Williamstown – Markes E. Johnson, the Charles L. MacMillan Professor of Natural Sciences at Williams College, has been awarded a Petroleum Research Fund grant for $50,000 by the American Chemical Society.
The grant is the eighth award Johnson has received through the American Chemical Society since 1979. The Petroleum Research Fund, which promotes research participation in geology and chemistry on both the undergraduate and graduate levels, has enabled more than 50 Williams students to accompany Johnson on his frequent excursions to the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico since 1990.
The current grant will support research on his project, "Paleography and Correlation of Pliocene Basins in the Gulf of California." The project is aimed at understanding the development of one of the planet's youngest seas, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Expansion of the Gulf over the last five million years is being traced by Johnson and his students along former shorelines uplifted by as much as 650 ft. above sea level.
Johnson has been at Williams since 1977, and has taught courses in historical geology, paleobiology, and stratigraphy.
He is the author of "Discovering the Geology of Baja California – Six Hikes on the Southern Gulf Coast" (University of Arizona Press, 2002) and co-editor of "Pliocene Carbonates and Related Facies Flanking the Gulf of California" (Geological Society of America Special Paper, 1997), among works most closely related to ongoing field studies in Mexico.
Previous awards include a Class of 1945 World Fellowship for his project, "Island Ecology Through Geologic Time" and grant support from the National Geographic Society for research on former shorelines in Western Australia, Siberia, and China's Inner Mongolia.
Johnson is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and a member of the Paleontological Society, among other professional groups. He received his B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1971 and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1977.
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Bicycle Film Festival Comes to The Berkshires
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) has traveled to London, Tokyo, and Melbourne – in total 100 cities around the globe.
Now, for the first time, this acclaimed festival celebrating the bicycle in all its forms lands in the Berkshires at The Stationery Factory in Dalton on June 16.
Experience a day-long festival featuring two curated screenings of short films accompanied by family-friendly rides and bicycle-related vendors. The festival is hosted by the Pittsfield Community Design Center and the Berkshire Chapter of New England Mountain Biking Association (NEMBA).
The festival's inaugural sponsor is Housatonic Heritage with more to come.
According to a press release:
BFF: Berkshires is designed to appeal to cyclists of all ages and interests from mountain bikers to long-distance racers and everyone in between. BFF: Berkshires offers an international window into the passionate cycling movement by presenting films of a caliber that speak to film connoisseurs and avid cyclists alike. These films celebrate what makes bicycling special and showcase why bicycling is attracting a growing following worldwide, including in the Berkshires.
"I wanted to bring the excitement I experienced watching the virtual Bicycle Film Festival over the past few years in person to my community in Western Massachusetts," BFF: Berkshires' co-producer and Pittsfield Community Design Center organizer Nick Russo said. "This festival promises to kick off a true bike renaissance that builds on work being done countywide from the expansion of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to encouraging more students to bike to school."
With an Adventure Shorts screening at 2 pm and Select Shorts at 6 pm featuring 16+ films in total, BFF: Berkshires will bring local audiences a full range of documentaries, narratives, and animations by award-winning directors and emerging talents – all sharing equal billing.
The game-winning rally started when Pittsfield junior Jack Abel led off by crushing a 1-1 pitch to left-center and racing all the way to third base, sliding in just ahead of the tag to give the Generals a sterling scoring opportunity. click for more
The Pittsfield baseball team Saturday rallied for five runs in the top of the sixth inning to break a 5-5 tie and went on to a 12-5 win over Clinton in the quarter-finals of the Division 4 State Tournament. click for more
In addition to the annual "Moment of Appreciation" school tradition when graduates each give a flower to a faculty member who impacted their life in a significant way, two seniors made appreciation for their parents a major theme of their remarks.
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Amanda Pou was named the most valuable player of the regional final after striking out four and walking none in a complete-game effort in the circle. She also ripped a two-run double in Pittsfield’s four-run fourth-inning rally to break open a scoreless game. click for more
