Dynamic Ecosystem Biodiversity Observatory Director: Michael W. Palmer The DEBO Center for Scholarship is named in honor of OSU librarian and historian Angie Debo (1890-1988) who was the leading scholar of the Oklahoma landscape. DEBO works closely with Tulsa University and the Nature Conservancy, which manages the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve just north of Pawhuska, Okla. OSU graduate students provide walking tours, identify research techniques and collect small mammals for their research projects. “The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is the closest we can get to prehistoric landscape,” says Michael W. Palmer, the center’s director and a Regents Professor in botany. “The preserve is unparalleled in the world with an incredible, expansive area that hasn’t been plowed.” He says the soil is intact and offers at least 760 species of plants. Some DEBO projects involve understanding fire regimes over the past 300 years; examining biodiversity of plant viruses; researching sustainable grazing of livestock in a way that helps nature rather than hurts; studying the effects of tornadoes on forests; and analyzing bison behavior. Ethics Center Director: Scott D. Gelfand The Ethics Center, which has been affiliated with the OSU Department of Philosophy for about seven years, is the only college or university ethics institute or center in the state. It works to engage people in ethical thought and deliberation on controversial topics so they can better understand each side of an argument. The center hosts public panel discussions with panelists coming from the philosophy department or other areas of OSU. Topics range from law enforcement to health care. They also host conferences in Tulsa and Stillwater. “We do not favor one argument over another,” says Scott D. Gelfand, the center’s director and an associate professor of philosophy. He also says the center doesn’t sponsor debates because there is no decisive winner or loser. “We simply make both sides of an argument available,” Gelfand says. Milton Center Director: Edward J. Jones The Milton Center is the academic home of the Milton Quarterly, the first journal in the U.S. devoted exclusively to in-depth articles, review essays, book reviews, abstracts and miscellaneous notes and notices about John Milton’s works, career, literary surroundings and place in cultural history. Now in its fifth decade of publication, the journal has become the most reliable and up-to-date source of information about John Milton worldwide. In 2005, Peter M.A. Sherwood, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, established the Milton Center when Edward Jones, associate professor of English, took over as editor. The center houses an extensive library of primary and secondary materials related to Milton scholarship. Jones and the Sherwood Fellow, a graduate student in English who also assists with the production of the Milton Quarterly, oversee the library. Since 2005, every book published on Milton has become part of the library, and efforts continue to obtain books from previous years. The benefit of the archive extends to graduate students in English who are pursuing Milton as their primary or secondary research area. Student Centers While the College of Arts and Sciences is home to eight centers with interdisciplinary programs, other centers provide assistance to challenges students may face in the classroom. Two of the college’s most used centers are the Writing Center and the Math Learning Resource Center. Rebecca L. Damron, assistant professor of English, is the director of the Writing Center that was formed in 1976 with the primary goal of helping individuals one-on-one to become more effective writers. Anywhere from 1,500 to 1,600 contacts are made for tutorials throughout a semester, a number that has doubled in the last two years. “Our existence revolves around writing and helping people write,” says Damron. “We provide our service to everyone on campus. Sometimes we are here to be cheerleaders for outstanding work or simply to just read the text and provide a different opinion.” The Math Learning Resource Center was established in 1985 to serve undergraduate mathematics students. Professor and head of the mathematics department Dale E. Alspach oversees the center that provides tutoring. The center averages approximately10,000 student visits in the fall; 6,500 in the spring, and 600 in the summer. Arts and Sciences center directors are, from left, Bruce L. Battles, coordinator of the Center for Application of Remote Sensing; David M. Neal, Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events; and Edward P. Walkiewicz, Cimarron Review. Not pictured is Scott D. Gelfand, director of the Ethics Center. Photo by Gary Lawson College of Arts and Sciences 20 college news
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