New Faculty Join the Allegheny Community
One comes from the Ozarks. Another spent much of his childhood and early career in Europe. Alpine skiing and racing is a hobby of another. And their expertise ranges from studying climate change policy to researching the Jewish community farming movement to predicting protein disorders in diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
These are among the eight new full-time professors joining the Allegheny faculty in the fall 2016 semester. We asked them to share some brief background information and another interesting fact or two about their lives so the community could get to know them better.
Matthew Bethurem, visiting assistant professor of environmental science:
Please share your academic/teaching background.
I received a bachelor’s degree in antiquities (the study of ancient civilizations) from Missouri State University in 2002, a master’s in public policy administration from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 2008, a master’s in public health from the University of Missouri–Columbia in 2011, and my Ph.D. from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2016.
What are your academic/research interests?
Climate change governance and policy is my focus—specifically looking at the ways that climate change can be addressed at small scales (e.g. cities). I’m also interested in examining efforts aimed at the localization of food systems—both as a response to climate change, but also as a general sustainability and quality of life initiative. More generally, I’m interested in the way societies choose to address environmental problems through policy and participative democracy.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
My academic background is somewhat more varied than the average Ph.D.—in addition to the degrees listed above, I studied both engineering (briefly) and biology (2.5 years) before settling on a pathway through the undergraduate experience. I’m the first person in my family to attend college, and I spent many years working blue-collar jobs (warehouses, driving forklifts, etc.) before settling on the life of an academic.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
I’m from a region of the country known as the Ozarks, so if people have never met a real-life hillbilly, they should feel free to introduce themselves.
Matt Carter, visiting assistant professor of geology
Please share your academic/teaching background.
My educational background includes a bachelor of science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a master’s from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities. I am joining Allegheny College after working for three years as a consultant with Eriksfiord Inc. in Houston, Texas.
What are your academic/research interests?
My research utilizes field, analytical and experimental techniques to study broad-based questions related to plate tectonics. I have focused on processes that occur in the Earth’s crust to address the dynamic between deformation and fluid-rock interactions. These investigations help to improve our understanding of plate tectonic dynamics (i.e. formation and break-up of supercontinents) as well as the location and development of economic mineral deposits (petroleum, minerals, etc.). In addition, I interpret subsurface geology to assist in the characterization of reservoirs (petroleum, geothermal, etc.), which aims to improve production and assist in future exploration.
Academically, I am interested in developing a new minor at Allegheny relating to energy and society. Currently, over three-quarters of the world’s energy consumption is derived from coal, oil and natural gas, which were formed through geological processes. While these energy sources have been paramount for advancing technology and driving the global economy, they are unsustainable in the long-run and their use has negatively impacted the environment. Energy touches many aspects our global society; therefore, I envision integrating courses from the geology, environmental science, political science and economics departments into the new minor as well as fundamentals from other STEM disciplines.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
I was a student-athlete to some extent through all of my college education. I skied on the club Alpine ski racing team at the University of Wisconsin, where I was voted captain and MVP my senior year. I played club Ultimate Frisbee while I was at the University of Texas. And, I raced in a non-competitive alpine ski league once a week while doing my PhD at the University of Minnesota.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
During graduate school at the University of Minnesota, I taught myself how to kite ski during the winter on the frozen Minnesota lakes (think kite-boarding on snow with Alpine skis). One winter, I participated in the Mille Lacs Kite Crossing, which is a 20-mile race across a section of Mille Lacs Lake with about 40 other kiters.
Oliver Bonham-Carter, visiting assistant professor of computer science:
Please share your academic/teaching background.
I earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Creighton University, a master’s degree in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in information science and technology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. My dissertation concerned the investigation of biological signals in genetic information using computational methods and analysis. Specifically, my research work served to determine some of the reasons for the muscular tissue breakdowns after an exposure to zero-gravity during space flight.
What are your academic/research interests?
