Pamela Mertz, professor of chemistry & biochemistry, gave an invited talk at the University of Texas at Austin on January 26, “One Rubric to Rule Them All:  The Megalorubric for Assessment of Program Learning Outcomes.”  The talk focused on the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry’s development of a rubric where course assignment grades map onto a program level assessment system, with examples from the biochemistry program.  Mertz also participated in three days of steering committee meetings in Austin for the RCN-UBE project (NSF#1920270),

Sophia Garms, environmental studies major in the Class of 2023, presented her research "Investigating the critical thermal maximum of Pacific Arctic Bivalves" at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska, from Jan. 23-27, 2023. Garms' research mentor, Marine Biology Visiting Assistant Professor Christina Goethel, also presented her research "Effects of temperature on sediment community oxygen consumption and individual respiration rates at a long-term mooring site as part of the US Synoptic Arctic Survey" at the same conference.

Professor Betül Başaran was invited to attend the international conference on the Balance of Justice in the Ottoman Empire, where she talked about her research on intercultural sexual intimacy and mixed marriages among foreigners and Ottoman women in the early modern era. Her paper entitled "Actors and Agents in Murky Legal Waters" emphasized women's agency in such relationships, and their ability to bargain with patriarchy to attain short-term advantages.

Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Nutt-Williams and colleagues recently published an article entitled "Cultivating Authentic Leaders: Toward Conceptual Coherence and Sustainable Practice" in The Journal of Values-Based Leadership. In addition, Professor Williams was elected to her second three-year term on the American Psychological Association's (APA) Council of Representatives.

Professor of Art Sue Johnson has been awarded a prestigious 2023 Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland President Tuajuanda C. Jordan has appointed Katherine L. Gantz as vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, effective January 9, 2023. The leadership position reports directly to the president.

Students from Cecil College now can easily transfer into St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s chemistry and biochemistry majors with the signing of two new articulation agreements. Assistant Professor of Biochemistry Shanen M. Sherrer led the development of these agreements, which lay out the sequence of courses required at both institutions to allow transfer students to complete their bachelor’s degree in four semesters after their associate degree.

Associate Professor Geoffrey Bowers and Visiting Assistant Professor Victor Perez both assisted the Calvert Marine Museum with the recovery of a ~12 million year old fossil whale skull on Monday, December 19th.  The whale skull was found in a concretion on the beach in Calvert County estimated to weigh ~650 lbs.  Bowers and Perez worked with many other professional and amateur paleontologists on the project.  The skull can currently be viewed in the preparation area of the Calvert Marine Museum.  For more details, see the

Visiting assistant professor of economics Joshua Kaisen's paper, “When Believing is a Stretch: Prosocial Goal Communication in Reward-based Crowdfunding," will close out the 18th annual Product and Service Innovation Conference in Park City, Utah hosted by the University of Utah. The talk will be presented by the paper's co-author Daniel Zantedeschi.