Category: Project Ideas (Page 2 of 2)

After thinking over several ideas and visiting special collections as a class, I have decided I definitely want to center my research project on some aspect of Colby College. Off of this line of thinking I was thinking of interesting topics throughout Colby’s history that are still somewhat relevant in our modern day and age. Immediately my mind was drawn towards the Fraternity life that used to be present here at Colby College and the history of Fraternities coming to an end at Colby College officially. I think this is an interesting topic for wide audiences of potential readers because many people know friends in Fraternities at other schools or had members of their family participate in Greek life. I think this would also be particularly interesting for members of our modern age at Colby because we have recently been hearing more and more about underground Fraternity life during our current stay here on the hill. Comparing the things the Fraternities used to do and say with what is happening now would be interesting, but also just viewing reactions to the banning of Fraternities compared to how these underground Fraternities are being handled nowadays would also be interesting.

If it is too difficult to imagine a comparative analysis of Fraternities then perhaps I will just make a history of Colby College Fraternities from then until now following the history of these groups and their actions. It makes me nervous to claim I will attempt to cover an entire history of Colby Fraternity life because I do not know the scope of the information available and I don’t want to try to manage more material than I can handle. In terms of technicalities I will mostly need written textual documents of photographs depicting what activities were occurring within Fraternities at Colby and I will also need valid historical documents discussing any legal issues they might’ve dealt with throughout the Fraternities history.

There are many ways I could think to display this history or comparison of Fraternities at Colby, but I think most certainly a multi-media website that can present photography; video, and textual information in a seamless fashion is where I am headed with this project. Having support from ITS and Special Collections in finding videos and photographs and implementing them well into my project will definitely be helpful and I think they will probably be able to help me better determine what the actual scope of this project should be. By this I mean they will hopefully be able to give me a better scope of the material available to me so that I will more easily be able to determine an accurate thesis or goal for this project to cover. In conclusion, I wish to create a document comparing Fraternity life throughout Colby’s history with underground Fraternities nowadays and how these are being handled. I think this topic is rich with information that is appealing to a wide audience and I think it is an important history at this school that should be told and remembered.

The topic I am proposing is a visual biography of my Grandfather, Dana Walker Mayo. During his lifetime, he made enormous impact to the liberal arts scientific community and the environment. His career path and achievements are something that more of the scientific community should understand and be inspired by. Using documents and video I will concisely and creatively present his revolutionary work to allow his legacy to live on.

Background on Dana Walker Mayo:

He began his career as Assistant professor chemistry Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 1962-1965.  He was associate professor chemistry, 1965-1968, then professor chemistry, 1969-1970, Charles Weston Pickard professor chemistry, 1970-1991, Charles Weston Pickard research professor chemistry, 1991—2007, and Charles Weston Pickard professor chemistry emeritus, since 2007. In addition, he was President Microscale Organic Laboratory Company, New Castle., New Hampshire, 1985-2007.

The website I will be creating will highlight four main parts of his life that have contributed to increasing study of the sciences and reduction in the environmental effects of laboratory practices. First, I will be digitizing documents my family has from his time as a captain in the United States Airforce (1957-1961). He was a project engineer in the polymer and materials physics branches at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

The second part of his life I will focus this website on is his creation of was his invention of Microscale Organic Laboratory practice. He converted the conventional introductory organic laboratory instruction to microscale revolutionizing organic chemistry laboratory instruction. Not only did this new instructional method change instructional practices, but it also resulted in significant reductions in laboratory hazardous waste by-products and laboratory expense as well as producing significant increases in student lab proficiency. The microscale organic chemistry curriculum was adopted by more than 400 colleges and universities throughout the country. In l986, Dana Mayo was the recipient of the first Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Higher Education and were cited for “revolutionizing undergraduate instruction in chemistry.” In l987, he also received an award from the American Chemical Society Health and Safety.

I will be digitizing drawings of the first ideas of this invention as well as letters with his collaborators. In addition, I hope to interview the remaining survivors who worked on this project with him to add a visual component to the story.

The third part of this website will highlight his contributions to the ways the sciences are taught at liberal arts schools. He pioneered the STS program at Bowdoin College and increased the scope of what it meant to study science. My family has letters of his works to start the first STS program at Bowdoin.

The fourth element of his life I will highlight is his work bringing IR spectroscopy to Bowdoin. I have photos and documents that I will digitize for the website. He played a key role in the development of a number of research and educational programs during his tenure at Bowdoin including bringing the longest continuously running IR course in its field to Bowdoin College in 1972. This course, which continues today, has trained over three thousand scientists working in education, industry and government. Under his leadership the course was taught over two dozen times internationally.Following a 1972 oil spill in Portland Harbor from a leak on the Norwegian tanker Tamano, He and his students took and analyzed samples of oil, sediments, water, and organisms from the affected area. Their analysis confirmed that a unique chemical “fingerprint” could be identified for oil from a single cargo ship, even after weathering and complex chemical interactions with ecosystem components. This research (and Dana’s testimony) led to an award to the State of Maine for damages and to subsequent legislation for an oil conveyance bill, which generated funds for cleaning up future oil spills.

Materials

I will be traveling to Brunswick, Maine to get the documents and videos for this project. The documents are at my Grandmother’s home in Topsham, ME as well as in the chemistry department at Bowdoin college. In terms of aid from the IT department, I will need help creating the visual timeline I am envisioning for this website. I am familiar using WordPress, but will need some coding assistance to produce the visual path I’m envisioning.

Conclusion:

I will be creating an interactive space for people to learn quickly about my grandfather’s incredible work.