St. Lawrence in the News-June 27, 2022
This regular roundup features a selection of recent mentions of St. Lawrence University and its students, faculty, and staff in regional, national, and international media outlets.
Matthew Skeels
Outside the walls of a traditional classroom, Associate Professor of Chemistry Matthew Skeels is an avid kayaker and former national champion. His recent paddle on the Grasse River was featured in an article published by the New York Times on June 22. A subscription is required to read the article.
At St. Lawrence, Skeels teaches courses on general chemistry, quantitative analysis, bioanalytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, environmental chemistry, and biochemistry. His research interests include protein folding, medicinally relevant alkaloids, and androgen receptors.
Howard Eissenstat
Associate Professor of History Howard Eissenstat’s expertise on Turkish affairs was cited in articles about Erdogan’s refusal to join Western sanctions on Russia published by France24.com and MSN.com on June 22.
Eissenstats's recent work has focused increasingly on contemporary Turkish domestic and foreign policy, especially on issues of rule-of-law, minority rights, and the reshaping of political culture under the Justice and Development Party (AKP). At St. Lawrence, he teaches courses on Middle Eastern history and politics and in the First-Year Seminar (FYS). In addition to traditional academic work, Eissenstat served for over a decade as a Turkey Country Specialist for Amnesty International-USA. He has lectured at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. military, and the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, as well as given testimony to the Canadian Senate and offered briefings to Congressional Committees.
Kristine Hoffman & Julia Sirois '23
As part of a six-week summer research project, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Kristine Hoffman, Newt, her labrador trained to detect several species of turtles, and Julia Sirois ’23, are scouring the Rhode Island landscape to find out how many of less common species of turtles are living there. The collaborative study was featured in articles published by People.com on June 13, and NBC news affiliate TurnToTen.org on June 10.
Hoffmann is an amphibian and reptile conservation biologist, with research interests in habitat relationships, community interactions, behavioral ecology, refinement of field and statistical techniques, and environmental outreach. She works to inform the public about wildlife and is a frequent public speaker hosted by Land Trusts and the Audubon Society.
Sirois, a conservation biology major, is a member of St. Lawrence’s Class of 2023 from Rumford, Maine.
Peter Pettengill
As National Parks continue to have an influx of visitors, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Peter Pettengill shared the importance of backcountry permits in an article published by TimesUnion.com on June 18 and AdirondackExploreer.org on June 12.
Pettengill has worked for the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management and conducted fieldwork in Acadia, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Zion National Parks. He holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont, an M.S. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School, and a B.S. in Environmental & Resource Economics from the University of New Hampshire.
Permaculture Garden
St. Lawrence’s permaculture garden provides members of the community with an opportunity to practice their green thumb by maintaining a garden plot. Reporters at NCPR dug into one of St. Lawrence's sustainability hubs to share their experience in an article published on June 11.
