Volume 14, Number 10
Featured Stories
- Tending her orphans: UWM English alum publishes her plays and garners Fellow AwardMarie Kohler is having a banner year. In July, she finally, formally published her play “Boswell” with Dramatic Publishing, and followed that success with the publication of her play “Midnight …
- Psychology professor returns to podcasting to tackle a cold case with personal tiesOn their first day of their senior year of high school in 1979, Susan Ovington and Eyvonne Bender were shot and killed. Their bodies were found in a forest preserve …
- From malaria to ChatGPT: the birth and strange life of the random walkJordan Ellenberg invites the UW-Milwaukee community take a “random walk” with him at the 2024 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Natural Sciences on Oct. 16. A random walk is a …
- For the first time, a drug discovered at UWM approved to begin clinical trialsFor the first time, a compound discovered at the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery (MIDD) has been approved to enter human clinical trials. The drug is under development by Damona …
- Students pursue environmental experiences with Diversity summer internshipsReece Charles and Jamie Kollman have a lot in common. They both entered UW-Milwaukee as film majors, but switched their focus to environmental science. They both plan to graduate this …
- UWM shows off its new Chemistry BuildingUWM Chancellor Mark Mone led an enthusiastic grand opening ceremony for UWM’s brand-new Chemistry Building Friday afternoon. More than 200 students, faculty, staff, government representatives and friends of UWM packed …
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Alumni Accomplishments
Amy Kretlow (‘14, BA Conservation & Environmental Science) is one of the winners of the 2024 Invasive Species Action awards presented by the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council. The award was given in recognition of Kretlow’s efforts in aquatic invasive species mitigation. Kretlow is the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ aquatic invasive species program coordinator.
Catherine Kaczorowski (‘20, BA Psychology) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American Federation for Aging Research. Dr. Kaczorowski is a recognized authority in the development and application of genetically diverse mouse models for studies on aging and age-related neurodegenerative diseases. She pioneered the first translationally relevant polygenic model of human AD which was published in the journal, Neuron. After graduating from UWM, she earned her PhD from Northwestern University and is the Elinor Levine Professor of Dementia Research and a Professor of Neurology at the University of Michigan.
David Bauer (‘05, MS; ‘08, PhD Psychology) was named the director of the Casagrande Institute for Higher Education Effectiveness at Viterbo University. The Institute provides assessments, analysis, and other services for clients in higher education. Bauer is a former Viterbo faculty member, having spent 15 years in the Psychology Department, before becoming a higher education consultant.
Laurels and Accolades
Arjun Saha (Chemistry & Biochemistry) is one of the winners of this year’s Catalyst Grants. The UWM Research Foundation’s Catalyst Grant program is designed to seed-fund research in areas where UWM has the greatest potential to impact the regional economy through commercialization. Saha’s work targets abnormal protein-protein interactions (PPI) in the body by developing new computational methods to simulate them. Abnormal PPIs are behind many diseases and his work could pave the way for novel therapeutics.
Dyanna Czeck (Geosciences) and her collaborators at Carleton and Bowdoin colleges have been award the National Science Foundation’s Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD-EN) grant for their Cultural Change in Geoscience (C-ChanGe) project. The work supports faculty to work toward an inclusive and welcoming academic geosciences environment for all.
Carolyn Eichner (History and Women’s & Gender Studies) has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Grant for Jan 1 – Aug 31, 2025, in support of her research and writing for a biography of 19th-century anarchist feminist Louise Michel, orator, author, ethnographer, teacher, and leader in the Paris Commune. Eichner’s proposal was among the 9% funded of the 283 proposals submitted this cycle.
Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece’s (English) new 2024 book, Movies under the Influence, received a lengthy write-up in Film Quarterly. Her book explores the history and interrelationship between substance use, moviegoing, and movie genres. From the old school movie houses of the 1920s and cigarettes to stronger drugs of the 60’s, Szczepaniak-Gillece’s book delves into this fascinating aspect of American culture.
In the Media and Around the Community
“Forever” foods can be re-plenished time and again – think of sourdough starter. In Chinese culture there is an “everlasting” broth. Tik Tokker Annie Rauwerder took the concept to create a perpetual stew in 2023 and became an internet sensation. The BBC interviewed a microbiologist about the safety of this type of food along with Martha Carlin (History) about its history.
