Brynn Boyer | Great Minds at Work

Envision, Design, Print

September 11, 2012 By Brynn Boyer 1 Comment

Imagination flourishes on the second floor of Simpson Library. Just ask University of Mary Washington senior Alice Watkins who is turning her two-sided creations into wearable art. She joins others in the UMW community who have discovered the wonders of a new three-dimensional printer, called MakerBot. Watkins is investigating 3-D printing through art in her independent study project called “Blending into Reality.” In a classroom at Simpson Library dubbed the Think Lab, Watkins watches the MakerBot as it whirs and hums while a spool of plastic thread slowly transforms a flat image on a computer screen into a three-dimensional object. She picks up the small, gray piece from the printer and places it with her collection. “That’s the reason it is called the Think Lab,” she said. “If you can think it, you can make it here.” She hopes to make a full-size tunic or vest with the pieces, called “scale mail,” by the end of the semester. Watkins, a studio art … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: ARTS, DTLT, EDUC, gmeadows, towens

Positioned for Politics

September 3, 2012 By Brynn Boyer Leave a Comment

Opportunities abound for politically minded students at the University of Mary Washington. Stephen Farnsworth, director of the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, said UMW—situated halfway between the nation’s and the commonwealth’s capitals—stands at the intersection of local, state and federal government. “With the center, we are able to take advantage of our location,” said Farnsworth, who is professor of political science. “We are in a great position – students can be a part of political matters that interest them.” Students are able to intern during the academic year in either Richmond or D.C., without having to take a semester off. In fact, several UMW students are interning with presidential and senatorial campaigns this fall. Those experiences often lead to jobs in politics after graduation. “Over the past dozen years, many Mary Washington students have graduated and gone on to work for presidential campaigns, state … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: Center for Leadership and Media Studies, PSCI, sfarnswo, Stephen Farnsworth

Uncovering the Past

August 27, 2012 By Brynn Boyer Leave a Comment

Growing up in the Republic of Georgia, Ana Tkabladze was surrounded by remnants and relics of the ancient world. She dreamed of someday learning about the sites and making her own discoveries. Now a junior at the University of Mary Washington, Tkabladze, a classics major with a concentration in classical archeology, is already leaving her mark. This summer, she spent three weeks on the Spanish island of Menorca and in Portugal as part of a team excavating and analyzing thousand-year-old artifacts. “I’m basically helping real archeologists find out about that era,” she said. “That’ll go in history later which is pretty exciting.” Tkabladze is one of several UMW students who received an undergraduate research grant for the summer, a time when many students study abroad, intern or work on research. In fact, two to three students in the classics, philosophy and religion department go on excavations each year, either through undergraduate research grants like … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: CLAS, Classics, undergraduate research

Rock Star 101

August 20, 2012 By Brynn Boyer 1 Comment

Mark Snyder (center) performs with two of his students during a class session

If UMW offered a Rock Star 101 course, Mark Snyder would be the undisputed choice to teach it. The assistant professor of music and 1997 Mary Washington alum has performed with nearly 100 bands in the past 30 years, from rock to jazz to classical. Today, he plays in six different musical ventures, all while teaching classes in composition, electronic music and music theory. Through his music, Snyder gives his students the opportunity to experience the music business firsthand. In fact, three of his six current projects involve UMW student and alumni musicians. Nature Boy Explorer, an eclectic pop/rock group with a self-titled album, features Snyder on guitar and vocals, junior Becky Brown on the harp, junior Paige Naylor on the keyboards and 2012 graduate Joanna Smith on bass. Brown, Naylor and Smith all had a hand in the recording or production of the album, as well as Natasha Smoot, a 2011 graduate, who played accordion on the tracks. The band plays regionally, including … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: Mark Snyder, msnyder, MUPR, Music, MUTH, undergraduate research

A Bigger Impact

August 13, 2012 By Brynn Boyer Leave a Comment

Laura Allan's journey to DC Teaching Fellows started with her volunteer work with organizations like Relay for Life and Stafford Junction

The night before graduation, Laura Allan got a life-changing phone call. Allan, a 2012 UMW graduate, had been accepted to the competitive DC Teaching Fellows program. Less than one month later, she arrived in Washington, D.C., to start an intensive eight-week training session. DC Teaching Fellows, a partnership between District of Columbia Public Schools and TNTP, a national nonprofit organization, trains professionals and recent college grads to serve high-need students throughout the D.C. area. The program is catered to people who have taken a nontraditional route to education, like Allan, who focused her undergraduate work on sociology. UMW, recognized on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for the past three years, is known for its service-minded students and alumni. The Peace Corps ranks UMW No. 1 in the nation among small universities for alumni now serving as Peace Corps volunteers. But many recent graduates, like Allan, choose to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: Center for Honor, Christina Eggenberger, COAR, Leadership and Service, SOCG

