The Academic Minute for 2015.05.25 – 05.29

Catch up with The Academic Minute from 5.25- 5.29

Monday, May 25
Jon Mikolashek – American Public University
False Historical Narratives
Jon Mikolashek is currently an Associate Professor of History at the United States Army Command and General Staff College and American Military University. Previously, he worked as a historian for the United States Army Center of Military History at Ft. McNair in Washington, D.C. in the Contemporary Studies Branch and as a military/political analyst for the Terrorism Research Center in Arlington, Virginia. In addition, he has taught at Florida State University, James Madison University, and community colleges.

Tuesday, May 26
Michael Rawlins – UMass Amherst
Climate Change 2015
Dr. Michael Rawlins is an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and the manager of its Climate System Research Center. He was a visiting Research Assistant Professor at Dartmouth College prior to his appointment at Amherst and a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow from 2007-2009. In 2010 Dr. Rawlins led a study in collaboration with researchers at 17 institutions around the world which documented an intensification of the Arctic’s freshwater cycle. His current research focuses on regional climate variability and change with an emphasis on Arctic water and carbon cycles. He is the principle investigator of a NASA supported project in which he and his colleagues are synthesizing information from multiple data source which quantify carbon cycle processes across northern Eurasia. Dr. Rawlins is a 2015 University of Massachusetts Public Engagement Faculty Fellow. He holds BS and MS degrees from the University of Delaware and received his PhD from the University of New Hampshire in Earth and Environmental Sciences in 2006.

Wednesday, May 27
Sarah Johnson – Florida State University
Blueberry Benefits
Sarah Johnson is the assistant director of the Center for Advancing Exercise and Nutrition Research on Aging at Florida State. Her clinical research focuses on the role of functional foods, bioactive components, dietary supplements, and other nutrition interventions in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and conditions.

Thursday, May 28
Park Williams – Columbia University
Megadroughts
Park Williams is an assistant research professor at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. A bioclimatologist, his research straddles climatology and ecology. His specific interests focus on climate variability and change, and how these impact the living world. He wants to improve understanding of drought and its effects on ecosystems, carbon budgets, agriculture and humanity. His ultimate goal is to advance scientific knowledge in ways relevant and interesting to the public and policy makers.

Friday, May 29
Dylan McNamara- UNCW
Coastline Economics
Dylan McNamara is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. McNamara received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Salisbury University, a Master of Science in physics from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. His current research interests include linked human-environmental dynamical systems, non-linear time series forecasting, machine learning, and coastal morphodynamics.