Education

Press Room: UAB student selected for prestigious national fellowship

The Birmingham Times — andra Cutts, a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering doctoral candidate, has been selected as one of 60 students to be a 2019 John A. Knauss Marine Policy fellow.

Published

6 years ago

February 16, 2019

Oakland Post

By Yvonne Taunton

After a week of interviews in legislative offices on Capitol Hill, Sandra Cutts, a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering doctoral candidate, has been selected as one of 60 students to be a 2019 John A. Knauss Marine Policy fellow.

Cutts is also one of only 14 of those students selected for a post in a legislative office for a one-year period. Cutts’ one-year fellowship in the highly competitive program begins this month in Mississippi’s U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s office in Washington, D.C. There, Cutts will gain a unique educational and professional experience in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources, and in the national policy decisions affecting those valuable water resources.

“Initially, I was funding my own graduate education here at UAB; but my adviser, Dr. Robert Peters, frequently notified his graduate students concerning funding, educational and personal growth opportunities,” Cutts said. “I received this fellowship opportunity from Dr. Peters, applied for the competitive NOAA Sea Grant and was selected to receive a one-year position as a Legislative Knauss fellow. I am excited to be part of the program and work in Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s office to address issues in the Southern region and problems impacting the nation.”

The nationally recognized fellowship requires candidates to provide credentials and address questions related to the interest and desires to mitigate the damage to the Earth, particularly the environment and oceans.

“Sandra has had a keen interest and awareness in environmental public policy, so the Sea Grant Knauss fellowship provides her with an excellent opportunity to be involved with congressional policies and activities, which should be an asset to her professional growth and development,” said Robert Peters, Ph.D., professor of environmental engineering for UAB’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering.

As a doctoral student in environmental engineering, Cutts has studied properties that face redevelopment or reuse issues because they contain — or are perceived to contain — pollutants or contaminants. She is looking at redeveloped sites for trends and characteristics that could ultimately encourage stakeholder investment in cleaning up these sites, known as brownfields.

In addition to her coursework, she has been an intern with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, General Services Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Energy’s Savannah River site. Cutts also performed environmental research in Africa, where she investigated the use of solar panels in Saharan areas.

Cutts says she has taken full advantage of graduate programs available at UAB, some of which she says helped her during the Knauss Grant application and interview process.

Lori McMahon, Ph.D., dean of the UAB Graduate School, encouraged Cutts to participate in UAB’s Three Minute Thesis competition. It gave Cutts an opportunity to refine her research topic — redeveloping former contaminated or perceived contaminated properties known as brownfields — and articulate scientific concepts concisely so they could be understandable to the general public and relatable to municipalities across the United States.

The relevance and importance of Cutts, environmental and human health research — and its potential societal impact — made her interviewers excited and, ultimately, solidified her selection.

Gaining policy insight

Working as a legislative fellow will provide Cutts with policy insight. Involvement in this process will give her the opportunity to shape the direction and type of research that would ultimately assist national policy and address and resolve constituent concerns.

“Her involvement will benefit both Mississippi and Alabama, under the coordination of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, which selected Sandra as its Knauss Marine Policy fellow,” Peters said.

“She will also benefit from this experience on her dissertation activities. The primary objective of her dissertation research is to investigate the likelihood of brownfield redevelopments in the United States and the factors influencing successful redevelopment, such as previous land use, current land use, type of contaminant and remediation activity. Then she will determine the likelihood of a successful brownfield redevelopment using statistical analyses.”

Hyde-Smith says she is excited to have Cutts on her staff.

“Sandra will have an opportunity to provide input in legislative and policy matters related to preserving Mississippi’s abundant natural resources,” Hyde-Smith said.

Cutts hopes to learn how policy and science intersect, the procedures and implementation of environmental legislation, and how scientific research can have an impact on policy.

The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium endorsed Cutts’ application, and she was the only applicant in Alabama or Mississippi to be selected as a fellow.

The Fellowship is named after John A. Knauss, one of the National Sea Grant’s founders and former NOAA administrator. The fellowship matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and executive branch of government in Washington, D.C. The National Sea Grant College Program has administered the fellowship program since 1979 and has since placed more than 1,200 early-career professionals in government offices and agencies in Washington, D.C., to work as science advisers.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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Art

A Prolific Painter: Artist and Advocate Lois Mailou Jones

Lois Mailou Jones was a prominent African American artist whose career spanned more than seven decades, from the Harlem Renaissance to the modern art movement. She was not only a prolific painter but also an influential educator, bridging cultural gaps and challenging stereotypes through her vibrant and diverse works.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Courtesy of National Archives, Washington, D.C.

By Tamara Shiloh

Her unique journey of self-expression, dedication to art, and advocacy for African American and African themes made her a crucial figure in the evolution of American art.

