As Franklin & Marshall students catch a breath during summer break, members of the faculty and professional staff continue to earn accolades for their research and create an enriching academic environment all year long. 

This spring, faculty members across various disciplines received numerous grant and fellowship opportunities, with several award announcements still pending. Faculty and staff have been recognized both nationally and globally for their contributions to a range of academic fields. 

The list below features book publications and grant and fellowship activity in recent months. For a comprehensive list of faculty and staff achievements, visit the Celebrating Scholarship archive. 

Grants and Fellowships 

Tim Bechtel, director of F&M science outreach & senior teaching professor of geosciences, received funds from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to support student research.

Eve Bratman, associate professor of environmental studies, received a grant from the Sierra Club to assist community composting efforts in the City of Lancaster. Related story: F&M Compost Co-Op Diverts Costs and CO2 in Lancaster

Fronefield Crawford, Charles A. Dana Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of Grundy Observatory, received continued funding for participation in the international NANOGrav Collaboration. Related story: Students Tune Into a Cosmic Hum

Eric Hirsch, associate professor of environmental studies, is the recipient of a $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to lead a three-year research initiative titled, “The Agricultural Futures Archive: Rural and Urban Growers in the Shadow of the Solar Panel.” Related story: F&M Professor Awarded $500,000 Mellon Grant to Amplify Local Grower Voices Amid Climate Change

Zeshan Ismat, professor of geosciences and program chair of international studies, was selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Pakistan for 2025-26. 

Pablo Jenik, associate professor and associate chair department of biology, received an NSF grant to study Arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family, to understand genetic processes in its seeds.

The Chesapeake Watershed Initiative, built on almost two decades of research by two Franklin & Marshall geosciences professors, received a sub-award to collect and synthesize data on wetland-floodplain restorations' costs and environmental benefits for the Water Science Institute. Related story: F&M Launches Chesapeake Watershed Initiative

The F&M Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) team is in the third of a six-year grant from the HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 initiative. This grant focuses on fostering institutional change to create and sustain a more supportive and successful introductory science and mathematics experience. 

Publications

Annette Aronowicz, The Robert F. and Patricia G. Ross Weis Emerita Professor of Judaic & Religious Studies, published a book titled “The Thought at the Back of the Mind: Five Explorations of the Human in the Age of the Natural Sciences.” She also completed a book review of “Yiddish Paris: Staging Nation and Community in Interwar France,” by Nick Underwood.

Zachary Biles, professor of classics, published a book titled “Aristophanes Knights.” 

Elizabeth De Santo, associate professor and program chair of environmental studies, published a book titled “Securitizing Marine Protected Areas: Geopolitics, Environmental Justice, and Science.” Related story: Professor’s Book Looks at Securing the Seas

Lisa Gasbarrone, emerita professor of French, published a book titled “The Sense of the Sacred in the Early Novels of Quebec.”

Niki Herd, assistant professor of English, published a book titled “The Stuff of Hollywood.” 

Rick Kent, professor of art history, is editor of a book titled “Spring Flowers, Autumn Moon: The Poems of Li Yu (Li Houzhu)." (Translated by Jiann I. Lin and David Young). 

Biko Koenig, associate professor of government & public policy, published a book titled “Worker Centered: Allyship & Action in the Contemporary Labor Movement.” 

Kostis Kourelis, associate professor of art history, published a book review of “The Byzantine Neighborhood: Urban Space and Political Action,” by Fotini Kondyli and Benjamin Anderson.

Edward “Ted” Pearson, associate professor of history, published a book titled “The Enslaved and Their Enslavers: Power, Resistance, and Culture in South Carolina.”

Grier Stephenson, Emeritus Charles A. Dana Professor of Government, published the 19th edition of a book titled “American Constitutional Law: Introductory Essays and Selected Cases.”

F&M Earns New Carnegie Research Classification

A new Carnegie designation ranks F&M among leading national institutions that prioritize research activity. Only 40 liberal arts colleges in the country have this distinction.

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Faculty Awarded More Than $4.5 Million in 2024 Grants

“All of these awards, whether to faculty or staff, whether the awards are federal, state or private, impact our students by providing them with opportunities in the field, laboratory or studio, by improving the safety and security of our campus, and by connecting them to a wider community,” said Rene Munoz, director of the Office of Sponsored Research.

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