{"id":28057,"date":"2025-09-05T02:13:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T02:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-news\/?p=28057"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:13:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:13:55","slug":"maccolades-for-summer-2025-life-saving-technology-poetic-brilliance-top-gpas-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/maccolades-for-summer-2025-life-saving-technology-poetic-brilliance-top-gpas-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Life-saving technology, poetic brilliance, top GPAs"},"content":{"rendered":"

MACCOLADES, SUMMER 2025 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maccolades is a monthly round-up of the most recent accolades and accomplishments earned by members of the Macalester community. Below are highlights from summer 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean sweep<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last semester, Macalester participated in the <\/span>campus race to zero waste competition<\/span><\/a>. During the event, campuses across the country report the amount of compost, recycling, and trash collected each week to see which school is able to divert the most waste from landfills. Macalester is the first-place winner for the small campus division of the competition. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks to the collaboration of students, faculty, and staff, Macalester has been able to make a positive impact through reduction, reuse, and recycling efforts,\u201d said <\/span>Director of Sustainability<\/span> Megan Butler<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reporting on health in Argentina<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Eric Carter<\/b>, <\/span>Geography Department chair and Edens Professor of Geography and Global <\/span>Health, delivered a keynote speech at the provincial legislature of Tucum\u00e1n, Argentina, sharing years of research on the province\u2019s social determinants of health.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter has studied health disparities in Tucum\u00e1n for decades, including malaria control and community resilience during COVID-19. Most recently, he conducted a project on social capital and access to health care and social services with Laura Cordero, a fellow health geographer based in Tucum\u00e1n.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur work shows how ordinary people find the resources to protect their health and build social infrastructure under challenging circumstances of poverty, food insecurity, precarious housing, and exposure to natural hazards and infectious diseases,\u201d Carter said. \u201cIt was nice to be recognized for my long-term contributions to public health research in the region, and to promote international educational exchanges and collaborations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold standard for ultimate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Macalester student <\/span>Kyle Suelflow \u201926 <\/b>competed with Team USA in the mixed division at the 2025 World Flying Disc Federation World Under-24 Ultimate Championships in Logro\u00f1o, Spain in June. The team won all of their games and captured the gold medal. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leading the nation in GPA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The men\u2019s soccer team <\/span>registered the highest team grade-point average<\/span><\/a> among all men\u2019s soccer programs across all three NCAA divisions for the 2024-25 academic year. The Scots, coached by <\/span>Gregg Olson<\/b>, posted a GPA of 3.83, ahead of fellow Division III member Colorado College at 3.80. This is the second time in the past four years that Macalester\u2019s men\u2019s soccer team has had the highest GPA in the nation, achieving the feat during the 2021-22 academic year. Last year the Scots were second overall behind only MIT. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitch-perfect recognition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mike McGaghie<\/b>, professor of music and director of choral activities, will lead his Madison-based choir, the Isthmus Vocal Ensemble, at the American Choral Directors Association\u2019s Midwestern division conference in Milwaukee in February 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be invited to conduct at ACDA is a long-term accomplishment that rewards work over multiple years,\u201d he said. The audition requires conductors to submit recordings from the past three seasons. The Isthmus Vocal Ensemble was one of only two community choirs selected from the ten-state division.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur program is titled \u2018Belonging\/Becoming,\u2019 reflecting our belief that we grow best as individuals (and as nations) within the context of mutually supportive community,\u201d he said. \u201cThe repertoire includes works from nineteenth-century Europe, twentieth-century Ghana and Britain, and contemporary American composers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ensemble includes two of McGaghie\u2019s former students: <\/span>Elizabeth Everitt \u201920<\/b> and <\/span>Taryn Valley \u201914<\/b>. Both sang in the Macalester Concert Choir.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Macalester\u2019s<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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A life-saving signal<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zhijun He \u201926<\/b> led Team SEESALT to first place at the 2025 United Nations Tech Over Hackathon, hosted at UN Headquarters in partnership with UNICEF. <\/span>The international competition focused on \u201cchildren-centric climate emergency response.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their winning project\u2014developed for the \u201cSolving the Geo-Puzzle\u201d challenge\u2014used layered environmental data to create an early warning system for climate hazards affecting children. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe transformed sophisticated geospatial technology into something immediately accessible,\u201d He said. