George Shaw, professor emeritus of geosciences, described some of his hydrologic and chemical analysis results from more than 20 years ago to a meeting of the Schoharie Agriculture Extension Conservation Committee, which could be of relevance to their discussions concerning controlling the use of biosolids on croplands.

Megan Ferry, professor of Chinese and Asian studies in the modern languages and literatures department, was the keynote speaker for the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Kansas City, MO. Her talk was titled “Harnessing Multilingualism’s Superpowers for Global Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities.”

Kristin Bidoshi, professor of Russian and director of the Russian and East European studies program, presented a paper entitled “Teaching Language in the Age of AI: Practical Strategies and the Limits of Technology” at the Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology (NEALLT) Virtual Conference in April 2025. The paper, which explores the integration of Generative AI tools in beginning Russian language courses (RUS 100 and RUS 101), aligns with the conference theme, "Shaping the Future of Language Education: Technology, Advocacy, Equity." Bidoshi also presented a paper entitled “Teaching and Practicing AI Proficiency in a Literature Course” as part of the organized stream "Enhancing Collaboration and Creativity with Generative AI" at the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) Virtual Conference in February 2025.

Pattie Wareh, professor of English, participated in a Shakespeare Association conference seminar on race and place in Spenser and Shakespeare in March. She presented a paper entitled "Welcoming the Stranger: Troy in Spenser and Shakespeare." In this paper, she explored how two major Renaissance authors adapt the legendary story of the Trojan War; both emphasize the humanizing ability of identification with strangers, showing the value of hospitality and empathy as well exploring the question of how women’s agency is reduced by nationalistic projects.

Dr. Hasan Al Ba’ba’a, visiting assistant professor of mechanical engineering, recently published two research papers. The first paper, titled “Inverse Design of Topological Diatomic Lattices Based on Complex Phase Locus,” was co-authored with Dr. Jihong Ma, an assistant professor at the University of Vermont. This research paper was an invited submission and published in Frontiers in Acoustics as part of the "Acoustic Topological Insulators: Envisioned Applications and Technology Integration" research topic. It introduces an innovative inverse design method for one-dimensional diatomic lattices to achieve a specific phase locus that guarantees desired topological properties. The proposed method enables user-selected complex phase loci for the system's effective Hamiltonian to inverse design the lattice's unit cell, providing a more efficient and direct approach to designing topological lattices. The paper presents three representative shapes of complex phase loci: ellipse, epitrochoid, and hypotrochoid, which demonstrate the versatility and applicability of this new design approach.

The second paper is published in Mechanics Research Communications under the title "Onset of Wavenumber Bandgaps via Alternating Willis Coupling Signs". This research communication presents a method to create wavenumber bandgaps by alternating Willis coupling signs. It demonstrates that combining two identical Willis-type elastic layers, with opposite coupling signs, generates a unique reciprocal band structure with wavenumber bandgaps—despite the non-reciprocity of each layer when viewed independently. The article also highlights the similarities between materials with reversed-sign Willis coupling and a special class of bi-layered phononic crystals, showing that the role of alternating Willis coupling signs in opening wavenumber bandgaps is identical to the role of the bi-layered impedance contrast in opening frequency bandgaps.

Michael Sitvarin, visiting assistant professor of biology, pubished "A Simple Flowchart for Distinguishing Mono-, Para-, and Polyphyletic Groups in Cladograms" in The American Biology Teacher.

Robert Baker, the William D. Williams Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, published a paper “Show and slow codes: A historical analysis of clinicians' adaptations to ethical overreach," in the October 2024 issue of Bioethics. The piece deals with a form of civil disobedience healthcare practitioners engage in to prevent unnecessary intrusive interventions in dying patients.

Also, Baker delivered the Humanities Lecture, “"Neglected Contributions: The Activist Roots of American Bioethics,” on March 25 at Duke University's Trent Center for Medicine, Humanities and the History of Medicine. He also gave a paper on "Expunging History," to the Oxford-Mt. Sinai consortium conference at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City on April 2.

For the second straight year, Mahir Mohammad Tazwar ’26, an interdepartmental major in psychology and English from Dhaka, Bangladesh, was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious New York State Summer Writers Institute. The program gives students the opportunity to study with and attend readings by an award-winning faculty. It is an offshoot of the New York State Writers Institute created by Albany native and Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy.

Five professors (Mary Carroll, Colleen Connelly, Lee Pedzisa, Ellen Robertson and Christopher Whitehead) and thirteen students (Naya Alani, Khadija Amir, Ishika Chourasia, AJ Condemi, Raquel Dueñas, C'Lannye James, Caroline Monaco, Yenely Payano Lora, Jannie Pham, Shams Qureshi, Dan Singer, Owen Smith and Sasha Stark) attended the American Chemical Society (ACS) Spring 2025 Conference. The conference had more than 14,000 attendees. It was held in San Diego, CA from March 22 - 27.

