Columbian College Press Releases
Biology Professor Maps the Family Tree of All Known Snake and Lizard Groups
May 8, 2013
A George Washington University biologist and a team of researchers have created the first large-scale evolutionary family tree for every snake and lizard around the globe. The findings were recently published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. Alex Pyron, the Robert F. Griggs Assistant Professor of Biology in GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, along with researchers from the City University of New York and Arizona State University, detail the cataloguing of 4,161 species of snakes and lizards, or squamates.
George Washington University Biologist Discovers New Dinosaur in China
May 3, 2013
Fossil remains found by a George Washington University biologist in northwestern China have been identified as a new species of small theropod, or meat-eating, dinosaur. The discovery was made by James Clark, the Ronald B. Weintraub Professor of Biology, in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Amit Ronen to Direct the George Washington University's Solar Institute
April 24, 2013
Recognized clean energy leader Amit Ronen will serve as the new director of the George Washington University’s Solar Institute, the university announced at its 5th Annual Solar Symposium Tuesday. Mr. Ronen will assume his new role in May.
“We are so pleased to have Amit joining the GW community in May and look forward to continuing our work on solar energy and finding ways to meet global energy needs and environmental challenges,” said Peg Barratt, dean of George Washington’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, who has helped to spearhead the institute, housed in the Columbian College since its inception in 2008.
George Washington University Launches National Parks Fellowship Certificate
April 23, 2013
A new graduate certificate program at the George Washington University has been created to strengthen knowledge of the natural and cultural resources that lie at the heart of the National Park Service (NPS) mission. The Certificate in Contexts of Environmental Policy will be offered by the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences beginning fall 2013. The program is designed for emerging leaders at NPS involved in the preservation and protection of public lands and cultural heritage. The graduate certificate is inspired by a gift from Roger and Frances Kennedy and made possible by the Friends of Roger Kennedy to establish a fellowship named for the late Roger Kennedy, a former director at the National Park Service and part-time professor of American Studies at GW.
George Washington University Appoints New Columbian College of Arts and Sciences Dean
April 8, 2013
Ben Vinson III, a renowned scholar and vice dean for Centers, Interdisciplinary Programs and Graduate Education at Johns Hopkins University, has been appointed as the new dean of the George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Vinson will begin serving in the leadership position on August 1.
Sri Lankan Snake Study Reveals New Species, Rich Biodiversity in Island Country
March 12, 2013
Alex Pyron’s expertise is in family trees. Who is related to whom, who begat whom, how did they get where they are now. But not for humans: reptiles. In 2011, his fieldwork in Sri Lanka studying snake diversity on the island led him to confirm the identity of 60 known species of snakes. With Sri Lankan collaborators, Ruchira Somaweera, an author on snakes and expert on amphibians and reptiles, and Dushantha Kandambi, a local naturalist and snake expert, the team collected the snakes and of those, Dr. Pyron used DNA sequencing technology on 40 of them. The study led to a greater understanding of how all the snakes are related to each other and their evolutionary relationship other species globally.
Columbian College to Offer LGBT Health Graduate Program, Certificate in Applied Health
March 4, 2013
George Washington University’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences has launched a new graduate certificate program in LGBT health to train current and future healthcare leaders and policy advocates on issues relating to the health and well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
The George Washington University Signs Agreement to Establish the GW Confucius Institute
January 14, 2013
The George Washington University will soon be home to the GW Confucius Institute to promote the study of Chinese language and culture, support Chinese teaching through instructional training and certification and enable prosperous growth of research on China Studies. Named for the famed Chinese philosopher (551-479 BC), the institute will be one of 360 worldwide and the first to be established in Washington, D.C.
January 10, 2013
A recently published paper by two George Washington University researchers shows that the running foot strike patterns vary among habitually barefoot people in Kenya due to speed and other factors such as running habits and the hardness of the ground. Kevin Hatala, a Ph.D. student in the Hominid Paleobiology doctoral program at George Washington, is the lead author of the paper in the recent edition of the journal Public Library of Science, or PLOS ONE, along with Brian Richmond, associate professor of anthropology within GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
Archive of 2012 Columbian College Press Releases
Archive of 2011 Columbian College Press Releases
