Faculty Focus - May 21, 2026
Faculty members put their knowledge into action so students and others are able to benefit from it. Recently, faculty published papers in prestigious outlets and presented at renowned conferences.
Sara Ashpole
A class project has turned into a published research paper, and St. Lawrence students have a journal credit to show for it.
R. Sheldon and Virginia H. Johnson Professor in the Sciences Sara Ashpole and Associate Professor of Chemistry Matthew Skeels, along with students Dashiell Andrews, Satchel Toole, and Arianna Roeder-Fabos recently published research examining mercury contamination in frogs from a historically industrial area of northern New York.
The work began in Ashpole's Global Amphibian Decline course, where Andrews and Toole first measured mercury levels in frog livers as a class project with the help of Professor Skeels. Last fall, Roeder-Fabos picked up the original report, revised and polished it, and the collaboration made it all the way to publication in the journal Pollution.
Bob Cowser
Professor of English Bob Cowser has published a book review in River Teeth, one of the country's leading journals of narrative nonfiction. His review examines Artifact: Encounters with Campus Shooting Archives by Julija Šukys (West Virginia University Press), a new book that explores the archival aftermath of five North American campus shootings through the lens of the archival essay form. Cowser has been teaching nonfiction writing and film at St. Lawrence since 1998.
Neil Forkey
Associate Professor and Chair of Canadian Studies Neil Forkey was featured on North Country Public Radio's North Words program this week to discuss his new book, Defending a Borderland: Canadian and American Environmental Activism in the St. Lawrence Valley, published by the University of Massachusetts Press. The book traces the roots of grassroots environmental activism in the region, beginning with the "Slick of '76," a massive crude oil spill on the St. Lawrence River that became a catalyst for citizen organizing on both sides of the border. Forkey holds the Archie F. MacAllaster and Barbara Torrey MacAllaster Professorship of North Country Studies.
Jeff Frank
Professor of Education Jeff Frank has published a new paper in the journal Ethics and Education as part of a special issue he co-edited with Gottfried Schweiger of the University of Salzburg.
The paper, "Cultivating a Listening Heart in a Polarized Age: Hartmut Rosa's Thinking on Religion and Resonance, and What It Means for Education," argues that drawing on religion, specifically philosopher Hartmut Rosa's framework of "resonance," offers a meaningful path forward in an era of deepening social division.
The paper also gently revisits John Dewey's thinking on religion, suggesting Rosa's approach opens up richer possibilities for educators.
Robin Rhodes
Robin Rhodes was invited to speak at the U.S. Embassy's Innovating Together: The U.S.-Rwanda Talent Technology Forum on May 6 in Kigali.
Rhodes is currently in Rwanda on a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award, where she has spent the past nine months conducting research and teaching.
At the forum, she shared findings from her recent research and discussed how educational technologists can learn from teacher resiliency in Rwanda.
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St. Lawrence’s Faculty Focus is a regular roundup of noteworthy faculty news.