Mary K. Carroll ’86, the Dwane W. Crichton Professor of Chemistry, is the 2025 immediate past president of the American Chemical Society. Among other activities, she participated in meetings of the ACS Board of Directors and its committees, including giving a presentation to the Board, and gave introductory remarks at the Clean Water Summit and the Presidential LGBTQ+ and Allies Reception. She presented an invited talk titled “Impactful mentoring of students in cross-disciplinary research,” co-authored by professor Ann Anderson, the Agnes S. MacDonald Professor of Mechanical Engineering, in the symposium honoring the recipient of the ACS Award for Encouraging Women into Careers in the Chemical Sciences.

Colleen Connelly, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, presented a poster titled “Harnessing chemical tools to investigate alternative structures in precursor microRNAs and their roles in microRNA regulation”. (Union undergrads that contributed to this research were Sophie Hurwitz ’21, Emma Devaney ’22, Morgan Duffany ’23, and Lani Waggoner ’24.)

Ellen Robertson, associate professor of chemistry, presented a talk titled "Hyphenated thermal gravimetric analysis of hydrophobically functionalized gold nanoparticles for assembly into peptoid nano-sandwiches". (Union undergrads that contributed to this research were C’Lannye James ’25, Raquel Dueñas ’25, Sasha Stark ’25, and Shams Qureshi ’25.)

Christopher Whitehead, assistant professor of chemistry, co-organized a symposium entitled, "PUNC: Nanomaterials Research at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions" within the Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry.

Yenely Payano Lora ’25 presented a poster titled “Graphene aerogels as oil adsorbents”. (Research directed by Mary Carroll ’86, Duane W. Crichton Professor of Chemistry; Ann Anderson, Agnes S. MacDonald Professor of Mechanical Engineering)

Owen Smith ’25 and Naya Alani ’25 co-presented a poster titled “Computational design and preliminary biological evaluation of fatty acid synthase inhibitors for cancer treatment”. (Research directed by Colleen Connelly, assistant professor of chemistry; Lee Pedzisa, visiting assistant professor of chemistry)

Sasha Stark ’25 presented a poster titled “Developing sequence design rules for peptoids capable of assembly into nano-sandwiches”. (Research directed by Ellen Robertson, associate professor of chemistry)

C’Lannye James ’25 presented a poster titled “TGA-FTIR-GC/MS studies of octanethiol-functionalized gold nanoparticles for assembly into peptoid nano-sandwiches”. (Research directed by Ellen Robertson, associate professor of chemistry)

C’Lannye James ’25 also presented a poster titled “Industrial hitchhikers: Uptake of organic contaminants onto microplastics”. (Research directed by Ashok Deshpande, NOAA)

Raquel Dueñas ’25 presented a poster titled “Greener synthesis of peptoids with varying hydrophobic monomers for the formation of peptoid nano-sandwich”. (Research directed by Ellen Robertson, associate professor of chemistry)

Khadija Amir ’26 presented a poster titled “Optimizing the solid-phase synthesis of amphiphilic peptoid sequences for the assembly of gold embedded nanosheets”. (Research directed by Ellen Robertson, associate professor of chemistry)

Dan Singer ’25 presented a poster titled “Addition of alcohols to coordinated imines, trends and applications”. (Research directed by Laurie Tyler, professor of chemistry)

Shams Qureshi ’25 and Jannie Pham ’25 co-presented a poster titled “One-pot synthesis of amino acid-derived heteroaryl ketones with use as potential S. commune metacaspase inhibitors”. (Research directed by Joanne Kehlbeck, professor of chemistry)

Ishika Chourasia ’25 presented a poster titled “Development of reactions for the five prime modification of RNA for structural visualization via fluorescent tagging.”. (Research directed by Lee Pedzisa, visiting assistant professor of chemistry)

AJ Condemi ’25 presented a poster titled “Catalytic Wittig approach to the Piperacase family of natural products”. (Research directed by Jim Adrian, professor of chemistry)

Caroline Monaco ’25 presented a talk titled “Assessment of microplastic distribution and composition in a contaminated tributary of the Mohawk River.” (Research directed by Ashok Deshpande, NOAA)

Four Union College students presented posters at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America. Rajesh Khambete '25 presented "The effect of elevation and soil moisture on water use efficiency of understory plants;" Sienna Dunham '25 presented "Darwin's Naturalization Conundrum revisited: The limited role of phylogenetic and trait distances as predictors of nonnative plant success;" Andrew Mitchell '25 presented "Does forest management have unintended consequences for habitat restoration?;" and Nora Kliczewski '26 presented "Nitrogen and salt pollution in Connecticut streams: A preliminary study."

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