Much of my graduate work as well as the publication of several journal and conference articles was sponsored by multiple NASA grants. My general research experiences and interests include the prediction of the terrestrial protein disorders found in many diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s, text mining of large biological and medical data, creating music from genetic information, and designing novel methods for encryption using methods from bioinformatics.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
While born in America, I was raised in a traditional English family from London, and have an extensive family in France. Because of my international family, I spent much of my childhood and early adulthood summers in England and in France while visiting family and studying languages and arts. After obtaining my bachelor’s degree, I spent seven years living, studying and working in France. I studied French languages, poetry and art at the Sorbonne. I am an enthusiastic poet and have won several poetry awards. I joined a French bio-tech company in Paris, where I applied my biological expertise to mathematically and computationally analyze their data. I also continued to apply my poetry skills to describe the outcomes of my data-analysis. While my boss sometimes disagreed with the style and the mood of these reports, the clients of the company were always enthusiastic to receive them. During this work experience, I developed a strong desire to be able to design my own computational analytical tools, a desire which led me into graduate school at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a career in academia.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
My favorite activities include exploring new hiking spots with my wife, Janyl, and son, Vincent; solving Rubik’s cubes; writing small poetry pieces; and trying to decide between a marmite or a cucumber sandwich, or a slice of Camembert on a slice of baguette.
Adrienne Krone, assistant professor of religious studies and director of Jewish life
Please share your academic/teaching background.
I have a Ph.D. in American religion from Duke University (2016). I also have an M.A. in religion from Duke University (2011) and a B.A. in religious studies from Stony Brook University (2005). Prior to coming to Allegheny, I taught world religions at Durham Technical Community College in Durham, N.C., and a Judaism and Food course at Elon University in Elon, N.C. In addition to teaching at Allegheny, I will also be the director of Jewish life. I have a background working as a religious school director and teacher, a youth group advisor and a program coordinator at the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, and I staffed a Birthright Israel trip.
My broad interests are American religious history, contemporary Judaism, food studies and animal studies. My current research focuses on religious responses to industrial food and the Jewish community farming movement.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
In terms of unusual combinations, I spend my summers doing ethnographic fieldwork on Jewish community farms. I have visited and worked on 16 Jewish community farms in the United States and Canada over the last four summers. So, during the year I spend my time teaching, grading, reading and writing, and in the summers I spend my time outside weeding beds, harvesting fruits and vegetables, watering plants and milking goats.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
I do a lot of canning—jam, pickles and sauerkraut mostly. I am also originally from outside of Buffalo and I’ve been living in the South (North Carolina) for a while so I’m excited to be back up here where it snows!
Julia Ludewig, assistant professor of German
Please share your academic/teaching background.
I obtained my B.A. in cultural studies from the University of Frankfurt upon Oder (Germany), my M.A. in European Linguistics from Freiburg University (Germany), and my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from SUNY Binghamton. I also enjoyed teaching German language and culture in the summer program at Middlebury College.
What are your academic/research interests?
I am interested in foreign-language learning and teaching, comics and graphic novels, as well as linguistics.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
Even though as a teacher and scholar I am focused on German, I love to learn other languages for fun. I learned a little bit of Ancient Greek, Nahuatl (an indigenous language of Mexico) and Farsi.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
I couch-surfed my way through Alaska.
Brian Miller, visiting assistant professor of history
Please share your academic/teaching background.
In 2015 I defended by dissertation, Reshaping the Turkish Nation-State, at the University of Iowa, earned my M.A. from Georgia State University and my BA from John Carroll University.
What are your academic/research interests?
I am interested in the interconnected histories of Europe and the Middle East. My research interests include the history of development, migration/diaspora studies and the history of nationalism.
What are your Unusual Combinations?
I was a Crossing Borders Fellow at the University of Iowa in which we thought across national and disciplinary borders. I shared classes with students from a variety of disciplines that diversified my thinking on historical issues. This expanded approach influences my research/teaching and includes elements of anthropology, sociology and gender studies. I also speak Turkish.
Please share one fun fact/interest about yourself.
Before graduate school, I studied zymology and was a professional brewer.