Associate Dean's Message - April 19, 2022

Dear GSBS

Last week I joined the Genetics and Neuroscience programs for their joint student/faculty retreat at the Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was a great three days of captivating talks, posters, and discussions from students and faculty; an amazing keynote lecture by Dr. Kevin Bath from Columbia University on early life stress; a DEI session lead by invited speaker Gladys Shaw (a PhD candidate from Virginia Commonwealth University); and, of course, the obligatory Maine lobster dinner. The retreat also provided the opportunity for students to hike in Acadia National Park, gather in town, and foster a greater sense of community in a scenic mansion by the ocean. Faculty and staff from Boston and Bar Harbor met to further develop the collaborative relationship between the two campuses.

I am also pleased to announce that two GSBS students have been awarded the 2022 Tufts Presidential Award for Civic Life. This award is the highest recognition for service, leadership, and civic engagement conferred by Tufts University. Logan Schwartz (Genetics at JAX) has been a student advocate through the Tufts-JAX Graduate Student Association and is active in a number of community organizations in Bar Harbor and on Mount Desert Island. Iris Montes (CMDB) has been very involved in the GSBS Anti-racism Working Group, organizing a number of panel events and speakers. She was also a member of the curriculum group, which evaluated courses through an anti-racism lens, and is the President of SACNAS/SPINES. Please join me in congratulating Logan and Iris on their efforts to make Tufts, GSBS, and their local communities better, more welcoming places.

Dan Volchok, Associate Dean