News

Dianne Pater has Secured a Grant from the National Science Foundation

Dianne Pater, Assistant Professor of Biology, has secured a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her project “BRC-BIO: Investigating ecophysiological strategies and drought tolerance of temperate lianas.”

David Esteban Awarded Patient-Led Research Collaborative Award

David Esteban, Associate Professor of Biology, received one of nine research grants made by the Patient-Led Research Collaborative to fund high-impact projects that seek to understand the causes, diagnostics, and treatments of Long COVID. His funded project, entitled “Microbial metabolites as disease-modifying factors in Long-COVID,” will investigate the production of, and response to, microbially derived AhR ligands in the microbiomes of people with Long COVID.

Lynn Christenson is Co-PI on New NSF Conference Grant

Lynn Christenson, Associate Professor of Biology, received a National Science Foundation award with her collaborators from George Mason University and USDA Forest Service, to support a workshop related to “Forest biodiversity responses to changing climate across the Americas: Synthesis of long-term ecological data.”

Student standing in front of a poster explaining it while gesticulating to a group of people off camera

URSI Symposium 2022

Students, faculty, and administrators who took part in the 2022 Undergraduate Research Summer Institute (URSI) celebrated their research projects at URSI’s annual Symposium.

Sufana Noorwez ’24, one of Vassar’s first Beckman Scholars, launched her 14-month research project this summer in a lab in Olmsted Hall.

New Grant Program Funds Student Medical Research Projects

Vassar students Sufana Noorwez ’24 and Dariana Serrano ’25 have launched scientific research projects under the auspices of the Beckman Scholars program.

Vassar Grand Challenges Co-Director Tom Pacio (center) leads a discussion with student and faculty at Elevating the Student Voice, a three-day symposium that explored ways to making STEM curricula more inclusive. At left: Professor of Biology Jodi Schwarz, former Grand Challenges Faculty Director. At right: Associate professor of Biology Jose Perillán, current Faculty Director.

Students Rise to the Grand Challenge of Equalizing STEM Education

Thirty-two students from Vassar, Mercy College, Wheaton College and the University of Massachusetts gathered on the Vassar campus last month to trade ideas on how to make STEM curricula more inclusive.

Assistant Professor of Biology and Biochemistry Colin Echeverría working in a class with two students

Vassar Wins Beckman Scholars Award to Support Student Science Research

Vassar College has received a $156,000 grant from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation that will fund faculty-mentored research projects conducted by six students over the next three years.

Four Faculty Members Appointed to Endowed Chairs

Professor of English Eve Dunbar, Professor of Drama Shona Tucker, Assistant Professor of Biology Myra Hughey, and Professor of Psychological Science Michele Tugade ’95 have been appointed to endowed chairs, Dean of the Faculty William Hoynes announced.

Garrett Goodrich ’22 (left) and Alison Carranza ’23 prepare plant specimens catalogued by naturalists at Mohonk Mountain Preserve for digitization, enabling scientists anywhere in the world to study them.

URSI Student Researchers Help Expand Access to Important Botanical Data

Professor of Biology Mark Schlessman and two of his students spent part of the summer at local herbaria, helping to ensure that scientists from all over the world can study plant species that have been growing in the region for the past 150 years.