News & Events

Colgate alumni, parents, and faculty harnessed their intellectual resources in New York last week, at the university's first Energy Summit sponsored by the Presidents' Club.

ABC's Bob Woodruff '83, P'13 moderated a panel discussion featuring six alumni who represented diverse perspectives on the energy field: journalist and Alaska resident Elizabeth Arnold '82; energy investor Bob Gold '80; London-based energy policy advisor and attorney Jane Kozinski '82; wind entrepreneur David Mortenson '88; Edgar Lampert '62, P'10, a real estate developer committed to sustainable building; and Bruce Selleck '71, Harold Orville Whitnall Professor of geology at Colgate.

Brandon Bifano '10 has always been interested in building things. Now, he is building on that interest through a pre-engineering program offered at Colgate.

Bifano is one of three students currently participating in the cooperative program with Columbia University.

Climate change can be looked at from many perspectives: as a moral call to action, a matter of public policy, or a blip in geologic time.

Students and faculty considered these angles and many others at a panel discussion on Thursday that was part of a national teach-in to draw attention to the International Day of Climate Change, sponsored by 350.org.

With displays of precious gems, a wall of skulls, and interactive exhibit of Colgate's very own dinosaur egg, the Robert M. Linsley Geology Museum educates visitors, while inspiring them with the wonder of its objects.

A large green sign reading "Geology is the study of the Earth" welcomes visitors when they first enter the museum, which recently moved from Lathrop Hall to its new home in the Robert H.N. Ho Science Center.

As the rhythm of a new academic year takes hold, students who worked with faculty members this past summer were able to pause and share their research findings with peers and professors.

The third annual Ho Symposium on Student Summer Research held last month allowed nine students from each of the departments and programs housed in the Ho Science Center to share key research findings.

Colgate was recently awarded seven highly competitive grants totaling more than $1.6 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), allowing the university to enhance faculty-student research opportunities as well as expand on-campus summer programs for K-12 teachers and college instructors.

An NSF grant will fund associate professor of psychology Kevin Carlsmith's research into the underlying principles that guide attitudes about aggressive interrogation.

Colgate's efforts to turn quick-growing willow into fuel for the university's wood-burning plant were highlighted in yesterday's edition of The Post-Standard (Syracuse).

"This is one of those things that is environmentally and financially beneficial for the university," John Pumilio, sustainability coordinator, told the newspaper.

Colgate's green efforts were the focus of a "spotlight" article by the Environmental News Network website.

The story highlights the university's past efforts to reduce its environmental impact and examines its newest initiatives, spearheaded by the Environmental Council and new sustainability coordinator, John Pumilio.

It has been a cool summer at Colgate, but students working in biology professor Nancy Pruitt's lab were prepared with handmade hats and scarves after Pruitt introduced them to knitting.

Wendy Joo '11 and Vickie Cadestin '12 are on campus investigating whether proteins called dehydrins, produced by many plants to prevent dehydration, might also be produced in the animal kingdom, which has never been proven before.

Even though school is out for the summer, inquisitive high school students from upstate New York and New York City are keeping their minds sharp at a unique camp on Colgate's campus.

Colgate's Science and Sports Camp was featured this week on the front page of the Observer-Dispatch (Utica).