is Pub Night at Molly’s Restaurant and Bar—we all need a break once in a while.

For more information about some of the achievements of Dartmouth’s graduate students, keep posted to the Grad News Forum and our Facebook and Twitter streams.

by Dan Durcan

Ayo Coly has taught Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in all of her courses since she began as an associate professor of African and African American Studies at Dartmouth six years ago, and she has found that nearly every one of her students read the book in high school.

That is as clear a picture as she can give of the significance of the Nigerian author who came to be known as the father of African literature, and who had numerous ties to Dartmouth. Achebe died Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Boston. He was 82.

Although there is a rich literary history from Africa in both African and European languages, “we can say Achebe is the inventor of African literature because he made it known beyond the borders of Nigeria and beyond Africa,” Ayo says. “I would like to acknowledge the way Chinua Achebe appropriated and transformed the European genre of the novel and conformed it to convey his own culture, his own agenda, as a Nigerian, as an African.”

Achebe was in residence at Dartmouth in 1990 as a Montgomery Fellow. In 1972, under President John Kemeny, Dartmouth awarded Achebe the first of his many honorary degrees.

For the full article go to Dartmouth Now.

Guo in Jinhua, China.

Congratulations to Bingqian Guo, winner of this year’s Karen E. Wetterhahn Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry!

The Wetterhahn Graduate Fellowship is given each year to an advanced graduate student in chemistry. It honors the memory of Professor Karen E. Wetterhahn, a former chemistry professor at Dartmouth, well-known for her research on toxic metals and how they cause cancer. She was the founding director of Dartmouth’s Toxic Metals Research Program. Professor Wetterhahn was also known for her strong support of women in science and was a co-founder of Dartmouth’s Women in Science Project.

Guo grew up in Jinhua, China. She was inspired by a high school chemistry teacher to pursue a degree in science. Guo studied at the University of Science and Technology of China, earning a BS in physical chemistry and winning several scholarships. While she considered attending graduate school at different universities in Canada and the United States, Guo chose Dartmouth because of the research possibilities here. She wanted to concentrate her research on applications of physical chemistry to biological systems. She was also impressed with the beauty of the surrounding region when she came to Dartmouth.

Guo is a member of Professor Dale F. Mierke’s lab. Her research focuses on the interaction of proteins, specifically NEMO and IKKβ, which play a role in the body’s immune response. Guo is researching the possibility of finding a molecule or peptide that can bind to NEMO in order to block it from binding to IKKβ in cases in which individuals have certain types of autoimmune diseases or cancer. In such cases, the proteins constitutively bind together when they should not. Preventing this binding will hopefully improve the life quality of sufferers of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and some kinds of cancer. Guo recently presented a poster about her work at the 2012 Signaling Pathways in Cancer Symposium at MIT’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. She has also been a teaching assistant during three terms for general chemistry and during two terms for physical chemistry.

As well as conducting research, Guo likes to spend time outdoors hiking and snowboarding. She really enjoys the White Mountain area. Guo also draws, and she is working on illustrations for a children’s book with a lab colleague. In addition, she has participated in the local COVER home repair projects in White River Junction, Vermont.

Guo plans to pursue a career in research after graduation, and she hopes to remain in the New England area. She says that she likes being in a smaller town, and she appreciates the close-knit Dartmouth community. She is excited to have been chosen for the Wetterhahn Fellowship and observes that it will help support her research on protein binding in order to hopefully help those affected by autoimmune diseases or cancer.

In supporting the work of young chemists such as Guo, the Dartmouth community honors Professor Wetterhahn’s dedication to her field and her encouragement of women in science.

by Elizabeth Molina-Markham

Lilian Kabeche, a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Molecular and Cellular Biology program, was recently featured on the blog of Bárbara Alcaraz Silva of the University of California, Irvine. Kabeche was a recipient of an award in the poster competition of the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) of the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB).

For the full post see Science and Research.

The latest event in the Graduate Studies “Becoming a Faculty Member” series was held on February 8. A panel of distinguished Graduate Faculty Mentoring Award recipients was on hand to discuss their mentoring styles. Members of the panel included Dean Madden (Department of Biochemistry), Joseph BelBruno (Department of Chemistry), Ross Virginia (Environmental Studies Program), Thalia Wheatley (Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences), and Gregory Holmes (Program in Experimental and Molecular Medicine). Faculty are nominated by graduate students and recent alumni to receive this award based on their outstanding dedication to fostering the professional and personal development of their students.

The panel was asked to discuss why they felt they had been successful mentors. They emphasized the importance of recognizing that each student is different and of adapting one’s approach to each individual. Ideally, a graduate student will leave school with the ability to confidently convey his or her own original ideas, and a mentor needs to foster this ability to think independently. Professor Holmes remarked that knowing where your students want to go in their future careers greatly helps in mentoring them successfully. If you cannot help them, you should direct them to where they can receive help in achieving their goals. The panel agreed that professional meetings are great places for students to develop their skills and meet potential postdoctoral advisors or employers.

Graduate student attendees asked which mentoring styles worked best for the panel and why. Professors Virginia and BelBruno stated that their methods were more “hands-off,” but accessible, in that they placed responsibility on their students to learn on their own, but made themselves available for discussion when needed. Professor Virginia also added that while he takes this approach, he does spend a lot of time with his students when they are out in the field conducting research. Graduate student, Gilbert Rahme, was intrigued to know if mentoring styles change over time (e.g. with promotions or obtaining tenure), and panelists agreed that tactics may become more relaxed with time. Professor Wheatley commented that you must always be “driven as a mentor to ask questions and find the answers.”

Effective mentors also rely on their postdocs to help in the task of counseling and teaching. Professor Holmes remarked that he expects his postdocs to also be great mentors, and he teaches them this skill by showing them how to choose and design projects and how to properly manage a lab. Professor BelBruno views postdocs as colleagues and expects them to educate themselves about lab research with only minor support. He feels that more focused support should be on how to become a successful professor.

Attendees also sought advice on what to do when challenges arise. Professor Madden encouraged students to find a way to communicate the issue directly to their mentor, since mentors cannot always tell when something is not working well for a student. This can be an intimidating prospect, and it can help to reach out to colleagues for advice on how to frame the issue.

Overall, panelists advised graduate students and postdocs to try to be fair and helpful mentors. Professor Virginia reminded everyone that graduate students are people too, who have lives and families, and an advisor should be prepared to appropriately help in all aspects of their lives. To be a well-rounded mentor, one needs to “know when to acknowledge life.”

by Molly Croteau

Dartmouth will present the 2013 Social Justice Awards, which honor Dartmouth community members who have contributed significantly to social justice, on February 1.

The awards ceremony serves as the culminating event for Dartmouth’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Hayward Room at the Hanover Inn. The ceremony, free and open to the public, will feature a panel discussion with honorees followed by a reception.

President Carol L. Folt, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson, Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity Evelynn Ellis, and Elise Smith ’13 will make remarks.

“These honorees embody the ideals and carry on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with their relentless pursuit of social justice,” says Gabrielle Lucke, director of diversity training and educational programs and chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration committee.

This year’s honorees are listed below. For more information on the Social Justice Awards, visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration website.

For full article see the Dartmouth Now