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tool processes satellite data from NASA and NOAA to identify climate risks and sends real-time alerts to families via a Telegram bot. The team created interactive maps for Cambodia, Kenya, and Tajikistan. <\/span>The open-source solution reached 95 percent completion and is ready for deployment as the first children-focused climate vulnerability assessment platform,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat excites me most is that our solution can directly save children\u2019s lives,\u201d He said. The system is under review for UN and UNICEF integration worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Macalester\u2019s<\/figure><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Striking gold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Ghazal Ali<\/b>, assistant professor of English and creative writing, was the gold poetry winner for the 2025 California Book Awards from the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California, one of the oldest and most distinguished literary award programs in the nation. Her poetry collection, <\/span>Theophanies<\/span><\/i><\/a>, was one of eleven winners out of hundreds of titles submitted. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Macalester<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Hands-on heritage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Professor Tamara von Schmidt-Pauli<\/b>, visiting instructor in Russian and faculty member of the Russian House, received the 2025 Slavic Arts Programming Grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to receive this support because it recognizes the importance of preserving and sharing Slavic cultural traditions in creative, hands-on ways,\u201d she said. \u201cIt also opens the door for broader community participation, especially intergenerational learning and cultural exchange.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This award supports a weeklong Slavic art experience in the summer, along with monthly workshops for kids and adults throughout the year. Participants will explore a variety of traditional folk arts while connecting them to contemporary themes and applications. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Macalester\u2019s<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Making waves in the classroom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America selected the Macalester men\u2019s and women\u2019s swim and dive teams for a Scholar All-America award. This recognition celebrates teams that achieve excellence in the classroom while competing at the highest levels in the pool. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoach <\/span>Kyllian Griffin<\/b>, the staff, and the entire team have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to academic and athletic success, and we are proud to recognize their efforts,\u201d said Samantha Barany, the association\u2019s executive director.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the unseen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chemistry Professor<\/span> Dennis Cao<\/b> received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for his project \u201cPyrazoloindazoles as Long Wavelength Chromophores and Emitters.\u201d The award also will fund summer research for twelve Macalester students, who will synthesize and study novel molecules that interact with near-infrared light, which has wavelengths longer than the human eye can see. These molecules have potential applications in solar energy harvesting and deep-tissue imaging.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piping hot wins<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In June in Chicago, Macalester\u2019s Grade 5 Pipe Band won first place among twelve bands in the Midwest Championship. The Grade 3 band took second place in both of their events and second overall against nine bands from around the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July at the Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games on campus, the Macalester Pipe Band won both the Grade 3 and Grade 5 competitions.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading the ice record<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Louisa Bradtmiller<\/b>, professor of environmental studies, was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation for her research in the southern Indian Ocean that explores the size changes of the Antarctic ice sheet in relation to changes in climate not connected to human greenhouse gas emissions. The timing of changes in the ice sheet holds clues about how this important region of the planet causes and responds to climate change. She will examine ocean sediment for unusual grains called ice rafted debris to provide data on how the ice sheet relates to known climate changes over the last three million years. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social life of lions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Stotra Chakrabarti,<\/b> assistant professor of biology, was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to investigate the ecological drivers of lion social behavior in Kenya\u2019s Tsavo Ecosystem. While lions in resource-rich savannas have long served as a model for sociality in mammals, this project shifts the lens to lesser-studied, prey-scarce environments where lion group dynamics remain misunderstood. The project explores how ecological variation shapes territoriality, social cohesion, and individual decision-making in lions. Advancing theories of animal behavior, the project will support long-term lion conservation and provide immersive research experiences for Macalester undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students, as well as Kenyan researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to be considered for future Maccolades<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you or someone you know recently earned an award, fellowship, or honor and would like it to be considered for inclusion in next month\u2019s Maccolades, please let Communications & Marketing know by filling out this<\/span> Maccolades form<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>For recent book publications, please use this<\/span> book publication form<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maccolades is a monthly round-up of the most recent accolades and accomplishments earned by members of the Macalester community. Below are highlights from summer 2025.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":28069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[277],"class_list":["post-28057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college-newswire","tag-maccolades","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"fields":{"article_type":[8],"flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","custom_link_url":"","news_icon_name":"","image_options":false,"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","byline":"","post_thumbnail_style":"default","press_downloads":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28057"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29253,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28057\/revisions\/29253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}