Growing a New Generation of Educators

August 6, 2012 By Brynn Boyer 2 Comments

Grades aren’t foremost on the mind of Laurie Abeel. The College of Education associate professor focuses more on the journey for her graduate-level students. “My approach in every single class deals with growth, not grades,” said Abeel, who teaches gifted education courses. “I’m more concerned with ‘do they understand what I’m trying to teach’ and ‘have they shown growth by the end of the course?’” Some of her students have gone on to use her strategies and methods in their own classrooms. Abeel credits much of her classroom philosophy to her involvement with Destination Imagination, known as DI, an international program focused on the creative process, critical thinking, leadership and team work. For almost the past decade, she has served as Virginia affiliate director of DI, volunteering to coordinate Virginia’s programs and the state tournament. “It influences almost everything I do. All the skills we try to teach the kids [in DI], I use in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: College of Education, EDUC, labeel, MRG, undergraduate research

Seeking Feathered Friends

July 27, 2012 By Brynn Boyer Leave a Comment

For Andrew Dolby, a stressed-out bird is a big deal. Dolby, professor and chair of the biology department, is researching the stress response in birds, specifically, the Tufted Titmouse. During the spring semester he worked with three students to catch birds on UMW property and at sites in southern Stafford County. They took their measurements and vital signs and collected small blood samples for fellow biology professor Deborah O’Dell to perform heat shock protein analysis in the Jepson Hall labs. Heat shock proteins, similar in function to stress hormones, are indicators of chronic stress. Sources of chronic stress for a bird might be habitat deterioration, parasitism, or long-term food shortages. Dolby and O’Dell received a grant from the Virginia Society of Ornithology for the unique project. “Only two other laboratories in North America are using heat shock proteins to study stress in free-ranging birds,” Dolby said. Since the proteins are found in almost every … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: adolby, Andrew Dolby, BIOL, biology, MRG, orthinology

Conundrum Challenge

July 15, 2012 By Brynn Boyer 1 Comment

The Spider and Fly Puzzle has mesmerized math buffs for more than a century. “You’re in a big room and there’s a spider on one wall and on the opposite wall is a fly,” said Keith Mellinger, associate professor and chair of mathematics. “The question is, if the spider wants to walk along the walls and get to the fly, what’s the shortest path?” The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is a spiral. Mellinger takes exception to that conventional solution. He recently discovered that the conventional answer doesn’t always hold true. His research appears in a recent issue of the College Mathematics Journal, a publication of the Mathematical Association of America. “If we tweak the conditions of the problem, the problem has a different solution,” he said, explaining that the dimensions of the room can change whether a spiral pattern or a straight line is in fact the shortest path. The complexities of the problem have served as an effective teaching tool for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: Keith Mellinger, kmelling, MATH, mathematics, MRG

In Search of Turtles

July 9, 2012 By Brynn Boyer 1 Comment

An uncommon turtle discovery has sparked detective work between a University of Mary Washington professor and student and will help shed light on the species in the Fredericksburg region. A little more than a year ago, Professor of Biology Werner Wieland asked students in one of his classes to bring in a local animal. Much to Wieland’s surprise, one student brought in a species of turtle – a yellow-bellied slider – that is not usually found in the Fredericksburg area. The find brought up questions for Wieland— was this turtle an isolated case or is there a bigger population established? With the help of junior Yoshi Takeda, Wieland is taking this summer to find out. Wieland’s project is one of dozens funded through UMW’s Summer Science Institute, a 10-week undergraduate research program started in 1999. The students and professors will present their work at an all-day symposium on Wednesday, July 25. Wieland and Takeda started their field work at the end of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: BIOL, biology, MRG, Summer Science Institute, undergraduate research, wwieland

Cultivating Fresh Opportunities

June 25, 2012 By Brynn Boyer Leave a Comment

The farmers market is open every Wednesday afternoon through September

Standing between piles of yellow squash, potatoes and peppers, with the chatter of friendly small talk in the background, Adrian Martinez greets each customer the same way: “Welcome! Is this your first time at the farmers market?” The I-95 corridor seems a world away. In fact, one almost forgets that the farmers market is in the parking lot of Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center in the bustling Cosner’s Corner area of Massaponax. Martinez, a University of Mary Washington senior business administration major, is helping oversee the market for the summer. He is one of more than 30 UMW business students who have internships this summer, ranging from positions in sales to marketing to human resources. Although his internship is an unpaid opportunity, Martinez is one of the first three students to receive an internship grant, awarded by UMW’s Office of Career Services. “As a result of donations from alumni, parents and friends, we are now pleased to be able to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Show on Great Minds Tagged With: BUAD, Career Services, Carole Anne Creque, ccreque, College of Business, COMM, internships

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