Research by Dr. Rollin F. Tusalem, associate professor of political science, has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Politics and Policy. His analysis explores female legislators’ role with policy outcomes in the developing world. Using a panel study of 64 developing states, Tusalem found empirical evidence showing the increased share of females in national legislatures in the global south corresponds to legal and policy environments that promote gender equality and poverty alleviation.

Dr. Fernando Belmont Bernal, assistant professor of chemistry at Campus Querétaro, is co-author with two collaborators on a recent publication, “Electronic Structure of Curcuminoids with Potential Medical Applications: A Theoretical Insight” in the Journal of Structural Chemistry. Curcumin is a compound with reported therapeutic effects, including antioxidant, antimycotic and antibacterial properties.  The publication is now available online.

Dr. Cameron Wimpy, assistant professor and interim department chair, is co-author of a paper that has been published in Nature: Scientific Data. In the paper, titled "American Election Results at the Precinct Level," the researchers make the first effort of its kind to make reliable and validated election returns from official sources at the precinct level available nationwide. The group’s research is now available online.

Congratulations to Victoria (Tori) Shann, Access and Accommodation Services, winner of the Staff Senate’s PROPS Award for November. In addition to her administrative assistant duties, she is helping update their website, assisting with golf cart pickups for students with physical or health-related disabilities, helping proctor tests, and serving as a reader or scribe when needed. More details about Shann are in an online interview.

Dr. Jonathan Merten, associate professor of chemistry, gave an invited talk about his National Science Foundation-funded work at LIBS2022, an international conference in Bari, Italy.  The talk was titled “Death of a LIP-Influence of Reactive Gas on Persistence of Ground State Vapor.”  Co-authors on the talk included students and graduates in chemistry, Erin Nicholas, Shawnda Ethridge and Shealyn Chestnut, and in biology, Hannah Bariola and Marybeth Foster.