The Pulteney StreetSurvey
Up Close and Personal: New Perspectives on STEM
A scientific community.
Associate Professor of Geoscience David Kendrick leads a lab with introductory geology students, exploring glacial formations at Chimney Bluffs State Park on the south shore of Lake Ontario. The course, taught by Professor of Geoscience Nan Crystal Arens, focuses on the form and function of the solid Earth and complements Kendrick’s first-year seminar, “Earth vs. Humans: Fire, Flood, Environmental Collapse and Other Disasters,” which takes a historical, geologic and cultural look at the relationship between natural disasters and humanity. Together, the classes form a Learning Community, a curricular structure for first-year students that reinforces academic connections between courses and encourages strong bonds among faculty and fellow students.
Deep history.
Digging deep into glacial history during the lab at Chimney Bluffs, Lydia Burnet ’25 tests a rock sample for the presence of calcite, guided by the course teaching assistant, Maddi Meyer ’24.
Making connections.
Pasquale Palumbo III ’23 and Professor Deutschlander examine the tail feathers of a Great Horned Owl. An expert in animal sensory biology and migration, Deutschlander brings the lessons of his ornithology class full circle; as students read and study in the classroom, they return to the Montezuma refuge throughout the semester, not only to observe songbirds, water birds and birds of prey but to study conservation programs, such as the famous Bald Eagle Hacking program that helped to restore Bald Eagles to New York.