University of New Haven
300 Boston Post Road
West Haven
CT
06516
1-800 DIAL-UNH or 1-800-342-5864
Dr. Nancy Ortins Savage
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
"Take a Whiff of This: Chemical Detection and the Electronic Nose"
Biographical Information:
Dr. Savage is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of New Haven. She received her doctorate from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio then spent two years at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow. Following her time at NIST, she taught at a number of colleges and universities in Connecticut. Dr. Savage joined the faculty of the University of New Haven in 2005. She is also the director of the Summer Institute for Young Women, a weeklong, residential science and engineering program for middle school girls held at UNH.
Synopsis:
Is that a rose? Or a skunk? A gas leak? Freshly baked bread? The human nose readily provides us with the answer with its network of olfactory receptors. Electronic noses mimic the human nose, both in purpose and in design. Electronic noses are devices made of multiple gas sensors, akin to the olfactory receptors. When combined, the responses of these sensors allow an electronic nose to identity (and sometimes quantify) complex odors. These use of these devices spans from quality control in food production to air quality monitoring on the International Space Station and they are even being studied for their ability to detect disease.
The response of the electronic nose is closely tied to the materials used as the gas sensors. At the University of New Haven, composites of ceramics and polymers are being investigated for their ability to distinguish between different gas molecules. The resulting materials may show unique behavior and lead to the development of better electronic noses.
This talk will provide an overview of electronic nose technology and its role in chemical analysis as well as discuss the research progress in this area at UNH.
Mr. Peter Dodge
Founder of Edge of the Woods Natural Market in New Haven
"Serving the Underserved in Haiti"
This program supplements Common Read 2007: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Synopsis:
Mr. Dodge will be speaking about his experiences in Haiti and the help being provided to the people of that country. He will discuss the major projects he has worked on in Haiti. He has set up two schools in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and a Children's Home, which benefits over 700 children. He is currently developing a medical clinic in Haiti. Mr. Dodge will share his real-life experience in helping the people of Haiti.
Biographical Information:
Mr. Peter Dodge is the founder of the Edge of the Woods Natural Market located in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been supporting projects in Haiti for 10 years. In addition to projects mentioned above, he set up the not-for-profit "Friends of Haiti" to funnel money to these and other projects in Haiti.
Dr. Carmela Cuomo
Associate Professor, Biology and Environmental Science
"Lobster Die-Off in Long Island Sound"
Dr. Carmela Cuomo, who over the past couple of years has become increasingly well known in the lobster industry for her role in investigating the cause of the massive 1999 lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, is an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven.
Dr. Cuomo was a research associate at Yale University and the former science director of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's (ASMFC). She has held numerous other academic positions, including one at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Cuomo has a PhD from Yale, where her thesis topic was "The Ecological and Paleoecological Significance of Sulphides in Marine Sediments."
Among her noted skills, she "effectively communicates scientific concepts to all audiences and communicates policy and practical objectives to scientists."
She has written and/or contributed to papers on everything from "the effects of drilling muds on the behavior of American lobster" to "the effects of sewage sludge on juvenile horseshoe crabs."
Cuomo's research specialties include marine and estuarine animal/sediment interactions, environmental pollution, aquaculture, and benthic ecology. She, along with fellow researchers, determined that water temperature, hypoxia (low oxygen), and rainfall "all appeared to have played a potentially important role" in the 1999 Long Island Sound mortality event.
This page was last updated on October 29, 2007.