Jones was born on Nov. 3, 1905, in Boston. Raised in an intellectual and supportive family, she demonstrated an early interest in art, encouraged by her mother, who believed in the importance of creativity. Lois studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she faced racial challenges but persisted in pursuing her passion.

Her pursuit of higher education led her to the prestigious Design Art School, where she perfected her skills in textile design. Later, Jones attended Harvard University and received further training at the Académie Julian in Paris. This European experience greatly influenced her style and broadened her perspective on art.

Jones’s career began in textile design, creating works that were used by leading textile companies. However, her true passion was painting. During the Harlem Renaissance, she moved away from textile design to focus on fine art, exploring themes that reflected her heritage and the African diaspora.

Her early works were influenced by European Post-Impressionism, featuring landscapes and still life, but Jones’s style evolved over time. After spending time in Haiti, she was deeply inspired by Caribbean culture, and her palette became more vivid, her subject matter more symbolic. The influence of African and Caribbean culture is evident in her later works, where she used bright colors and geometric patterns to convey the spirit and stories of the people she encountered.

Her contributions to African American art were significant during a time when Black artists struggled for recognition. She often focused on themes of African heritage, pride, and unity, blending African illustrations and portraits with Western artistic techniques to create a unique visual language that celebrated Black culture.

She was also a dedicated educator. She began her teaching career at Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina and later became a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she taught for almost 50 years. Through her teaching, she influenced generations of young Black artists, encouraging them to explore and express their cultural heritage through art.

In the 1930s and 1940s, she worked to exhibit her work alongside other Black artists, helping to create a platform for voices that had long been excluded from mainstream galleries.

Recognition and Legacy

Jones achieved significant recognition throughout her lifetime, both in the United States and internationally. She exhibited her work across the globe, including in Paris, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Jones continued painting until her death in 1998, leaving behind a rich legacy of artistic achievements and contributions to art education. She broke boundaries by celebrating Black identity and heritage at a time when these themes were often marginalized.

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California Black Media

New California Law Will Protect Students During Extreme Weather

On Sept. 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will protect students from extreme weather conditions by requiring the California Department of Education to develop guidelines for school districts to implement during weather patterns harmful to student health. Authored by Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), “Yahushua’s Law” or Senate Bill 1248 addresses an extreme heat-related fatality in Lake Elsinore. During the summer of 2023, a student died after participating in physical education suffered extreme heat-related illness.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Yahushua Robinson

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

On Sept. 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will protect students from extreme weather conditions by requiring the California Department of Education to develop guidelines for school districts to implement during weather patterns harmful to student health.

Authored by Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), “Yahushua’s Law” or Senate Bill 1248 addresses an extreme heat-related fatality in Lake Elsinore. During the summer of 2023, a student died after participating in physical education suffered extreme heat-related illness.

“No student should ever lose their life on campus to extreme weather when we can take steps to protect them by preparing statewide plans to minimize exposure to the most harmful elements of exposure,” Sen. Hurtado stated last Spring. “I commend the family of Yahushua Robinson, the twelve-year student who lost his life due to heat related illness during on-campus physical education, for lending their emotional strength and compassion for others in order to help ensure that no other student loses their life this way.”

Supporters of the legislation say the lack of uniform guidelines and protocols across schools and school districts in California intensifies the issue, creating an urgent need for safeguards to ensure student safety during extreme weather conditions.

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California Black Media

More Than 1.2 Million Youth Pre-Registered to Vote, Secretary of State Weber Announced

Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber announced on Sept. 26 that more than 1.2 million young people between the ages of 16 and 17-years-old have pre-registered to vote since the state launched the initiative in September 2016. The state program automatically activates voter registration for pre-registered youth when they turn 18 years of age.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber. Photo Courtesy of ShirleyWeber.com.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Weber, who has visited dozens of high schools across the state to promote voting initiatives, said that students are eager to vote and look forward to casting their first ballot, and “the numbers back them up.”

“Young Californians want to be engaged, active participants in our democracy and they can position themselves to do so by preregistering to vote,” said Weber.

Weber said that she is committed to encouraging young people to pre-register to vote, adding that she looks forward to partnering with the California Department of Education, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, school officials, and leaders of community-based organizations to expand this effort.

According to Weber’s office, approximately 42% of young voters are registered Democrats, while over 13% are registered Republicans. Another 35% of young voters registered as having “no party preference.”

For more information, Californians can visit the online pre-registration website at www.RegisterToVote.ca.gov. Registration is open to residents who are 16 or 17 and meet all the following criteria:

A United States citizen and a resident of California.
18 years old or older on Election Day.
Not currently serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony
Not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court.

More information about pre-registration for California youth can be found at sos.ca.gov/elections/pre-register-16-vote-18.

Upcoming key deadlines and dates for the November 5, 2024, General Election can be found at here.

Plus, visit http://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/statewide-elections/2024-primary/section-08-general-election-calendar.pdf to view a complete California General Election Calendar with more voting details and updates.