FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND BEST PRACTICES // March 2024
IN PRINT
Eric Mazur's chapter "A Head for Politics: Yarmulkes, Presidential Politics, and the Marketing of (Jewish) America" was recently published in Selling the Sacred, edited by Mara Einstein and Sarah McFarland Taylor and published by Routledge.

President Scott D. Miller serves as executive editor for the President to President thought leadership series, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The fifth chapter of the 2023-2024 President to President thought leadership series is available online. In Reducing Energy Consumption as Step One to Building a Sustainability Movement,” Sam Houston State University President Alisa White, Ph.D., shares ideas for gradually developing a comprehensive sustainability program. Starting with a building management project that had clear, tangible results and looking for opportunities to expand from there helped her campus build the right momentum and ensure success. President Miller's daily blog, Dialogue, can be found at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.
PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS
Denise Wilkinson, Kathy Stolley, Maynard Schaus, Gabi Martorell, and Breanna Noffsinger attended the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Proposal acceptances and presentation titles included:
Who Let the Dogs Out?: Engaging Students Through Animal Content” (Denise Wilkinson, Kathy Stolley, Robin Takacs); Introductory Biology Sequence Transformation Scaffolds Learning and Improves Student Success” (Maynard Schaus);
Talking ‘Aloud’ Like A Historian: A 1st-Year Assignment (Rich Bond); and “Reimagining Teaching after Lockdown: Switching the Cake, Ditching the Candles” (Gabi Martorell).
Eric Mazur was part of a panel - "Maritime History and Jewish Refugees: Norfolk's Quanza Story" - hosted by the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding, the Maritime, Ports and Logistics Institute, and the Office of Maritime Initiatives (among others) at ODU.

Annika Quick presented the poster, “Spatial and temporal variation in quantity and bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon in urban streams,” at the National Science Foundation Macrosystems Biology Virtual Community Meeting in Boston.

Kathy Merlock Jackson made a presentation at an event at Tidewater Collegiate Academy to Girl Scouts at all levels seeking merit badges in writing and self-expression.
OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson was recognized in the March-April Coastal Virginia Business (CoVaBIZ) magazine feature entitled, "Innovators & Disruptors: Women on the Leading Edge," recognizing and celebrating women representing multiple fields of endeavor who are innovators, connectors, and change-makers in the region.

Maynard Schaus has been appointed treasurer for the Elizabeth River Project, a local environmental nonprofit, where he serves on the Board.

Kathy Stolley has been invited to be an External Evaluator for Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

The following Virginia Wesleyan Faculty have been approved for promotion to associate professor with tenure: Robert Ariel (Department of Psychology), Clair Berube (Department of Education), and Modupe Oshikoya (Department of Political Science). 
Phil Guilfoyle's sculptural vessel titled "Wounded" was included in the group exhibition "Inspired by Victor Spinski" at The Art Trust: A Gallery at Meridian Bank, West Main Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania, during the months of January and February, 2024. The exhibition included selected artists who are former students of the late ceramic sculptor, Victor Spinski.

Doug Kennedy traveled to Camden, Maine to serve on the organizing committee for the National Toboggan Championships. In that capacity, he assisted with public relations, chute preparation and management. On the event's final day, he was also a part of the national champion four-person team.

President Miller received the UNCF M.A.S.K.E.D. Award at the 2024 Hampton Roads United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Mayors’ Masked Ball on March 2. The award is bestowed upon those who have committed to fostering hope and opportunity for deserving students and the broader community. 
GRANTS
Elizabeth Malcolm, Chris Haley, Maynard Schaus, Bill McConnell, and Annika Quick have received a $222,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry to map the urban heat islands in Portsmouth, VA, and conduct heat mitigation interventions by removing pavement and planting trees in locations identified through collaborative community engagement.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Benjamin Dobrin was interviewed on WTKR's Coastal Live show to discuss the Polar Plunge. He was in charge of all in-water safety assets for this event;135 rescue swimmers and divers from 14 different federal, state, and local agencies. 
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