Do political yards signs make a difference in elections? Kennan Ferguson (Political Science) weighed in on Spectrum 1 News, and spoke on the channel again regarding candidates’ need for a political record. He also spoke on how local elections are often overlooked in favor of national elections in the Racine County Eye.
Alumnus Michael Allen (‘94, BA Psychology) was featured on Radio Milwaukee as the owner and founder of Milwaukee’s Beerline Cafe, a restaurant featuring vegetarian and vegan cuisine.
Letters & Science staff members Aimee Orndorf (Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies) and Christine Wolf (Global Studies), along with Ben Trager from UWM’s Center for Student Experience and Talent were presenters at the fall conference of the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions held in October at UW-Madison. The 2024 theme was “Amplifying Student Voices: Advancing Career Wellness & Success,” and their presentation title was “Designing a Global Careers Event: Leveraging Collaboration to Foster Student Career Readiness.” They described the impact of intra-campus collaborations for a campus-wide multifaceted event that included skill-building stations, a mini study abroad fair, a facilitated panel, and networking.
The Planetarium’s annual event – Campfires, Constellations & S’mores – was featured in both the Shepherd Express and on Milwaukee CBS Channel 58.
Liam Callanan (English) was part of the lineup at this year’s Washington Island Literary Festival in Door County in September. The annual three-day workshop allows attendees to meet authors, attend classes, and engage in workshops.
Undergraduate Liliana Fannin (Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies) shared her experience as an intern with CNN during both the Republican and Democratic national conventions this summer. She recounted her observations in the Racine County Eye.
Emily Middleton (Anthropology) explained to Fox 6 News and WISN 12 News the possible timeline of the investigation after human remains were found in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
A generational divide informs the stances of many Jewish Americans regarding the war in Gaza. Joel Berkowitz (Jewish Studies) reflected on the impact of his family’s history on their views in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
An Astrobites article described how Philip Chang (Physics) explored the capabilities of a new computing platform during an NSF-funded summer school at UWM.
Jeffrey Sommers (African & African Diaspora Studies and Global Studies) authored an essay, “Interregnum in our New Age of Extremes,” in The Review of Democracy.
New election maps in Wisconsin mean that LGBTQ candidates running for state government likely face less partisan opposition than before, Kathleen Dolan (Political Science) said in an article by Reckon News.
Noelle Chesley (Sociology) was quoted about the cost of childcare in a Bored Panda article.
The Presbyterian News Service published a remembrance of UWM alumnus Fred Holper (‘70, BA Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies), an influential figure in American liturgical theology. Holper passed away in September.
After a New York Post reporter failed to disclose her political ties, David Pritchard (emeritus Journalism, Advertising, & Media Studies) decried the Post’s lack of ethics in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
Alumna Brianna Albers (‘17, BA Psychology) described how the pandemic changed online schooling for the better in a piece she penned for SMA News Today.
Ashley Lemke (Anthropology) gave a presentation at the University of Arkansas as part of the university’s Stigler Lecture Series in Archaeology in September. She spoke about the ancient record of hunter-gatherers submerged in the Great Lakes.
The City of Waukesha consulted with UWM’s Cultural Resource Management program under the auspices of the Anthropology Department as the city prepared to submit the Senator William Blair House for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places, according the Waukesha Freeman.
People in Print
David Kocik (English), Jill Budny (Honors College), Jon Cassie, Wren Dalton, and Laya Liebeseller (Anthropology). 2024. The Quiet Year. In Learning, Education & Games, Volume 4: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, (eds. Karen Schrier, Rachel Kowert, Diana Leonard, & Tarja Porkka-Kontturi). Pittsburgh: ETC Press: 221-227.
PhD student Kristine Koyama (English). 2024. True Women as Sacred Friends: Harriet Jacobs’s Model of Consent-Based White Allyship in “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl”. Journal of Consent-Based Performance, 3(1).
Miriam Boehm (Philosophy). 2024. Conceivability as the Standard of Metaphysical Possibility. In Hume and Contemporary Epistemology, Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-Century Philosophy (S. Stapleford and V. Wagner, eds.). London: Routledge.