Dec. 5, 2014
Grant continues research of BP oil disaster for another three years

A $20 million grant to a consortium of science organizations will allow Eckerd College researchers and students to continue their work for another three years on the impact of the 2010 BP oil disaster.

 

Funding from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative has allowed Eckerd College Marine Science Professors Gregg Brooks and David Hastings to work closely with students over the past three years to study the impact of the Deepwater Horizon disaster on sediments in the Gulf. Eckerd will receive more than half a million dollars of the new grant.

 

Already, the ongoing work by Dr. Brooks and his team has led to 27 conference presentations in which all 14 students have participated as first authors or co-authors, and to four co-authored publications in peer-reviewed literature. It has also resulted in four undergraduate theses. For Dr. Hastings, eight Eckerd students made presentations at national conferences, in Mobile, Houston, Hawaii, New Orleans, San Francisco and St Petersburg. Seven senior theses also grew out of this work. 

 

The $550,000 grant to Eckerd College was awarded to a consortium led by the University of South Florida College of Marine Science involving 10 other institutions in five countries. Read more

Students learn about the randomness
of global hunger

About 200 students turned out last month for a powerful lesson in the randomness of hunger. At the second Oxfam Hunger Banquet on Nov. 12 at Fox Hall, students were divided into different groups based on economic status. The dinner they ate depended on luck of the draw. "While three students were plucked into the echelons of the upper class, and others experienced a middle-class dinner," the Tampa Bay Times reported in a front-page story the next day,  "most students were sent to sit on cardboard on the floor and eat vaguely cooked rice out of Styrofoam cups with their hands." The banquet, organized by Director of Service Learning Ron Porter and 10 students, was designed to show how poverty and hunger are often the result of circumstances beyond one's control. While some rise above, many are  trapped.

Festival of Hope caps Quest for Meaning
The James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences was the scene on Wednesday (Dec. 3) of the annual Festival of Hope. The festival was an opportunity for the 415 seniors in the Quest for Meaning course to discuss their service-learning work completed at myriad nonprofit organizations. Quest for Meaning is one of the most distinctive aspects of the student experience at Eckerd. It is a senior-level course that challenges them to seek answers to questions of meaning and purpose in their lives within the context of the greater community.
Students learn from Emmy- winning actress
Emmy-winning actress
Elaine Bromka took a break from her one-woman show at the Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa last month to hold a master class for a small group of students. Bromka, star and creator of Tea for Three: Lady Bird, Pat and Betty, gave the students a lesson in the do's and don'ts of auditions, one of the most stress-inducing parts of acting. Her appearance was arranged by Antonia Krueger, visiting assistant professor of theatre. 
Sally keeps 
sailing
to Eckerd

Sally Gardiner-Smith is continuing her sailing journey from Maine to Eckerd College, where she plans to arrive next summer in time to begin her freshman year and Autumn Term. The last time we checked in with Sally she had encountered a couple of challenges, including a serious injury to her dog, Elli, who lost a leg after getting hit by a truck. Elli has recovered enough to rejoin Sally on the boat. Sally celebrated Thanksgiving with her sister from Massachusetts, her mom from Maine and another solo sailor, Kevin, from Virginia. "Although our meal was much simpler than a many-course dinner with a large turkey and sides, I think it was almost as challenging to prepare," she wrote in her blog for the Portland (Maine) Press HeraldShe is now in Oriental, N.C., on her way to Beaufort. She hopes to spend Christmas in Florida.

Baypoint students study sharks at Eckerd
Seventh graders from Baypoint Middle School Science Magnet took a field trip to the College last month to work with dissected sharks. The students met at the   
James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences on Nov. 7 under the leadership of Peter Meylan, Ph.D., the Richard R. Hallin professor of natural sciences. He helped the students identify parts of the anatomy of sharks. The Baypoint science teacher is Eckerd College marine science alumna MIchelle von Sternberg '10.
This PEL grad
is a 'visionary'
wearing many hats
The Tampa Bay online magazine 83 Degrees recently profiled PEL alumna Edie Dopking '98, founder of Quantum Leap Farm in Odessa, a comprehensive equine therapy and retreat center. Like many Eckerd grads, she has worn many hats during her lifetime. "And they are as numerous as they are diverse," the magazine reports. "A medical imaging technologist; a partner in a successful MRI center; a student with undergrad and advanced degrees in nuclear medicine technology, human development and aging studies; an accomplished equestrian in both English and Western riding; a stepmom; a compassionate community volunteer." She exemplifies how Eckerd prepares students for lives they can't imagine. "I knew the need for something just like this was out there," she says of her equine therapy center. "Did I imagine it would grow this fast and reach this far? Never. This has been an amazing journey." Photo courtesy of 83 Degrees
Campus hosts 75 Fulbright scholars
The College welcomed 75 international Fulbright recipients from across the United States Nov. 7. The visit was part of a three-day Fulbright Enrichment Seminar organized by World Partnerships in St. Petersburg. The seminar's theme was "Climate Change and the Plight of the Oceans." The group was welcomed by Dean of Faculty Suzan Harrison and Environmental Studies Professor Alison Ormsby, Fulbright-Nehru Research Scholar in India in 2009-2010. Marine Science Professor David Hastings discussed his meeting with Gov. Rick Scott about solutions to climate change, and Marine Science Professor Gregg Brooks discussed Eckerd's focus on marine research. Sustainability Fellow Evan Bollier '11 discussed the College's commitment to the environment.

Music

 

Winter Holidays

Around the World

Sunday, Dec. 7

3 p.m.-4 p.m.

Wireman Chapel

The Eckerd College Concert Choir performs sacred and secular music for winter holidays in different parts of the world under the direction of Brent Douglas.  A professional orchestra and the chapel Flentrop organ will accompany the singers. A variety of art and folk music traditions for voices and instruments will be explored.

 

Athletics

Monday, Dec. 15

Men's Basketball

vs. Texas A&M

7:30 p.m.

 

Wednesday, Dec. 17

Women's Basketball

vs. Albany State University

5:30 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs. Tuskegee University
7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 20

Men's Basketball

vs. Cedarville University (Ohio)

2 p.m.

Women's Basketball

vs. Long Island University Post

3 p.m.

 

Sunday, Dec. 21

Men's Basketball

vs. Limestone College (S.C.)

2 p.m.

 

Wednesday, Dec. 31

Women's Basketball

vs. Southwest Baptist University

2 p.m.


(Visit Eckerd Athletics Calendar

for details.)


Overheard 

"It's an opportunity for us to get in the game, so to speak, to attract business here and help educate that area on what we have to offer from a tourism standpoint."

--St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman to the Tampa Bay Times on why he arranged for Eckerd College to participate in a trade mission to Chile.


 

"The whole goal of lifelong learning is to allow us to learn more about our world." 

--Rick Kistner, an instructor at Eckerd's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, to the Tampa Bay Times on the many intellectually stimulating and non-credit courses offered.


 

Follow us on Twitter

"So hoping to be a part of this beautiful college next year."

--@shylasexton22 on Twitter, with a photo of a stunning sunset at South Beach.


 

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Taking a break for the holidays

Next week is exam week at Eckerd. The Fall Semester ends a week from today. Winter Term begins Jan. 2. With the holidays approaching and the semester ending. InsideEckerd will take a break too. See you next year!












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